Like many obedient Asian kids, I grew up learning an instrument - piano, in my case. I learned my scales, I did my dozen-a-days, learned a couple songs and eventually did a few recitals. But then, some time in middle school, I just stopped. It’s not that I didn’t like doing it, but there was just no passion. Playing piano was only mindless fun for me - the same as playing soccer during summers, the same as drinking ramune at the night markets - fun to do and fun to reminisce about, but I wouldn’t miss it. Still, a strange yearning egged at me whenever I passed by a piano store at the mall, or heard piano music being played while taking a piss at the local fancy restaurant (hey, details matter). Or whenever I was in Taiwan and it was trash day - those damn trash trucks always blast a butchered midi version of Fur Elise to let the aunties know they’re coming, kind of like how the neighborhood kids start jumping around like rabid snowmen when the ice cream truck rolls around.

Anyways, it wasn’t until Youtube became popular that I realized people were playing the songs I had come to love from my favorite anime and games. For the first time, the idea of downloadable sheet music applied to me, and instead of playing some teacher-assigned watered-down version of something that someone wrote centuries ago, I could play what I wanted. Final Fantasy? Nodame Cantabile? POKEMON?! With the studio-recorded mp3 track, multiple covers on Youtube, and the sheet music pdf in front of me, all that was left was for me to put in the work and learn the song!

Shameless self-promotion after submitting my roommates and parents to listening to me practice the same damn song for months and months:

Ultimately, it was watching those amazing piano players on Youtube play those memorable songs from my favorite anime and games that gave me the sense of “yes I can!” that kept me motivated through the fastest and most complicated passages. And it’s because they chose to share their talent with the rest of the world that someone like me was able to, over a decade later, rediscover a passion that would have otherwise became a distant memory of times past.

So thanks, to all those who inspired me to plop back on the piano bench and start fingering my way to aural ecstasy. And to those that gave up an instrument in the past - give it another chance! It’s really enriched my life and added another dimension to my character, and now I’ll never have to look back and say “if only…”

Check out these guys, some of the best on Youtube:
Kyle Landry
Josh Agarrado
Crazy Asian Guy
Stu and Sniper
David Sides
Ronald Jenkees (a little different, but amazing nonetheless!)

Find anime and game sheet music at:
Josh’s Anime Sheet Music
Ichigo’s Sheet Music
Galbadia Hotel
Sound-Test

Other misc sheet music found at:
Pianotte
My-Piano
Pianolicious

Enjoy, and good luck!