The Bear and the Piano

One day in the forest, a young bear cub found something he'd never seen before.

"What could this strange thing be?" he thought.
Shyly, he touched it with his stubby paws.

"PLONK!"
The strange thing made an awful sound.

So, the bear left.
But the next day he came back, and the day after that too.
And for days and weeks and months and years, until eventually...

The sounds that came from the strange thing were beautiful, and the bear had grown big and strong and grizzly.

When the bear played, he felt so happy.
The sound took him away from the forest, and he dreamed of strange and wonderful lands.

It wasn't long before the other bears in the forest were drawn to the clearing.
Every night, a crowd gathered to listen to the magical melodies going from the bear and the strange thing.

Then one night, a girl and her father came across the clearing.
They told the bear that the strange thing was a piano and the sounds it made were music.

(from "The Bear and the Piano" by David Litchfield)

The moral? 
This is exactly like playing slide guitar, whether you're a beginner, or been playing for years. We all have moments when we feel like the bear ("PLONK!"), but stick with it and your persistence will pay off! Music is a wondrous thing...