Schroeder (Peanuts) - Schroeder's Piano

Schroeder's Piano

The piano's capability is illustrated in 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas. Lucy asks Schroeder to play "Jingle Bells". Schroeder plays it in the style of a conventional piano, then manages to generate the warm tones of a Hammond organ, but Lucy cannot recognize the tune until the now-irritated Schroeder plays it, off-key with one finger, in the tones of a normal toy piano. This is the only time in the history of the television specials that his toy piano ever actually sounds like a toy piano. In 1966's It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Schroeder accommodated Snoopy (who was dressed in his World War I Flying Ace outfit) by playing a brief medley of World War I songs (both peppy ones and very sad depressing ones) at Violet's Halloween Party; such as "Pack up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag", "Roses of Picardy", and others.

Schroeder is normally a very passive character, content to play his music, but he can be angered quite easily, especially if his music or his idol Beethoven are insulted. In one short, Lucy points out to him the woefully inadequate single-octave range of a toy piano; an angry Schroeder yanks it out from under, causing her to conk her head on the floor. This became a frequent running gag in the strip's later years. In 1971's Play It Again Charlie Brown, Lucy asked if pianists make a lot of money, and Schroeder flew into a rage: "Who cares about money?! This is art, you blockhead! This is great music I'm playing, and playing great music is an art! Do you hear me? An art! Art! Art! Art! Art! Art!" (the last five words punctuated by slamming his hands against his piano). These instances mark the few occasions when any character successfully stand up to the notoriously aggressive Lucy. However, when Lucy asks the same question in the movie A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Schroeder admits: "Some do, if they practice real hard, I guess." In the Charlie Brown Christmas special, Lucy tells Schroeder that Beethoven "wasn't so great". When Schroeder defensively demands an explanation, Lucy replies that Beethoven has never been on a bubble gum card and that one cannot be considered great without appearing on one.

The musical notes Schroeder plays also seem to have substance; characters are able to touch them as they appear in the air. Snoopy, for example, once decorated a Christmas tree using a handful of them, and has on at least one occasion been seen dancing atop the musical staff containing the notes.

Lucy has often spoken of getting Schroeder to give up his piano, such as getting him to realize that married life has financial hardships and he may have to sell his piano in order to buy her a good set of saucepans. On two occasions, Lucy went so far as to destroy Schroeder's piano in an attempt to be rid of the "competition" for his affection, but both attempts failed:

• In a series of strips from January 1969, Lucy threw the piano into a tree, which was later discovered to be none other than a dreaded Kite-Eating Tree, which evidently didn't distinguish between kites and toy pianos. When Schroeder ordered a replacement, Charlie Brown asked if his piano was covered by insurance, to which Schroeder replied, "How do you explain to the insurance company that your piano was eaten by a tree?".

• In her second attempt, from an October 1974 strip series, Lucy threw the piano into the sewer, from which Charlie Brown and Schroeder attempted to retrieve it. Schroeder was able to reach it, but it was stuck, and then when it started raining heavily the piano was washed out to sea.

Lucy once "accidentally" washed his piano and threw it in the dryer, thus having the piano shrink, leaving Schroeder horrified.

In one strip it was revealed that Schroeder gets his pianos from the Ace Piano Company, this was also mentioned in an episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show.