Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a single mother from Scotland, gave up speaking at the age of six and only expressed her emotions through the piano. In 1852, McGrath married Stuart (Sam Neill) from New Zealand and brought the piano with her. However, Stuart was short of manpower and had to abandon the bulky piano on the beach. George Baines (Harvey Keitel), a friend of Stuart, fell in love with McGrath and traded 80 acres of land with Stuart. Stuart transferred the piano and ordered McGrath to teach Baines to play the piano. During the piano lesson, Baines proposed that if McGrath allowed something out of the ordinary to happen while teaching the piano, he could get a key back for one lesson...