Prepared Piano Guidelines

[James Ellis]

I appreciate the back-up support from Horace and Wim.  Thanks, fellows.  By
suggesting some hard and fast guidelines for those who do "prepared piano"
stuff, I was not implying that I go along with it.  I don't.  I think it is
a bunch of garbage.  There are instruments that are designed to be plucked
and bowed, and others designed to be strummed, etc.  The piano was not made
for that.  By suggesting guidelines, I was just acknowledging that we are
going to have this stuff, whether we like it or not, so let's try to
protect the piano, as best we can.  Even better, set aside an old junker
for this nonsense.  "Prepared piano" is a misnomer if I ever saw it or
heard it.

Fifty five years ago, UT had a piano professor who was a real teacher.  He
taught the kids how to play the piano for real.  On the same day he
retired, the UT music department featured one of those
out-in-never-never-land "concerts" where they did crazy things with the
piano - something that would NEVER have been done under that professor's
administration.

Sincerely, Jim Ellis