I just got a call from a client. The father was conveying a problem that the son was having with the piano. The piano is an Upright. One that has been in the family for a long time. It was nicely refinished and the action and keys were reconditioned/regulated, by me, a year or so ago. Sounds like a nice situation. Oh, the home is not capable of having a grand piano....just no space available. Now the rub. The son is working on a Rachmaninoff piece, that calls for Sustenuto pedal! My Wish: I wish that ALL teachers would HAVE to visit each student's home and play on the "home" piano, then they would have some idea what the student's piano is capable of! I know that a few teachers "lurk" on this list, so what think ye? My short term solution was to explain to the son the situation with their piano. (It used to have a muffler strip for the middle pedal.) Yes, I could retro-fit a sostenuto onto this piano, but it would be costly. I also advised the son to find a school/church grand piano, with sostenuto mechanism, to practice on. Don't know what else to do. So, there's the problem. Anyone have any further thoughts on the subject? Regards, Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
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