This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment My wife is a piano teacher and for the first lesson, she goes to the student's home to see what kind of a piano they have, how in tune it is, how playable, what is the bench height, and how conducive the environment is to practicing. If the student has a keyboard, she advises getting a piano as soon as possible (which sometimes it isn't) or she might discuss the condition of the piano (tuning, voicing, regulating, repair). Having a piano technician for a husband is not the norm, of course. We both belong to the Music Teachers Association of Calif. and the board has discussed having me as a presenter but so far haven't asked for my input. There is widespread reluctance to peek behind the fallboard, I think. Likely they are daunted by a piano's complexity and don't want to spend the kind of time it would take to learn even the basics. I haven't given up hope, though, and I'm working on ways of making the subject palatable to the more technophobic. Maybe if teachers can understand a little about what makes a piano tick (or, hopefully, not tick :-) they would have more confidence to speak to parents about the pianos their children are playing on. Tom Cole Vinny Samarco wrote: > Hi Terry and List, > As a pianist and teacher as well as new tuner, I can only offer the > following insight. > Perhaps, A, the teacher has never been to the student's house but the > student has always traveled to the teacher. Or B, the teacher > shouldn't be teaching piano. > No wonder so many kids quit piano-having to play on such a terrible > instrument. > Vinny > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Terry <mailto:terry@farrellpiano.com> > To: pianotech@ptg.org <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org> > Sent: Friday, December 24, 2004 6:45 AM > Subject: Bad Student Piano Insight > > No doubt many of you have run across this situation before. This > is about the third or fourth time I have seen such an extreme > example of a student playing on a bad (major understatement) > piano. This is the same family that asked me to find a nice used > piano for them (see my other recent post). > > First time appointment with this family. Below are the grizzly facts. > - 1950 Gulbranson spinet > - typical worn 55-year-old cheap piano > - 90 cents flat and, of course, way, way out of tune > - reason they called piano tuner: plastic elbow on G5 broke > - sustain pedal hasn't worked for months (ever since the flood) > - Grandma gave them her treasured Gulbranson > - student is 13 years old and has been taking lessons for six years > > Yes, for six years, this little girl has been practicing on this > out-of-whack junker! And just for the record, there is no doubt > these folks have disposable income to spare. But I did gain some > insight into this situation from talking with the dad. He knows > absolutely nothing about pianos (and stated so). His mother gave > him the piano for the daughter to play and told him that it was a > very high quality ("the best" she said) piano in excellent > condition (they don't wear out, do they?). I am absolutely > convinced that the guy really thought he was providing his > daughter with a top-notch instrument that she could excel with. > She wasn't playing it because daddy was cheap. > > As soon as I explained to him that in reality it was a medium > quality piano 50 years ago, but is now worn out, and a spinet is > far from optimal for a intermediate student, he readily agreed > that he should ditch the piano and we started talking about how to > shop for a replacement. He was instantly ready to upgrade. The > information I gave him about his piano was completely brand-new > stuff for him. > > I just thought I'd share that because it was a new experience for > me. Previously, in these situations, I had assumed the parents > were simply horrible people. Maybe not always..... > > One question remains though: why hadn't her piano teacher of six > years said anything to the parents about the piano? > > Terry Farrell > ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/d8/00/a9/aa/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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