<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=dm.porritt@verizon.net = href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">David M. Porritt</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> February 20, 2003 11:01 = AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: String = breakage</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>The stature of our pianists would make me seem a tad cheeky = to suggest to them how they should be playing.  On of our teachers = at SMU stresses forte playing to his students.  He says that your piano = means nothing if your forte is not forte.  As a result, both he and his = students do break a lot of strings.  His job is playing and teaching.  My job is fixing.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I can = appreciate all of this, still.... The piano is a machine. It is made to a design and of = materials that have natural and intrinsic physical constraints and limitations. = They can only function well within those constraints and limitations. That's = life--piano teachers are not gods, they cannot change physical realities. The fact = that strings break when the piano subjected to excessively hard playing is = not a reflection on the instrument, but on the player. After something over = four decades of struggling with this issue it is now my opinion that the = player should be made aware that he/she is pushing the instrument beyond its = design and structural limitations, that their apparent lack of basic = knowledge about and consideration for their instrument of choice is ultimately destructive and, consequently, he/she should be willing to accept = the results--a reduced lifespan of various components such as strings and = hammers. With those ground rules in place, I agree. His job is teaching, mine is fixing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" = color=#000080></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>