Junk Pianos

[Z! Reinhardt]

+ + Comments below ...+ +

----- Original Message -----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2002 2:32 PM
Subject: Junk Pianos


Why is it so hard to throw out a junk piano? Why is it they stay around
soooo long? People throw cars out when they are 10 years old. Why not
pianos?

+ + Perhaps ...
    It is a member of the family
    It lives indoors
    It is a pretty piece of furniture ... or at least pretends to be
    It is supposed to satisfy an "emotional need" the way a pet does + +

Two children are taking lessons and practice on this junker.

This piano is in a new development. Estimate $200,000 home. New beautiful
furniture everywhere. Giant screen TV built into 2-story marble wall - along
with home theatre sound system. Polished granite kitchen. Two $40,000+ SUVs
sitting in driveway. One with all the add-on lights, iron front grilles,
etc. for when she has to cross the Himalayas on her way to the grocery
store. And in the midst of all this is this "free" beat-up dysfunctional
crud piano. What gives?

+ + They don't know as much (if anything) about what to expect from a piano
as they would expect from a car or a home theatre system.  They probably
figure while they're at it that the kids won't know any better since this
will be their "only" piano (unless they have opportunities to test-drive
other pianos in other people's homes.)  + +

They will toss the SUV when it gets a rip in the padded leather seat, but
they will subject their children to this dysfunctional pile of junk.

+ + As Ron put it, the children are probably disposable too.  They probably
don't want to put the money into anything that will no longer be used when
the children move or get chased out. + +

Terry Farrell

+ + Perhaps the best thing you can do for this family is to tell them the
kids have already outgrown the piano because the piano is incapable of
responding to the finer nuances of what the kids are trying to master in
their lessons -- nuances they should be working on from their very first
lesson onward.  I'm sure you can come up with analogies that would hit a
live wire with this family.  There's the analogy of the car that barely
runs, is very difficult to steer, and the brakes barely work.  Or it's like
trying to cut out intricate details with a pair of very dull scissors where
the blades don't really meet properly and are severely nicked from trying to
cut through nails.  Or it's like trying to paint a wall with a brush that
has damaged bristles which can't hold the paint, let alone allow the user to
spread that paint evenly.  Or .......

In other words, indicate that there was a reason why the previous owner was
giving away the piano for free, and if it didn't get given away, it was
destined for demolition. + +

Z! Reinhardt  RPT
Ann Arbor  MI
diskladame@provide.net