Winter & Co. .... Blahhh

[David Love]

I disagree.  I'm asked this question frequently and I always encourage
people buying pianos for their children to buy the best piano they can
afford.  I think it is more critical for a child because you are developing
a sense of tone and touch.  You want them to have positive feedback in terms
of tone and control, they are not learning to play a typewriter, afterall.
This is not to say that somebody learning on a lousy instrument can't
develop a feel or love for music, but it won't make it any easier.

David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Fox" <sarah@gendernet.org>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: October 23, 2002 6:18 AM
Subject: Re: Winter & Co. .... Blahhh


Hi Terry,

> I did say to him that I hear from many teachers that a youngster playing
on such a piano can be very quickly discouraged.

For all it's worth, I don't think many children care how a piano plays, so
long as it plays at all.  For my first year of piano lessons, I had an old
player that our neighbor gave us for free.  The piano had survived a fire,
many parts of the case having been reduced to charcoal (literally).  The
thing wouldn't hold a tune, and the action was pretty funky, as I recall.  I
was 8 yr old, so I don't remember much, but I do remember thinking the piano
was pretty "neato," imagining that it had survived a fire in some saloon in
the old West.  I insisted on opening up the cabinet so I could watch the
hammers as I played.  I remember composing my first piece on that piano.

After my parents could see I was serious about piano, they got me a '66
Hamilton studio, which probably made my practicing more tolerable to them
and certainly did much more for the appearance of our living room.
Throughout the years I was a relatively serious student/amateur pianist.  I
probably could have gone on to study performance and become a concert
pianist, were it not for my circulatory problems (Raynaud's), which impact
my speed when I'm cold or stressed.  However at age 41 I still play the
piano for perhaps 30 min a day and sorely miss playing when I'm away on
vacation.

I still have the Hamilton (a basically solid piano), which my older son used
for his piano lessons.  The results were different -- no talent, no
determination, and total abandonment of lessons within a year.

My stepdaughter started on a $500, 100 year old Knabe that's actually not a
bad piano, but still with a bit of funkiness of its own, some of which I've
corrected.  She now studies composition at the California Institute of the
Arts.  One would think she cares about how well a piano plays.  Actually she
cares much more about the real ivory key tops and is, IMO, only a fair
pianist (but an extremely talented composer).

My stepson started on the same piano, played for 5 yr, and quit when
athletics (and Dad's approval) became more important to him.  He is more
appreciative of the technical aspects of a piano, and if he were to
continue, I think he would probably need a better instrument (or at least
some rebuilding work on the Knabe.

Appreciation of a fine piano comes with age and advanced abilities.  I can
now play well enough to understand my performance abilities and limitations
with a given piano.  Any piece of junk is suitable for a child to play "Mary
Had a Little Lamb."  However, if I'm going to play Beethoven's Sonata
Pathetique (quite a technical challenge for me), I NEED a very responsive
piano.

My only point is that I can understand the parent who doensn't want to sink
more than $500 into a piano to see if his or her child is serious about the
instrument.  I think in an ideal world, all beginning pianos would be junky
loaners.  My only qualification is that I think students should *never*
learn on an electronic keyboard.  Other than that, if it's a real piano and
the notes all play, I think it passes muster.

... just my 2 cents ;-)

Peace,
Sarah Fox, AP, APT, PM (Amateur Pianist, Amateur Piano Tech, Professional
Mom)



_______________________________________________
pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives