Do you play piano?

[Erwinspiano at aol.com]

Hi Tom
  Thanks for sharing your fascinating journey &  perspective. It's all good
   Regards
   Dale

I'll take this being able to play issue a step  further. It wasn't until I 
started to develop as a working cocktail pianist  that I started to appreciate 
the full role of the piano  technician.
 Sure, at that point I had already past  the RPT and CTE exams, attended most 
of the manufacture seminars and attended  most of the conventions. But it 
wasn't until I started to play the piano on a  much more serious level that 
things began to click.
 I noticed myself becoming more frustrated  when the action wouldn't respond 
to a fast piece that I was trying to  play. I started to notice that voicing 
wasn't as even as I thought that it  was.  I began to listen to the quality of 
tone on a much more  defined level. I started to be much more critical of what 
 tuning should be. I started to develop another perspective of tuning. And  
voicing...well I could go on and on with that topic.
Like many of you, I have my degree in music  performance and education. I 
still play professionally as a orchestral  clarinetist, playing with several 
orchestras and opera companies. But I  didn't study piano as a child, although my 
parents tried to force it on  me. 
  It wasn't until I was teaching in the  schools that I started to use the 
piano on a daily basis. It quickly  became my tool of choice during lessons. I 
was always a good score reader and  had a well developed ear so I was able get 
by faking. Slowly but  surely I began to play the piano more and more.  Then I 
began to become  very curious about the workings of the piano and one thing 
led to another, and  soon I was enrolled  piano technology program.
 
Fast forward 28 yrs , I have had the good fortune  to have worked with many 
of the great touring pianists.  I have  had impromptu lessons with Victor 
Borge,George Shearing, and many  others. I worked with  Victor Borge over  a 15 yr 
period when  he was in Florida. He would force me to play some Debussy for him 
while  he listened to the piano in the auditorium. Instead of finding fault  
in the piano, he would start criticizing my playing. When he realized  that I 
was more or less self-taught pianist, he started to lighten up on  me and 
started to give me constructive pointers..
 George Shearing showed me the art of  "closed" voicing with a very cool  
II-V7-I progression in all keys. What  an eye-opener! Slowly I started to pay 
close attention to the technique  and approach of the touring artists. Through 
osmosis I started develop a  decent quality to my play. 
 
My advise to young technicians who don't play the  piano, learn. It's never 
to late.
You'll discover that it's good for your  business.
It broadens your knowledge of why we do what we  do.
Most of all, it's good for the  soul. 
Isn't that one of things we are to be promoting  to our clients?
Tom Servinsky
----- Original Message ----- 

From:  _piannaman at _ (mailto:piannaman at aol.com) 




 



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