Flexy S&S D Keys

[Farrell]

Right on Dean. I "service" - i.e. tune ('cause that's all they need!) - two 
S&S grands at a local underfunded performance facility. One is a 1920s B and 
the other a 1950s L. Both play like Mack trucks (75+g DW) and have dead 
soundboards (which makes you need to pound the keys even harder).

One time I listened to a young very talented pianist play several classical 
pieces. I thought about how miserable it must have been for her to perform 
those pieces on that piano (the B). So when she was finished, I asked her 
something like: "What did you think of the piano - did you find the action 
heavy and/or sluggish?" She replied: "No, it was okay - I'm used to it - I 
have a Steinway at home."

Go figure.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
> Your comments remind me of one of my clients with a son who was a pretty
> decent budding pianist. They had a Wurlitzer spinet for his practice piano
> doe many years and they finally decided it was time to get him a better
> instrument. I was able to hook them up with a nice used Steinway M, a 
> pretty
> decent home piano and a definite upgrade from the Wurly. They called me 
> out
> after it was in the home for a few weeks. Seems the boy didn't like the 
> way
> it felt or sounded. I told them to give it awhile, let him get used to the
> difference, and he might even end up preferring the Steinway over the 
> Wurly.
>
>
> Methinks a lot of "personal preference" boils down to what kind of piano
> someone is used to playing. This son of my client was used to playing the
> Wurly, and that became normative for him, it was how pianos were supposed 
> to
> sound and respond. That's okay, people are certainly entitled to love the
> sound and touch of their Wurlies. And pianists who are used to playing
> flexing keys might think that is a wonderful feel. But they might, 
> actually,
> become better pianists if they learned to play pianos without flexing 
> keys.
>
> I think this all makes it even more incumbent on us to encourage people to
> upgrade their child's practice instrument. Face it: 6-10 years of 
> practicing
> on a piece of crap dulls the senses and is definitely not conducive to
> developing good technique or a good appreciation for tone.
>
> I had a pow wow with my 11 year old daughter's piano teacher. The teacher
> was remarking how well Lydia "got it", she could hear it more than the
> teacher's other students. I tune for a lot of her other students. Most of
> them practice on crap. Lydia has a nice little Baldwin grand with a
> wonderful tone and very nice action. I dunno. Maybe it's her practice 
> piano.
> Of course, maybe it's genetic! :-)
>
> Dean May