<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: Practicing on a not so good piano:  was RE: tax deductions?= </TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BLOCKQUOTE>I would say that the idea that practicing on a not s= o great piano makes you a better pianist is at least counterintuitive, at mo= st, pure BS.  Much of learning and refining piano skills has to do with= developing your sense of hearing and connecting what your hands do to what = your ears hear.  It is not, afterall, the same as learning to type. &nb= sp;The poorer the piano, the more you learn to not listen, to ignore what yo= u hear and therefore surrender control over what you are trying to accomplis= h musically.  Wondering whether the mechanical problems you are encount= ering in executing a difficult passage belong to your fingers or the action = can only serve to confuse the issue more and force you into some bad habits = with respect to relaxation that will not serve your technique or tone produc= tion at all.   And as far as advocating poorer pianos for our adul= t piano students to improve their technique…well that would be counter= productive.  Remember, critical thinking is a privilege, not a right. &= nbsp;You have to earn it.     David Love </BLOCKQUOTE> Br= avo. Fascinating topic.  Have talked to so many concert & jazz pian= ists about this; they almost have to armor up with a kind of grief, I guess,= and just go ahead and attempt to enable and create beauty on a less-than-go= od-sounding-and-feeling piano. It injures, IMO, their ability to be vulnerab= le enough to really FEEL any piano they play.  It’s a problem tha= t literally no other instrumentalist deals with, and it adds to the fear of = understanding how a piano works, or even disdain for the mechanical nature o= f the instrument---why else would an artist resolutely refuse to find out ho= w a piano works after playing it for years or decades? Food for thought.... All the best..... David Andersen </BODY> </HTML>