<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2523" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>Hello Terry, I'm sure someone is going to lash you for running down = the spinet. Too bad. I have seen this several times and believe me I stick = my nose right in their business and explain what I believe to be the = facts. Most of the  time something has been done to move the student up to a = better instrument. Should we speak out in a positive informative manner in = these cases? Darn Right. Rich</DIV> <DIV>Richard Oliver Snelson<BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=terry@farrellpiano.com = href="mailto:terry@farrellpiano.com">Terry</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, December 24, 2004 = 7:45 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Bad Student Piano = Insight</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>No doubt many of you have run across = this situation before. This is about the third or fourth time I have seen = such an extreme example of a student playing on a bad (major understatement) = piano. This is the same family that asked me to find a nice used piano for = them (see my other recent post).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>First time appointment with this = family. Below are the grizzly facts.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- 1950 Gulbranson spinet</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- typical worn 55-year-old cheap piano</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- 90 cents flat and, of course, way, = way out of tune</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- reason they called piano tuner: = plastic elbow on G5 broke</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- sustain pedal hasn't worked for = months (ever since the flood)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- Grandma gave them her treasured Gulbranson</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- student is 13 years old and has = been taking lessons for six years</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Yes, for six years, this little girl = has been practicing on this out-of-whack junker! And just for the record, there = is no doubt these folks have disposable income to spare. But I did gain some = insight into this situation from talking with the dad. He knows absolutely = nothing about pianos (and stated so). His mother gave him the piano for the = daughter to play and told him that it was a very high quality ("the best" she = said) piano in excellent condition (they don't wear out, do they?). I am = absolutely convinced that the guy really thought he was providing his daughter = with a top-notch instrument that she could excel with. She wasn't playing it = because daddy was cheap.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As soon as I explained to him that in = reality it was a medium quality piano 50 years ago, but is now worn out, and a = spinet is far from optimal for a intermediate student, he readily agreed that he = should ditch the piano and we started talking about how to shop for a = replacement. He was instantly ready to upgrade. The information I gave him about his = piano was completely brand-new stuff for him.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I just thought I'd share that because = it was a new experience for me. Previously, in these situations, I had assumed = the parents were simply horrible people. Maybe not = always.....</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One question remains though: why = hadn't her piano teacher of six years said anything to the parents about the piano?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>