<!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 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<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></BODY></HTML>