CAUT

Having been at several music schools as a student, I propose that the stress of being a piano student itself, and the difficulty of the repertoire and demands of all the other coursework leave the student with little bandwidth for other interests. Very few of my accompanists were even able to keep up with the music they were supposed to learn, especially if it was difficult music like Brahms or Franck or Beethoven.

Here's another thought that occurred to me from a new customer phone call just recently: sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. This customer says the dampers aren't working, and I suspect it's because he took the action out, thinking it would lighten the piano that he moved himself. I can imagine the mangled dampers I'll find... there's a small step from knowing to attempting to do something. On my last car, I tried to save some money by replacing my own headlight bulb. Big mistake-
on this design, I had to remove the inner wheel well cover and reach way in to get the bulb by feel in a preposterous location. During this attempt at laparoscopic surgery, some dumb plastic mount broke, and while I eventually got the bulb in, the headlight was now cockeyed. Replacing the whole housing was too expensive so I left it and learned my lesson-let the pros do it.

I do try to educate my piano customers, but I know that, like most of my violin students over the years, much of it will go in one ear and out the other.

I had an interesting experience with a young man who was an accomplished pianist. His small grand piano badly needed work, and I tried to show him that on many notes there was no aftertouch left. I tried to get him to feel the difference between keys with and keys with no aftertouch, but I don't think he was ever able to feel the difference.

This topic came up at a chapter meeting last year. An observation was mentioned that stuck with me: Most people view their piano as a big piece of musical furniture. Additionally, the general piano-playing public plays maybe two or three pianos throughout their lifetime. Most pianists assume that this is the way the piano has always been and always will be.

Most don't know their piano could be different. In my mind this explains a lot. Why would you bother learning anything more than surface knowledge if you don't think it would benefit you somehow?

Just my thoughts.

Having been at several music schools as a student, I propose that the stress of being a piano student itself, and the difficulty of the repertoire and demands of all the other coursework leave the student with little bandwidth for other interests. Very few of my accompanists were even able to keep up with the music they were supposed to learn, especially if it was difficult music like Brahms or Franck or Beethoven.

Here's another thought that occurred to me from a new customer phone call just recently: sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. This customer says the dampers aren't working, and I suspect it's because he took the action out, thinking it would lighten the piano that he moved himself. I can imagine the mangled dampers I'll find... there's a small step from knowing to attempting to do something. On my last car, I tried to save some money by replacing my own headlight bulb. Big mistake-
on this design, I had to remove the inner wheel well cover and reach way in to get the bulb by feel in a preposterous location. During this attempt at laparoscopic surgery, some dumb plastic mount broke, and while I eventually got the bulb in, the headlight was now cockeyed. Replacing the whole housing was too expensive so I left it and learned my lesson-let the pros do it.

I do try to educate my piano customers, but I know that, like most of my violin students over the years, much of it will go in one ear and out the other.

I had an interesting experience with a young man who was an accomplished pianist. His small grand piano badly needed work, and I tried to show him that on many notes there was no aftertouch left. I tried to get him to feel the difference between keys with and keys with no aftertouch, but I don't think he was ever able to feel the difference.