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Yay, just got my piano tuned yesterday since this thread inspired me! It cost $120. It sounds so much better!
The guy who tuned it was blind. Even so, he ran his hands over the piano and said, "This is a beautiful piece." (It is.) Then as he ran his fingers across all the strings, hammers, etc. he said, "Wow, how old did you say this piano is?" I said, "It's 50 years old." He said, "I can't believe it but the strings and hammers and insides are in excellent shape. Unusual for a piano that's been moved and that hasn't been tuned in several years." (This piano is an excellent piano and it "holds" it's tune extremely well.)
My parents bought this piano for me when we lived in Japan in the 1960s. It is not an "assembly line" Yamaha piano - it was not built to be shipped overseas (they had several versions at that time and this was a "domestic" product built to a different standard rather than mass produced). They paid $400 for it. They were told around 1995 by a piano tuner that it is probably worth closer to $4000.
I absolutely adore it. It was built when "Danish modern" furniture was the rage. It's made of pecan wood with very clean, simple lines. The wood glows and it always has. When I was a kid, I loved polishing it till I could see my own reflection in the wood, and I am still doing it today 50 years later.
I can tell you one thing - I will never give this piano away on CraigsList! It will probably go to my oldest daughter who also learned to play the piano on it, and hopefully she will pass it on to her youngest daughter, who is the most dedicated of her little family of musicians.
Despite anecdotes of pianos that appear to defy the laws of physics, it's not recommended to let pianos sit for several years without being tuned. Besides the disservice to the instrument, if you have any kind of ear you won't be able to stand the discordance.
One of the benefits to learning an instrument is training in pitch recognition. Especially if you sing. Voice training often relies on listening to the note you're trying to pitch to on the piano. It really does help if the instrument is tuned properly.
One of the major benefits for kids in learning to play piano is to enhance his/her memory.
If the kid can recall 30 pages of musical notes (closed book) in piano recital, he/she will have no problem in memorizing any school work. But the kid can only possess such instinct by starting learning at the age of 6/7/8. If the parents wait until the kid turns 12, it is already too late.
Piano learning may be the greatest gift to your child that you don't realize.
I took piano lessons all through my childhood and teenaged years, and wanted desperately to become a professional pianist. I finally decided that I really wasn't good enough to do that, no matter how much I loved piano. That was a tough fact to face and I felt so bad about it. I never touched a piano again. I moved a lot and mostly had very limited space, so I really couldn't fit a piano into my lifestyle.
I am retired now, and have the time and resources to take up piano again. If I did so, I would buy one of the high end electronic pianos. I would get one like the very high end Yamaha I saw some years ago, that was mounted so that it seemed like a real piano. The really good ones sound and feel just like an old fashioned piano as far as I can tell. Also, I suppose that with headphones I would not have to disturb the neighbors. I don't expect to ever move again, but if I did it would be easier to move one than to move a traditional piano.
We have a high end electronic Yamaha piano. That looks (and sounds and feels) like a real upright piano. We used to have a high end Yamaha upright real piano too. We sold it when we built our current house. Got a pretty penny for it. For my money - there are only 2 brands worth buying - that will hold their value. Steinway if you're an expert. And Yamaha if you're not (that's me). Robyn
We have a high end electronic Yamaha piano. That looks (and sounds and feels) like a real upright piano. We used to have a high end Yamaha upright real piano too. We sold it when we built our current house. Got a pretty penny for it. For my money - there are only 2 brands worth buying - that will hold their value. Steinway if you're an expert. And Yamaha if you're not (that's me). Robyn
Clavinova? They are fantastic. Very nice virtual modelling technology. Yamaha have really nailed the realistic electric piano since the CP70, in the not as portable as a keyboard, but much more portable than a 9 ft grand dept.
We have a high end electronic Yamaha piano. That looks (and sounds and feels) like a real upright piano. We used to have a high end Yamaha upright real piano too. We sold it when we built our current house. Got a pretty penny for it. For my money - there are only 2 brands worth buying - that will hold their value. Steinway if you're an expert. And Yamaha if you're not (that's me). Robyn
I agree about the Yamaha - every time I've had my 50 year old Yamaha tuned, the tuner has raved about the piano. It's really in remarkable shape, especially considering it's been moved literally probably 20 times over the years. Even the original bench is in good condition, amazingly.
It wasn't even significantly out of tune in the middle ranges - but every time I've had it tuned over the years, they've always told me that. But it was definitely sounding "tinny" to me, especially in the higher notes. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up - LOL.
Also, the bench was creaking, which I hadn't even really noticed, but the piano tuner noticed immediately, and he also immediately fixed it. WOW - between the tuning and the non squeaking bench, I feel like a new woman! I've been pounding away on it since then - trying to really nail a piece that I've just tinkered around with in the past - time to get serious about it. Why, I don't know - but why not!
The thing that has really surprised me is that I haven't had any broken strings or loose felt pads, but like you say, Yamaha is a sound investment. When the piano tuner was out the other day, he was talking about how unusual it is to have a piano this old with nothing seriously wrong with it, and I said, "How much do you charge to restring a piano?" and he said, "Don''t worry about it - you're nowhere near needing that."
My daughter has a Yamaha electric piano - high end as well - that sounds and feels just about like a "real" piano. It's best for them because they are a military family. I told her when she was looking "Don't settle - and just go ahead, bite the bullet and buy that Yamaha." She's had it about 8 years now and still loves it.
And when her kids come over, they have no trouble adjusting to the upright, non electric piano too, so that's nice.
I just can't go there - but I admit it's partly because I am emotionally attached to my piano. I have very fond memories of listening to my dad play when I laid in bed at night, and I did the same for my kids, who often remind me of those times. Good times...
Musical Training as a Building-Block for Other Skills?
The remarks about musical experience at a young age, for improving memory and other mental and hand-coordination skills, are very interesting to me. I started typing at age 5 and took lessons on that other keyboard instrument, the accordion, beginning when I was 8. Later, I was able to get the best comprehensive test scores in school and the Mathematics section was my strongest. I could beat everyone at blackboard competitions, when in the 7th and 8th grades.
In the Army, I tied with another trainee for the best score in pistol-shooting and had always been good at hitting shots with a basketball. So how much of this could be attributed to what I might have gained from those music lessons and practicing? The sad fact is, that I hated that instrument. The only reason I started with it, was because my parents forced it on me. I regarded it as a form of punishment. But later, even after I gave it up at age 13, I was glad I'd done it, because I knew that I'd gained something important.
I had always disliked being required to play the accordion for guests at home and many times at school. I wanted to spend my time outside with athletic sports. When I essentially gave the instrument to a deserving person 9 years later, I had forgotten how to put on the straps and the scale of notes. But the music was still inside me, even though I'd lost the specific skills to work the keyboard.
In later times, I've gotten a medium-sized glockenspiel (another keyboard instrument) and even before I re-learned how to read music, I could do some good improvisations, as I still had the sense of note patterns and combinations. That part of playing music had not been lost. I've decided to focus on those improvised melodies and develop them, rather than playing music composed by others.
But it's like making artistic sculptures with ice. Once they're played, they're gone, never to be reproduced exactly again. I may do some digital audio recording of them and piece together sections of background music for my Nature videos. The glockenspiel is a sweet-sounding instrument and if you develop the ability to hit those keys just right, almost any well-balanced combination of notes can be pleasing. If you can do well with those small metal keys or bells, as they may be called, the ability could be transferred to the much larger xylophone/marimba/vibraphone instruments, with larger wooden keys and wider, more forgiving sweet-spots.
It also provides a good, very low-cost way of starting with keyboard music. The 32-key glockenspiel I have was sold for about $300. by a name-brand company. But the independent manufacturer kept producing them as a generic item and I got mine for just $100. It came with a tough, ballistic-cloth bag with a shoulder-strap and I can fit it into a large backpack. The keys can be tuned by turning the attaching screws. I experimented with various hammers and ended up making my own out of hardwood maple 1.25" balls and 5/16" and 3/8" hardwood dowels from a building-supply store. I cherry-picked them from a large bin, for straightness. I applied many coats of spray-can lacquer.
Last edited by Steve McDonald; 09-21-2016 at 11:05 AM..
We have a piano but we didn't pay much money for it, it was second hand. I'm guessing the people who sold it, gave us a good deal on it, because they had a difficult time selling it to anyone. Most of the kids around here do sports and don't take music lessons.
The remarks about musical experience at a young age, for improving memory and other mental and hand-coordination skills, are very interesting to me. I started typing at age 5 and took lessons on that other keyboard instrument, the accordion, beginning when I was 8. Later, I was able to get the best comprehensive test scores in school and the Mathematics section was my strongest. I could beat everyone at blackboard competitions, when in the 7th and 8th grades.
In the Army, I tied with another trainee for the best score in pistol-shooting and had always been good at hitting shots with a basketball. So how much of this could be attributed to what I might have gained from those music lessons and practicing? The sad fact is, that I hated that instrument. The only reason I started with it, was because my parents forced it on me. I regarded it as a form of punishment. But later, even after I gave it up at age 13, I was glad I'd done it, because I knew that I'd gained something important.
I had always disliked being required to play the accordion for guests at home and many times at school. I wanted to spend my time outside with athletic sports. When I essentially gave the instrument to a deserving person 9 years later, I had forgotten how to put on the straps and the scale of notes. But the music was still inside me, even though I'd lost the specific skills to work the keyboard.
In later times, I've gotten a medium-sized glockenspiel (another keyboard instrument) and even before I re-learned how to read music, I could do some good improvisations, as I still had the sense of note patterns and combinations. That part of playing music had not been lost. I've decided to focus on those improvised melodies and develop them, rather than playing music composed by others.
But it's like making artistic sculptures with ice. Once they're played, they're gone, never to be reproduced exactly again. I may do some digital audio recording of them and piece together sections of background music for my Nature videos. The glockenspiel is a sweet-sounding instrument and if you develop the ability to hit those keys just right, almost any well-balanced combination of notes can be pleasing. If you can do well with those small metal keys or bells, as they may be called, the ability could be transferred to the much larger xylophone/marimba/vibraphone instruments, with larger wooden keys and wider, more forgiving sweet-spots.
It also provides a good, very low-cost way of starting with keyboard music. The 32-key glockenspiel I have was sold for about $300. by a name-brand company. But the independent manufacturer kept producing them as a generic item and I got mine for just $100. It came with a tough, ballistic-cloth bag with a shoulder-strap and I can fit it into a large backpack. The keys can be tuned by turning the attaching screws. I experimented with various hammers and ended up making my own out of hardwood maple 1.25" balls and 5/16" and 3/8" hardwood dowels from a building-supply store. I cherry-picked them from a large bin, for straightness. I applied many coats of spray-can lacquer.
Interesting post - coupla points:
1. I agree - the glockenspiel is a nice instrument with a sweet sound to it. Not many people have one so congrats!
2. You are probably on to something with the hand/eye/mental coordination thing, because I started piano lessons at age 5 or so and I also, about the same time, started reading without anyone teaching me (yes, that surprised my parents and my kindergarten teacher but I just thought it was what everyone did). Between reading notes and reading words, it all just made sense to me somehow. I think the piano lessons (and parents who read to me a lot and filled the house with books) must have made a big difference.
Fast forward to school and life in general, and I am a really good shot with anything - bow and arrow, gun, basketball, baseball, you name it.
The difference between your story and mine is that I always hated math. I'm not a numbers person at all. That being said, I just "know" some things. For instance, if you want someone to guess the number of beans in a big jar - I"m your girl! When I lived in Europe before the Euro, and traveled to various countries with various types of money, I could always figure the exchange rate within just pennies, instantly, don't ask me how. In real estate, I can easily estimate square footage, acreage, closing costs, etc. But all those types of math are "real" math, not abstract math. Don't give me that abstract stuff!
Lest I sound like I think I'm smart, I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I absolutely SUCKED at Chemistry, and any math beyond the most basic algebra! And I HATED (and subsequently didn't do too well in) any sort of science classes. Even biology, which I actually was interested in, was something I just didn't have a natural affinity for.
So kinda smart and kinda stupid, about like most people, I guess. But I do think the music lessons in my formative years really did my brain some good very early on. By the way, I'm not particularly talented when it comes to playing the piano. I mean, I'm pretty good, but certainly no maestro. Suitable for entertaining myself, pitching in at church, and singing in a choir or small group. When I was really "in practice," I was the music director for a mid sized church, but the very idea of that level of expertise or dedication unnerves me now! Nyahhh, I think I'll just alarm my dogs by playing classical pieces with a lot of fal-der-ra to them! They're not very critical of me.
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Musical Training as a Building-Block for Other Skills?
