Students with crap pianos

[joyfulmusic]

I have a rather talented student - 8 years old.  Her mom bought a piano on Ebay pleasegawd.  It is junk.  Now I suffer through her lessons every week.  Her Dad thinks he can "fix" it.  he has so far made the bench higher with two by fours under the cushion, replaced the pads on the hammers, tuned it himself with an oscilloscope (and of course broke a string).  Does anyone else suffer with the instruments children are forced to endure?

[penguinlover]

At least he has a piano!  One of my students only has an electronic keyboard.  He is in level four now, how he got that far I will never know.  He has very little finger strength.

[maryruth]

Most students I know have terrible pianos compared to mine.  I think the $100 100-year-old never been tuned piano is quite common.  The thing is, until parents hear my piano they don't know there's is a piece of junk!

My piano technician has been to several of my students homes to tune these monstrosities.  I hear the details.  I have one student that the technician told that he wouldn't tune it because they'd be wasting their money.  He did clean the toys out and unstick some of the keys. 

Then I had one poor little guy who played with so much tension.  I found out why after the tech got done with their piano.  The poor piano was practically siezed up!  The piano tuner actually told them they'd been wasting their money on piano lessons!

[kghayesh]

OMG, what about this. Teachers with crap pianos

The pianos at the center where i take my lesson are terrible. Soft pedal is not working and you can never get the correct touch ever because the piano is just a too old instrument. Even the concert grand in the hall they have, it has a touch very similar to an electronic keyboard although it has a nice sound. I have a much much better piano at home.

[maryruth]

OH, that's worse yet....but it does happen.

[princess_moose]

You'll find a lot of students with crap pianos. At least they have a piano and not just a keyboard.

My piano is really old, cheap and crap but I am still glad I have it. I can't afford, and nor can my parents afford a new one, especially as it is not my main instrument.

Pianos can get very expensive these days and it's not possible for every student to be rich and have concert grands  .

[maryruth]

Old upright in working condition that keeps a tune still is one thing.  If all of my students had even that I'd be a happy camper.  I don't expect concert grands.  However, when the piano is so old the tuner refuses to tune it--or not all the keys work--or it's filled with candy--or it's missing keys....well, that's another story all together.

I WOULD rather have my students have an old tuneable upright than a keyboard any day....For some, though, I might recommend a digital piano with weighted keys and a sustain pedal, if they have a little money to spend.  At least those are always in tune! 

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

It is easy for us to say, that the students should have better pianos. Who shouldn't? Pianos are very expensive, and so is tuning regularly. Not every one can afford them and it is alot better for a student to have a cheap piano than to not have one at all. There are alot of students who never do any practice, but get really expensive grands from their parents. And of course there are many students that do want to learn, but can't, because of family budget. To me that's unfair, of course.

[penguinlover]

I agree with you.  Life so often is unfair.  Kind of puts it into perspective and grateful for what we have.

[ada]

Haha the way this thread showed up on my screen I thought it was "students who crap pants". Maybe someone should start a thread on this topic

ingagroznaya sounds like a bit of a dragon, I bet plenty of her students crap their pants

(no offence inga  )

[bartolomeo_]

Since you can buy a reasonably playable piano for less than the cost of one year of lessons, I would conclude that the parents who do such things simply don't understand.

[sportsmonster]

many of the old pianos have annoying keys. keys that get half stuck, or that it takes 3 seconds for it to return to its original key position. i have often ben driven to insanety trying to play la campanella on that. i have actually performed on a piano where keys stay down, makin the audience think that im a crappy piano player. I have also experienced old piano where rats and smaller animals live inside them. you could actually hear noices.

but to have a crappy piano is absolutely better than nothing. it is incredible what people can get used to, in the case of pianos.

once i was stuck with an small version of a funky jazz organ with airpedals. (i almost killed myself) thats when i learned to appreciate my electric piano.

[tompilk]

tell his mum and dad to stop being so tight and buy him a decent piano if they want to see their child improve...
Tom

[debussy symbolism]

Very true about parents that do not care. The worst part is, is that when the child actually does care about learning and practicing, but the parents, whether good budget or bad, by a bad piano.

[sportsmonster]

people that grow up with their pianos often dont realise how bad the piano sounds. Because they have adjusted to it. But if there comes people from the outside ( that has a good piano) They get horrified. And sometimes, the owner of the piano might not understand the  reaction of others.

I think it might be possible that people have a such of bad musical ear that they dont hear the difference.

is it really that expensive to toon a piano? how much does such things cost? I dont know the prices in the other countries.

[joyfulmusic]

I have totally enjoyed the laughter while reading these responses.  Perhaps we should trade most terrible piano I ever played stories.  My personal favorite was a gig I had a Hilton Inn which was pretty good bread.  When I got there I realized the piano label said "jordan Marsh"  for gawdsake that's a furniture store.  Well as you can imagine it played like a piece of furniture.  I pretended it was a piano. 

Then there was the Wurlitzer spinet I taught a child on and actually got her into college as a music major.  Deargawdinheaven it twanged and twanged til my teeth shivered.

[maryruth]

Okay, so I just looked up and read that somebody originally thought this thread was about "students who crap the piano"....or whatever...and I just have to say that my piano teacher said she once had a young girl student that was VERY shy...so shy in fact, that she was too embarrassed to ask to use the restroom and she actually did urinate all over the piano bench because she couldn't hold it any longer!!!!

[sportsmonster]

I also have a death wish for those piano where the upper keys are 5 times as loud as the bottom keys. Man that sounds totally retarded. I have played on those, what a mess.

There is also many pianos with super heavy keys. Try to play revolutionary on those.
Thats like more heavy then the piano itself. A nightmare to perform on with superfast pianopieces.

I have also played on those pianos with thin black keys. Very strange. I can imagine playing chopins black key etude on that.

sometimes i do have a hard time to understand, that some people make and sell recordings made on crappy pianos..sometimes after downloads i get a surprise...hehe.

[johnny-boy]

Nothing is more discouraging to a student than a crappy piano. I've had parents of students say they will buy them a better piano later when they know they're going to "stick with it". Unfortunately a crappy piano is almost a guarantee they’re not going to “stick with it”.

I’ve told parents they can rent (with the option to buy) a decent piano very cheaply.

I had one student bring his keyboard to his lessons. A 32-key Casio – give me a break.

It’s strange that a parent will think nothing of spending $30,000 on an SUV, but don’t want to spend more than a couple hundred on a used piano. Strange priorities. Buy a cheaper car and a better piano for your child. We want to make this a pleasurable experience for your child.

Best, John

[dinosaurtales]

OMG, what about this. Teachers with crap pianos

The pianos at the center where i take my lesson are terrible. Soft pedal is not working and you can never get the correct touch ever because the piano is just a too old instrument. Even the concert grand in the hall they have, it has a touch very similar to an electronic keyboard although it has a nice sound. I have a much much better piano at home.

You took the words right out of my mouth!  I have a good piano, but my teacher teaches on an old Petrof that is sooooooo out of tune and badly voiced that I absolutely cannot stand to hear it.  I play terribly, and sometimes almost can't even tell if I've hit the right note!  I played on another teacher's Steinway, and nailed the same piece the following week.  What a difference having a decent piano made!  I won't have the nerve to say anything, though.

[sportsmonster]

Yes i have found myself in that situation in the early times. I had a suspicion that the piano had been saven from the shipwreck of titanic. But i was to afraid to ask (ops there goes my pianolessons)

[ingagroznaya]

I've got a brand new piano as a kid when I started my lessons, yet I think it is the most bourgeois post I've ever seen.

[pianistimo]

i played on a little spinet for many years.  i never complained because it was pretty.  now, i would never consider buying a piano for looks.  i want to take a look at the engine.  does it work precisely?  does it sound good?  if it looks like crap - that's ok.  i want it to sound good.  maybe i can get a good price on an expensive piano this way.  one that accidentally got a dent on the lid - but plays well?  but, i don't want one of those 'fixer-upper' pianos that has been rebuilt from the ground floor up.  that's like an emergency room procedure on someone who's been shot or stabbed. 

[Tash]

that is the one reason why i don't want to start teaching, cos my piano is shite. i can't stand it, and it's driving me insane these hols. can't wait til i can get back to uni and practice there. man if i taught kids on my piano i'd be worried about teaching them to hear everything out of tune. meanwhile i'm teaching a friend at her place, she only has a keyboard, and then asked me about how to create a good tone. i was like well since you're on a keyboard you can't really think about that all too much!

[sportsmonster]

yes...dont buy a piano in a furniture store