Is the piano a dying breed? I hope the topic belongs at this forum.

[music32]

In this writing, I posed some questions that may not have easy answers.

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/is-the-piano-a-dying-breed/

With the preponderance of digitals out there including very expensive technology (DGB Disklavier, Markiii)  CV_503, Roland, etc. I'm wondering what the consequences are for the acoustic piano.

This blog coincided with the announcement that Fresno Piano, our local dealership would be closing. The place was basically an institution for decades. It joins California Piano, and Visalia Piano Gallery in biting the dust.

[stevebob]

Brick-and-mortar retailers of all kinds are closing as they cede market share to online resources, but it's inescapable that changing tastes and priorities are a factor as well.  When I was growing up, every town seemed to have at least one music store where pianos and other instruments were sold.  When I moved to New York City in the mid-1980s, there were several retailers of sheet music (including stores operated by G. Schirmer and Carl Fischer); Patelson's was the last to survive, and it folded a few years ago.

The New York Times ran a story a while back about how our cultural norms for entertainment have evolved since the days when pianos were at the center of a family's social life.  There were no surprises or revelations, but it was a nice read (and a reasonable account of changing times).  I've wondered if even books and newspapers are becoming endangered species.  I guess that's good for trees. 

I think there will always be niche interests and niche markets, though.  Classical music itself is already one.

[alessandro]

?! --- I don't know if the living piano would be pleased to be compared to or called "breed" ?   The salesnumbers for piano's, or piano-shops, could be indeed in decline.   But I don't think this more "economic" figure should be linked to the 'state of health' or the life of the piano itself.   Maybe on the contrary.   There is still a genuine interest in the instrument, at least here in Belgium, used piano's are exported by benevolant people to Africa, piano-acedemies have lots of students, there are some very nice (young) new piano-builders out here.  I cannot give a good answer to this question "is the piano an dying breed ?" but I tend to say no.

I do think that the way the piano is studied by young people changes.   There is not as much focus, not as much detail in the study of the piano as before.   On the other hand, I think young people now can quicker improvise and have a broader and more free approach of the instrument.   And, maybe a little bit more on topic, I do think that the piano is breaking out of his "bourgeois" shell.   The time that every metropolitan flat, studio, appartment had this kind of piano "furniture" in the living-room, is finished.   There are probably a lot of small piano-businesses that are "dying", small piano-factories that are closing, the variety is narrowing, but other dedicated pianomakers, builders and restaurers are born.


Long live the piano.

[keys60]

Digital pianos are becoming quite popular. IMHO, they are not out pacing acoustics.
Pianos last a long time. There are so many preowned pianos around. Piano rebuilders are getting better at the craft. Hmmm.....65k for a Steinway M of a superbly rebuilt for 25-35K? Lets do the math. I think preowned are Stienways worst enemy.

  A Steinway shop on Long Island needed to sell one piano to make enough profit to pay the rent of their huge commercial space. They closed down. They did eventually reopen in another town in a smaller space, but they really aren't selling much.

[music32]

SteveBob when you mentioned Patelson's I felt a heart throb. That was one of my favorite stores where I purchased so many Urtext Henle editions recommended by my late teacher, Lillian Freundlich. I knew the owner, Marsha Popowitz, who was quoted and covered in the NY Times article upon the establishment's closing. She was a cellist when I met her at the NYC HS of Performing Arts. Here in Fresno, our sheet music institution, Miller closed down, so the last bastion of hard copy music is Clovis music center, a bit off the beaten path. There's no doubt that in this arena of commerce, Online sources are dominant.

On the issue of the piano and changing purchasing trends, I can honestly say that more of my students are going the digital keyboard route, because of space considerations, expense  (and we all know that there are fine used pianos that match prices of Casio and other digitals,and are even less $$$) The lure of the shiny new digital, that never needs tuning is seemingly a big enticement and attraction. Yesterday I was over at Fresno Piano, which is closing out, and most customers were hovered around the digitals which are hyped more than the acoustics.

I'm sure the Clavinovas moved since they are the group teaching vehicles. For me, there was one Steinway B in the parlor area that I would hunger to have.. but in the 100K range and not attainable. It was, in my opinion, the best instrument in the house, hands down.

Long live the piano and the niche market.

https://arioso7.wordpress.com

[keys60]

Off topic, yes, Patelsons is missed. My wife works at Carnegie Hall and it was so convenient for her to walk across the street to buy my daughters cello and piano music. I guess its back to online sheet music sites. Which is probably what helped put them out of business in the first place. Its getting to be a cold world.

[richard black]

The heyday of the piano is long, long past. Unfortunately, its decline continues, in the West at any rate (I gather one can't say that of China). Luckily, there are still plenty of enthusiasts who will keep it alive for a while yet. And yes, I agree that the quality of old instruments is a problem for makers of new ones. I am the proud owner of a 120-year-old Bechstein which I would not necessarily swap for a brand new instrument of any make.

[john90]

It is thankfully changing, dying back, not dying out. The piano is still a new instrument, that muscled in and distorted the whole scene early on. In the digital age it has brilliantly adapted as the stage piano to almost totally dominate digital music.

My local acoustic piano shops have already gone, reflecting the large number of apartments in the area. Out of my son's friends at the local school, I don't know any family with an acoustic piano at home, but the long established music school has practise rooms with two uprights in each, all very nice new Steinway, Bluthner, & top european makes that seem to be swapped out regularly. 18 months+ waiting list for piano lessons, with a few kids we know on it, others that didn't bother because of the length of the wait.

[soitainly]

 Dying is not the right word, I doubt acoustic pianos will ever go away. It's just that for the vast majority of people, a digital is more practical for many reasons. For $1000 you can get a really good digital, I doubt you could get an acoustic piano with a comparable sound for anything near that. The logistical problems of something weighing several hundred pounds and sounding like crap vs. somethimg weighing 50 pounds and sounding pretty darned good just a no brainer. For all but the performing artist or wealthy amatuer, a digital just seems to make more sense.

 For me it was a matter living in an apartment, there is just no way I could have a piano. I actually wanted to play 25 years ago and took a group class at a community college. I couldn't practice unless I went to the school so that didn't last very long. They had keyboards back then, but nothing that sounded good or played well. I have yet to play a real piano that sounds as good as my Yamaha P-120. Granted all I have ever seen are really bad pianos, out of tune to downright broken, but the general public just doesn't have access to a Steinway.

Also, for the average amatuer recordist, the digital is going to be so much easier. It sounds good right out of the box. It would take a great room, pro equipment, and lots of smarts to be able to get any recording to sound good even on the best of pianos. Just go to YouTube and listen.

 I am not trying to condemn acoustic pianos by any means, for those that can afford them and have a place to play them then I am sure the benifts of a great piano outweigh the digital. But increasingly the digital is going to become the instrument of choice for all but professional classical pianists.

[richard black]

It would take a great room, pro equipment, and lots of smarts to be able to get any recording to sound good even on the best of pianos

No, all it takes is an Edirol or Zoom recorder (or similar) costing $200-$300 dollars - and a bit of common sense.

I have yet to play a real piano that sounds as good as my Yamaha P-120. Granted all I have ever seen are really bad pianos, out of tune to downright broken....

They must have been in pretty bad condition to sound worse than a P-120. And of course a bad-condition piano can usually be repaired. A bad-condition keyboard is often irreparable - I speak as someone capable of fixing both breeds, but if you can't get replacement parts for a keyboard, for all practical purposes you're stuck. This is something people tend to overlook in buying a keyboard - life expectancy is in the order of a decade, while a real piano can go on for a century with just a little servicing now and then.

[keys60]

Digitals will never produce the overtones and harmonics of a good acoustic. I also believe the purists will remain, despite the growing popularity of digitals. They definitely have their place in the world for price, size and convenience. Years ago the spinet way outsold big uprights and grands. Lets face it. Like the digitals, they were small, pretty and cheap. A real P.I.A. to tune by compared to their larger bretheren, but that's the tuners problem. The average blue collar will dictate to the world what's popular, since there are more of us than white collar. 

[Derek]

Maybe the clavichord will take the place of the piano as the affordable, space efficient, non neighbor bothering, non family rattling acoustic instrument of choice in the future