Do pianos "Need" playing?

[sonoferasmus]

Is there an optimal amount of playing time for a good quality piano?  Do concert halls have their pianos "worked out" or exercised? 

I've always heard that a good quality piano is actually better if it is played more often.

Is there a point (5-8 Hours a day?) at which a piano actually wears out?

Our piano technician said that a piano that is played a lot, as long as it is serviced regularly, is better than one that is not played as often.

[iansinclair]

Absolutely.  A piano which just sits gets stiff if nothing else.  There is even a potential for things to get stuck.

Assuming that the piano is properly maintained, as your technician notes, it is much better for it to be played, and I doubt that an individual could (or should!) play a piano enough to wear it out or damage it.

Fortunately, unless something actually does get stuck (which takes a technician to fix) a piano which hasn't been used a lot -- or even at all -- while it will be very stiff at first will (if it is a good piano) free up after a few hours of playing.  Usually...

[49410enrique]

pianos? yes probably as stated above. spinnets? hmm not so much, probably better left unplayed, they're better furniture than than they are instruments most of the time. just put some picture frames on the top, maybe a pretty vase and call it good.

[sonoferasmus]

Absolutely.  A piano which just sits gets stiff if nothing else.  There is even a potential for things to get stuck.

Assuming that the piano is properly maintained, as your technician notes, it is much better for it to be played, and I doubt that an individual could (or should!) play a piano enough to wear it out or damage it.

Fortunately, unless something actually does get stuck (which takes a technician to fix) a piano which hasn't been used a lot -- or even at all -- while it will be very stiff at first will (if it is a good piano) free up after a few hours of playing.  Usually...

Okay, so say a symphony's concert hall has the normal Steinway D but it only gets played in concerts every month or so.
-Do they hire someone to come play it to keep it "in shape"?
-Or do they just have the soloist come in and have to play it until it's not so stiff?
-Would it be to the benefit of above said concert halls to hire someone to come "exercise" their piano for X number of hours every week/month?

[iansinclair]

I rather like the idea of a nice vase on top of a spinet... 

I would be astounded if a concert hall had a Steinway D -- or any other concert grand -- and didn't have a list of individuals who were just waiting to play it.  At least in the places I've been, it would be much more a matter of scheduling practice time on the instrument -- and in some places, setting a suitable hourly fee for the privilege -- than hiring someone to come in!  It would also be gone over by a technician before each concert and tuned and adjusted if it needed it.

Back in the old days, at least in the US, it wasn't at all uncommon for the entourage of a touring soloist to include his or her own technician -- and his or her own piano.  Still may, for all I know.  Depended a lot on the relative stature of the soloist vs. the orchestra!

[justharmony]

In my experience, having traveled lots and faced the challenge of finding pianos upon which to play wherever I find myself, very often those "in charge" are extremely protective of their pianos and seem to feel that anyone (except maybe for the likes of Horowitz or some such) touching said pianos would be a risky or dangerous thing.  Seems the better they think the piano is, the more protective and guarded they are (and often how "good" the instrument is has little to do with actual knowledge or perceptiveness about the instrument, but rather some sort of mystique that's been passed onto them, that once I sit down at said instrument (assuming I get the chance) turns out to be just that - mystique.  It is a rather sad thing, actually, because often such instruments had a chance to be, to remain beautiful instruments, but the same folks who are so zealously protective of their pianos seem also to be the ones who can't find the time or money or whatever to ever have them tuned and maintained.  It used to break my heart.  Sometimes it still does.  But I am so used to it now.   I am surprised when I actually find a decent piano that's in tune, regulated, clearly regularly maintained. 

A few tricks I've learned about finding and gaining access to instruments on which to play, if anyone's interested....

M.

[iansinclair]

just to add to justharmony's comment -- which is sadly true -- I have found two things: first, curiously, the better the operation involved the more likely it is that the instrument will be in good shape, and second, the more likely it is that with a brief audition on some other piano in the system you will be able to play the principle instrument.

I'm not sure why this is true -- but it is very likely that the instrument belonging to the Upper Bottomly Marching and Chowder Society is in much worse shape, and much more fiercely guarded, than one belonging to, say, a quality municipal but volunteer chorus and orchestra, never mind a first-rate professional institution.

Lack of knowledge as much as anything, I suppose...

[justharmony]

Yes, I have found that it is very often best to simply sit down at a piano and play (and act completely ignorant and naive if/when anyone comes racing out of the corners to confront me) than to ever ask first.  This is unfortunate, as my inclination would always be to respectfully request permission, but I find I am much more likely to be shooed out the door without a second thought unless they hear that I can actually play the instrument with respect, at the very least, and reverent joy at best. 

If they still can't hear that or appreciate it, then I'll be shooed out anyway.  I just have to remember that no matter what their reason for doing so, or if they are "justified" or not, ignorant or not, or whatever, that this is their right to do.  I do not own these pianos, but only temporarily "borrow" them, if I am lucky.  Whatever I might think of the establishment, or how they keep their precious (or so-called "precious") instrument, it is still THEIR establishment and THEIR instrument to use (or not) or abuse (or not).  Hard to accept, sometimes, but still true.

Sometimes I get annoyed with myself when I catch myself feeling kind of artistically entitled or something... as if the music, the art supercedes all petty concerns of ownership, power, politics, property.  I may think that way, sometimes but the world doesn't work that way, and it hardly does anyone any good to get annoyed over it. 

I digress...