Are you very protective of your instrument ?

[quasimodo]

Some of you guys have incredibly beautiful grand pianos, so my question to you is are you protective ? Would you allow people to play on it, especially people who are not so good ?  (I guess no one would refuse to let Naida Cole or Hélène Grimaud play on his piano  ...)

[pianonut]

dear quasimodo,

this is my first posting on this forum.  i won't put in the smiley face with the sun glasses, but i will say that despite my being somewhat like "monk" on tv--i have an aversion to dust.  i don't like the lid being up on the pianos at school all the time.  i think, when a person is finished practing, they should put the lid down (at least).  and, i think the keyboards (at all schools) should be routinely cleaned (basic soap/water on paper towel, then "rinse" with wet towel, and dry).

i have often gone into the practice room and gone right back out (from disgust).  the grease and slime feel like someone went in and sneezed on the keyboard, then ate a hamburger, and played a bit.

another pianist told me they bring "wet wipes"  and i think there are some disinfectant ones.  this is really a good idea if you don't want to get sick from playing the piano.  and, i personally believe that the strings do not benefit from dust, and tend to kick the dust right back at you when you play.

[chickering9]

...(I guess no one would refuse to let Naida Cole or Hélène Grimaud play on his piano  ...)

Hélène Grimaud can play my piano anytime. 

I considered this a while back when guests with a three-year-old daughter came over and she wanted to "bang".  At first, I cringed, but after a moment's reflection,
I concluded I'd let her bang away.  Her pounding could never be as forceful as my concluding crescendo in Leucuona's "Malaguena".  And, she comes from a long line of gifted recording artists and if playing my piano inspires her to want a piano and to play later, I'd be quite happy.  (I actually have considered buying the child a piano myself, but the parents don't currently have sufficient space for one.)

(But otherwise, I am horribly finnicky.  I dust every surface inside, outside, and even underneath--including the soundboard under the strings--with microfiber cloth about three times per week and clean the keys after every use and no spiral bound books for me to scuff or scratch the music desk.)

[quasimodo]

Hélène Grimaud can play my piano anytime. 

I considered this a while back when guests with a three-year-old daughter came over and she wanted to "bang".  At first, I cringed, but after a moment's reflection,
I concluded I'd let her bang away.  Her pounding could never be as forceful as my concluding crescendo in Leucuona's "Malaguena".  And, she comes from a long line of gifted recording artists and if playing my piano inspires her to want a piano and to play later, I'd be quite happy.  (I actually have considered buying the child a piano myself, but the parents don't currently have sufficient space for one.)

Wow you're very generous !!!

[chickering9]

Wow you're very generous !!!

Timing is everything.  With me, you've got to catch me on the right day, a day when I've not already been overly generous with myself.  But sometimes making someone else happy is the best way to be happy myself.

[pianonut]

Tell me more about the microfiber cloth.  I really glommed onto that idea.

[Vivers]

I'm not that protective of my piano, I am way more obsessed with keeping everything off my violin. It just seems much more delicate. But nonetheless, there are things that may never touch my piano:

1. Kids with grimy fingers
2. Adults with grimy fingers
3. Chocolate
4. Nail polish
5. Anything else grimy
6. Animals
7. Sharpened pencils
8. Uncapped Pens
9. Toes
10. People who don't actually know how to play piano. Chopsticks does not count as 'knowing how to play piano.' My parents are exempt from this rule.

But people who know how to play, but don't play well are allowed on the grand... depending on my mood. I used to teach a little girl, so she automatically got access to my grand, but on bad days, I prefer those people to stick to the upright.

I did once get blood all over my piano teacher's piano. It was winter and it was very dry outside (it's an icy desert here, with altitude at 3000ft) and my skin cracks a lot. Halfway through playing this one piece, my thumb started bleeding, and it wasn't like I could just stop in the middle and ask for a band-aid....She wanted to take a picture of it to show everyone how she made her students play so much that they bled all over the keys. Mind you, my piano teacher doesn't take that good care of her piano... I think she gets a new one every few years. She has broken 2 strings (don't ask how...) and drops pencils, pens, markers, hi-lighters, paperclips, paper, and other small objects in there. Sometimes, she notices and pulls them out, but other times, you start playing and one key or another buzzes and sticks... Oh well.

[chickering9]

Tell me more about the microfiber cloth.  I really glommed onto that idea.

The microfiber cloth should be used in a very light motion in one direction only--parallel to the grain--to avoid creating scratches.  I have several and always use a clean one each time I dust and if I've had windows open and a significant amount of dust has accumulated, I'll switch to a clean one frequently, even if I have to go through 5-6 to finish. 

If you use an ordinary cloth and follow up with a microfiber cloth, you will be amazed at what the microfiber picked up (you'll see it on the cloth) that the ordinary rag left behind.  It's all the finest of particles of dust, but it's significant in volume, even if the piano looked otherwise *not* dusty.  I simply use them clean and dry. 

If I want to clean the keys, wet one and wring it out well.  They come out of wringing only ever so slightly damp--just right for removing finger oils from the keys.  If you have lots of fingerprints on the piano, it won't hurt to use a damp one on the wood finish either.  To leave it streak-free, follow with a dry one immediately.

But--never apply significant pressure.  Pressure combined with dust, however fine, creates scratches that *will* show up over time as they accumulate.  You can feel through the cloth a slight sense of drag of the microfiber cloth as it goes over the surface and you can judge your pressure well.  Just keep it light.  Lots of places sell them, including most of the big discount variety stores.  And in spite of what some sometimes say, there is virtually no difference between a cheap microfiber and the really expensive variety.  (I worked in the microfibers area of chemical engineering with the single leading expert in the field).

[galonia]

I considered this a while back when guests with a three-year-old daughter came over and she wanted to "bang".  At first, I cringed, but after a moment's reflection,  I concluded I'd let her bang away.  Her pounding could never be as forceful as my concluding crescendo in Leucuona's "Malaguena".  And, she comes from a long line of gifted recording artists and if playing my piano inspires her to want a piano and to play later, I'd be quite happy.

I personally believe in allowing young children to bang at pianos - they should learn not to be scared of the instrument.  I've seen some children who play ever so lightly and never develop any strength in their playing - it's much easier to convince a banger to play with less force than it is to get a timid child to play with more conviction.

And then, a lot of children are actually scared of the way the piano looks, and when you think about it, it makes sense, coz it's got this huge body and a wide mouth and all those nasty looking teeth... I say, let children get friendly with pianos, then wipe down with disinfectant wipe later when they're gone.   

[quixoticcafe]

I am not protective of my piano... just of my organ    lol

[sirpazhan]

4. Nail polish

the worst...

[sirpazhan]

 

[sirpazhan]

4. Nail polish

the worst... 

[jr11]

We have a simple rule about the piano... clean hands, and nothing placed on the cabinet. I am most concerned about damage to the bench from metal fasteners and fittings on clothing. A good player playing energetic fortissimo passages is much harder on the instrument than children or other non-players. A quality instrument is pretty tough, and built to take that sort of energy.

[pianonut]

yes, my bench is broken.  i really want to get an adjustable one, because i kept trying to make my wooden one move around.  it would squeak from side to side and front and back, and finally the hinges popped.  now i have to use a chair.

ps my teacher now says that you don't need to move so much, so maybe i will fix the old bench.  it's really hard to switch styles of playing.  i played with "much feeling" before, then i switched to "playing with feeling with little movement of the body" and now i am semi-meditative (but try to smile every so often).  i suppose if my torso was short enough, i'd use a pillow on the bench to cushion the thing.

[pianonut]

Dear Chickering9,  thank you for your post about the micro-fiber cloth.  I am planning to get some.  And, about how to clean the keys themselves!  It's nice to have a fresh keyboard (and extremely important, in my thinking when you have students).  Eliminates as many germs when you use soap, too.  Gets rid of the grime.  Just a little tiny bit of dish soap in the water that you put (the now micro fiber cloth), squeeze and wipe.  then water (squeeze and wipe) then dry cloth.  Yes, that should do it!