Piano lessons

Reading along with interest. Recently mentioned on sozlet stories thread that I had a duh moment about her and music, and want to do something about it.

Since then, she went to ballet class, and when I asked her about it told me about various things and also rhapsodized about the beautiful music the piano player for the class produces.

I do feel like I should be doing something, but am grasping a bit for what.

There was a free upright piano on Craigslist last week!! I seriously thought about it, decided we had no place to put it and it was silly, and passed. <bonking self on forehead>

The Rowland's Music Tutor

http://www.capmusic.com/mt.htm

Makes learning a snap and so much fun, you won't be able to get them off the piano.

And they teach both methods, reading music, and chord theory--that is reading by "ear."

Wow everyone! Thanks for all the great information.

Right now I think Mo is a little young but I think he's getting there quickly. I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said a piano. He turns everything into an insturment so......

That's good to know about keyboards v. pianos -- they certainly are much more portable, affordable and, gasp, headphones!

Try before you buy sounds like a good idea.

I'm going to check out the music tutor. Maybe I can learn to play too!

A friend of mine has two young daughters. When they were three and four and a half, she arranged for a music teacher to come to the house for a half-hour a week. The girls spent ten minutes on piano, ten minutes on voice, and ten minutes on violin.

They then practiced each one for fifteen minutes each day until the teacher came again. I think that went on for two years, when the older one went into full-time (half-hour) lessons in piano and violin (separate teachers).

Of course, those were the most overscheduled kids I ever heard of. They also took dance, drama, and art classes, and were taken by their mom to perform for seniors in a local nursing home... The family also skiied every weekend. Yeesh.

I think you should get a real piano if you possibly have room. Renting month to month won't give Mo time to get used to the critter. While bowing to Panzade's musical expertise, I submit that keyboards are not the real thing. There is a presence to a piano, even a venerable, slightly out-of-tune beast.

Around here, you can get an inexpensive piano for little more than the price of moving it. So he needs a better piano later? Great. His teacher will have one, possibly two great pianos at his studio, so he'll have some practice on a good piano, no matter what. My piano cost $200 at an auction... it's ugly and needs tuning but is always what we turn to instead of the keyboard and the tone is so much better. I believe the keyboard cost more, too.

Example from Craig's List:
Date: 2005-10-18, 8:49AM PDT

Upright 1908 J B Cook and Co. of Boston. Owner going overseas, must move very quickly. Walnut. Intricate carvings. Needs tuning. Keys worn. Ph. (503) 788-8182.
this is in or around SE Portland

I started lessons when I was five with an elderly lady who rented from my parents. I took lessons from several different people, next a young mother with kids my age, then a kind of mean, old lady (not for long), finally I took lessons from local college music professors. I continued until I was seventeen. I'm not a great musician but I am very happy to have that background and often play when I'm alone in the house. I can still play the music I learned way back when plus I can laboriously pick out the songs I want to learn. I had a bang-up wonderful background for everything I did musically (including highschool choirs and small groups, college classes, adult small groups, church choirs and, my favorite, singing in the shower). Maybe Mo'll eventually play the tuba or the violin or sing... but learning music on a piano is basic knowledge.

Don't be the enforcer for practice sessions, his teacher should be in charge of that. Just make sure that there is time available when he can play and don't complain about the noise. Act enthusiastic about his accomplishments.

Like the Suzuki method for violin, I think that if you learn along with Mo, you'll be doing him a real service. Don't worry about performances, try to keep him from recitals... that's the worst part of playing.

Do you know how old Mozart was when he composed and performed his first piece (albeit on a harpsichord)? Five!

I recently read that more college graduates with an undergraduate degree in music are accepted into USA medical schools than any other single degree. (I can't remember where I read this, probably some music school propaganda sheet.)

Piff, no one needs to bow to me for I am not a trained pianist although I do play professionally. And I agree that a real piano is preferable as you said.

The saddest thing that happened to me was that at the age of 11, with two years of training under my belt I decided I wanted to play jazz and blues and my teacher told my mom she couldn't help me anymore. If I'd gotten some encouragement...who knows?

My brother, sister and I all started taking piano lessons at the same time. I was in 5th grade, sister was in 3rd grade, brother was in 1st grade.

5th grade was too late for me. I took for three years, then just as I was becoming proficient I hit the boy-crazy years and lost interest in everything except the telephone.

1st grade was too early for brother. He didn't have the fine motor control to be able to make his hands do what he wanted them to do. All he could do was pound on the keys rhythmically. After a couple of years of frustration, he quit and never looked back.

3rd grade was the perfect age for sister. Her handwriting proved she could control her hands, and she was tall enough to reach the pedals. Also, her hands were large enough to span an octave (this is necessary for a lot of things.) She thrived. By the time she hit her teen years, she had so many years of accomplishment behind her that she couldn't live without it. She became a professional musician. I am exceedingly proud of her.

Because of our experiences as children, I decided to wait to begin my son's piano lessons until he was in 4th grade. Boys don't develop fine motor control as quickly as girls. I think I chose the right time. He was able to control his hands well, and he had developed enough internal discipline to practice well and regularly. He has done very well in the past two years and wants to continue. His teacher says he is now playing pieces that most students don't master until 3-4 years of playing. This is giving him a lot of confidence.

It is important, in terms of musical education, to instill a healthy respect and admiration for a quality instrument. This is not likely to happen with a cheap keyboard, but the appeal of digital pianos/keyboards is not to be denied to children who have grown up with computers and video games. We opted for a digital piano...a Yamaha Clavinova. It wasn't cheap, but it was less than a traditional piano. It also never needs tuning, can be placed anywhere in the house, is easy to move, has recording capabilities (very handy for practicing, too) and has volume control & headphones. He loved all the different "voices," and being able to change to sound to mimic a Gregorian chant or an electric guitar certainly has made practicing more interesting for him and increased the time he spends at the piano.

In fact, my sister fell in love with the Clavinova when she visited last fall and promptly traded in her traditional piano for one when she returned to Seattle. And our local university, which has a nationally ranked music department, has now bought them for all their practice rooms. The sound quality is identical to a grand piano at a fraction of the cost. Plus, they're saving a ton of money on tuning.

In short, I'd say invest in something worth playing. And don't be in too big a rush to start lessons. I notice panzade was the same age as my son (9) when he started playing. And he's still at it!

BAD teacher! BAD teacher! <raps hands with ruler>

My son has the option next semester of taking "Rock & Pop Music" as an elective at school and learning to play an electric keyboard that way. He's very excited about it, and I think it's great. He'll still get the classical training from his regular lessons, plus this on the side. His piano teacher, by the way, is all for it. I like her attitude. Too bad your teacher was so narrow-minded.

I trust you've made up for lost time, though?!

Great input and insights. Thank you!

You've given me a lot to consider.

I agree that a real piano has a presence that a keyboard doesn't. There is something kind of comforting about having a piano in the house.

But Eva makes a good point too about kids and their new-fangled contraption minds!

It seems like it really is hard to know when is the right time for any particular kid. I was thinking sooner rather than later but I do see how failing to have the coordination could be very discouraging to a kid.

I do think that Mo is too little right now but this would be a good time to educate myself on options and the wheres and whys of lessons. All of this advice has really helped me understand the right kind of questions to ask.

Piffka, my mother too often played when "she was alone in the house". She was embarrassed that she didn't play well so she would never play for us. Little did she know that if we came home and heard her playing we all stayed out on the porch so we could listen. We loved to hear her play.

Maybe that's why I find a piano so comforting.

A friend sent me this link this morning - made me laugh, but also reminded me of this thread:

http://www.rolluppianoman.com/

Another free piano on Craigslist! Should I get it?



FREE, mind you!

(I've asked for dimensions... may have somewhere to put it. We have a little toy piano and sozlet was playing "scary music" with a faraway look in her eye last night...)

...why not, eh? you can always give it away..

I'd have a hard time resisting.

Do you know anyone who plays who you could drag along to offer advice?

That's what I'm thinking...

Will find out how big it is and how far away the person is and go from there.

I don't think so... might have E.G. ask various grad students.

Also not sure if there is competition for it. It was posted a couple of weeks ago, I noticed it a few days later and asked if the person still had it, then just got the response that yes, he still has it -- but dunno if other people responded too and if one of them may swoop down and grab it. (Noted because I am suddenly feeling very possessive...)

Well you did call "dibs" on it so you have a right to feel possessive!

I don't know enough about pianos to know if they're all fixable/tunable/whateverable or what the costs might be to do that sort of thing.

But a FREE piano! That's pretty cool.

"Recently professionally tuned"!

I'd go get it!

Where to put it is the rub -- is the dining room too weird?

I'm having a hard time not bombarding this guy with emails -- "Hello? I want your piano! Hello! Can I come get it? Hellooo!!"

These days those old pianos are being abandoned in houses when people move. Most of them are worth less than nothing.

My advice, don't go for the bait.

If the sound board is cracked, you would never be able to fix it.

If it's just a matter of new strings and you need about 10 of them? Well, there $65 ea. so there's $650.

To move it? At least $200.

You'll need to retune it after you move it, too.

Every second year they need to be regulated. I'll bet the current owners never did it once.

They can weigh about 800 pounds. A huge burden.

For $600 you can get an electric piano that never needs tuning, new strings, regulated, and you can move it yourself.

Check with google. There's a site that can give you the background of the makes of those old pianos and even the estimated value.

Most of those older names made in the U.S ... those companies were bought out. Their names were fleeting and have less-than-no value.

The big clunky upright is just too huge to take a change with.

I recently got a Kohler Campbell off of craigslist. A terrific manufacturer. That company pioneered mass producing pianos in the US, but they never compromised quality. It's said that a Kohler Campbell is worth a Steinway at twice the price.

For example, they use only spruce in their sound boards, cut only in the winter, because the wood is harder and they will hold up. And hold up they do!

Mine is a beautifully crafted, one of a kind, custom cabinet. Made in 1985. Moth proofed and tropicalized. Tuned once a year and recently regulated. In mint condition musically, with only a few minor dings to the gorgeous cabinet.

And, most importantly, it's a console, not an enormous bulkly studio upright, which is probably like the one you are considering.

The online value of mine was 2,200 without considering the custom cabinet and features. So it's probably worth 3,200 ... and musically, the equivalent of a Steinway at a value of 4,400.

I paid 900 plus 200 to have it moved.

Now, saving up for the turning.

Because I'm broke. It's every dime I could scrape and borrow.

My pearl of great price.

You can always send over a piano tech to evaluate your find. They generally charge 75 to 100. And you should with any used piano.

I've had five pianos pass through my life. The last one was a clunky old upright I bought for 150. It cost me $650 to have it fixed up, but it really was an amazing instrument. ... through quite UGLY.

I was very happy with it.

Happy hunting!