Fred, I could not agree more with your point that the best piano is the best maintained piano. But is inconsistency from one make and model synonymous with "variety"? If there were variation, but all iterations were actually wonderful in their own way (I mean really and truly so, not just in the silver-tongued take of a smooth-talking salesman), OK then. But haven't you had the experience of sitting before someone's brand new S&S which doesn't play or sound well at all, and they are so proud of their acquisition as they ask you, "What do you think?" Alan Eder I have to say that from my experience, what is more important is whether the piano has been well maintained: in good "condition," regulation, voice, tune. Practicing on pianos that are lacking in those respects is definitely a detriment. As for variety, and how that impacts the educational experience, I am certainly in favor of variety (personal experience as a performer/practicer included here). But I must say that I find more variety among pianos within the Steinway line than among pianos in any other line. Some will say that is a defect caused by bad production or design standards. I say it is admirable whether or not it is a "defect," because variety is necessary to the performer. <SNIP> Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut_ptg.org/attachments/20081124/cee3411e/attachment.html>
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