[CAUT] Teaching studio pianos

[Zeno Wood]

Also: If practicing is allowed on the concert or teaching studio pianos, the
students only gain a handful of pianos to practice on, which is unlikely to
make the difference between the (greater) demand and the (lesser) supply.
They'll STILL end up without enough pianos to practice on.  It's not
*the*answer, it's not even
*an* answer.

-Zeno Wood

On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 1:09 PM, Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu> wrote:

>
>        Yes, obviously the demand is greater than the supply, and something
> has to give, and that something is quality. But the quality of the concert
> instrument is so important that it should be protected as much as possible
> (while serving the real needs in terms of performance and rehearsal).
>        It might help to give some perspective on the intensive needs of the
> concert instrument in terms of technician time. A couple examples:
>        I have asked several top concert techs, who travel around the world
> prepping for competitions and for particular artists, how much average time
> they spend on an instrument, assuming the instrument is already in what is
> usually considered adequate concert hall condition. The answer is generally
> two days, and they are apt to be hard, 12 or more hour days, to take the
> piano up another level.
>        A second thought is how much of your time is allocated to the
> concert instruments compared to others. I don't keep detailed notes, but I
> expect I spend over 10% of my time on my two, which means I could handle
> maintaining 20 pianos at that level. Hmmm, do the math. Does it make sense
> to put more pressure on these high maintenance pianos?
>        And another thought is that a concert piano, well prepped,
> represents an investment of many more hours of time than any other
> instrument. Every hour of use requires some proportionate amount of time to
> counteract the wear. You have a lot invested, and it should be spent wisely.
>
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
> fssturm at unm.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
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