Practicing on a bad piano

[Robert Scott]

Mr. Scherer writes:

>I recently did a research project on how having a bad piano affects the
>practicing habits and attitudes of young piano students. My survey revealed
>that students with poor pianos are more likely to:

>* practice less than 30 minutes at at time
>* only practice 3 days per week or less
>* have to take piano lessons for more years in order to reach a desired
>proficiency 
 [...snip...]


  While these seem like logical common-sense conclusions, I am
skeptical that a statistic study can rigorously support them.  What
most passive surveys do is find correlations.  Correlations are
not the same thing as cause and effect.  For example, Mr. Scherer
implies that having a bad piano _causes_ poor proficiency progress.
But isn't is also true that making good progress causes the
purchase of a better piano?  In fact, this kind of reasoning can
be applied to most of Mr. Scherer's conclusions.  If someone is
ambitious and hard working, he will practice more than 3 days per
week, practice for more than 30 minutes at a time, _and_ he
will be the kind of person who will do whatever it takes to get a
better piano.  On the other hand, if you take someone who is
lazy and not well motivated to learn music, he probably will not
push for a better piano.  So the correlation is established, but
not the way Mr. Scherer implies.

  There is a way to test Mr. Scherer's conclusions, and if he
did his study this way, then he has every right to claim what
he claims.  That way is to _give_ good pianos to a randomly
selected group of people who have poor pianos.  Then you 
watch their progress compared to a randomly selected control
group of people who also have poor pianos but who are not
given better ones.  This is an expensive study!  But how else
can you determine what is causing what?  If you just go around and
ask what kind of pianos people have and then follow their progress,
you might be measuring how musical ambition affects piano
purchasing decisions rather than how piano purchasing decisions
affect musical progress.

  But if you don't care about scientific accuracy but just want
some pseudo-science to support the sale of a product in which
you have a vested interest, then by all means, buy a copy
of Mr. Scherer's study.

Robert Scott
Detroit-Windsor Chapter, PTG