Serious question, lightly asked

[Gordon Wilson]

I tell my customers (semi-seriously) that a baby grand is a piano which is
wider than it is long.  i.e. the keyboard width exceeds the depth from a
player's perspective.  Among the average owner, or wishful owner, it seems
to be an affectionate term, used indiscriminately, for any horizontally
strung piano found anywhere other than a concert stage!

Gordon Wilson
gwilson@keyboardstudio.com
http://www.keyboardstudio.com


----- Original Message -----
From: <kam544@earthlink.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, April 16, 1999 11:49 PM
Subject: Re: Serious question, lightly asked


> >...1. Where did/does the name come from?
> >2. What does/did it mean?
> >3. Were/are Wurlitzer Butterfly and Kimball LaPetite "baby grands"?
> >4. Is a five foot grand a "baby grand".
> >5. Is a seven foot grand a "baby grand"?
> >6. At what size is a grand no longer a "baby"?
> >Jim Bryant (FL)
>
> Jim,
>
> Since you asked and FWIW dept, here's what little bit I can offer:
>
> In a 1955 Steinway brochure I witnessed this year, the Model S (5'1") was
> listed in 'rather bold print' as a Baby Grand.
>
> Myself, I interpret a baby grand's length at basically 5' or less..
>
> Keith McGavern
> kam544@earthlink.net
> Registered Piano Technician
> Oklahoma Chapter 731
> Piano Technicians Guild
> USA
> http://www.ptg.org/1999/conv/
> PTG Convention, Kansas City, July
>
>