Practicing on a not so good piano: was RE: tax deductions?

[David Andersen]

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> I would say that the idea that practicing on a not so great piano makes y=
ou a
> better pianist is at least counterintuitive, at most, pure BS.  Much of
> learning and refining piano skills has to do with developing your sense o=
f
> hearing and connecting what your hands do to what your ears hear.  It is =
not,
> afterall, the same as learning to type.  The poorer the piano, the more y=
ou
> learn to not listen, to ignore what you hear and therefore surrender cont=
rol
> over what you are trying to accomplish musically.  Wondering whether the
> mechanical problems you are encountering in executing a difficult passage
> belong to your fingers or the action can only serve to confuse the issue =
more
> and force you into some bad habits with respect to relaxation that will n=
ot
> serve your technique or tone production at all.   And as far as advocatin=
g
> poorer pianos for our adult piano students to improve their technique=8Awel=
l
> that would be counterproductive.  Remember, critical thinking is a privil=
ege,
> not a right.  You have to earn it.
> =20
>=20
> David Love

Bravo. Fascinating topic.  Have talked to so many concert & jazz pianists
about this; they almost have to armor up with a kind of grief, I guess, and
just go ahead and attempt to enable and create beauty on a
less-than-good-sounding-and-feeling piano. It injures, IMO, their ability t=
o
be vulnerable enough to really FEEL any piano they play.  It=B9s a problem
that literally no other instrumentalist deals with, and it adds to the fear
of understanding how a piano works, or even disdain for the mechanical
nature of the instrument---why else would an artist resolutely refuse to
find out how a piano works after playing it for years or decades?

Food for thought....

All the best.....

David Andersen

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