Piano Bench Height

[Elwood Doss, Jr.]

There is one of the pianists, a male, who refuses to play the Baldwin SD-10
because it is too short.  He always requests the Steinways because of the
height.  His reason for disliking the SD-10?  He can't get his knees under
it and it's uncomfortable to play.  Go figure!

BTW, the SD-10 is around 1 1/4" shorter than the Steinway.

Joy!
Elwood

Elwood Doss, Jr., RPT
Piano Technician/Technical Director
Department of Music
145 Fine Arts Building
University of Tennessee at Martin
Martin, TN  38238
731-881-1852
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "FRANCES HELMS" <fhelms@topeka.k12.ks.us>
To: <terry@farrellpiano.com>; <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: Piano Bench Height


> Well, pianists aren't reaching up inside the piano or leaning over the
> top.  They usually sit back quite a bit farther that a tuner.  Their
> feet are just on the pedals, with the heels anchored on the floor.
> There's no reason for them to have their legs under the piano.  If they
> did, they'd be too close to play comfortably.
> Fran Helms,
> Piano technician,
> Topeka, KS
>
> >>> "Terry" <terry@farrellpiano.com> 03/30/05 6:34 AM >>>
> I service a couple dozen grand pianos at frequent intervals that are
> played by professional pianist - Piano Bar-type settings. Each time I
> service the pianos (every two weeks), the adjustable benches are cranked
> all the way to the maximum height position (the top of the seat is maybe
> an inch below the bottom of the keybed). I crank the seat all the way
> down so my legs fit under the keybed so I can tune the darn thing - then
> two weeks later, the benches are always all the way up again.
>
> Why does a piano player do this? Where do they put their legs? Maybe
> the players are really small people who sit Indian-style - but then how
> do they use the pedals?
>
> What gives?
>
> Terry Farrell
>
>