Poor Pupil!, A strange kind of practise.... Options

[TSax]

hmmm, maybe I phrased it wrongly in my ignorance. I'm quite prepared to believe that as you advance in piano playing there are subtleties of tone that are brought about by the player rather than the instrument. However, for the beginner making a pleasant, in tune sound on a decent piano is a lot easier than making a pleasant in tune sound (in fact any sound sometimes) on a flute/clarinet/saxophone/oboe/violin etc

I'm not trying to start a which instrument is better/more difficult thread here, just pointing out one of the differences between the different instrument families that hadn't occurred to me until recently.

[sbhoa]

I wasn't really trying to start an arguement (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)
It's just been a bit of a problem I've had recently.
I agree that from the beginner point of view tone quality isn't a major issue for pianists.

[Roseau]

hmmm, maybe I phrased it wrongly in my ignorance. I'm quite prepared to believe that as you advance in piano playing there are subtleties of tone that are brought about by the player rather than the instrument. However, for the beginner making a pleasant, in tune sound on a decent piano is a lot easier than making a pleasant in tune sound (in fact any sound sometimes) on a flute/clarinet/saxophone/oboe/violin etc

I'm not trying to start a which instrument is better/more difficult thread here, just pointing out one of the differences between the different instrument families that hadn't occurred to me until recently.

Having watched my two daughters I think the major advantage of the piano when young children start an instrument is that it is always there and immediately playable. When my elder daughter started the cello aged six and a half she was incapable of getting the instrument out by herself and she didn't have enough strength to unscrew/screw the endpin. These days she can get it out (although usually asks me to do it as I am quicker) but also needs to get the stool to sit on, the plank she rests the endpin in and the music stand and all these have to go away when she finishes. My younger daughter can just sit down and play (and does so everytime she walks past the piano).

[sbhoa]

Yes, I suppose that having to get out the instrument and put it away afterwards can sometimes seem like too much bother. I notice that with the clarinet even though i tend to leave it out on the stand I still have to take it apart and swab it out after playing.

[TSax]

That's true, but I wonder if longer term, the ritual of setting up and putting away an instrument can help with doing more focussed practice. I know that for me, while I'm setting up my sax, sorting out the reed etc I think about what I'm going to practise and what I'm trying to achieve. While I'm packing away I think about what did/didn't work during the session and what I want to practise at the next session. Sometimes I even write it down!

[Roseau]

That's true, but I wonder if longer term, the ritual of setting up and putting away an instrument can help with doing more focussed practice. I know that for me, while I'm setting up my sax, sorting out the reed etc I think about what I'm going to practise and what I'm trying to achieve. While I'm packing away I think about what did/didn't work during the session and what I want to practise at the next session. Sometimes I even write it down!

I think you're quite right but not when you're six and a half! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[nannyjay]

I realise that I have come rather late to this discussion, but I would like to stick up for the poor parent, here.

It's not every parent who is musical or has any musical training. I have recently been looking for a 'new' second hand piano, and have read so many adverts that my brain was reeling. However, the one thing that I noticed everyone who owned an 'old banger' said in their adverts was words to this effect 'Antique piano, needs TLC, suitable for a beginner'.

No why, oh why, would a piano in such condition be suitable for anyone at all...especially a beginner who needs encouragement with a lovely sound and keys which work well, not an old thing bought for a tenner and never likely to see good days again. The wording of the adverts is likely to make the parent who doesn't know think that this piano will do the job.

[Melody Amour]

Having read these replies, I feel quite spoilt. When I got my first piano, I arrived home from school, and there it was in the lounge as a surprise.

[Mrs KW]

I'd like to stick up for parents here. Children are used now to having a go at something and deciding whether they want to stick with it a few months down the line. When your child has started (and finished) Guides/swimming/football/dancing, then you may be nervous about a big investment in a new instrument.

Before I take on a new pupil, I check whether they have anything to play on at home. Usually there has been a piano, but a couple of pupils have started on the keyboard, and after a term or two when they're still really into the piano, have gone out and bought a proper piano. The transition for them is quite tricky as the action feels very heavy for them, but after a couple of weeks they've managed to adjust.

As for myself, I started lessons aged 9 and we didn't have an instrument in the house so I had a cardboard cut-out keyboard and practised on the kitchen table! The school let me practise on the school piano at lunchtimes, and after a month or two my parents forked out on a piano. I tell my pupils they're lucky if they have a keyboard to start with compared to my bit of card !!

Thanks

Karen (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Suepea]

One of my young pupils who came today has been complaining for the last couple of weeks about her piano at home. She says she cannot tell if she is playing correctly or not as if she plays what she thinks are the right notes on the keyboard the music comes out sounding wrong, and if she plays it to sound right (more or less!) she is using the wrong keys and the wrong fingering. The piano certainly needs tuning - she tells me it hasn't been done for ages and she keeps asking her mum to have it done. I asked if there might be a piano at school that she could use, but she is a discerning young lady and hates playing the school piano (she tok part in a concert there recently) because she says it sounds and feels dreadful compared with mine - "all light and tinkly, not with lovely deep notes like yours has got". I pointed out that though she might not like the tone at least it would be in tune! I mentioned the problem to her father when he came and gave him the phone number of my piano tuner. I know the parents were considering buying a digital piano, and if they aren't prepared to keep the acoustic piano in good order (I know this is an old one and possibly not very good) this would be much better than the child struggling with what she has got. She's very keen and plays well - it must be so discouraging.

[amanda41]

I've just noticed this thread has been updated again!

That's good timing, as the pupil I was talking about originally has recently been given a new digital piano for her birthday (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

She was managing to make progress before, even with the funny keyboard - so now she's flying! I'm so pleased, and I can really hear a difference this past few weeks.

The piano I started on was very old, and went out of tune quickly. I coped with it until grade 6/7, and then saved up for a brand new one - the one I still have.

I was sad to see the old one go though.. You get used to things - and it had character! When we finally moved it, we discovered evidence of resident mice... I thought the pedals were a bit squeaky... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

xxx