Just thought I'd mention that I was fortunate enough to be given a piano for free today by a friend of a pupil's parents. This elderly lady needed to make some space in her home and as the piano hadn't been played for nearly 30 years, since her husband died, she had decided to pass it on for someone else to enjoy i.e. me. I went to look at it last week and it turned out to be a really nice 7 octave overstrung Spencer upright by Waddington & Co Ltd in a modern case and dating from 1955. Amazingly it was still pretty much in tune and at concert pitch too. I couldn't believe that she was getting rid of it for free. I asked her if she wanted anything for it but she was refusing payment and just wanted it to go to a good home where it would be looked after and played. I had it delivered tonight by a friend in the music trade and he said that I was very lucky to get it for free, or the cost of the delivery anyway, as it was a nice piano in good condition and he valued it at around £500. It has now joined my collection of a Kurtzweil Digital Piano, Technics KN2000 keyboard, two violins and a Celtic Lap Harp.
At last, I can do some proper practicing on a real acoustic piano. Now where did I put those Grade 8 pieces?

Gae

Ooh very nice indeed. I got my piano for free, same kind of situation, an elderly lady (My Grandad's girlfriend) was downsizing her house and needed to make some space. She also refused payment...

Unluckily mine isn't as good as that, not a concert pitch (it's in Bb) and showing its age (1920s).

But still, it's better than a keyboard!

Enjoy.

I got my piano for free too!

Wow....a piano for free club!

This is fantastic Gae! Hope you enjoy playing it! I must get an acoustic piano too, but it's just the money!

I'm sure you'll have many great times playing on your piano with your grade 8 pieces .. how's it going by the way?

Joy

QUOTE

For fun: clarinet, guitar, recorder and viola

Yes Joy, you need some hobbies with all that free time you have!!


I just played through the Bach, Beethoven and Debussy pieces and noticed the difference, primarily in pedalling and dynamics. The pedalling has to be so much more judicial than with a digital and the acoustic is much louder, relatively speaking, making the quieter sections, especially those marked pp, much more difficult to achieve. Also, the melodic notes have to be given even more weight than on a digital. Whereas I was putting maybe 2/3 times more pressure on the melody line, this has been upped to about 3/4 times now. It's difficult to get just right before it starts to become too loud and noisy though. Overall, an acoustic piano is just so much more sensitive to playing and requires a much more controlled technique than a Digital Piano.
This piano has come at a great time for me as I can now practice my technique more just prior to doing the Grade 8.

Gae

P.S. I had to pop a copy of my Grade 5 certificate in the post this week as the ABRSM didn't have a copy of the original which dates back to the Autumn session of 1990. Apparently, they only started to keep a computer database of Certificates etc after that date.

Have you got a date for your exam yet? Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to get used to playing the pieces on an acoustic piano before the exam.

QUOTE

Have you got a date for your exam yet? Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to get used to playing the pieces on an acoustic piano before the exam

No date yet as I have only just put a copy of my certificate in the post. I know it is sometime in June though. Looking forward to it as I'll be pleased to get an opportunity to finally perform these pieces that I've been playing almost every day for the last 2 months!

Gae

you lot are so lucky! i could sure do with a free piano! any offers?!

liam

Good for you, Gae.

I could do with a similar fairy godmother - my Clavinova developed a slight fault last weekend, and at 10 years old I doubt if I'll have much luck getting it repaired - I understand spares are only stocked for 3 years.

It's usable, but I have to turn off the sustaining pedal function, so limited and I'll need to find a replacement.

Aargh. Suspect my laptop's got a problem too. Come back low-tech solutions!

Enjoy your piano Gae - no, I'm not envious

Maggie

QUOTE (maggiemay @ May 26 2005, 12:26 PM)

Good for you, Gae. I could do with a similar fairy godmother - my Clavinova developed a slight fault last weekend, and at 10 years old I doubt if I'll have much luck getting it repaired - I understand spares are only stocked for 3 years.

A friend of mine always used to say "Japanese and more that five years old....." when he heard of CD players and other such electronics biting the dust.

Their stuff is cheap, high quality, high technology but it just doesn't last.

I've had my Clavinova for nearly 7 years now, no problems so far!

I think you'll find that the quality of digital stuff has gone up so much in the last decade that getting a new one is the only option!!

QUOTE (maggiemay @ May 26 2005, 12:26 PM)

It's usable, but I have to turn off the sustaining pedal function, so limited and I'll need to find a replacement.

Is it a problem with that specific pedal or that something else breaks if the sustain pedal is enabled?

The reason I ask is that on our Clavinova (although it's only about a year old) one can make any of the three pedals be the sustain pedal just by choosing the pedal function on a menu. If yours can do the same (I guess that depends how new the change pedal option is) and it's just the electronics to one pedal that's gone then you may be able to make the middle (or left) pedal into the sustain pedal and decommission the right pedal: I suspect the sustain pedal would be missed more than the other two (although it may leave you with a few confused students!).

QUOTE

one can make any of the three pedals be the sustain pedal just by choosing the pedal function on a menu. If yours can do the same (I guess that depends how new the change pedal option is) and it's just the electronics to one pedal that's gone then you may be able to make the middle (or left) pedal into the sustain pedal and decommission the right pedal

You're absolutely right, in that if this is possible it should solve the problem. I suspect the change pedal option is newer than my instrument, but I will certainly follow it up and find out. Thank you very much!

The problem as it stands is as follows:

When I switch on, the sustain pedal effect is on permanently. I can stop this by holding down the topmost B while I switch on, but then the sustain pedal function does not work at all. Limited, as I said, but heaps better than having a permanently blurred effect! Interested to know if anyone else has had this happen and if they have been able to fix it ... My inhouse technical advisors have checked and it's not a loose connection inside the pedal housing.

I have the name and number of a recommended clavinova repair guy, but I suspect it may not be fixable.

Maggie

QUOTE (Gae @ May 26 2005, 11:00 AM)

QUOTE For fun: clarinet, guitar, recorder and viola Yes Joy, you need some hobbies with all that free time you have!!

Gae.. yeah I am rolling in free time all the time! Lol! Just had my 4 part harmony exam, was ok, as it was in C major and A minor, so nice key signatures, however I could have mucked up the modulation! Oops, still it's done now.

Joy

moving back to free pianos.............. i got my piano a couple of years ago for £100 for this guy who didnt have a clue about pianos (!) and when a guy came to tune the piano he valued it at £2000!!!! It dates back to 1901(nov 5th) it says underneath one of the keeys as you can easily take it apart!

wow! what an investment!

Maggie, sorry to hear about your sustain pedal not working. Which model of Clavinova is it? You can download the manuals at theYamaha website, I'm assuming its a Yamaha Clavinova! Maybe a solution can be worked out from the manual? Is the pedal a seperate one or is it connected as a permanent feature on the piano? The reason I ask is that some of the plug-in pedals have a reversible switch which can be swapped over depending on the current type. I had this problem of the sustain being constantly on with my keyboard but by switching over a button on on the pedal it worked properly. I dont know if yours is the same though.

Gae

Wow! a free acoustic real piano!!
Gae you are very lucky!
I've been told by our piano tutor that our digital piano won't do, and I have to get an acoustic one. Was advised 'preferably a grand piano'!!
Have you seen how much pianos cost! The sky is the limit it seems. We could do with a free piano too.
Anyone got any grand pianos for sale (seriously!)

I have been very fortunate in this instance. I've decided to send a thank you card and enclose the photo below to the Lady in question as a sign of gratitude. At least then she knows that it has gone to a good home as that was her main concern.

Gae

all this talk of acquiring pianos has made me decide its time to start saving for one when i move out. Can't leave my mum with no piano, she would go insane - almost plays it for fun more than i play, working up to my grade 8! Which says a lot.

My Clavinova is fifteen years old and still going strong (hope I haven't just jinxed it!).

Gae - excellent news! It looks a lovely instrument in the picture. Does the lady in question have any clarinets, or even another piano that she needs to get rid of?

QUOTE (Posted by Deborah on May 27 2005 @ 09:14 PM)

Gae - excellent news! It looks a lovely instrument in the picture. Does the lady in question have any clarinets, or even another piano that she needs to get rid of?

Unfortunately, but fortunately for me, the lady in question was not musical at all hence the reason for giving me the piano. Therefore, I doubt very much if she did have any spare Clarinets or any other instruments for that matter!

Gae