You know you are a piano whore when...

One of life's ironies is discovering that something you thought you did not like was actually something you loved.

Throughout my life, I have pretty much disliked most piano music. I find a lot of it too busy, muddy. But since discovering music a few short years ago, and discovering that my biological parents (I am adopted) were both highly musical, with my birth mother being a talented piano player, I have discovered a strong love for the piano.

Today, I had lunch with a member of the composers forum who happened to live close by. She offered to help teach me more about piano, for which I am most grateful. She asked if I had a piano, which I said, I did, and electric piano. She shook here head and said, "no, you need to play on a real one. You should come by and play on mine, its a Steinway".

I just about sh*t my pants. I rarely get excited about anything, but that offer was as exciting to me as a kid's Christmas. I was at our local Steinway shop recently and was surprised that they cost so much (from 60 to 150 grand). I am afraid I will embarrass myself, though. Its like giving a Stradivarius to a monkey, but hey, even we monkeys sometimes do cool things.

I can't wait.

it's only the top grand pianos that cos so much. she may have an upright, you can get used Steinway fairly cheaply. We used to have an upright Steinweg from the early 20s (when the Steinway/Steinweg (in German) family fell out in the 19th century, the famous one ended up in the States, the rest of the family carried on making Steinweg pianos in Germany...)

janet is right tho, nothing feels like a real piano. if you are lucky enough to play a grand, the bottom end from them is just thunderous!

The main thing with "real" pianos is the weighted keys and the way they feel. And of course, the sound........ Many newer pianos do have weighted keys, but they tend to cost more then the kind like I have..... they have non-weighted keys, and "real piano players" tend to look down on those kind of keyboards.

Jimmy my man, thanks for that. I have been in a funk for a while now now, haven't touched the piano in a month. I had never heard of Joe Sample before, but this guy rocked. Inspiring.

I almost feel like a human being again. Thank you.

This is all very well and interesting and all that.

Enquiring minds want to know the real facts and technicalities of the situation though.....



.....is she a looker?

I just about sh*t my pants.

 
I highly recommend that you not do that when sitting at her Steinway.

I don't really look down my nose at non-weighted keys, but dang if I just can NOT play the things.... However, I also would not consider myself a pianist.  But I can play my songs.

Let me know if you ever find a Bosendorfer to play on.  I'll be truly jealous of you, then. 

OH!  And if you ever do find yourself back in school, and in a music program like you'd mentioned a few weeks back, you'll be surrounded by "real" pianos.  It'll make your knees weak.  :)
 
(edited to say "NOT a pianist"!)

Jules - I had to look up Bosendorfer (too bad they are now owned by Yamaha - is nothing sacred anymore? Must everything now be owned by multinational conglomerates?) Reading the wiki entry, I noticed that they are extended key, designed to accommodate Bach's organ music. That reminded me that yesterday I was dreaming about playing a Casavant. One of the finest Pipe Organs around and made by a company out of Montreal.

Yeah, I must admit, pianos and organs are really turning my crank these days. Strange, as I wanted to be a rock star LOL.

Greg - LOL, I do not think I have heard the word "tinkle" used in that way since I was a kid, heheh. That must have been cool. So many of you guys have some great stories, and I got none. I feel deprived.

Has anyone played the Roland V Piano?

Jeff Evans


Has anyone played the Roland V Piano?

Certainly a cool idea. Takes digital piano's to a new level.

bitflipper

I just about sh*t my pants. I rarely get excited about anything, but that offer was as exciting to me as a kid's Christmas. I was at our local Steinway shop recently and was surprised that they cost so much (from 60 to 150 grand).

A Steinway is a real joy to play, isn't it? Especially if you're accustomed to synth piano-like actions. Wow - infinite velocity layers!

Yeh, Bosendorfer is now another Japanese subsidiary. But the upside is that Yamaha really gets pianos, and make some truly wonderful instruments under the Yamaha name. For a lot less than $60k, too.

If anybody is planning to attend the next NAMM show, be sure to cruise upstairs to the piano room. It's a quiet refuge from the din of the main floor, there are mind-blowing performances happening there, and they have snacks.

Never been a fan of Yamaha's piano sound - too bright for my tastes. Keep in mind I'm comparing them to the Steinway B (nominal 7 footer) I used to play. Now THAT was a honey of an instrument.

What would make me happy is if Steinway would make a keyboard controller based on their piano action. I'm still waiting for a decent action in a weighted piano-style feel keyboard controller. Yamaha's is the pits; I used to like the older Kurzweil (K2000 era) 88 key action. I'd really like to try the KORG OASYS 88 key keyboard but nobody has one local to me.

For the real piano junkies, take a trip to the steinway factory out on Long Island (if it's even still there). Went there in the 70's to pick up a few instruments when I was moving pianos for a local music store. What a rush! Any of the workers there were more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Real nice bunch of people with no egos.

I visited my sister in Elgin, IL. Her husbands mom left him a huge beautiful old Stienway Grand. I couldn't believe my good luck. I nearly s**t my pants at the sight of it. I play on an old sticky key Stuart console at home. I'm mainly a guitar player. I've never even been close to anything so beautiful. I could hardly wait. I sat at the bench. I stretched my hands out. Tried to warm them up. I put my hands on the beginners middle C position preparing to play my best C Major Power Chord. I raise my hand and bring it down on the keys.......nothing. ??? It don't work. I look up at my brother in law. "Yeah, it was my moms. Shes been gone a long time. I should get it fixed huh." 

Hi,
 
At one time, when I was a kid and someone tried to teach me to play the piano in Portugal (worst teacher you ever saw!) ... I did not like it ... but something else was there ... in Brazil I heard Ray Charles play the piano, and it was nice ... but still not great.
 
Years later, keyboards took me, and piano proper was boring, and I was not a fan of Elton John or Piano Man ... they were just entertainers, not serious musicians and their music was about licks ... not music per se ... yes I liked a couple of songs, we all did ... but so what? Beethoven also had a clever hook or melody here and there and so did Satie and Mozart and Vivaldi and everyone else!
 
And then I heard Keith Jarrett ... his early stuff (bop something or other) didn't grab me, and then I heard "The Koln Concert" album and went after other stuff of his ... end of story ... I have no problem with the piano itself ... what I had a problem with was 'the flow" of the music and it's ability to take you away ... if you have the chance catch his video of him playing Greensleeves ... and appreciate pure artistry ... and this is an American guy that is not even appreciated in America for his talent ...because of pop music!
In the end, it is not about the "piano" ... it's about the hands and the heart that tickle it and love it and play it ... and those hands will either take you with ... or not. All instruments are like that ... but in these days, I much prefer a bunch of synthsizers to an orchestra ... I can now see a lot of "garbage" in the playing and behind it which have to do with the personalities involved and the music is often less "centered" because of it ... and you don't have that woth a keyboard player ... one can say that the human element has sometimes made "music" ... but the 20th century concept is changed ... it's now the "individual concept" ... and the "true" composer" ... not just anything else ... so ... yeah, I can appreciate Sandy Denny as well as Kate Bush ... or Madonna and how they use the keys to illustrate their voice ... but in general, I find Billy and Elton quite boring ... and not even talented ... just clever entertainers.

I have to come to the defence of Elton John here. I don't really care for his music all that much but until you get into his headspace musically those songs can be pretty challenging. Rocket man is a pain in the ass.
 
He really is a master of filling space. Squeezing an interesting two bars out of a chord can be a real challenge. Most piano playing singers wuss out on the piano parts when the singing starts. Elton doesn't.
 
Once you catch on to his tricks life gets easier -- and a lot more fun. It also really helps you jam with a keyboard.
 
His piano bench kicks are second to none :)

 i love the big old romantic piano concertos Shad, dunno if you have ever listened to, for example, rachmaninov piano concerto 2/3, tchaikowsky 1, greig etc. if not i'd start with those, then work along to medtner, prokofiev and shostakovich.
for solo piano music, take a listen to some Scriabin, Prokofiev and Alkan...you might like the weird way they approach composing for the piano
other more out there composers including piano in their works are messiaen, gubaidalina and schnittke. if you like that quiet almost static approach of satie then try takamitsu, silverstrov and steve reich...