Da Digital Piano

Both my children were interested in music when they were in school and I bought a digital piano for their use.

A digital piano is a high end key board set up to look like a piano. It also has pedal action. Before I bought it, I spent a lot of time on the Google group rec.audio.digital_piano (or something like that). These groups have their own Shiva-Vishnu feuds with one guy arguing that Kawai is the best while another that Yamaha is the best. I used to interact with one guy (a professional musician) regarding a particular model and we had good correspondence. At the last minute, I decided to opt for a different brand and he reacted as though I had stabbed him in the back -- the joys of internet friendship.

Our children's music teacher came to our house once a week for the lessons. He is an interesting guy. I am still friends with him even though the children have moved out of the house. Once, my sister-in-law was visiting from Mumbai and the piano teacher was in the house for the lessons. I asked him to play something for fun. He played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony -- my sister-in-law stood up and clapped after he was done.

Before starting the private lessons, the children had lessons at their school. The school's teacher MR. Sands gave a recommendation to the private teacher. After they have been taking lessons for a while, I asked the private teacher what kind of recommendations the children got. He said,

"Mr.Sands said, 'If you have a chance to teach Sojourner's children, run and get them, before they change their mind and go to someone else'."

This is, of course, high praise. I asked him how he felt now about that recommendation, now that he had been teaching the kids for a while.

"Bit of an oversale", he said But it was too late to do anything.

The children graduated from high school and moved away. The piano was sitting in the living room, unused. I put an ad in the Indian paper. Over the next couple of years, I got two calls. One of them wanted something real cheap. The other didn't even want a piano -- he just wanted someone to talk to.

My wife talked about taking lessons herself but changed her mind. I did likewise. The teacher would get upset if I didn't do my homework before I came to class -- besides he was rather leery of teaching grownups.

Our younger son is here this weekend, from graduate school. We all decided to move the piano to his apartment. I spent the whole morning taking it apart. We have (of course) misplaced the manual and I was semi-dreading the task. However, it worked out easier than I thought. Of course, the real test is when I try to put it back tomorrow afternoon at son's apartment. (We decided to drive to his town after Wimbledon men's finals tomorrow.) The sound can be routed to earphones. He can thus play without bothering his neighbors.

He also has a French Horn. Fortunately, moving that is a trivial project.

 

Just got back from the trip. Piano moved and assembled but not without anxieties. Son and I put it together but it didn't quite look right. If I had left it like that, it would have bothered me for the next several weeks. So, we took it apart and tried to assemble it by laying the bottom portion on the side. Things worked out much better this time. Son also took the French Horn. He is happy to have the musical instruments. He is in a high pressure program at his college and I hope that these will ease his life somewhat.