If these trends continue, things could get bad.

www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,929176-1,00.html

It could go the way of the American buggy-whip industry!

1929? Things did get bad, if I remember correctly.

In my honest opinion, I think that CULTURE is more to blame for the decline of piano sales in America, rather than economic factors. American culture puts so much more emphasis on things OTHER than the arts. We are supposed to be the richest country in the world, yet countries with 1/4 the population, and probably half the G.D.P. of our nation are buying more pianos than we are. Consequently, their children are decimating ours in educational areas. (Specifically MATH scores, among others) The radio replaced the piano in the late 20's. The television eventually replaced the radio. Now we have Ipods, Iphones, internet, PS3's, and every other form of gizmo and gadget imaginable that occupy our time and attention. None require diligent effort and study. Almost all are designed to make life easier, faster, and require less effort. If my son put in as much time actually LEARNING to play guitar as he has put in towards learning to play Guitar Hero, he'd be embarrasing Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani by now. The piano industry will always be here. However, I seriously doubt that it will ever be at the forefront of American culture like it once was, unless we truly see a culture shift.

You could have warned me that was from 1929. I was .

Haha, same. I was wondering why they referred to the early 20th century so much...

Please don't send this news item to Glenn Beck....he'll quote it verbatim as if it appeared yesterday.

pffftttt! BECK ROCKS!

That tells me all I need to know.....

I blame the vacuum tubes... and don't EVEN get me started on the transistor and the integrated circuit!

Oh well, maybe Hoover will take us off the gold standard and print more money... that would work I know it!

Anyone know any good speak easies in the Quad Cities? Capone's is 2.5 hours east, but last time I was there he gave me a knuckle sandwich and yammered "We don't like your kind 'round here, ya see, and if me and the boys catch ya playin the ivories so crappy in here again you'll be pushin up dasies, seeee!"

I think Dan must mean Jeff Beck...

knuckle sandwiches?

It's similar to a 'face full of dandruff'
A 'smack in the kisser' or a 'finger butty'

Glen Beck sucks and Jeff Beck rocks....and you should check out his bass player....she is something else.....
Not many of them in Rome GA i would guess....
Quite a few Glens though....just don't give them any guns.

news!... Ive Heard (pun intended) that the the only thing good that came out of England was USA and the beatless...oops Beatles ..(.whats the symbol for a big spoon)

beware I have a bb gun

Amazing how people who say they are open minded and accepting of other people's views are REALLY the ones who stereotype others, and are snobbish and condescending. Yep, we got guns down here. Pick-up trucks too... We even have a Benz dealership or two... we like Glen Beck AND Jeff Beck, and we respect your right NOT to like them if you so choose... I guess that might be where we are different! Just a thought!! Hope ya have a great day! (OH, by the way, GEORGIA isn't BANKRUPT, lol!)

The problem as I see it is that our country has a constitution and bill of rights worth preserving. Without the 2nd amendment neither has a chance of enduring. If one cannot apprehend when statists are in your midst, liberty is less likely to survive. Just because I can rattle through Chopin and Rachmaninoff, doesn't mean that I don't value freedom and the vigilance required to maintain it. When you have an administration with as many avowed Marxists and socialists as evidenced of late, it is no surprise that some are sounding an alarm. I tend to judge folks by the company they keep. The writing is on the wall. You can take the Neville Chamberlain approach, or be a bit more assertive and hold their feet to the fire. Since by and large the media has abdicated their responsibility to give the government a thorough exam on a regular basis, someone has to pick up the gauntlet. Raised a yankee boy, I got to Texas as fast as I could. I think that since you were raised elsewhere, you really don't have a clue about what makes us tick. Instead of insulting a good portion of listers here, you might do a little due diligence before lambasting certain regions of the country and experience them firsthand before you take the CNN approach that the south is full of nothing but reactionary hayseeds. Unlike the east and west coasts, we are able to be intelligent and well-educated and still follow an argument to its logical conclusion without any particular agenda other than what promotes freedom and what infringes freedom.

Smokin' em out here....

More please!

Hmmm... I'm just wondering if he's ever been to Rome, GA? Well... we have a fine Baptist college here that has a wonderful liberal arts department which has produced many world class vocalists and pianists alike. (Shorter College) Also, we have Berry College, which boasts the largest campus of any college or university in the world. Not to mention, we have Georgia Highlands community college, as well as Coosa Valley Tech. Pirelli tire (ya know... the tire company that makes those rubber things that your import rides on) just saw fit to put their entire North American headquarters here.... I could go on and on, but I digress... So I must say that maybe WE aren't the ignorant ones here.... maybe it's the ones that stereotype us who are ignorant!

Hello Dan...
Having been drawn to you as a character, I thought it prudent to look at your previous posting in these pages...
Guess what...you have quite a rap sheet....
Hadn't paid much attention to you before as I like to keep my eyes out of the gutter, but you appear to be quite an operator who seems to avoid the advice of the seasoned pros who pepper these pages with their insights.
I'm sure you will do well and I wish you all you deserve.

Still think that Jeff Becks bass player is HOT....

Ahhh.... I will say thank you. I wish you all you deserve as well! As for Jeff Beck's bass player, I'll have to check her out.

There are at least a couple good places for piano-enthusiasts who wish to discuss Glenn Beck, the Constitution, and the relative hotness of Jeff Becks wife.

Here:

http://s10.zetaboards.com/The_New_Coffee_Room/forum/10633/

and here:

http://well-temperedforum.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9130004433

come to mind.

I can think of at least one place where such discussions are probably not appropriate.

Even though there is (are) a piano(s) in the White House and most places of Worship, I�ve learned that it is not a good idea to discuss politics or religion on the Piano World forums. I reckon we have too much in common to diverge into endless, no-win discussions of such topics on a public Internet forum.

I agree with CTPianotech.

By-the-way, I�ve never heard of Glenn Beck or Jeff Beck. I guess I live in a small world; but there are three pianos in it.

Take care,

Rick

Thank you for saying that! I've never seen Glenn Beck (but know that he has a TV show and has written some books) and I had to google Jeff Beck.

Pete,

Your condescending, patronizing posts betray you for what you must be. Someone who can dish it out but can't carry on a polite conversation without resorting to tactics of belittling stereotypes and attacking, elitist pretension without any support for your assertions.

Please keep your politics to yourself. I'm pretty confident that you'd be the first to cry to a moderator if I were to imply or overtly criticize our self-defined "messiah" in the White House.

Sincerely,

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”
Thomas Jefferson quotes (American 3rd US President (1801-09). Author of the Declaration of Independence. 1762-1826)

You are in a minority and I respect your views...

It's indeed interesting that someone of your obvious political pursuasion should quote the one "founding father" for whom democracy was simply an intellectual exercise and not a matter for which he was willing to risk his life or daily convenience. Instead, he found it more to his liking to retire for the duration of the war to his plantation, his intellectual pursuits, and his slave mistress while others of lesser means and lesser intellectual "purity" fought the war for him.

Speaking of math, if a country had 1/4 the population but 1/2 of the GDP, its people would be twice as rich. I think you were trying to say that countries that are only half as wealthy are buying pianos in amounts 4 times our own. What makes it even more incredible is that the typical American home is the largest of any country, and could thus could most easily afford to have the room for the piano.



And the internet replaced the TV - that's actually a step up.



As someone who was a Tap Master Champion at my school (anyone remember that musical teaching tool from the late 70's?), I have come to appreciate the Guitar Hero type of games. Although I have only lightly played the drums, I am getting quite good at doing the drums in Guitar Hero and feel that I should get a nice 7 piece set to start playing. Hey, it is teaching kids to be able to process reading music (albeit in a reduced range and more direct way than conventional.) I'm sure that a lot of kids who didn't realize they had musical talent will start to pick up an instrument. And then once they (the boys at least) see that chicks dig musicians, they will continue.



The reason the piano was so big in the old days is because there was nothing else to produce multivoice music. The keyboard based instrument will always serve as the base instrument for musical composition - although simple chords could be done just as easily with a guitar.

The portrait painter was put out of work by the photograph, but do you see photos of esteemed people put on the wall? No, you see painted portraits because there is a certain classical exquisiteness about a painted portrait. The sound of the acoustic piano will also be held in the same esteem.

What Peter fails to apprehend along with most that cannot make the proper connections is that those that wish to curtail freedom are ALWAYS statists. When government grows, personal freedom is always curtailed. Only a poor student of history will fail to see the obvious. Check out Russia,China,Cuba, Venezuela, Cambodia, recently Iran and North Korea to see where excessive government leads. This ain't rocket science. If you like dictatorships, you're backing the right side Peter. One never errs by supporting those that support limited government, which was REALLY the notion promulgated by our founding documents. And for what it is worth, it is you that are in the minority. The left always screams loudest, though in fact they have nothing worthwhile to champion except an ideology that has failed everywhere it has been tried.

Sir, what have you given us?
A Republic Ma'am, if you can keep it.

Unfortunately, at this time, it's not entirely clear that our American friends actually can keep it.

I'm with John Pels on this one in support of Glen and Sean and Rush and the others working to keep the Republic. We know they're getting traction when things like this start showing up.