Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Poll (sort of): Will the 'acoustic piano' become a relic?

piano shall thrive
amazing invention
one of the wonders of human creation

wr, you're preaching to the choir. I doubt that anyone in this forum would want to "waste" a piano, or any other instrument. We are all lovers of music, so I'm sure that most of us find the idea of buying a piano as a status symbol or a piece of furniture to be repugnant. But it happens all the time.

I won't speak for Plover, and I apologize to him for dragging him into your line of fire. But speaking only for myself, I was simply saying that all economic decisions are based on myriad motivations, some rational, some irrational, and most in between. I view buying a car as a purchase that requires as much rationality as I can muster. I favor Toyota and Honda, because as a mechanically challenged person, reliability is paramount to me. But millions of others don't give a damn about reliability. They want cars that are stylish, have loads of amenities, or are made in America. During the 1970s and 80s, when American cars were greatly inferior to foreign models, I was roundly castigated as being "un-American" for not buying from one of the Big Three. So they thought I was unpatriotic, and I thought they were irrational. But that's the nature of economics. All's fair.

When it comes to pianos, yes, I understand the reverence that a beautiful instrument commands - or should command. But we can't control the motivations of others. And my point was that regardless of why people buy pianos, the fact that pianos continue to be purchased can only serve to benefit those of us who truly do love pianos. As long as there is sufficient demand for acoustic pianos, manufacturers will prosper, or at least tread water, and that will allow those of us who dream of owning one some day to perhaps realize that dream.

Feel free to put me on ignore. At least I hope I've clarified what I was trying to say.

Very good job replying to such a post from him. I think some people don't realize enough that when so many people tick them off, they might need to look in the mirror a bit more. I think it can be found in the dictionary under "misanthrope."

I'm glad you put waste in quotes because my whole point is that someone who buys a piano for reasons other than playing it isn't IMO wasting a piano. They're just as entitled to their reason to buy a piano as anyone else, and it's arrogant for someone to think their reason is the right or a better reason.

It's not as though there are too few pianos to go around to those willing to buy them. In fact, the opposite is true and so someone buying a piano for furniture doesn't prevent anyone else from buying a piano. And I think it's incredibly judgmental for someone to say that their reason to buy a piano is better than someone else's reason.

I do think it's a shame that more people can't afford pianos or can't afford really terrific pianos, but that is not the same as begrudging someone for buying a piano for reasons other than playing it.

I was just thinking that as well...

Agreed. I can just imagine a Steinway dealer vetting each of his customers, interrogating them about their "true" intentions, then making them swear an oath to faithfully love, cherish, protect, maintain, and play their new piano every day, til death do they part.

I think the average dealer thinks: I have piano. You have money. Let's trade. Thank you very much.

All the punter has to do is to make the dealer an offer he cannot refuse......

A fellow Godfather aficionado possibly??

I wrote the passage above that was misattributed to Outo. I am not prejudiced. I should have chosen the words more carefully. I apologize if it offended anyone.

My technician and I were talking today about various fine pianos he knows of in this area. He mentioned several that were bought for other reasons than to be played by the owners. Some of these have been badly neglected and have deteriorated.

I have no quarrel with people buying pianos that they won't play. But it's difficult for me not to think of a fine hand-crafted piano as a living thing. I wish owners had a sense of responsibility toward their instruments and toward the workers who put their soul into the making of them.

Oh, it just warms my heart that I can't and won't be able to (for some years) afford a piano, let alone a STEINWAY of all things, and there are apparently people who buy Steinways for nothing more than furniture in their castles?????

What a wonderful world.

(I understand people can own whatever they want for whatever reasons they want - I wonder if anybody bought an original Picasso just so they can use it as a tray? - but you can't stop me from feeling a tiny bit resentful and wish that I can too own a piano one day)

That was the quote of the day!

....if not more.

Not a fair comparison since each Picasso truly is one of a kind. I would, however, love to do just that!

Each Steinway is also one of a kind no piano is identical

You do realize that many people think likewise of pianos?

I sure do. Look: Even leaving aside issues of varying workmanship, even when the workers are only machines .....no two pieces of wood are identical.

The fact of every piano being unique (anyway I'm calling it a fact) is why it astonishes me that so many people seem happy to buy pianos sight-unseen (and sound-unheard), or, for that matter, to buy a piano in need of rebuilding before seeing and hearing what it'll be after the rebuilding. The nature of a piano depends on its materials, workmanship, and history, and you never know exactly what it is or what it'll be until you see.

Edit: Thanks, Pogo, for saying the same thing in just one line.

The comparison between art and music instruments is a good one, for two reasons.

Reason one: Nobody who buys a Picasso is asked if they know anything about art, or can paint themselves. The only requirement for buying a Picasso is the proper amount of money. The same is true for pianos, even if some people might not like it.

Reason two: The original question in this thread was, if acoustic pianos will be obsolete one day. Well, we just have to look at the world of visual arts. We have photography (now digital), we have powerful software programs that can help the artist create interesting works; and we now even have 3D printers. And yet, oil painting has not become obsolete. People still do it, people still love it, people still buy oil paintings.

So I'm optimistic that acoustic instruments, especially pianos, are here to stay.

Many of those people DO use their pianos as trays.

I still find the comparison laughable.

I cringe at that. Even when it's on coasters.

Nothing is allowed to be on my piano! (Except my metronome, hygrometer, pen, glasses, phone, a second hygrometer to make sure the first one is accurate, and sheet music.)

I don't even allow pens and phones. I don't have a hygrometer and I hardly use a metronome, so that leaves glasses, and sheet music.

Well, hopefully not a mirror!