Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Need ways to pursuade parents to buy a new piano.

My general advice is four times a year for the first year, (Change in seasons), then two times every year... I heard it "Seasons the pinblock."

There has been an old piano at my school which never had been tuned, and it still sounds good now. On the contrary, my piano teacher's piano needs to be tuned, or else I hear a dissonant buzzing noise.

Has any of the advice on this thread helped you? Any progress? An update would be nice.

Well, I now use the piano at my school, although the problem is a very light action and it's way out of tune.

I talked to my parents, who refuse to talk about this matter anymore.

My teacher has finally given up on persuasion and doesn't really care anymore.

At this rate, I will be quitting piano soon!


I did find a very nice professional upright, Steinway, 1980 for sale.

Sean, don't give up! You will find that not playing anything at all is many, many more times worse than playing on a bad piano. Make the best of your situation, and try not to dwell on the negatives, because right now, you cannot change them. However, make plans for the future. Save up your money so that someday, you will buy yourself an instrument. Make some small sacrifices now for that future instrument, and you will get it. The best things are worth the wait.

And in the meantime, having an out of tune, lighter action piano at school to practice on isn't really that bad. Lighter action is actually desirable, and well, the tune thing you can't help, but you will get accustomed to it. Don't let this little setback defeat you, because to be honest, life as a musician is full of setbacks like this. Many times what keeps us going is the fact that music chose us, not the other way around, and so we have no choice but to press on.

Sean.

1. Don't give up piano. Why on earth would you want to do that?
2. Maybe hire a tuner yourself for the piano at school? I mean even 100$ is rather small amount, which I'm sure you can find. Thus the tunning problem might dissappear. About the action I don't think that much can be done, but let's face it you put the limit high with an upright Steinway.

Good advice.

I don't know the situation in detail but I must say it seems quite unfair.

When I was 16 I wanted a piano and my parents were reulctant to buy one, but I had explained to them the differences between it and a digital, and they bought me a $5000 chinese grand. They had to sacrifice to do it (a new car they were planning on) but I was sincere and signed a contract stating practice time and how I was to do work and such.

Two and a half years later I'm a piano performance major at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

I think it's a shame if the OP isn't allowed to explore his potential. Who knows what can happen?

Yes, the OP has talent and it would be wonderful for him to develop it on an acoustic. It would be ideal if he could find someone whom his parents respect or with whom they share cultural ties or values that might put in a good word for him. I don't think his parents will care at all about anything said by us here at PW.

Also, look back in the fall, Sean, at posts by BradKY. I think people at PW rallied to get him a piano because of how polite and enthusiastic and persistent he was despite his hardships. Your parents might respond to you in a similar way if you follow his example.

Good luck.

Yup, I'm pretty sure I'd be a professional Formula 1 driver if it wasn't for my parents lack of support in my youth

Sean, a couple of other things to try:

- Hook up with your local piano dealer. Show'em that you're sincere and serious. They may be able to at least get you going down the path of getting a cheap piano (payments, rent to own). You'd be amazed at what some fact time and earnestness can do. If nothing else, having some decent piano's to play once or twice a week could help keep your fire burning.

- Find a person who has a piano who needs odd jobs done in exchange for piano time. Heck, if some teenager came to me and said that they'd do all my yard work in exchange for consistent time on our piano, I'd have my leaf vacuum in the hands of that kid so fast they wouldn't know what hit them!

Oh yes, did I mention the efforts I have taken to right this?


-I first disassembled my piano, spraying compressed air everywhere inbetween the keys and on the motherboard. I skipped a Boy Scout camping trip for this.

-To no avail, I then look for free pianos on craigslist. I still do every day.

-I then do all the house chores. Although I don't have a real piano yet, I still have to do all of them.

- After, I disassembled, cleaned again.

-Finally, I asked my piano teacher to practice at her house on weekends. No avail.

- I asked 3 libraries, 2 churches, 2 temples, and my school if I could practice. Only my school, which has a broken piano, it's also light touch.

- I go to local piano dealers, and ask for cheap pianos.

- I make phamplets.

-I write on the mirrors and glass (With dry erase marker)

- I petition.

- I boycott the piano.

- I stopped taking lessons.


NOTHING yet. This is very frustrating!

Here is a youtube video of the broken piano:
http://www.youtube.com/v/YS0dpHNmBXg

Please wait a while for it to appear.

Here's a picture of what I did to our bathrooms:

You quit taking piano lessons? How is that supposed to persuade your parents into buying you a piano?

It's not my place to judge, when I don't know the exact situation. However, I'll just say that if I was your parent, I would sell the damn TV if need be to get you the piano.

But really, at least your parents are willing to pay for your piano lessons. Practicing on a bad digital is better than not playing at all.

I have no piano at home. I have a digital that's ten times worse than whatever you have - it's practically a keyboard - the keys are mushy, not weighted. It feels nothing like a piano except it has 88 keys. I wouldn't even call it a digital since digitals imply weighted keys and some semblance of similarity. But in fact, with this shoddy piano I've already one a (student) competition and relieved a first-class honour pass on my recent senior piano exam. There's no doubt that having a great piano would be helpful and I certainly wouldn't deny it - but I think this "life and death" situation is an exaggeration. So call me a skeptic about the whole "exploring potential" side of things.

Sean,

1. WOW! resize those pics! You just destroyed the 2nd page of your thread! (even paint can resize pics, I think)

2. I think you have plenty of serious advice and backing up from here. Start taking some actions:
i. If it is a problem of space there's absolutely nothing you can do.
ii. If it is a matter of money, start saving I'm afraid.
iii. If it is a matter of the neighboors, TALK TO THEM. Get them to talk to your parents!
iv. If it is a matter of your parents simply refusing for no apparent reason (although I'm sure there should be a reason) then... again you need to listen I'm afraid.

...more good advice

How ironic is this thread? The OP is looking for advice about his parents who don't do what he wants. The OP receives lots of advice, some he may not like, so he doesn't comment or appear to listen to it. Some advice might be the hard truth, that he either will have to work harder and change how he acts or wait until he is grown and on his own, to get what he wants... which is the true life experience of most PW posters.

I got exasperated at the OP in the last thread and yelled at him. Of course now he won't listen to me.

But look at that photo. I don't think that is an effective or persuasive communication strategy. That is like the OP yelling at his parents. So the parents ignore the OP. In frustration, the OP asks for PW advice but doesn't seem ready to follow it. The OP doesn't appear to want to change his ineffective ways of communicating or doing more than what he has already done. So another poster like me yells at the OP. And of course, yelling at the OP is ineffective in persuading HIM to either change his ways or accept life without an acoustic piano in his home.

Let's break this ironic cycle. I apologize to Sean for yelling at him and lecturing him when I was rudely and bluntly sharing my opinion.

Peace be with you Sean. I hope you count your blessings. Life is full of waiting, compromises, and more work.

oops double post. sorry

Spell persuade correctly. Take up the lessons again (they were paying for those weren't they?). Spend more time at school practising - practise anywhere you can. Stop writing on windows and mirrors. Resize enormous picture on page two of this thread. Job done.

I wouldn't buy the OP anything for those pictures alone, much less a piano. That's more than enough reason. On top of that, there should be punishment for destroying property!

lol

Guys/gals.

Stop judging the guy completely. He sure doesn't seem to listen, so let's leave this thread to die. But mirrors can be cleaned extremely easily...

Sean,

First, it's wondeful how much you love the piano and want to play it.

Second, even the greatest composers of the world had to put up with second-rate, broken-down pianos

Third, your relationship with your parents is more important than the piano, at the moment. If they don't share your enthusiasm it's too bad, but not all is lost. You are young, energetic, soon you will be an adult and make your own decisions. However, you only have one Mom and one Dad and you've got to work on getting along with them. See what artistic kinds of interests you share with them. Start communicating with them in a positive way. You'd be surprised what can develop if you have a strong foundation with your family.

Good luck to you.
Don't give up music.