Although I certainly didn't do a scientific study, when I used to teach math I asked around 40 teenage students what kind of piano they owned(after they told me they had one).

Can you guess the most common answer?

That they didn't know?

FWIW, I don't know if by "kind" you mean type or brand (or what a student would understand you to mean).

Steven

I'd say:

Upright

or

Yamaha


Depending on what you meant by kind.

No idea. I wait with bated breath.

Sorry, I can't answer your question without giving away too much information.

I read a concert review in my college paper once, that noted that there was a "black" piano on the stage...

While my first choice would be "I don't know," since Steven already stole that one, I'll go with "brown" or "black."

Or are we not giving them enough credit?

American teenagers? (I assume PLUS is in the U.S.)

Most of them cannot find major countries of the world on a map, and I remember hearing of a survey in which many thought that Chernobyl is Cher's full name.

Okay, maybe that's an urban legend but I doubt it's far off the mark. :p

Steven

"I don't know"

Heh, I met an American teenager the other day who didn't know the meaning of the word "satire."

My guess would also be "black." I've spoken to people who, when asked what they worked on last semester, will reply with "Sonata." "Which sonata, and who composed it?" "Uh...*checks sheet music* Mozart?" "Ok, which one?" "It doesn't say here.." etc...one such person was a music major, too!

40 is a large number . You either taught in many schools or they were referring to toy pianos...
what was the denominator?

I wonder if by pianos they were referring to keyboards - could the answer be Casio?

The 40 students weren't all in the same class.

I've seen Americans get progressively stupid—whether in innate intelligence or in education, I can't say—over the course of my life, and it's sad. I even wonder if the rate of change is accelerating.

When I enrolled as an undergrad at UCLA 35 years ago—a very competitive school with very selective admission standards—there was a remedial English course called "Subject A" for those whose test scores didn't reach a certain threshold. (There was a slight social stigma attached to getting stuck in that unfortunate category, too.)

During my four years there, a new English course called "Subject B" was implemented—to prepare the increasing number of students who weren't ready for the rigors of Subject A.

When I entered the workforce, I found that the junior lawyers even at second-rate law firms had decent writing skills. Over the next 30 years, I saw a palpable downward spiral such that eventually it wasn't at all uncommon to see frankly horrible skills at top-ranked firms—the kind that get mentioned on The West Wing and hire the highest-achieving graduates of Ivy League schools. I don't mean spelling; I mean grammatical sentences put together to form coherent paragraphs.

I'm not an educator, and it takes far greater knowledge than mine to assess what's gone amiss with U.S. curriculum for decades. But I see two fundamental elements commonly lacking in many who are products of the system: critical thinking and attention to detail. The cultural consequences are all around us and are overwhelming.

Oh well, it's easier to put on slippers than carpet the world. We are Devo!

Steven

p.s. Sorry for the OT rant!

Seconding Ridicolosamente, I'll go with

"black."

Well, I guess the answer was more obvious than I thought. The most common answer was indeed.....BLACK!

Well, I work with special needs kids. These are kids that have the brains but lack will. I know how their brains work.

They are remarkably adept at manipulation and evasiveness, satisfying basic body functions, etc. But, details not involving one of these evade them.

And unfortunately, I see this trend extending to the normals as well.

only in America...

Zac

Why is this answer so unusual?

For people who don't play the piano, I think it's a logical answer.

"The kind with black and white keys."

Sotto Voce: I have a few theories as to why and how the educational system has turned into its present day situation in this country, but again going into that subject would be getting off topic. I think the short answer, in my opinion, would be that professors have stopped seriously challenging the students in favor of patting them on their backs for what effort they *have* put forth (rather than the effort they should), and consequently students are content to go about doing the minimal required amount of work, as opposed to going beyond the expectations and being inquisitive. Being a college student myself now, I see first hand how these things happen on a daily basis and contribute to very poor academic performances--the problem being, that often such performances are not reflected in the gradebooks; that is, with the falling standards, a "C" from yesterday is now a "B" or even an "A."

Anyway, for me the cultural shock of those times when I'm around "pop culturalists" (or whatever you'd call normal people who aren't half as eccentric as I am...) can sometimes be unbearable: I actually have had anxiety attacks just from being around such people! I don't expect everyone to know what's new in classical piano music, or even what brand their family's piano is--but I should expect them to be able to form coherent sentences, know the definitions of simple words such as "satire," and know generally about at least the major headlines of world news, not to mention something about other countries. America needs an enema.

A lot of my piano students have to be taught the difference between an upright and a grand.

I make sure that they know what piano they have, since I do have to educate them. Some teachers never ask them about their pianos at home.

Also, some teachers don't know if their students have a keyboard or a piano. It's an important piece of information. Sometimes they haven't purchased a pedal, so I have to tell them to buy one.

Ask a music student of any age to spell "piano".

It will likely be incredibly difficult for them.

If you have also shown them the written word "piano" and asked them to pronounce it, there will likely be a pause with eyes rolled to the upper left.

If you put a pencil and a piece of paper in front of them and ask them to write the word piano, do you think you will see a different response?

Sometimes not knowing is simply not having been exposed to the word before, and once learned, they are likely to be remembered.

Has anyone read the book by Steve Allen (TV personality, writer, composer) called "Dumbth"? I found him interesting on this subject, which concerned him very much. He was one of the first voices on the "dumbing of America".

As usual, I completely agree with Gary. Asking that question to a random group of kids whose families happen to own pianos is not likely to elicit a more knowledgeable response anywhere. Now if they were all piano students, then it would be different.

If you aren't a pianist, a piano is a piano. Maybe you know "baby grand," but few people who aren't pianists know what to call a piano that isn't a grand. Is it a "console," an "upright," or something else? To me, an upright is bigger than a console. And a spinet is smaller. But that's a lot of detail.

I have two teenage daughters who both understand what a Steinway grand is, because they have been lucky enough to grow up playing one. But on a number of occasions over the years I have enjoyed showing some of their very intelligent friends the differences between a grand and a "regular" piano.

This thread is condescending, in my opinion.

I would be more eager to deplore "the dumbing of America" if I weren't so overeducated as to recall that the rant about "youth today" goes all the way back to Aristotle, and possibly even earlier than that.

I will further note that the "dumbing down" trend was first noted by Socrates, who didn't like this newfangled idea of writing; it meant that people didn't have to develop good memory anymore like their ancestors did in the olden days.

Well, yes, but be reminded that the glory days of Greece didn't last very long, either!!

Socrates was right to be concerned. Look what we've come to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII

Tomasino

Or something more recent and more consequential:

[I removed the link because of inappropriate content. Sorry, my bad, but that Miss SC clip reminded me of something sadly similar!]

I think the fact that devolution has been going for so long only makes the recent acceleration in pace more apparent and more appalling.

Steven

A mind is a terrible thing to waist....I mean waste.

Too many commas do a rambling sentence make. Oops, a comma or two left over! How did that happen!

When you don't know what you are talking about, just keep talking, soon everyone will know you don't know what you are talking about, too.

And, if you shake your head affirmatively while you are talking, your audience will begin to shake their heads affirmatively, and that's how you communicate and show you understand each other. Not.

Let's just hope you don't start a fad! (Shake your head affirmatively. Then shake negatively, just in case. Then shake affirmatively again, you're covered for most situations, unless you just want to show your puzzlement, and then you raise your shoulders toward your ears, scrunch up your face and do the "What?" face.

When in doubt, stop talking. When really in doubt, stop posting. (Click)

Zany Betty Bite Your Tongue! Now! :rolleyes: