A while back, a parent posted on one of the forums -- I believe, the other one -- asking if it was "safe" for her child to take lessons with a teacher that has a reputation for hitting the keys so hard he BREAKS pianos. He breaks strings, but apparently, he also breaks hammers.

Well, I'm sure we cannot answer the primary question -- on whether it is "safe" for a child to take lessons from such a person. I mean, we are not psychiatrists, after all.

But my question is -- are there really such people? I mean, are there professional music teachers who actually break pianos?

I did not realize that people have enough strength in their hands to actually break hammers, but then -- I have enough sense not to try.

Breaking strings happens often enough. Hammers should not break merely from playing. However, some old uprights had cedar shanks in the treble which became too weak to withstand the forces they were up against, and sometimes there are flaws in the grain of shanks made of harder wood that allow them to break.

strings break often, the hammer heads usually break loose.

Playing gospel music with a concrete left hand can break strings all over the place, especially bass strings. This makes string splicing a useful skill. Actually breaking maple shanks is usually due to 'short-grain', but pounding the keys can beat the flange bushings to death and cause wobbly hammers.

Tom

Thanks for the feedback. These people must be nuts. Of course, if it is someone else's piano, I suppose anything goes.

Imagine purchasing a used piano that was played for years by your "concrete handed gospel" person.