[Rhodes22-list] Piano Stories

[brad haslett]

Slim,

We bought the Yamaha for ourselves as a Christmas
present a couple of years ago.  I started lessons with
my sister as a kid and then took up the trombone.  My
music interests ended when I started flying in high
school.  Fan and I started lessons, she has stayed
with it, I haven't.  She and the nanny both play, and
we intend for Cora (3) to start soon.  A lot of the
Chinese families here will go together together and
gang up on the piano dealers for bulk purchases. 
(They do the same thing at the Honda and Toyoto
dealers on cars).  Last week we attended a great
concert performed by the Memphis Youth Symphony. 
Judging by the race of the performers you would think
a third of Memphis was Asian.  A lot of these kids
started studying music at three and four and traveled
around the US and Europe during summers and school
breaks for advanced instruction.  As good as the
concert was, I kept thinking to myself, "maybe Cora
will take up soccer, that much travel and instruction
has got to be expensive!"

Over the years I've come "that close" to buying a
piano several times but either didn't have the money
or the room.  A co-worker of mine studied music at the
University of Illinois before he joined the Navy and
still plays piano semi-professionally.  He does a
Sinatra routine that makes you believe "Old Blue Eyes"
is back from the dead.  About fifteen years ago we
partied several hours in the ex-pat district in Taipei
and then wandered back to out hotel, the Hilton, late
at night. The bar was pretty upscale and filled with
businesspeople, and we were in our best airline pilot
jeans and sneakers.  Ron walked up to the piano with a
big cigar in his mouth, the piano player basically
bolted with fear, then he sat down and put his cigar
(unlit) on the piano and started playing.  At first I
thought they had called security.  Then the bar
started crowding around and clapping.  You had to be
there.  Anyway, Ron moved from Memphis to Florida last
year and didn't move his baby grand.  He purchased a
Kawai digital grand for his new home and says it is
the best piano he's ever owned.  I think if I had to
make the piano purchase over, I'd go digital.  Those
tunings add up.  What do you think?

Brad


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. 
http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250