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I'm going to assume that John's answer to whether he has tried any of the current high end digital pianos is no. Which brings into question any of his other responses railing against digital pianos. But I am still hoping to be enlightened by his answer to why "They limit themselves when they choose this route." Not that I actually expect an answer at this point. He's had plenty of opportunity, but has side-stepped it each time. At least I got one question answered.
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Kenny, perhaps your next post can be all caps, in 18 pt font.
I suggest you go back and carefully read what I wrote. I have never, ever stated I'm against using electric keyboards. The fact that I own 'em and loan to students ought to speak volumes.
I'm against calling them pianos, because, well, they're not pianos. And I prefer pianos to substitutes where ever possible, and yes, I prefer grands to uprights (I only have four uprights, and one grand, but who's counting). And I advise students to get pianos as soon as their budget will allow, and move up to grands whenever that's possible.
Have a pleasant evening practicing on your keyboard.
John
"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." -- Richard Henry Dann Full-time Private Piano Teacher offering Piano Lessons in Olympia, WA. www.mypianoteacher.com Certified by the American College of Musicians; member NGPT, MTNA, WSMTA, OMTA
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You are free to disagree with me but I am not making any assumptions. I am simply stating my opinion. It does not mean I am blinkered, a bigot nor can you state that I must be wrong because I don't agree with you. I simply have a different opinion, that's all.
I stand by my view - for a serious piano student a DP is not a suitable substitute. You have a different view, fair enough.
I will only point out one more thing. You are attacking people who you believe don't have any experience of DP's yet you yourself stated earlier that you have little experience of acoustic pianos. You are comparing DP's to something that you have stated you know little about so on what basis can you attack others for something which you are doing yourself? Gerry, you're certainly welcome to you opinion and to express it, as is John, as am I. You assertion that a digital piano is unsuitable to learn to play piano is simply wrong. I'm only attacking the assertion that Digital Pianos are not suitable for learning to play piano. I certainly don't own an acoustic piano, but I have played them and I listen to them extensively. I'm also arguing with the definition of "piano" as acoustic only. It certainly is not.
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Kenny, perhaps your next post can be all caps, in 18 pt font.
I suggest you go back and carefully read what I wrote. I have never, ever stated I'm against using electric keyboards. The fact that I own 'em and loan to students ought to speak volumes.
I'm against calling them pianos, because, well, they're not pianos. And I prefer pianos to substitutes where ever possible, and yes, I prefer grands to uprights (I only have four uprights, and one grand, but who's counting). And I advise students to get pianos as soon as their budget will allow, and move up to grands whenever that's possible.
Have a pleasant evening practicing on your keyboard.
John And that's the point John. You are simply wrong. There are all kinds of pianos. If you want to call a digital piano a zebra, then you are welcome to, but odds are the rest of the world is not going to see it your way. Enjoy your game, because that's all it is. I'm still looking forward to your answer to my question.
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Kenny, let's try to get some understanding and meeting of different worlds here:
I haven't been back to piano that long - a bit over a year now - so I'm not terribly experienced. I did have a number of years of strings lessons in the last few years, which was my first formal instruction. It took me a couple of years to be able to hear qualities of sound that the musician works with: it's like I was deaf to them before. I still have a fair ways to go but I can "hear" much more than I used to. These things simply did not exist for me. Now, if a musician had told me of these things being missing in an instrument it would have been meaningless to me because they did not exist for me.
That's what I think is going on here. The people saying that digitals are not adequate for teaching, or for their musicianship, are experienced trained musicians and teachers. John will not be able to get his students to bring out of an instrument things that don't exist in that instrument. My own DP may be a poor model, but the best model still does not have these particular things. The problem is that if you have not heard or experienced these aspects of sound, and sound creation, you cannot relate to them. I am going from my experience as a student, and what I could hear later, but not before. There is no way that this can be conveyed to you, so the experienced pianist and teacher are helpless to explain it. The only way to explain it would probably to teach you over time (on an acoustic).
Since I am a strings student my ear is already sensitized to shades of sound and the way they emanate along the body of the instrument and sympathetically along other strings of an acoustic. My piano ear is still relatively weak and I can imagine that piano teachers would be seeing even more missing than I do.
I see by your posts that you are about my age, you have played a number of instruments, you've played around a bit on piano and now you're starting out again. I played a number of instruments as well before starting lessons in my late 40's: piano in childhood, recorder, classical guitar, mouth organ. Those things did not prepare me to hear what I am able to hear now. It's like the way honey bees see ultraviolet patterns on flowers that we can't see so the patterns aren't there for us.
Can you try to accept that perhaps these people are looking toward qualities that do not yet exist in digitals, and which they find essential? It is not acceptable to start attacking members in capital letters, and such a thing weakens any point you might be trying to make.
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You should carefully re-read what I have written as I did not make the statement you attribute to me i.e. Digital Pianos are not suitable for learning piano. I was very explicit, so let me re-state for the 3rd and final time. In my opinion a DP is not a suitable substitute for a serious piano student. That is not the same as the statement you have attributed to me. If you are going to quote me please use my own words. And while Wikipedia is far from the equivalent of a full set of Oxford Encyclopaedias, here is an interesting link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano
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Kenny, let's try to get some understanding and meeting of different worlds here:
I haven't been back to piano that long - a bit over a year now - so I'm not terribly experienced. I did have a number of years of strings lessons in the last few years, which was my first formal instruction. It took me a couple of years to be able to hear qualities of sound that the musician works with: it's like I was deaf to them before. ....
Can you try to accept that perhaps these people are looking toward qualities that do not yet exist in digitals, and which they find essential? It is not acceptable to start attacking members in capital letters, and such a thing weakens any point you might be trying to make. Certainly at the higher levels of musicianship there are going to be differences, just as there will be between an upright and a grand or different brands or models, some will be better than other, some people will not even be able to hear the differences, some will. Never have I said that a digital piano is an exact replacement for an acoustic, they are simply different, just as a grand is different than an upright etc. etc. That doesn't make them unsuitable for learning to play piano and particularly true of the high-end digital pianos, which will eventually replace the acoustic piano for any number of reasons just as digital music has replaced analog and just as digital tv has replaced analog tv. It's just a matter of time. But even now the pianos are quite adequate that is all I'm trying to covey. Maybe I've misread some peoples comments here but they very well appear to be a vilification of digital pianos when it is certainly not deserved, particularly by those who have not even experienced them. I hope that helps. I understand your point at the higher levels of musicianship of the current state of affairs, but that current state is changing. There will be those who embrace it and those who resist it. Only the future will hold the final result of what is the gold standard (currently a grand piano located deep in Fort Knox ).
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You should carefully re-read what I have written as I did not make the statement you attribute to me i.e. Digital Pianos are not suitable for learning piano. I was very explicit, so let me re-state for the 3rd and final time. In my opinion a DP is not a suitable substitute for a serious piano student. That is not the same as the statement you have attributed to me. If you are going to quote me please use my own words. And while Wikipedia is far from the equivalent of a full set of Oxford Encyclopaedias, here is an interesting link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano So I guess then what you need to further define is "serious." Is not any person that has a desire to learn to play piano and practices to that end not serious? Sorry, but we seem to be pissing into the wind now, so pardon me if I just bow out. I think we've all had about enough of this silliness. Thanks for playing. P.S. that is an interesting link, particularly the part about DIGITAL PIANOS and Keyboards.
Last edited by kennychaffin; 04/03/09 09:52 PM. Reason: for John :)
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Thank you for re-reading what I wrote. In my experience, very few people who want to learn to play the piano are serious about it. Too many potential pianists don't realise just how difficult it is to play piano. Ask any piano teacher and they will tell you that lots of people want to be able to play but won't put the work in to get where they want to get to. Therefore they are not really serious about studying piano. And in closing, I'm not here to vilify digital pianos. Indeed, my pocket is almost certain to be £1,300 lighter when I purchase my next DP, assuming that the P155 passes its audition next month. I love digital pianos. They are a great tool for me as it allows me to practice twice as much as I could with just an acoustic piano, but for me it will never take the place of my real piano. Here is the link to Digital Pianos. You'll notice it has a separate link!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_piano
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Gerry Armstrong:
You are absolutely correct. When you look up "piano" in any dictionary or encyclopedia you will always get a description of an instrument with mechanical action based on Cristofori's original design.
In a separate article you will get a definition of "digital piano" and it describes an electronic instrument.
These are two separate instruments, used for different reasons and should have separate music written for each.
Here's the problem when we discuss these 2 instruments. We try to judge one as better than the other. That is not the case. They each serve their purpose. A beginner pianist may be able to start lessons on a digital and at least learn something basic.
Sometimes a piano student becomes more serious about playing the piano and that is when he has to decide what instrument he wants to learn. Does he want to be a virtuoso "digital pianist" or does he want to become a virtuoso "pianist."
I, for one, cannot play a digital piano very well because I am only familiar with the acoustic piano touch. It is very difficult to negotiate myself around a DP and I really have no interest in practicing on it. That is not to say that I do not admire those who can get around on a DP.
A DP is simply not my specialty. No value judgement needed.
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Kenny Ever been to a concert by a great classical pianist on a digital instrument??... Straw man argument. stumped you! Surprise surprise, no echolalia ensued!!
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Thank you for re-reading what I wrote. In my experience, very few people who want to learn to play the piano are serious about it. Too many potential pianists don't realise just how difficult it is to play piano. Ask any piano teacher and they will tell you that lots of people want to be able to play but won't put the work in to get where they want to get to. Therefore they are not really serious about studying piano. And in closing, I'm not here to vilify digital pianos. Indeed, my pocket is almost certain to be £1,300 lighter when I purchase my next DP, assuming that the P155 passes its audition next month. I love digital pianos. They are a great tool for me as it allows me to practice twice as much as I could with just an acoustic piano, but for me it will never take the place of my real piano. Here is the link to Digital Pianos. You'll notice it has a separate link!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_piano Thanks Garry and I apologize if I rubbed you and John and probably others the wrong way. Not my intent I assure you. I love pianos -- all kinds of pianos -- and it annoys me I guess when favorites are pick and put on a pedestal. There are all kinds of conditions and situations and very few are black and white. You are very likely right about the seriousness. I wonder about my own seriousness, but will let it develop at it's own pace. Yep, separate link, I do like this part though : "sound, they nevertheless have many advantages over normal pianos:" I'm looking forward to a full review of that P155 when you get it. I just received my Yamaha NP-30 which they market as a "Portable Grand Piano" It's pretty cool, but far from a real Grand Piano, but man is it portable. I can practice just about anywhere.
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Gerry Armstrong:
.... Here's the problem when we discuss these 2 instruments. We try to judge one as better than the other. That is not the case. They each serve their purpose. A beginner pianist may be able to start lessons on a digital and at least learn something basic. .... Thank you for that, you are right on target and said much more succinctly and with much less emotion what I was trying to convey. No need to judge, or vilify or determine which is better or worse, they are all part of a spectrum of pianos.
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Kenny Ever been to a concert by a great classical pianist on a digital instrument??... Straw man argument. stumped you! Surprise surprise, no echolalia ensued!! Not really. The actual answer is, as you know, no. But I did see a few Emerson Lake and Palmer concerts a few years ago.
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Apologies for hijacking the thread so far off Pianozuki!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.
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You should carefully re-read what I have written So I guess then what you need to further define is "serious." No, I think we know what definition of serious is being used here, and it is intricately linked to the difficulties with the DP. It is simply this: There is one and only one worthwhile purpose to taking piano lessons, and that is to prepare for a conservatory education and an eventual career as a concert pianist using only grand pianos of only nine feet or larger and only playing composers dead 300 years or more. Those of us who have other goals, to play pop or jazz or rock or just advance our musical education or, -horrors- like me, to play organ, we are not serious. We are BY DEFINITION not serious. I guess I would agree that the truly serious, by this definition, are not likely to benefit by using a DP even for one measure. I'm not so sure that the rest of us, the dedicated but NOT SERIOUS, could not do as well or better on a DP. Nothing in this discussion has really addressed that. I am reasonably sure by the sales statistics that this problem will solve itself. At the rate acoustic sales are dropping, and DP sales are rising, if teachers become a purist in this respect they will shortly have no students.
gotta go practice
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Your definition of serious is not what I meant at all. You don't have to be shooting for Conservatory and a career as a Concert Pianist to be a serious student.
One thing you said puzzles me somewhat. If your goal is to play the Organ why would you be interested in Digital Pianos? Wouldn't your goal be better served by buying an Organ?
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Pianozuki,
Just after my last answer to you, my wife arrived home with a letter from an area piano rebuilder, Ryan Sowers. That reminded me that the Pacific NW is blessed with a number of top notch rebuilders, whose pianos are definitely worth a look-see. Several models were under $5k. I don't know how that fits with your budget, but a check of the piano technicians' forum, and a call for help my bring you some prospects.
Best of luck.
John
"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." -- Richard Henry Dann Full-time Private Piano Teacher offering Piano Lessons in Olympia, WA. www.mypianoteacher.com Certified by the American College of Musicians; member NGPT, MTNA, WSMTA, OMTA
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Gerry, I was going to try to resist, really, I was, but I just couldn't pass this up. You mean "digital organ" right?
"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." -- Richard Henry Dann Full-time Private Piano Teacher offering Piano Lessons in Olympia, WA. www.mypianoteacher.com Certified by the American College of Musicians; member NGPT, MTNA, WSMTA, OMTA
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Your definition of serious is not what I meant at all. You don't have to be shooting for Conservatory and a career as a Concert Pianist to be a serious student.
One thing you said puzzles me somewhat. If your goal is to play the Organ why would you be interested in Digital Pianos? Wouldn't your goal be better served by buying an Organ? Seriously. whoops, not sure I can use that word! When I first approached a skilled organist, she said piano skills were foundational to organ playing. Not that I accepted that at face value, but there seems to be agreement on the subject. Organ builds on piano skills. So I struggle to improve piano, but my long term goals are organ, provided of course I live that long. And if not, the journey has been rewarding! But part of the point is that my interest is not really in the fine subtlties of piano nuance, except as they apply to organ. And when I sent my children to piano lessons, I did not expect them to ever achieve solo pianist skills. The purpose did not seem to demand owning a grand piano, or the top of the line upright. In fact, the purpose seemed well served by a good DP, and they improve every year. Bottom line, I want to make music, not play piano. Sorry!
gotta go practice
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Piano
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Piano
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