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Yeah I have spent considerable time in the local Steinway, Yamaha, and Kawai piano stores here in Nashville, and I am always the only person in the store. Kawai had a few people in a separate building offering lessons, and the Steinway Society has events to bring people in but to no offense, the crowd at the Steinway Society recitals is by and large over the age of 55. I'm one of the few in my 20s for sure. I wish my generation had the passion about acoustic pianos as I have. I try and tell friends that there is simpy no replacement for a quality grand or upright.

On a somewhat related note, there has also been a sharp decline in piano enrollment in the post secondary music programs up here in the Toronto area. In my first year on the faculty of York University 7 years ago I had more piano students than I wanted (15 or 16 hours). In the last two or three years I've been lucky to get 3 or 4 hours worth of students because of enrollment. Such is the case with the University of Toronto and Humber College as well. There ISN'T a shortage of guitar students or vocal majors however. Their numbers continue to grow.
Is the piano's popularity in decline? It used to be that the piano was the 'grand daddy' of all instruments in people's eyes -- and for good reason. These days I wonder.

The grand piano is and will always be the grandest instrument. It's amazing how much can be accomplished on the grand piano, as demonstrated by Franz Liszt's Beethoven Symphony Transcriptions.

Sure, the piano would gain more respect if people actually treat music more like art than background accompaniment to sexy dance moves on YouTube or MTV.

It's not as bad as I thought then. It seemed like 100 piano shops closed just in Southern California.

For those that don't mind a good summer read, see author Arthur Loesser's Men, Women and Pianos.
http://www.amazon.com/Men-Women-Pianos-Social-History/dp/0486265439

Men, Women and Pianos is an entertaining and informative history of the piano that does a great job of explaining the popularity of the instrument. Even though it's an older book it doesn't take much to extend the trends that he saw developing into the current market for pianos.

If Music is to return at all or stop shrinking at such a rate, we need to support the culture of Music.

Music is more that an instrument one can sell or a service for sale, it is a lifestyle.

As a technician, there is so much one can do to support the lifestyle.

If only a few do it, it may not be enough. If everyone does it, there is more of a chance.

If you are a technician, post local performances on your website. Talk to your clients about events they may not know about etc.

Got Milk ...???

Got Music ?? It should be on every milk carton sold.

The video game industry posted a 40% drop in video game sales April 2012 over April 2011. They have vowed to pull out all the stops to regain that market.

They are looking for your kids.

Burn the video games and buy a piano.

Larry, Why isn't there an Art section in the standard state and national tests?

Great question ... do you have an answer ?

I don't.

I'm not disagreeing with this statement (and I think most piano world members would agree)

What I'm saying is that the 'general public' doesn't seem to see it this way anymore. And I think gnuboi makes a good point about art. Many people I encounter in 2012 seem to view the word ART as a four letter word and view artistically motivated things as pretentious and elitist. It's a real shame because ironically it's the opposite. True art de-emphasises the ARTIST and draws the listener's/viewer's attention to the actual piece of ART (ie. the music in this case) which in turn allows the 'beholder' to TAKE something personal away for themselves.
To my eyes and ears much of the 'mainstream' music being pumped out these days (especially the stuff being marketed to the 12-18 y/o demographic) is all about the ARTIST not the ART (if you could even call it that) It's so much about the PERSON making the music that the music seems secondary.
I get that kids need role models. I also think that kids need to be shown how to close their eyes and LISTEN and FEEL and EXPERIENCE things in a PERSONAL way. This is what art intends to do (sometimes) and this is NOT what modern mainstream music intends to do (most of the time) IMO.
So when bombarded with images of Justin Bieber and Lada Gaga with their million dollar stages full of pyrotechnics and writhing backup dancers how can you expect anyone to appreciate the subtle magic of the piano? Unless of course someone is able to appeal to their senses in a way that says 'there are far deeper levels of gratification available to you if you're just willing to put in a little bit of effort of your own.' Then they might see that all those bright lights, sexy dancers and LOUD rhythmically flaccid 4/4 bass booms don't really go very deep into their soul -- and that in turn will create a NEED for something more, or at least something contrasting. There's nothing wrong with Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. It's exactly what it intends to be and does a great and efficient job achieving its own goals. But there IS something very wrong with thinking that THAT form of entertainment is motivated by the same purpose as ART (in its aforementioned definition).

Certainly when I was growing up 60 years ago in the small-town South, any piano (other than an old upright, and perhaps even that as well) was considered a status symbol. Most middle-class little girls were exposed to at least a year or two of lessons, after which most of those spinets sat untouched until the parents' demise.

Growing up in the 60's and 70's, an upright piano in the livingroom was de rigueur to show that you were solidly middle class. A grand demonstrated that you were securely upper-middle.

Among the little girls I knew, if you didn't take piano lessons it was assumed it was because you were too poor. My mom, who was most definitively "class-jumping" from "white trash" to "upper middle", made sure we had a very attractive* piano and I took lessons on it.

Would the modern equivalent be one of those supersized ultra-wide-screen surround-sound home theater systems? (i'm not sure i have the right terminology to describe massive techno-monstrosity I'm visualizing. We kicked the TV out of our house a decade ago, so I'm way out of the loop)

* Unfortunately the piano was virtually untunable, but that didn't matter. It was a symbolic item.

I don't think a vertical piano in the living room today has the same meaning.

Yes, the piano industry is in a sorry state. For sure, the recent recession had a lot to do with it.
But there are probably other factors.

Digital instruments have gotten a lot better over time. They are much cheaper and take far less space than any acoustic piano. They have advantages such as the ability to play silently. That matters a lot in urban settings with a higher density of population. It's far easier for parents to justify the smaller digital expense for their kids, in case they do not keep up with the music, as the majority doesn't. For those who move often, especially renters, moving costs for acoustic pianos can be quite high.

I'm sorry that several local dealers have significantly downsized their showrooms over the last decade. As a consumer, I have recently benefited by being able to buy a full concert grand at a price I could afford. But I worry that this won't be possible in a few years if the trend continues.

I hope it doesn't get to the point where there are no more showrooms, and all new instruments are built and shipped to order, as the situation already is for less common instruments such as harpsichords. Paying upfront before manufacture, and waiting a couple of years to get your instrument would not be fun - and it's one of the main reasons I have not bought a harpsichord, the other one being that I'm too lazy to maintain one.

The US housing market is in serious trouble, far worse than in almost any other developed country. Since 2006, housing prices have fallen 30 to 40 percent in most areas; millions now owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth, and millions more have only slivers of equity. The average homeowner today has 7 percent equity in his or her home, versus 45 percent as recently as 1990.

http://www.aei.org/outlook/economic...policies-brought-down-the-housing-market

I have to agree with Steve Cohen above: a comeback is very unlikely. The acoustic piano will never vanish within our lifetimes or even the next hundred or two years, but they will probably become similar to expertly crafted contrabass clarinets--rare and expensive.

The digital price is right. For anyone not an advanced/master/professional player, the digital solution is best in ALL ways. People are more and more nomadic with smaller, rented living spaces they have for a small number of years before moving onward to some other place near to work or welfare offices. Moving acoustics alone is a pain, but digitals are usually a one-person job. You can take the extra cash you saved by getting a digital and buy a TV or drugs or whatever. :P

If the acoustic piano market remains this robust for another decade, I would be amazed. There will always be a lively sales market to universities, churches, schools, hotels, etc., but homes will mostly abandon the acoustic due to all the economic and cultural changes. This situation COULD turn about if people begin being able to be productive again, make money, stay put, and find value in the cultural of piano music.



Last week I saw the "Back To The Future" trilogy for the first time in a couple decades. It was fascinating to see the detail they used in the McFly home to show their economic status before and after, in the first film. The first house had a truncated spinet/organy-thing in the background. Their "piano" looked like something out of a child's playroom. The keyboard at the end was a full sized upright or organ.

To show the wealth of Doc Brown, they put a very-very ornate upright organ in his house. It looked like it was hand crafted around 1900.

They also had a clever use of sheet music: the McFlys had no music on their piano. Doc was actively playing in his spare time with sheet music piled on the stand.

Anyway, the piano was (and kinda still is) a status symbol portraying the cultural and economic status of a person. It isn't a true indicator, but it tells a LOT about a person. In the old days it was a grand in upper-middle homes (like where I grew up), uprights in solidly middle-class, spinets in lower-middle class homes and below. And the upper classes had art cased Steinways and other such prestige pianos.

These days, in my opinion, a lack of piano generally shows a lack of cultural awareness: someone that is a mere cultural consumer and the modern corporate slave in general. Again, this isn't a universal. Someone with an electronic keyboard is hopeful or actively creative. Grands usually belong to the affluent and culturally acute.

While there have been more buyers in the past who put musical education on an "experimental basis" to see "how their kids will be doing" we see more serious & dedicated buyers today.

As a result, some manufacturers are doing exceedingly well enjoying full order books and actual waiting times for their pianos.

It's quite evident that the age of "wolesale-out-the-door- piano-sales" is coming to an end but for those who are committed to excellence, the activity is same - if not more.

At same time consumers have become far more educated, critical and certainly - value-oriented.

Simply speaking, being exposed to a much more varied, "interesting" market, people are making increasingly different choices.

Those who saw this coming, trimmed their fat of both their operations, product selection and ...ahem...'margins'.. the new times present a new opportunity rather than thread.

Many piano buyers, at least in our B.C. area, seem to see things same way realizing the new possibilities/choices acquiring fine quality instruments without having to mortgage their homes. And this does nor only include us.

Apparently exact same involving other instruments is happening: my own daughter [song-writer, performer] just picked a $ 300 guitar preferring it over some others costing twice or more.

Even the boys at the store quietly nodded in agreement...

Different times - different market: that's all.

Norbert

If you'll permit a non-professional observation.

Dave B. and Larry: I'd love to see all areas of subject matter on the state and federal standardized testing. However, since there isn't even science or social studies appearing on those tests, art will continue to take a backseat. Wrong, yes; I certainly have no clue as to a fix for that.

What I have seen is that this generation of young people, let's say from age 6 to early 20s, is being/has been raised by people who grew up in the 1980s. I've heard them described as the "me" generation, where it was all about getting stuff for as little effort as possible. This also coincided with huge leaps in technology, bringing us MP3 players, excellent home video and gaming systems, all kinds of passive entertainment. You were considered less than successful if you actually did for yourself, "You actually COOK dinner every night!?!" "Why bother to fix it, I'll buy a new one." etc. People got out of the habit of doing for themselves, and now these parents raising these kids actually don't know HOW to do anything for themselves.

I have noticed a trend in young people my own children's ages, early 20s: it is suddenly becoming trendy to learn to DO something! I see teens and 20 somethings knitting! I have several kids coming to help in my garden and getting sincerely excited about seeing the produce start to come in. I have been showing some of the kids how to cook from scratch with old family recipes - YES!, you can actually bake your own bread and it tastes fabulous! My son has been giving impromptu classes in car maintenance to several of his friends (in our driveway with dear hubby's tools, which doesn't excite dear hubby). I have even been asked to help son's girlfriend reacquaint herself with piano basics with an eye to restarting lessons with a real teacher.

I don't know if this "trend" is something just local - I sure hope not - an offshoot of folks not having the cash to go and buy entertainment like they used to, or a realization that depending on others all the time for everything is not a good way to live. I do hope this is a trend and feel that in the long run it may benefit the piano industry, making your own music could be becoming fashionable again. Unfortunately it likely won't be soon enough for those retailers already teetering on the edge of closure.

I've taken a bunch of friends of my kids to the local music store, a regular errand for me but a first-contact experience for most of them. And I've spent a lot more time in those stores than I planned because those kids were fascinated. So, the interest is there, we just have to help encourage it!

While watching this, I thought, this guy wasn't selling as many pianos as he would like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cGNT-RSkEU