Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Letting students play on new grand piano?

The Boston is your business's instruction instrument, the Grotrian is your personal instrument that you graciously allow occasional use of. Makes sense.

Is there anything a student can learn on a grand that they can't on an upright, or at least learn significantly faster or better?

If not, why buy a grand at all? If so, shouldn't one have lessons on a grand? (and if you want to be contrary, replace grand with acoustic and upright with digital. <g>)

Use of pedals is one, as most uprights only have a damper pedal. A few have a soestenuto pedal, none have unachorda pedal.

The ideal piano studio would have two grands, side by side. But not all of us have that space available or the studio generate the kind of revenue to support that.

I bought my brand new Petrof IV 2 years ago. It is in my home, where I only teach on Fridays. Monday-Thursday is at my studio, on my Yamaha U1. My students DO play on it.

There are a couple of hazards here that you have to watch out for.

1. Be sure hands are clean. That said, I've noticed that some students have sweatier hands than others.

2. No big swinging pendants around the neck (teenage girls) that can swing into and damage the finish.

3. No un-approved 3-ring binders of music on the music desk. Many of my students use binders, and some of them have the "open ring lever" too close to the edge of the music desk. This has scratched all the finish off the edge of the music desk of my Yamaha, and I don't want it to happen to my Petrof.

Hah! You got me on that one!

(my digital however, like most decent digitals, does have three functioning pedals. Hee, hee)

Under those circumstances I agree with you. But there is more at issue here than a grand. I think if she had had a decent upright piano, that would not have been an issue at all. By arriving late and having a poorly maintained student piano, she did not show a good attitude toward students, and I would worry about how much care would be put into lessons. Was it at least in tune?

John, I came back from holidays yesterday (Thanksgiving over here), and was too zonked from the trip to answer your response yesterday.

I wasn't thinking specifically of that particular grand, or decision, but the general idea of a grand piano in a studio. Among the reasons of why to let students use or not use a grand that is in the studio, what I didn't see were teaching reasons. I mean, if a student reaches a given level, there are things you can only do on a grand piano. I was thinking of the type of thing that you mentioned. Even when uprights have una corda, I don't think they function the same way. At the same time, I imagine that advanced serious students would be in a different circumstance all round.

Belt buckles, especially large ones, can damage a piano. My young nephew stood up and chipped some and tore off other real ivory keytops of a few keys, and badly scratched the piece of horizontal wood that runs just below the keys with his belt buckle.

It's completely understandable that there's a big reluctance to let your students play on your brandnew grand piano. So, if you don't feel okay with letting them play on it, just don't let them play. It's your piano.

But on the other hand, it's a wonderful thing for studens to be taught on a grand piano: This is the real, original instrument, and the touch is not only different from the one of an upright because of the different layout of the mechanic, it's more demanding and much more delicate. So, many of your students will make more progress on the grand. (In this case I agree that you should slightly rise your fees, as your teaching will be of higher quality).

If you explain to them how special this instrument is and if they're taught the rules which apply to be allowed to play on this wonderful instrument from the beginning , they will treat it nicely and respectful. Good pianos and especially Kaways are of such a high quality that they aren't fragile.

The hardest thing for students is to have their lessons on an upright, but to play their recitals on a grand. The adjustment from one instrument to the other without preparation is really hard. In that case, you should let them play on the grand about two weeks before the recital so they can get used to the grand. Last but not least: don't forget that the music stand is much highter up on the grand than on the upright. If students aren't used to look higher up to their music, it can result in many stops during their performance (as I know from my own hurtful experience as a child).

PS: Even if you don't let your students play on your wonderful new grand, you won't be able to prevent scratches. My Steinway still looks very shiny and I'm really careful with it, but unfortunately, it has had an encounter with my vacuum cleaner and some other enemies...

I am a parent of an advancing 11 year old. He's working on a Scarlatti Sonata and one of Mendelssohn's Songs without words among other things at the moment. I cannot imagine NOT having a lesson on a grand at this point. When we're in unusual places and have small uprights, it's so hard for him to practice a full dynamic range or phrasing. We have a very nice rebuilt antique full upright at home (all 3 pedals). Our tuner has told us the only thing that would have better sound than what we would be a full size grand. His teacher has 2 grands side by side, and generally a very advanced studio compared to most teachers I know.

I would say if you're not planning on teaching on it, do not put it in your studio. If your studio is beginning to intermediate and you're happy with that, carry on. 11 students is a pretty small studio, so maybe it will be no big deal for you.

We do pay a premium for our teacher and I'm totally fine with it. The piano these kids get to perform on is ridiculously high end. My kid has definitely made more progress than he would have with another teacher and a simpler piano set up. His teacher was able to talk about balance and phrasing almost from the get go.

Just to clarify what I wrote above: Piano lessons on a grand piano alone don't make better students. And it's not necessarily so that students who are taught on an upright make less progress. The teaching and the way the student learns are huge factors, too. But as I wrote above, being lucky to have lessons on a grand (or even being able to practice on a grand) can be a wonderful motivation and have a huge impact.
On the other side, owning myself a Hamburg Steinway A, I pride myself of being able to play decently on almost every piano, grand or upright. It's just as well a matter of our inner approach and of the way our inner hearing is connected to the way our fingers touch the keyboard. And this can be taught and learned on almost every piano. The advantage on a good (!) grand is that our ears get a better answer from what we do on the keyboard.

I play equally badly on all types of piano.

Well, unweighted keys do throw me off a bit, but I adjust.

All I can think when reading this is that it's a good job us teachers and performers are not so precious about the instruments we often have to play or accompany on at various venues! Last week I turned up to accompany at a church to find a rather worn out clavinova and at the weekend I went to see a local amateur orchestra with a soloist playing beethovens third concerto on a Yamaha grand which clearly needed a lot of work.

Really though it's more important that students have good instruments to practice on at home. An hour a week on the teachers grand isn't likely to make much difference at all. I had never really played and practiced on grands until I went away to college by which time I was already an advanced pianist. When I had acces to many fine grands in proper concert venues I could learn to get the best from them. Remember it's not just the piano but where you put it! I used to have a grand in my studio but to be honest it sounded terrible because the room is too small. My students didn't like playing and neither did I so I got rid of it. I now have a trusty Yamaha u1 which does the job and my students like it. Although many of them still complain that it sounds and feels different to the firewood they use at home!

I am having my Mason-Hamlin BB 7 foot grand delivered this week. Although it is primarily for my own use, two of my grandchildren, both beginners, will be doing their practicing on it since my daughter has no piano in her home. They live right down the street and take their lessons on an older upright at the teacher's home. I plan to go over some ground rules and supervise their practices, but cannot imagine denying them the use of this wonderful piano. I hope they progress in their lessons and learn to love music as much as I do. I know this is different from the question of a teacher allowing students (probably many, many students) to play on her new Shigura, but from another point, consider the child who does not have a good instrument in their home. Even a little bit of playing on a fine one might make a difference in their motivation and growing skills. When two of my daughters were young, they took lessons from a wonderful teacher on her heirloom Steinway B while only being able to practice at home on an inferior spinet from the 40's. It was all we could afford then, but playing at their lessons on the Steinway was inspiring and one of them is now a music teacher and very accomplished pianist.

Thank you all for the input. I'm sorry for posting the question, and kind of disappearing, but I am trying to get ready for the piano as fast as I can! We are painting the room, installing recessed light, etc. The piano is at the store waiting for me, so I just need to finish the room!

I have watched my students closely in the past week, and there are some that I will let play on it, but some that will just have to gain a little more maturity before I let them have a go at it!

I'm fairly certain that my current upright is better than most instruments my students have in their homes, so they enjoy it even now when they play the upright.

Thanks again for the input. Will keep you posted on the progress!

We want to see photos of your new baby!

My SK6 arrived yesterday! I posted photos in the photo gallery....take a look.

I had five students today. We are having a Halloween Party next week, where they will come in their costumes and play Halloween music. I did most of their lessons on my upright (see the photos), but had them play their Halloween Party piece on the Shigeru. I explained to them how to respect both instruments, and things that are just not acceptable (dirty hands, long fingernails, banging on the keys, etc). They did great, and I could really see the excitement on their faces when they played their pieces on the grand. I also explained that we will use the old piano for "learning", just like learning to drive a car. The grand is for when a piece is polished, and ready to be performed. They all seemed to be fine with that!

One exception, though.....I let my one adult student of the day have her full lesson on the grand. She only has an electronic keyboard, and I wanted her to see what a real piano is like!! She really enjoyed it (although I think she was shocked that we chose to move our TV out of the living room, and put in a huge piano instead

My SK6 arrived yesterday! I posted photos in the photo gallery....take a look

Congradulations - where is the gallery and how do I get here?
Thanks.

It's on the main forums page. Scroll down.

No sooner had I posted then I saw photo gallery and then your posting. Thanks very much.

Amy, congratulations on your new piano, and on your sensible solutions. Further congrats on the tv.