Yesterday I phoned one of the hotels where I’ll be speaking in 2017. The name and location isn’t important, because this could happen at any hotel or conference center.
I asked whether a piano would be available for me to use for my talks. Having a keyboard within arm’s reach is a great aid for the kind of talks I give. Not that long ago, pianos were scattered about in such facilities, much as power-point projectors might be today.
But those days are gone. You may find a piano in the corner of the hotel’s bar or nice restaurant, although that too is rare now. And you usually can’t scoot it anywhere. The hotel might insist on paying a professional piano mover.
This was the situation in the hotel I called. Yes we have a piano in the lobby . . . but, no, getting it to the conference area won’t be possible without the expenditure of $500.
. . . except (I was told), if I’d called just a few months ago, they used to have a nice one in the conference area. It had been carted off a few weeks ago. The hotel staff decided no one would ever need it in this modern day and age. And, generally speaking, they were probably close to right.
They expressed their regrets. I expressed mine that I had not called earlier. I hung up feeling saddened. Could my call have saved this piano? Maybe not for long, but for a while.
Does this piano sit now in a thrift store? Or lie unloved in a landfill? Maybe I’m being pessimistic. Maybe it is much loved in someone’s living room, or in a church or school. But somehow I doubt it. Seeing videos like this one recently left me pessimistic about our modern musical life. I understand not every dumped piano is a top-notch instrument: some may have mechanical issues that render them too expensive to repair. But there was a time when even such compromised instruments had a role to play in daily life.
“The world has changed, Carol.” I realize that. But I don’t have to accept changes that devastate the beauty, health, and value of our culture. And where I can, I will fight back.
Only this time I was too late to save that specific piano. Perhaps during that talk, I’ll ask for a moment of silence to honor all of the instruments, lovingly crafted, beautifully played, that have fallen victim to a digitally savvy, musically illiterate society. What do you think?
A piano is always handy in a public meeting place, or a home for that matter. We just gave ours away — my girls play violin now and although I like having a piano in the house, our place is not large and we just didn’t have room for a piano that was not being played. We had originally gotten it (free) from a friend upgrading to a baby grand for her very talented daughter, and we passed it on to a young family that just moved into the area. The mom said that she had always enjoyed playing and wanted to teach her kids, so I hope it will be well used.
This makes me sad too. When I was growing up, it seemed like most people had a piano if they could afford it. My mother was very determined that our family would have a piano and saved money until she could buy an nice upright. Over twenty years ago, I planned to buy a piano for my own house, but was able to find a used electronic piano with key action like a regular piano (and much lighter and easier to move), so I reluctantly bought it in order to save the cost of tuning. This electronic piano has served us well without any maintenance (with four kids taking piano lessons), and indeed saved money, but part of me has always thought I should have gotten a “real” piano. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Our parish has SIX pianos. Only the one in the church was bought by the parish; the rest were donated by parishioners who didn’t know what to do with them. I was born in the 60’s and I and my siblings all took piano lessons and we all have pianos in our homes. My mother gave me the small upright I learned how to play on. It doesn’t have great sound, but it’s good for tuning violins and accompanying singing. I know very few children (and they are usually homeschoolers) who take piano lessons anymore. Our parish is having a heck of a time finding someone to replace our retiring organist. It is truly very sad. The upside is that when I need a new piano, I’ll probably be able to find one pretty cheaply since people are almost paying to get rid of them.
Sadder still is the fact that I am currently teaching an introductory music theory class in a church, and I do not have access to a piano. We do meet in the building with the sunday school rooms and the gym, which is not the main building, but I would much rather use a piano rather than the iPad with an app!