How long does it take me to learn a song? (Part two: Reset and an announcement)

So, for those of you who've been waiting to hear me stumble my way through "The Jitterbug Waltz" again, I have an announcement:

Forget that.

Oh, yes, I can play the song much better than the video I posted almost two months ago, I promise you that, but, I can't play it all the way through at performance level. Add to that, if I were to play it on video with my digital piano, you'd hear more of the clunking of the keys than the sound of the piano anyway. So, I'm going to remedy that. To do so, I bought this:

My Yamaha C1X, still in the piano professor's office at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Yes. Two weeks shy of four years after I started my quest to buy a "real" piano, I have purchased one. It's a Yamaha C1X, less than a year old, which means it is sold as new and warranted for ten years. It's a slight downgrade in model from what I wanted (C1 instead of C3), but it's a slight upgrade in line (Conservatory 'X' series instead of just Conservatory). It will be delivered on Thursday. 

On Thursday night, my life will begin to change.

And after I get my piano, I will pick another piece, start from scratch, and then we'll see for real, how long it takes me to learn a song.

Why I'm not practicing (or blogging) much

Because our house has been turned upside down to install hardwood floors in the last four rooms covered in crappy carpet.

Tyler takes one last look at the carpet.

This is all part of the process to buy a piano, too (believe it or not). After we turned our dining room in a music room, Mrs. S wanted to paint her study. And since we were putting in flooring in the master bedroom, might as well go all the way. Which meant emptying four rooms into two. I could hardly get to my piano, much less play it while all the painting, furniture rearranging, junk dumping, and everything else was going on. (The list of everything we did is too long to even think about, much less write.)

This is about half the wood. And, there wasn't enough to finish the job!

I thought, however, that during the install, I might be able to play the piano a little bit, since I would take off work for two whole days. And, even though I've only ever been around one flooring install (upstairs in our current home), I knew there was no quiet way to install flooring. What I didn't realize is exactly how loud five guys, a power saw, an air compressor, a hammer driven nail gun, a bunch of regular hammers, and nine hundred square feet of hardwood flooring can be. And, how, as the project progresses, the echoes throughout the home build and build as there are less and less soft surfaces to absorb the sound. In short, the installation is downright deafening. Then there are the “contingency” sounds of the install, like the door constantly being opening and closed as they go outside to cut the boards to size. And they had to move that outside, because when they cut a board sideways and caused it to smoke, they set off the smoke alarm. No wonder I can’t practice the piano.

Look, ma! No carpet!

The floors, however, look great. The music room, which looked great for one day after we finished it and moved a bunch of furniture into it, looks like a garage sale gone awry, as it still holds the bulk of three rooms worth of stuff so that the flooring could be installed.

The chaos of the "music room". (The piano bench is just visible at the left.)

This weekend, we have slowly begun to reclaim our house. The guest bedroom has been cleaned and dusted, including the bed linens. Some books have been put back on various shelves. Furniture was rearranged in the living room. Clothes have mostly been put back in the closets.

Mrs. S's study, newly painted, oldly carpeted

I still have a couple of pictures to put up and out of the way, and a deer head as well.We need to buy some more area rugs to absorb some of the sound. And although it isn't much of a space, there is a path leading to my piano, so I might play some today if Mrs. S isn't making too much noise moving stuff around.

Mrs. S's study, flooring and rug in place, desk about to be.

And that's why I'm not practicing (or blogging) much.

Sprucing up for a piano purchase

With the imminent purchase of a baby grand piano, we've been trying to figure out where to put all the furniture that is going to be displaced by it. As we've done so, we've made the realization that our house needs major overhauling in the process. The other realization that Mrs. S and I have both made is that our values have changed and as far as furniture and knickknacks go, we have a lot of stuff that we were once attached to which now we don’t care about so much. Along with everything else, we are noticing how neglected our house is and how much stuff needs attention. Rather than torture ourselves, we've decided to spend the money and get fixed what needs fixing. Here’s where we are.

Our big plan is to get rid of all the carpeting in the house. We are going to do that by replacing the worn, torn, cat-puked and pissed on carpeting in the last four carpeted rooms we have with hardwood in all four rooms. We’ll therefore have to buy some rugs to put down on the floors so we don’t end up living in a damn echo chamber and also to give the rooms a little warmer feeling. (We have in fact already purchased one hand-woven wool rug and a pad for under the piano.) The cost for having the flooring done will be substantial, but not unmanageable, and it will leave us with much more livable conditions. It’s a big first step that takes a long time to start, but we have already received two quotes, so we’re getting close.

I replaced two non-working blinds in my study with off-the-shelf faux woods blinds from Lowes. The room looks 100% better. We also ordered custom made blinds for the future music room. That will replace two broken blinds and displace one working blind that we will move to Mrs. S’s study, where we will dispose of the one that is broken in her room. Nice.

Tyler meditating behind the sun room curtains.

We looked around our sun room yesterday and were thinking about the furniture when we suddenly just decided to throw it out. I hauled a glider, three chairs, and all the necessary cushions, plus one for a chaise (long gone) to the curb. Within five minutes, we had somebody packing them into their Pontiac Vibe. After the furniture was gone, Mrs. S took the vacuum to the sun room and we moved our new cat condo into it, and wallowed in the extra space that we got from doing that.

Roosevelt posing on the cat condo.

Our kitchen sink backed up around the disposal and leaked water all over the rugs we had set there, so we took those out to dry them and are looking to replace them.

We gave away our fish tank, along with the fish and everything that goes with it, to a guy where I work. He even agreed to take the extra one we have up in our attic. Less time feeding fish and cleaning the tank, more time playing the piano.

Stuff for donation: two pieces of exercise gear, a printer, a scanner, some T-shirts, my Nintendo Wii, bunch of Mrs. S’s clothes. Like that.

I’m also going to throw out my old computer.

I threw out eight cans of old paint. I have about eight more that I need to get rid of. I need to clean out the garage in general while I’m at it, especially where the mice got into the birdseed. What a mess.

And, I start back to piano lessons on Tuesday with a different instructor. We’ll see how that goes.

A piano search update

Although I haven’t written about it in while, the piano search has actually been going quite well. I've started to find more pianos that are priced better and that are in decent shape, although I haven’t quite found the exact thing I’m looking for. I looked at a beautiful used C7. It was played by a woman who passed away and her husband is trying to sell it. It is actually only 30 minutes from our house, so we went to see it shortly after I found it. It’s in beautiful shape on the outside, with hardly a scratch or mark on it, with the exception of inside the fall board, which was badly scratched from the woman’s nails. The only other cosmetic defect was the sostenuto pedal was a different shade of brass from the other two pedals. I wasn't sure if that was a question of usage or something else, and I also wasn't sure if it was something that could be corrected. That made it just like the fall board in that respect, as I’m not sure that could be buffed or polished back to normalcy. I checked the tuning on the piano with my Korg electronic tuner and found the piano was perfectly in tune. Perfectly. In fact, it was more in tune than any of the other pianos I have looked at so far. There were two things that were amazing about this. One was that the piano had not been professionally tuned in three years, and the other was that the piano was thirty five years old. 

A 35-year old C7, nice as can be. Could still be mine, as far as I know.

In all honesty, at the price the guy was asking and given the overall condition of the piano, if it had been only 20 years old, I would already own the sucker. So, age is the first problem. The second problem is size. At 7’4”, it will have to be placed in our living room, which means our house will basically be taken over by that piano. Mrs. S says she wouldn't mind, but she hasn't heard me play Piano Exercises for Dummies for an hour and a half on a booming piano in the middle of our living room yet. I think by the second of third week of that, she might change her opinion.

The GC1 in a sea of pianos. 5 year warranty, 100% trade up value, no fussing with piano movers...yep, it's looking quite attractive...

For comparison sake, we looked at some new and near new pianos at the local shop, our second visit there (almost a year to the day after the first, too, I might add). There was a very young, very clean divorce sale C1 for sale, but it was a little pricey and not quite what I was hoping for. If that one had been a C3, I might already own it, but I think it was overpriced and unexciting for a C1. I did like an Indonesian built Yamaha that I looked at, until I found out it was Indonesian. Then I played a Japan built GC1 that I quite liked. We would have the option to trade up at full purchase price if I got that one and at 5’3”, it would be much more easily accommodated in our house and furniture layout plans. We are leaning in the direction of buying that piano, once we get our master bedroom arranged and our dining room painted and arranged for turning into a music room. We also need to buy a rug to put under the piano, which will also affect our painting scheme. Lots of considerations, but good that we are getting some direction if not entirely getting closer to an actual purchase.

I've also been fine tuning (get it?) my practice routine for the arrival of the piano, so that I might actually get good enough to play the damn thing when it gets here. I’ll write about that soon.

Why I still don’t own an acoustic piano, Part five

I have a robot that does the vacuuming for me and Mrs. S. His name is Vinnie. (He does the “dirty work”.) He’s manufactured by iRobot Corporation. He’s programmable. He rarely gets stuck, always covers every nook and cranny, and he works every day, if we want him to, without complaining. We bought Vinnie not because we are lazy. We bought Vinnie because we hate to vacuum.

One of Vinnie's brothers. He comes from a very large family.

Vacuuming is one of the few activities that I hate more than looking for a piano.

Looking for an acoustic piano is hard. You have to wade through the lies and half-truths of the people who are selling used pianos. You have to cast your net very wide just to find a piano you are interested in. You have to deal with Craigslist not forwarding your emails even though there’s no other contact information in the ad. If you do manage to actually talk to a piano owner, they don’t understand what is meant by “buyer’s market”. Sellers also expect you to fix their piano after you buy it. And pianos are expensive.

Before Vinnie, we used to wait to vacuum until the house was basically covered in cat hair. One more day of not vacuuming meant one more day you didn't have to vacuum before you died. The longer you stretched, the less vacuuming you had to do. But eventually, you couldn't stretch anymore and you got out the Dyson and you cleaned house.

Without an acoustic piano, I play a digital piano, a piano that I bought for $700 five years ago because I wasn't sure I wanted to play the piano and I didn't want to spend a lot of money for something I might be selling on Craigslist in a few months. Now, five years later, I’m stretching. I’m trying not to notice that I can’t play quick repeated notes on tunes like “Moment’s Notice” or “Falling in Love with Love”. I try to ignore the clunkity-clunk-clunk-clatter of the keys underneath the plastic housing drowning out the music when I play Gymnopedie 1ere. Then I realize the house is covered in cat hair, and  I can’t stretch anymore, and I go back to looking for an acoustic piano.

But it’s hard, and that’s why I still don’t own an acoustic piano. (End part five)

Why I Still Don’t Own an Acoustic Piano, Part Four

Or, Wading Through the Piano Ad Jargon, Part Two

See yesterday’s post for a brief explanation of today’s post.

Seller says = Actual meaning

Highly desirable model = it’s not as irritating as measles

Rare = I've been to every storage unit auction in the tri-county area and I've never seen one of these

This piano just needs a good home = it needs to be somewhere other than this house

Very well cared for = we've never set it on fire and we cleaned most of the rat droppings out of it

Reconditioned = it was broke, but we kind of fixed it

Refurbished = it was broke, but we paid some guy to kind of fix it

Restored = it was broke, but we paid some guy to cobble together some piano parts and make it look like it was fixed

All original = we were too lazy to recondition, refurbish, or restore it

Ivory

Real ivory keys = I wouldn't know ivory if I got stabbed by an elephant tusk

Original ivory keys = you can see the wood on some of the keys because the plastic stuff peeled off

Not ivory (although, these have broken off in the fashion of real ivory, so, maybe...)

The piano plays perfect = some of the keys move and when they do, there’s noise

Comes with a bench = we've got to get rid of that hunk a junk, too

Inspected by an expert and appraised for (some ridiculous number) = Uncle Bernie saw something resembling a piano on the Internet once selling for (some ridiculous number)

Sacrifice for (some equally ridiculous number) = I need (some equally ridiculous number) to buy a new ATV and some socks

Serious inquiries only = Okay, I'll take $5000 less than (some equally ridiculous number)

Like I said yesterday, it took me a long time to figure out a lot of this jargon, and that’s why I still don’t own an acoustic piano. (End part four)

Why I Still Don’t Own an Acoustic Piano, Part Three

Or, Wading Through the Piano Ad Jargon, Part One

Piano sellers, God bless them, are a unique lot. There are a handful of realists out there, but for some reason, 95% percent of the people trying to sell a piano on e-bay or Craigslist see a gold mine and not a money pit. They aren't going to admit that there are a plethora of nicer, and correctly priced, pianos out there because for whatever reason, they think their piano is better or “special”. For this reason, it’s safe to say their viewpoint is not going to improve and they will continue to embellish the descriptions of their marginal (or worse) pianos. So, for those who are new to the piano buying game, I thought I would put my three years of experience and acquired knowledge to good use and compose this “Piano Buyer’s Guide to Piano Seller’s Jargon”, just to help out. It’s not all inclusive, but you should get the idea by reading through the short list below:

Seller says = Actual meaning

Brand new = a couple years old

Close to brand new = it’s pretty new, but something on it's broke

Like new = it was new, once, a couple years, okay decades, ago

Vintage = really old, which is why it doesn't work but I’m still trying to sell it

Antique = my grandma got it from her grandma and it’s been in our family ever since and we didn't know what to do with it aside from putting framed pictures and doilies on top of it

Requires TLC = broken

What the seller sees

Just needs tuning = just needs new pins, thirty or forty strings replaced, a dehumidifier or humidifier, and two tunings by a professional, at least two weeks apart

Not all the keys work but can easily be fixed = will only cost a couple thousand to get in working order

Needs minor repair = we couldn't get it to work

A few nicks and scratches = one of the legs still has some paint on it

Great for a beginner = if you've never touched a piano before, you might even believe for a couple of minutes that this is a musical instrument

Nobody in our family plays = See “antique”

Our daughter only played it a few hours a week when she was little = the chocolate milk stain is quite faded and most of the snot has flaked off by now

What the buyer sees

Can’t bear to see this piano not being used = we have enough firewood

Sounds as good as the day we brought it home = I’m still as tone deaf as a rock under water

Seriously, it took me a long time to figure out a lot of this jargon, and that’s why I still don’t own an acoustic piano. (End part three)

Tomorrow: Part Four of Why I Still Don’t Own an Acoustic Piano, which will also be part two of Wading Through the Piano Ad Jargon

Why I still don’t own an acoustic piano, Part Two

A couple of weeks back, I was reading the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal and they had an article about a woman’s quest to buy a piano. She sounded to be cast much in the same mold as me: not particularly talented, not particularly rich, but sure of her dedication to playing and with a devotion to jazz. Without belaboring the fine points of the article, it ended up that she ran across a second hand Baldwin grand that she and her jazz-oriented instructor liked the sound of, and so she ended up with (I believe) a Baldwin concert grand in her house.

This entry would be too boring without a picture of a piano, so, why not a nice Yamaha?!

Up until reading that article, I’d never considered a Baldwin, much like I’d never considered a Steinway until I ran across a cheap one on Craigslist (this in spite of the fact that the Wall Street Journal had another piece about a woman buying a Steinway a few years back. Now that I think about it, why is it always a woman?) But, if somebody could write a newspaper article about that experience, I felt I owed it to myself to at least consider the piano that was the subject matter.

Since reading that article, I've broadened my search to include Steinways and Baldwins, still without success. You would think with so many pianos to choose from, it would be a simple matter to find one I liked at a good price. I think my point is: buying a piano is pretty much like buying a car. There are sports cars and roadsters and sedans and old ones that work and old ones that need work, and European made and Asian made and USA made, and they call come in different colors with different features, and in the second hand market, some owners have nice ones they just want to get rid of, and some have junk that they just want moved, and some have nice ones they’ll only sell for the right price, and some have middling ones that they are attached to and they end up being overpriced, and some just don’t know what a fair price is and so they are priced wrong from start to finish, and some are worth buying and considering and some are not, and some should be pursued and some should be positively avoided.

And all that availability and information and misinformation and static and noise is why I still don’t own an acoustic piano. (End part two)

Why I still don’t own an acoustic piano, Part One

For Sale: 1992 Steinway & Sons Model M Grand Piano. Current retail for a new M Grand is $57,900. Piano is EBONY SATIN (the most desired finish) with matching bench. Very well maintained. Kept tuned. More photos available. Moving across the country March 31. Taking no furniture.

Did that get your attention? Yes, it got my attention, too. And when I contacted the seller and learned she would possibly consider a price even lower than what she was asking, and that she was on a tight deadline with an imminent, furnitureless move to California in the works, I felt I owed it to myself to find out if maybe, just possibly, a Steinway might be in my future. Of course, Mrs. S heard “Steinway” and a price that was marginally within the limits of our home equity line of credit and she said, “You should buy it”. I told her to hold on there, and let’s go and look at it and see what it looks like and go from there.

The corner of the cabin filled with a Steinway

So we traveled up to a log house in Cheatham County Tennessee that was built in 1832 and is the second oldest house in Tennessee (or something like that) to see a lady’s piano. There were lots of stories to go with the piano: slight water damage from when an upstairs bath leaked, strings “rusting” and being rusted and being replaced. The piano seems largely to have been purchased as decoration, and as such, the current owner had no cover and, as far as I can tell, stored the piano with both the lid and fallboard open pretty much all the time (I didn't directly ask her if that was the case). I played the piano. It sounded fine, but in all honesty, nothing special. Inside the log home (which the owner kindly showed us around – it was beautiful, original and highly desirable), the corner where the Steinway was stashed was quite dark and unaccommodating. I couldn't see any of the features of the piano, even with the flashlight I brought. The piano was a bit out of tune, but okay for the most part. It hardly sounded “bright” as the owner described, though I would say it sounded brighter than a typical Steinway concert grand. It was, however, a rather dull sounding piano overall. I’m not sure if that could have been because it was dusty and cobwebby, or dried out, or too close to the wall, or it was just never an exciting piano. I was disappointed. I told the owner I’d think about it, but by and large, I’d already given up the idea of owning that piano.

This gives a better idea of how dark and secluded the area around the piano is (photo taken with flash)

Back home with Mrs. S, we discussed the potential. At the price and for that piano, it was desirable, if only we could figure out whether the water damage really was a trivial issue and why a string had broken and two others needed servicing (and how soon would the rest break or need servicing). I was far from buying the piano, and getting farther the more I thought about it and discussed it.

The Monday following, Mrs. S was off work. While I sat at work during lunch time, perusing another unexciting edition of Craigslist, filled with mediocre and undesirable pianos, I started to think the lonely Tennessee Steinway at the decent price point might be the way to go. In the meantime, Mrs. S found a piano buyer’s discussion group where someone had tested that very same piano (serial number match) six years before, and apparently, just before the current owner purchased it. (She’s owned it since 2006.) He said he found a problem with some of the tuning pins being too close together. He also said what I thought: the piano did not impress him.

Still, I think about that piano. If, after I grabbed it up, I sent it to New York for refurbishing, when I got it back I would have a certifiable, refurbished, Steinway grand piano. Hard to go wrong. But, with so many unanswered questions about that piano, I haven’t bought it yet, and that’s why...

I still don't own an acoustic piano. (End part one)

Speak to me…

In my search for my next and last piano, I’ve come to realize something. The realization is not revolutionary. In fact, it’s kind of common sense, almost to the point of being nonsensical. On Saturday, Mrs. S. and I went to the local music shop, which is basically the only music store in town reputable enough and large enough to sell a decent selection of pianos. When I walked in the door and the salesman (who turned out to be not pushy at all and very, very knowledgeable) asked, “Can I help you?”, I merely said, “Yeah, I’m here to play your pianos.” Not “buy”, not “look at”, not “price up”, “PLAY”. To which, the sales guy said, “Okay, what do you play?” And from there, I laid hands on two Steinways, a Kohler & Campbell, some kind of antique Baldwin, two or three Yamahas, and one more that I’m going to tell you about in a moment.

After playing the second Steinway, I noticed my not-revolutionary idea: price and brand are pretty irrelevant factors in deciding if you like a piano or not. Just because it’s a big, expensive, name brand piano doesn’t mean it will work for you. I can say this because, the first Yamaha I played did not thrill me, even though I’m a self declared Yamaha guy. So the sales guy put me on a Kohler, and, no. It’s nice, it’s better than 90% of pianos I’ve ever touched, but, no. Then Mrs. S, over by the lovely used mahogany Steinway said, try this one. And this one is better than 93% of the pianos I’m ever going to touch, but, no. “You don’t like it?” she asked. “I like it just fine,” I explained, “but I’m not going to buy it.”

My second time in a piano shop, and I was getting no closer to my goal.

The sales guy and I talked: about music, about what I played at UAH, about how big a room I had to put a piano in, about my obsession with Yamaha. His eyes widened, “Did you try the C7?” I looked at him. “I don’t know, did I?” He walked me over to it. I thought maybe I had played it. Sure I had. No wait, maybe not. Let’s try our standard test song: Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower”.

There. That’s it. Hear it? I do. The Yamaha C7, eleven years old, well-used by a local church, spoke. It spoke directly to me. Mrs. S of course saw all the dust and scratches. She didn’t hear what I heard. I also saw the worn hammers, the dust bunnies under the harp, and a few other imperfections, but the voice of that piano was scintillating. It was a sound I’d not heard in a long time. It was the sound I want to hear every time I hit a piano key. Unfortunately, I’m not sure about hitting up the home equity line for the piano. I’m just not sure about it. There was something satisfying about paying an annual fee because the HELOC balance was $0.

Oh, well. We walked around some more. Looked at a new C7 which, surprisingly, did not sound quite as sweet as the old one. It was, however, situated on tile, so the harmonics were bouncing all over the place, but I still felt differently about it, compared to the used one. Couldn’t help but notice the price tag of the new one was more than double the used one, too. Next to it was an elaborate mahogany inlaid, squat little baby grand. It had a little gold bird on it and said, Vogel. The sales guy said it was hand crafted in Poland. He said, we’ve all been surprised at how good it sounds. Really? Poland? Hand crafted? “It’s pretty,” Mrs. S said. Okay. Let’s cut to the chase and try some Miles Davis on this one. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on a piano that sounds like it came from Toys R’Us.

But, believe it or not, I heard it again. In fact, I was stunned. I played some more. I could hear it, plain as day. The Vogel spoke mellifluously in the same tongue and tone of the C7. It was incredible. I looked into the casing. How could that voice be coming out of that little box? Doesn’t matter. If it’s going to talk to me, I’m going to listen. And with apologies to the fine companies of Steinway and Yamaha, whose pianos I love, I’ll take the Vogel action every day of the week. It was smooth, even, strong, fluid, precise, and (I’ll say it) beautiful. There could be no better translator for the voice of that piano, another reason (I guess) why it spoke to me.

I will give some other pianos chances to speak to me, but my realization is, I’ll not buy a piano that doesn’t speak to me.

Vogels and C7s and I are going to be having more conversations in the future. Hopefully, a lot of them.

Fire Sale

My original plan for financing my grand piano purchase fell through. The stamp collection that I have kept and fostered and insured and cared for over the last forty years turned out to be worth far less than I thought it would. The buyer, who was very professional, knowledgeable and courteous told me what I already knew: the hobby is dying. Kids have Facebook, Nintendo, X-box, and their phone, and many of them have never seen a piece of mail with a stamp on it. No surprise then that young people are not taking up the hobby and there is not market for stamps, even for some as nice and relatively rare as mine.

I dove into Craiglist and it wasn’t long before I found a Yamaha C3 (very nice piano, that) for $2000. After two days of fervently trying to contact the seller, I finally heard back from them. Unfortunately, I quickly realized something was amiss, and a cursory search with the text showed up number one on a website called scamdex.com. No C3 for me!

Speaking of C3's: Here's a C15 stamp, one of many I will be selling soon.

I’ve been watching two pianos in the north Alabama area on ebay. Both are Yamaha’s under six feet. Both are being sold by families with some kind of vague need. Both have a disclavier attached (not something I want). Both are at least one hour from my house. So far, I’m just watching those.

A trip to the Steinway Piano Gallery in Nashville turned up a relatively affordable new piano made by Samick. I wasn’t impressed with its feel, but it looks and sounds good. Still, something about, “What’s a Samick?” and “Well, it’s a German company, owned by a Korean company...I think.” Then, “So it’s a Korean piano?” “No, Indonesian.” I don’t know. I mean, Yamaha makes pianos in Indonesia, too, no big deal there, but, nobody’s going to ask me about my Yamaha.

Next phase: Try one more time to sell my ginormous, semi-refurbished square grand piano, start piecing out my stamp collection on ebay, and use the proceeds to buy a nice Yamaha baby grand, used. Wish me luck. Or better yet, buy my piano and stamps.

Cardinal rule of piano shopping (with photos of a cardinal’s nest and eggs)

I've started looking in earnest and for real for a piano. My Yamaha P-70, which I purchased in 2007, is dying. The keys grow less and less responsive. The sounds generate more and more buzz and occasional weird harmonics that are glaring and disturbing to my ears. After all, I bought the piano because of its true-feeling Yamaha action and clarity of the grand piano sound, spending “only” around $700 because I was afraid I wouldn't stick to playing the piano. Now that I have stuck, it’s time to get a serious piano.

Looking into our flower bed, due east from our back porch...

I've been telling Mrs. S that I need my next piano to be my last. I just can’t see spending a couple grand on a nice upright, only to have to move that out and spend a couple more grand on a grand (sorry) at some later date. I might as well spend the big money now and just get the piano that I plan to own and play into old age (since I’m pretty much there already).

Little closer to the bush in the middle of the first picture...

There are plenty of cheap grands on the internet. Ebay is covered in them. But seriously, am I going to spend $10K (or more) on a piano without touching it, without listening to it, without seeing if it does what I expect and sounds how I expect? No way. The cardinal rule of buying a piano is: buy a piano that’s right for you. That means, playing it and listening to it. So I narrowed my search to places I can get to in a few hours. So far I’ve found one I might be interested in. I asked some questions about it, but the seller hasn’t responded.

West edge of the bush...see it?

So I took advantage of me going to a seminar in Nashville last week to stop off at the Steinway Gallery. Nice place. Loads of pianos. I looked at a couple that were completely out of my price range, then played, and kind of liked one, a Samick, that was well within my budget. The sales guy knocked it down from $17K and change to $11K. Of course, I’m not impulsive about this purchase at all, so I came home without a piano. Then I started doing some research.

  

Future cardinals, maybe, hopefully... (Yes, the parents have been back since this photo was taken.)

I went straight to Piano Buyer, which is one helluva site. I found out the Samick I was interested in is made in Indonesia and called “consumer grade”, hardly what I would consider a “last” piano. I’ve made up my mind that I have to read everything there is to read about pianos before I buy one, or to at least read the entire manual available on Piano Buyer.  I also need to try again to unload my partially restored square grand, or else our house is going to be overrun by pianos.

I've been playing “Little Sunflower” everyday since I heard it twice while driving back and forth to Nashville last week. I’ve also changed up my learning routine (again), which I will write about before long, no doubt.

Somebody tell me what I’m doing

On Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday, I discovered a Victorian square piano on Craigslist. Until that very moment, I’d only ever been vaguely aware of square pianos, but somehow, that piano seemed to be calling me. I called the owner to make an appointment to see it, and I was disappointed to learn that I was second in line to a guy who wanted to buy it as a decoration for his house. The owner, however, asked me a little about my intentions for the piano. She asked what I planned to do with it if I fixed it up (it’s in need of some minor repair, from what I gather), and I said quite frankly and truthfully, “I plan to keep it!”

Now, square pianos are quite rare. In many ways, they are like the AMC Gremlins of the auto world: there isn’t anything particularly bad (or good) about them, they were popular enough in their day, and now, they are pretty hard to find. My preliminary attempt to research square pianos on the web revealed that a good one, refurbished and fixed up, can get upwards of $30,000. The one I’m looking to buy costs $1900 and the owner tells me it will cost between $5K and $10K to fix it up. Okay. But if at the end of that, I’ve got a $25K piano (and I might), wouldn’t that be great?

So I did more and more research. Wikipedia has some excellent key action diagrams, and even the Wall Street Journal (no link because it's too old, but easy to find if you Google it) had contributed with a piece late last year about another person’s story with their square piano. (How I missed it the first time around, I’ll never know.) Suddenly, I found myself craving that piano. I mean, I felt like I really, really, really wanted to buy it.

I placed a couple phone calls and sent a few emails to people who I thought might be able to tell me something about square pianos. I gleaned some useful information, but in general, nobody is really familiar with these things. Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Last night, we got tied up at work and at 5:30 or so, the owner of the piano calls to ask if I can come earlier to look at the piano. She says she can’t get a hold of the guy who called about the piano before I did, and that she will sell it to me if I want it.

I have an appointment in less than five hours with a piano and its owner. I’ve basically already decided I’m going to buy the sucker. So does somebody want to tell me: what the hell am I doing?