RB Piano Forte Chronicles

I’ve held off having a piano in my environs for a long time, for three basic reasons:

1. They’re heavy (I move around a lot.)
2. They’re expensive.
3. I can’t tear myself away from one, if it is available.

Perhaps the latter reason has been the largest factor: my time is valuable, I’m wary of intrusions into it. That’s why I turned off my TV, a long time ago and only watch movies.

However, I note that lately I’ve been watching a lot of movies, and that tends to turn into a trap, too. I could be doing something constructive, instead of watching (concocted) life through someone else’s lens.

The heaviness and expense factor has been ameliorated, significantly, with the rise of the electronic pianos – pianos with a full 88 key board and full touch. Prior to this keyboards were cheesy, shortened, dead touch (organ touch, to some) and had a lot of gimmicks.

But now, full 88 keyboards with piano touch are becoming much more ubiquitous, and they’re costing significantly less than they did before.

Just how ubiquitous became strikingly apparent when I was at a Costco one day, and noticed a Casio 88 key unit with advertised piano touch. “Hmm,” I thought. Feels like a light spinet, but playable. The staggering part came with the price tag: $495, a far cry from the $2500 or more they had cost in the past.

And, it only weighed 30 or so lbs. I could transport it as necessary.

ANOTHER FACTOR AROSE within the last year: my arm, wrist and shoulder were sore, for no apparent reason that I could discern. I’m on blood thinners – the first suspect was a clot, so off I went to have an ultrasound. That returned with negative results.

Very strange.

Maybe I’m not getting enough range of movement with my other keyboard activity that consumes an inordinate amount of my waking hours: this computer keyboard (I’m a software developer by trade.)

“Maybe,” I thought, “I should think about something that demands more range of motion from my hands, and that still demands fine control. Something that requires all of this and will perhaps strengthen and steady my hands and wrist.”

Maybe a piano…

Which Piano?

The Casio I played with at Costco was ok, but the touch seemed too light and too uniform. It turns out that a proper piano touch will be heavier in the bass section and lighter in the treble. In acronym parlance, it’s called GHA (Graded Hammer Action).

In a musical instrument, nuances can make a huge difference. Before I committed to anything, I wanted to try keyboards from a noted and reputable piano manufacturer with whom I’d had a lot of prior contact: Yamaha.

I really like the Yamaha touch – if I could replicate that in an electronic keyboard, that means I could transfer back and forth between the electronic and acoustic versions reliably.

The only problem is they’ve (Yamaha) been pricey, certainly in the past.

Ne’ertheless, I trundled off to a music store that carried them (turns out I was going through Grand Junction Colorado, at the time, and my former brother-in-law and still friend runs the premium keyboard and professional musician store in town: Hart Music. He’s been selling Yamaha forever, it seems.)

Two models fit my portability criteria: the P85 and the P155. I played them both. Hands down, the touch was more realistic than the Casio with either. The P85, at around $695 (stand extra) was the lower end – the touch felt great, it sounded a little bass-ey. It only had six voices, or so, but that was ok – I only wanted the piano (actually, it turns out I like the harpsichord for the Bach Inventions and some of the Scarlatti, but that was after the fact.)

The P155 was slightly thicker in the back-to-front dimension, had a lot more voices, rhythm section, one finger chord and all that junk. It didn’t sound so bass-ey. It also had an ever-so-slightly better touch, noticeable especially in the fast, repeated hammer strikes.

Nuances.

Unfortunately, neither one was in the budget, at the time – so I had to decline an immediate purchase.

AND, THERE WAS ANOTHER nagging consideration that was yet to be addressed: would it fit in my RV? Like I said, I travel around a lot with extended stays in the RV. If it didn’t fit, that means extended stays without practice, and that defeated the purpose of getting the piano in the first place.

Fortunately, I have a big fifth wheel RV with a lot of slideouts – it was possible.

While in Grand Junction, I had son Kyle (who’s a cabinet maker) gin me up a mock-up piano out of some spare boards he had lying around his shop, from dimensions I supplied. I put that in it’s place in the RV. Sonofagun – I think it’s going to work.

More searching – I really wanted one of the Yamaha’s. I had pretty much ruled out the Casio, by then. So, the remaining question was: How do I get one, within the current budget constraints? Used? eBay?

My efforts finally uncovered one I could afford: a refurbished P85 through an Amazon affiliate. Effectively, it was the same price as as the Costco Casio – but it’s a Yamaha.

Do or die (or not get started, more to the point.) Do.

I ordered it, an upgrade pedal, and a stand.

The Outcome

IT’S BEEN AWESOME.

I’ve had it for three months as of this writing – first it was in my home, tucked behind a couch, now it’s in my RV behind one of the big kitchen counters (while I’m wintering in the south).

I’ve been practicing almost every day, with an occasional hiatus for a trip here and there. In that three months, I’ve re-familiarized myself with the Bach Inventions I once new cold, the standard Beethoven’s (Für Elise and Moonlight, first movement) and picked up a couple of new pieces in the bargain. Three months into the endeavor, I feel like things are happening, although, of course, there is much room for improvement.

The piano feels right (which, frankly, is more important that sounding right.) I’d like to get the P155, but it’s just not in the budget right now, perhaps in the near future.

Now, I have to watch the ‘absorption factor’. I can’t lose whole days and nights to getting particular passages just right – I’ll just have to be patient and let it happen over time.