The Hidden Costs of Using an Online Piano Lesson App

 "Ah, yes! Let's get a free piano from the neighbor down the street who is moving and then we will use one of those online app's to give us lessons anytime we want at our own pace! I am such a genius sometimes."

No, you're not. (Sorry guys.)

First of all, "there is no such thing as a free lunch." Sound familiar?

Many free pianos have cracked sound boards and delaminated pin blocks which make it almost impossible for the piano to hold a tune. Many of them should go straight to "piano heaven" where they belong. Free pianos often need about an average of 5 pitch raises to get them back to A440, the piano concert pitch standard.

Many of these piano learning app's are fun, but hold on to your wallet. Having 5 pitch raises is going to cost over $700 at least! 

Here's a better idea. Have an experienced piano technician inspect the piano that you really want to buy. Pay them for their time. Buy a used piano that has been well taken care of, maybe tuned every six months. Have the piano tuner tell you how the overall pitch is and if it is up to or close to A440.

Then have them tune the piano about a few days after it is delivered to your home.

Test the app while the piano tuner is present. It should work fine if your piano is close to A440.

Consider a keyboard workstation in addition to your acoustic piano. For those of you who fell off your chair after reading the above info, you may have realized that you promised everyone in the house that they could use the online app, but grandma's baby grand which we all love so much is almost a full step low. 

You can pick up an inexpensive Casio or Yamaha keyboard which is always at A440 and use this as a workstation. Although piano keyboards do not give the student the finger-building skills or percussive strikes they need, they still can serve a purpose.

Turn on the app. Pick a song you like, "Eternal Flame" by Susanna Hoffs perhaps, then buy the sheet music for that song also.

Now learn the song on the keyboard slowly with the app. Faster and faster tempo every day. When you get it down, grab the sheet music and bring it to the acoustic piano (grandma's baby grand). Do not use the app, read the score like a real musician!

Now you will read the sheet music, but somehow you will be able to get through the song with ease.

There you have it! The natives are happy, the kids are happy, the dogs are smiling, the student is progressing, Mom and Dad are hugging and the world is now a better place.

How Often Does AI Recommend You Tune Your Piano?

There is lots of talk these days about Artificial Intelligence and it's accuracy. After all, the good ol' internet knowledge is based on descriptions that people post through websites, blogs, newsletters, etc. AI is a little different. It looks at the data on the internet and analyses underlying trends. It also has a learning component which is responsible for learning from data captured by perception comportment. 

AI uses both knowledge and reasoning to present more accurate information in most cases.

Let's go to Microsoft Bing AI Chat which uses ChatGPT and Prometheus to give us intelligent answers.

So...let's see what AI says about how often we should tune our pianos:

"For normal home use, it is usually recommended that you have your piano tuned by a professional piano tuner twice a year. However, some pianists prefer to have their piano serviced more or less frequently. 

If you use your piano at least three times per week, it needs a tuning once every three months. For moderately-used pianos, six months is enough time for a problem to develop, but generally not long enough to cause irreparable damage to occur.

--Bing AI Chat"

So, there you have it people...straight from Hal the computer's memory banks to your living room:

You STILL need to tune your piano EVERY SIX MONTHS or even more often then that.

(Thanks AI for clearing that up.)

Don't Store Your Piano in the Garage

Storing your piano in the garage can ruin your piano in many ways. Humidity can cause the piano keys to swell up and become sluggish or even frozen. The hammer action could get covered in mold and mildew causing your the action to need a complete refurbishment. Also, field mice can get inside the piano, chew the hammers and felt dampers to build a nest, usually under the keys. Mice will create havoc inside the piano in many ways. Humidity, moisture, rodent damage. extreme temperature fluctuation and dust are the top five problems caused by storing your piano in the garage. Also, the sound board could warp or crack. The pin block could delaminate causing tuning pins to be loose or even frozen. The finish could discolor, fade and never be the same. Don't do it! Find a place inside your home to store your piano if you are not using it or renovating your home.

Could having a new piano delivered bring COVID-19 into your house?

Yes, this is possible. So, as a precaution, you could hide under your bed like a little scared rabbit until you decide to come out -OR- you could just go about your business, take precautions, wear your mask, STAY SAFE, consider getting your vaccine and MOST OF US will probably be fine. After all, did you ask Amazon if all those boxes that came to the door could give you COVID-19? 2021 is going to be better because we are going to MAKE IT BETTER ourselves. Just have your piano delivered and live your life. (Jus' sayin'.)

Have Your Piano Tuned During the Winter Months

It's very important to tune your piano during the winter months, especially in colder climates. In most homes, the humidity levels dry out to a certain extent which can throw your piano out of tune quite a bit. Floors and and exterior walls can also get quite cold during the wee hours of the morning which is another problem.

Instead of encapsulating your piano in a quarantine tent (you know that thing "ET" was placed in when he got sick in that blockbuster movie?) simply call your piano tuner and schedule a piano tuning. After all, enjoying your piano during the cold, dreary winter months is one of the best times of the year to practice hard and make lots of progress.

Now THAT'S progress.

The Top 10 Ways to Devalue Your Piano

10. Make up excuses why you do not tune your piano every six months.
9. Place numerous items all over the top of your piano which ruin the finish.
8. Put permanent stickers up and down the keys.
7. Spill drinks on the keys, then clean off with a towel, instead of having it professionally cleaned.
6. Drop foreign objects such as pencils, pens, candy, erasers, playing cards, toys, etc. into the inside of the instrument.
5. Roll the piano across the room without using a dolly which weakens and sometime cracks the legs.
4. Placing the piano in direct sunlight causing the keys to yellow and the finish to fade.
3. Letting pets scratch at the piano causing permanent damage to the cabinet.
2. Placing the instrument next to a wood stove which may cause the sound board to crack.
1. Getting several inexperienced people to carry the piano across the house, up and down stairs and sometimes dropping the instrument, only a little bit, causing pedals to break, the soundboard to crack and strings and bridges to break.

For your own safety, do not try to roll a grand piano across the room. Even though the legs may seem very strong, they can buckle and severely injure the people moving it. Hire professional movers and stay safe.

Pianos are like cars. Even if no one is driving the car parked in the driveway, you still need to pay to maintain it. If you neglect it, when you go to sell it someday you may find that people will give you a million reasons why they don't want to buy it.

Keep your piano in good shape. It's worth it in the long run.

Should Senior Citizens Really Buy the Used Piano They Always Wanted?

The short answers is "YES!" It's never to late to fullfill your dream of owning your own piano. Whether it's a new or used piano, if getting started makes you happy, "go for it." A little right brain activity every day is good for your health and piece of mind. (Not to mention, it's the opposite of social media...which most of us love and even hate sometimes.)

If a piano brings you joy, get one and get started. You'll be glad you did.