My “New” Baldwin Baby Grand

[Montunoman 2]

[Anderton]

I love seeing pictures like this, and how the people who frequent MPN talk the talk and walk the walk. So cool 😎

[Montunoman 2]

Here’s my recently purchased 1958 Baldwin 5’3 baby grand mid century “ modern” art deco style. It’s very clean and had lots of restoration work, well maintained, and even held its tune pretty well after being moved across town. This  instrument  may not impress our Steinway, Bosendofer, Fazioli, etc owners but any jazzer could get through a gig on it without too much objections. The action is nice, sound is full for its size, and my wife loves the look in our house. Happy wife, happy life ! 
 

 

[Greg Mein]

I would argue all day that a piano is the baseline standard instrument for a musician. With the top propped open our baby grand easily drowns out my acoustic guitar, an amazing sound that fills the room.

Yours looks fabulous and I'm sure it sounds incredible. I hope it provides great joy and musical inspiration for many years!

[KuruPrionz]

20 hours ago, Greg Mein said:

I would argue all day that a piano is the baseline standard instrument for a musician. 

That is a beautiful piano and I'm sure it sounds lovely.

Greg, this summer we are going to have some music jams on the beach, please bring your piano. The trail down to the sand is only steep on a couple of places. 😇

 

Hmmm... point, counterpoint? Horses for courses my friend, there is a time and a place for all instruments. Sometimes we just clap hands and sing. 

[Greg Mein]

2 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

Greg, this summer we are going to have some music jams on the beach, please bring your piano. The trail down to the sand is only steep on a couple of places. 😇

 

Hmmm... point, counterpoint? Horses for courses my friend, there is a time and a place for all instruments. Sometimes we just clap hands and sing. 

 

Ah, the reason I bought the old Casio Privia PX-3 although in that event I can go even smaller and lighter with the 61 key Krome!

 

I certainly didn't intend to insult other instruments or players, after all, I also have a respectable little collection of guitars, a bass, a five string banjo, several harmonicas and a fiddle that will send cats running for their lives while, aside from keys, my wife also has/plays a couple of mandolins, a flute and the EWI5000 electronic wind instrument.

 

The indisputable point about the piano however is that with 88 keys, no other instrument has its range. When I played keyboards for the rock hits show with the symphony orchestra the conductor had me play an A note for the orchestra players to tune with.

 

At my age though, I'm not in competition with other players/instruments or whatever. I'm not interested in being the fastest player tossing out the most notes with technical perfection. I just enjoy having fun playing.

[KuruPrionz]

3 hours ago, Greg Mein said:

 

Ah, the reason I bought the old Casio Privia PX-3 although in that event I can go even smaller and lighter with the 61 key Krome!

 

I certainly didn't intend to insult other instruments or players, after all, I also have a respectable little collection of guitars, a bass, a five string banjo, several harmonicas and a fiddle that will send cats running for their lives while, aside from keys, my wife also has/plays a couple of mandolins, a flute and the EWI5000 electronic wind instrument.

 

The indisputable point about the piano however is that with 88 keys, no other instrument has its range. When I played keyboards for the rock hits show with the symphony orchestra the conductor had me play an A note for the orchestra players to tune with.

 

At my age though, I'm not in competition with other players/instruments or whatever. I'm not interested in being the fastest player tossing out the most notes with technical perfection. I just enjoy having fun playing.

Totally understood, I was just poking fun. Yes, pianos have the most notes. If that were the only criteria then they would win. 

And FUN is the best part about playing music for me too! 😃

 

While 88 notes is cool and being able to play 10 notes at once (and sometimes more aka Jerry Lee Lewis etc.), a violin can sustain a note for a long time, pianos can't do that. 

An electric guitar can "catch" a note and by adjusting the position of the guitar to the speaker, create an amazing animal howling that splits up into harmonics, pianos can't do that either. The list of things pianos can't do is pretty long, including being carried on your back to play music in fun places.

 

Decades ago I went hiking on the John Muir Trail in California with 2 friends, we camped in-between upper and lower Geraldine Lakes, more or less around 8,000 feet high up a rather amazing path. One of my friends brought a mandolin so we had music. The nearby creek had lots of fearless brook trout with large heads and small bodies, a sign of overpopulation and insufficient food supply. I took one of the high strings off the mandolin, bent it into a hook, tied it to a 6' long piece of dental floss and baited it with some salami we'd brought. We caught over a dozen of those starving trout, cleaned them, packed them into the snow bank by our camping spot and cooked them later. That allowed us to stay an extra 2 days on our trip and the remaining fish had more food per fish. 

I just don't see that happening with very many instruments and since one string was still on the high string, we also had music. Even if we'd somehow gotten a piano up there (I think you'd need a helicopter), there was no level place to put it and the strings are too thick to make a good hook for small fish. 

On 1/9/2023 at 10:46 AM, Greg Mein said:

I would argue all day that a piano is the baseline standard instrument for a musician.

And this is the statement that got me started. No offense, we may not agree and neither of us is likely to change our opinion and that's OK. 

Keep having fun playing music and I will too!!! 😇

[Greg Mein]

1 hour ago, KuruPrionz said:

While 88 notes is cool and being able to play 10 notes at once (and sometimes more aka Jerry Lee Lewis etc.), a violin can sustain a note for a long time, pianos can't do that. 

An electric guitar can "catch" a note and by adjusting the position of the guitar to the speaker, create an amazing animal howling that splits up into harmonics, pianos can't do that either. The list of things pianos can't do is pretty long, including being carried on your back to play music in fun places.

 

I used the term baseline standard for a couple of particular reasons; the full range of 88 keys, of course, but also because it's laid out in a linear fashion as opposed to a guitar, for example, that can have five middle C notes along the neck. Anyone can sit down to a piano and begin to understand about notes and octaves as, at your left it begins with the lowest notes and works to the highest at the right. It's the essence of the 12 tone western music scale where sharps/flats are easily distinguishable as black keys.

As far as what's the best sounding, most fun, loudest, quietest, most easily transportable, etc. instrument, that's an entirely different discussion, in my mind anyway. I'm always open to entertain other ideas on the matter. 😼

[KuruPrionz]

2 hours ago, Greg Mein said:

 

I used the term baseline standard for a couple of particular reasons; the full range of 88 keys, of course, but also because it's laid out in a linear fashion as opposed to a guitar, for example, that can have five middle C notes along the neck. Anyone can sit down to a piano and begin to understand about notes and octaves as, at your left it begins with the lowest notes and works to the highest at the right. It's the essence of the 12 tone western music scale where sharps/flats are easily distinguishable as black keys.

As far as what's the best sounding, most fun, loudest, quietest, most easily transportable, etc. instrument, that's an entirely different discussion, in my mind anyway. I'm always open to entertain other ideas on the matter. 😼

Gotcha, I understand your consideration. What follows are some of the reasons I don't agree with it. I see you aren't taking it personally and I am glad because you shouldn't. 

We probably would have a fine time jamming if we both played our preferred instruments. I just see things differently, no dings but I'd like to try and explain. 

 

There are aspects to guitar or string instruments that can provide interesting clarity without causing brain overload. One of those is that learning the patterns means you can use those patterns up and down the entire fretboard, as long as you stay on the same strings those patterns will not change. I know quite a few patterns that require all six strings to execute in a single position and I know those patterns in all positions. It felt very simple and organic to me. 

 

That includes chords, scales, everything. We had a piano at home and I took some lessons. I did not like it, I LOVED playing guitar right from the start. All that means is that I am predisposed in a particular aspect, it doesn't make guitar or piano better or worse. It also doesn't mean that "Anyone can sit down to a piano and begin to understand about notes and octaves as, at your left it begins with the lowest notes and works to the highest at the right." Some of us are left handed (even though I play right handed) and/or ambidextrous and/or autistic and/or love actually being in contact with the note that is being made. Some of us LOVE micro-tones and music that is not European tempered scale, which was a mathematical way of making it possible for keyboard players to play in any key, slightly out of tune with the universal and natural fifth note. That had to be "adjusted". 

 

This is quite different from keyboards, where you must learn a different fingering for every simple major scale in every key. Some chords can have the same fingerings on piano, a C major chord with a C tonic an F major chord with an F tonic (and yes a G major) all have the same finger placement (3 notes, every other white key), but so does E minor and A minor. Once you go to Bb or F#, a new variety of shapes appear and must be learned. If I know my major and minor chord shapes on guitar, I can use those shapes in any key instantly. 

 

So, some things are gained and other things are lost, with either instrument. Some aspects of the piano are much more difficult to learn than similar aspects of the guitar and vice versa. I think a big part of that is simply how one's brain works, which is something we are born with and have to work with. 

At that point, it is simply an opinion based on your genetic makeup as to which is a better system. That does not provide for a compelling argument for or against a form of creativity. 

 

It is natural and normal that some of us gravitate towards strings and others towards keyboards, which I found to be more or less pushing buttons. At the same time, I've heard many keyboard players many times who could create gorgeous, soulful music that I loved to hear. The same is true for virtually all instruments and I don't want to play hardly any of them. 

 

Now, guitar or piano compared to bassoon? Yes, guitar and piano are both much better to start on than bassoon. 😊

Unless you are just a bassoonist and no other sort of human. 

[Notes_Norton]

A piano with the lid up is just classic, and you and your wife look good around it.

 

Every instrument has its quality. Sadly, although I get around on the keyboard OK, I'm not an accomplished pianist. I started too late for that and shared the practice time with saxophone, flute, wind synthesizer, guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. I wish I had piano lessons from the start

 

I find reading music on the piano much easier than on the guitar, but when it comes to transposing, the guitar is the champion.

 

The piano bass part to melody part is laid out horizontally, while the guitar it's vertical. I've noticed that some players adapt to horizontal easier and others vertical. I wonder if it's nature or nurture.

 

Actually, I think every musician should learn how to play at least some piano and some drums, even if they have no intention of doing that in public. It gives a good foundation for the melody, harmony, and rhythms of modern popular music.

 

My main voice is the saxophone. It has sustain, and during the sustain I can change the volume, tone, vowel sound, distortion, and quite a few other factors to give it a lot of vox humana. It's the easiest of all the instruments I play for sight-reading music, but it only plays one note at a time. Still, it's my number one voice.

 

Notes ♫

 

[KuruPrionz]

41 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

A piano with the lid up is just classic, and you and your wife look good around it.

 

Every instrument has its quality. Sadly, although I get around on the keyboard OK, I'm not an accomplished pianist. I started too late for that and shared the practice time with saxophone, flute, wind synthesizer, guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. I wish I had piano lessons from the start

 

I find reading music on the piano much easier than on the guitar, but when it comes to transposing, the guitar is the champion.

 

The piano bass part to melody part is laid out horizontally, while the guitar it's vertical. I've noticed that some players adapt to horizontal easier and others vertical. I wonder if it's nature or nurture.

 

Actually, I think every musician should learn how to play at least some piano and some drums, even if they have no intention of doing that in public. It gives a good foundation for the melody, harmony, and rhythms of modern popular music.

 

My main voice is the saxophone. It has sustain, and during the sustain I can change the volume, tone, vowel sound, distortion, and quite a few other factors to give it a lot of vox humana. It's the easiest of all the instruments I play for sight-reading music, but it only plays one note at a time. Still, it's my number one voice.

 

Notes ♫

 

I LOVE well played sax!!!! No other instrument sounds like it. It was probably a huge influence to us guitarists when we started getting all crazy. Sax was already there.

The week before Christmas I got a pickup gig with a Motown band and the drummer's wife played Baritone, Alto, Flute and she sang. I've heard her play clarinet too. 

Classically trained but went into Klezmer music and she can rock the hell out of a saxophone. You hardly ever get to hear a baritone solo!!!!! 

[Greg Mein]

1 hour ago, KuruPrionz said:

learning the patterns means you can use those patterns up and down the entire fretboard, as long as you stay on the same strings those patterns will not change. I know quite a few patterns that require all six strings to execute in a single position and I know those patterns in all positions. It felt very simple and organic to me. 

 

This is quite different from keyboards, where you must learn a different fingering for every simple major scale in every key.

This is a strong point and very valid when it comes to actually learning, playing and practicing these instruments. I was looking at it more from the perspective that I hadn't even touched the instrument yet and am only looking at the layout. 

[KuruPrionz]

1 hour ago, Greg Mein said:

This is a strong point and very valid when it comes to actually learning, playing and practicing these instruments. I was looking at it more from the perspective that I hadn't even touched the instrument yet and am only looking at the layout. 

Try to imagine a world where the only instrument was the piano and everybody played it. 

Isn't it WAY more fun to hear all the different stuff? I didn't go this year but every year weirdos have Tuba Christmas at the shopping mall. 

They play Christmas carols but just on tubas and they are really good. It's so stupid that it's magnificent!!! 

[Greg Mein]

12 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

Try to imagine a world where the only instrument was the piano

I'll need to get into character...

 

[Old Music Guy]

I could live in that world.

 

[Greg Mein]