The Kind of Piano Upon Which to PractiseIs it irrelevant whether I practise upon a good or a bad piano?For practice you should never use any but the very best available instrument.Far, rather, may the piano be bad when you play for people. This will not hurt you nearly so much as will the constant and habitual use of a piano with a mechanism in which every key demands a different kind of touch, and which is possibly out of tune. Such conditions impair the development of your musical ear as well as of your fingers. It cannot be otherwise. As I said once before, learning means the acquiring of habits: habits of thinking and of doing. With a bad instrument you cannot develop any good qualities, even if you should possess them by nature; much less can you acquire them. Hence, I recommend a good piano, clean keyboard—for your æsthetic perceptions should be developed all around—a correct seat and concentration of mind. But these recommendations presuppose on the part of the student some talent and a good teacher.
The Kind of Piano Upon Which to Practise
Is it irrelevant whether I practise upon a good or a bad piano?
For practice you should never use any but the very best available instrument.Far, rather, may the piano be bad when you play for people. This will not hurt you nearly so much as will the constant and habitual use of a piano with a mechanism in which every key demands a different kind of touch, and which is possibly out of tune. Such conditions impair the development of your musical ear as well as of your fingers. It cannot be otherwise. As I said once before, learning means the acquiring of habits: habits of thinking and of doing. With a bad instrument you cannot develop any good qualities, even if you should possess them by nature; much less can you acquire them. Hence, I recommend a good piano, clean keyboard—for your æsthetic perceptions should be developed all around—a correct seat and concentration of mind. But these recommendations presuppose on the part of the student some talent and a good teacher.