Piano tuned

Hello,

The piano was tuned this morning. According to this man it was about two steps lower than it should have been. He was quite surprised that it was so far off, especially when he learned that it was tuned in 2009. Apparently it is risky to come up so far because of danger of strings breaking. It was not so bad within itself, but not up to the standard. I am wondering if the guy in 2009 said anything about that. I have a vague memory of him saying that he would bring it up farther the next time. Since that is not necessary for my existence I just parked that idea in the back of my mind, forgetting about it until now.

The real problem for me is that the music I have been practicing for choir has been too low. Oh dear! I thought some of it was high enough as the highest note is an A below high C. Little did I know that I was getting a break when working at home. It is easier to sing these high notes when I can “hide” behind some else in choir. I personally am not sure that anyone really wants to hear me sing those notes anyway. That is about the extent of my range.

Another problem with practicing at the wrong pitch is that I set the spot in my throat where I want to sing. Or I think that is what I do. It seems the muscles just go there when they know where to go.

Some of the keys on the piano have been sticking a little since we brought it out of the garage storage last summer. Most of them have corrected themselves but at least two stick with great regularity. The tuner told me that the whole lot of them is not as responsive as they could or should be. He attributed most of that to age which I calculate at 56 years. Unfortunately the cost of repairing and cleaning it all up inside would be $400. Now is it worth that? It would be if I played a lot. As it is I only play when there is a need. In other words I practice, but do not play for relaxation or enjoyment. It is work rather than play for me. I am not sure what to do about this. If any of our children were interested in the piano and close enough to make it an easy move I would certainly fix it. Then there is a part of me that thinks it should be taken care of just because it deserves the care. Leroy’s response to that was, “I could understand that if it were a person.”

I did ask and there are still people who will buy an acoustical piano, but I am not sure that we could get much money for it. Also how many moves can it tolerate? Such dilemmas!

Paula