Category: Pierce Piano Atlas

19th Century music, 20th Century music, Aeolian piano, Aeolian piano company, Aeolian spinet, American Cancer Society Discovery Shop, antique pianos, antiques, appraisal piano, arpeggios, Ashburnham, authorsden, Barbie doll collection, Barbie dolls, Betty Boop collection, Bluebook of pianos, bluebookofpianos.com, California, Chesterfields, Chickering piano, Classical era, classical music, Clinkscale's Makers of the Piano, Connell York, dream piano, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, Facebook, Fig Garden Village, Fresno, Fresno California, Fresno Famous, Fresno Historical Society, Fresno Piano Store, humor, J. Fritz piano, Knight piano, Mason and Hamlin piano, memoir, Mr. York, MTAC, music, music history, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, my space, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, old upright, photos, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano pedagogy, piano restoration, piano sale, piano society, Piano Street, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, private party piano sale, Robert Furst, Romantic era music, Romantic music, Sam Torcaso, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, The Frederick Collection, The Piano Book, Twenty five Progressive pieces by Burgmuller, used piano, Weber piano, word press, wordpress.com, York, you tube, you tube video

A Table Style Piano with Three Leaves–the whole story in lurid detail

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

Two days following my encounter with the towering no name upright, I was drawn to a Fresno Bee Classified ad, that listed an antique ”Counsel piano” for sale at “$1500 or best offer.” (First thing that popped into my head was Indian pow-wow- tribal "council?") What on earth was a Counsel? I snatched up my… Continue reading A Table Style Piano with Three Leaves–the whole story in lurid detail

Aeolian piano, Album for the Young, Amsterdam Avenue and 74th Street, antique pianos, antiques, authorsden, bluebookofpianos.com, cd baby, cdbaby, children's music, Children's pieces, Classical era, classical music, dream piano, Facebook, Fig Garden Village, five finger positions, five finger warm-ups, Fresno, Fresno California, humor, keyboard technique, Major Deegan Highway, Marble Hill Projects, memoir, music, music history, music teachers association, music teachers association of california, music teachers associationo of California, Needle Park, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Northwest Bronx, Northwest Fresno, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, old upright, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano lesson, piano pedagogy, piano room, piano society, Piano Street, piano teacher, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, public school 122, satire, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Sohmer upright, Steinway and Sons, Steinway console, Steinway grand piano, Steinway M grand piano, Steinway piano, Steinway studio upright, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, uk-piano-forums, used piano, used pianos, West San Ramon Fresno, word press, wordpress.com

Housing my Dream Pianos

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

I grew up in the Marble Hill projects of the Bronx and lived on the ninth floor. The walls of our housing development were so paper thin that when I practiced on my Sohmer 1922 studio upright, my first dream piano, it would elicit nerve-racking thumps from the neighbor down below. To my embarrassment, I… Continue reading Housing my Dream Pianos

Aeolian piano, antiques, appraisal piano, authorsden, Bach Invention, Bach Prelude in C Major, Bach Two Part Inventions, Beethoven, bluebookofpianos.com, Brahms, California, cd baby, cdbaby, Chickering grand piano, Chickering piano, Chopin, Classical era, classical music, Classical period sonata, Craigs List, Creative Fresno, Domenico Scarlatti, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, essay, Facebook, Fig Garden Village, Fresno, Fresno California, Fur Elise, humor, J.S. Bach, JS Bach, Kawai, Larry Fine, Major and minor scales, Mariposa, memoir, mountain lions, Mozart, Mr. York, music, music history, music teachers association, music teachers association of california, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Old Fig Garden in Fresno, photos, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano pedagogy, piano purchase, piano repair, piano restoration, piano room, piano sale, piano scales, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technique, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, private party piano sale, private party piano sale, Riverdale California, satire, talkclassical.com, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com, York

A Day with Two Piano Finalists

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

A Kawai and Chickering were in a tight race, until one took off and surpassed the other. My whole Saturday was consumed with evaluating two pianos: a practically brand new "Kawai" 5'1" grand and a larger, nearly 5'8" size "Chickering," 1980. The Kawai captured my interest because a smaller studio upright of the same brand… Continue reading A Day with Two Piano Finalists

antique pianos, antiques, appraisal piano, authorsden, bluebookofpianos.com, cabinet grand, cd baby, cdbaby, Connell York, cracked piano plate, El Cerrito, El Cerrito California, Facebook, Fresno Piano Store, humor, Larry Fine, mice, moths, Mr. York, MTAC, music, music teachers association, music teachers association of california, my space, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Northwest Fresno, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, old upright, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano repair, piano restoration, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technician, piano technician's guild, piano tuner, piano tuning, piano warm-ups, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Steinway grand piano, Steinway studio upright, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, technique, The Piano Book, uk-piano-forums, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com

Do’s and Don’ts for Piano Buyers and Sellers (Dream Piano’s last Chapter)

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

DO’s for Buyers If possible take along a Registered Piano Technician and performing pianist with a good pair of ears to evaluate a used or new piano on the market. You can find a list of RPT members at your Piano Technicians’ Guild online site, or look in the business or Yellow Pages for the… Continue reading Do’s and Don’ts for Piano Buyers and Sellers (Dream Piano’s last Chapter)

California, classical music, Classical period sonata, Connell York, Facebook, Fresno, Fresno California, Fresno Famous, Fresno Piano Store, Geneva International, humor, Kawai, Larry Fine, Mr. York, MTAC, music, NAMM, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Nordiska, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Peter Wolf, photos, pianist, piano, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano repair, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technique, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, satire, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Steinway and Sons, Steinway grand piano, Steinway piano, talkclassical.com, Teach Street, technique, The Piano Book, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, used piano, used pianos, Visalia California, Visalia Piano Gallery, Wolf Sound Studio, word press, wordpress.com, York

Recording on a SLEEPER Dream Piano

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

On a whim, I had decided to make an hour long trip to Visalia about 50 miles south of Fresno to sniff out the stock over at the “Piano Gallery.” (This was before it went out of business) A medium size establishment in an upscale shopping mall, it was owned by “Ginnadiy Merkerin,” a Russian… Continue reading Recording on a SLEEPER Dream Piano

piano, piano finding, piano society, Piano Street, piano technician, piano technician's guild, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, Shirley Kirsten, soundboard steel, Uncategorized

York’s tweezers, soundboard steel, hammer stem saw etc.

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

York's wood saw used to trim hammer stems and pedal rods. A string of keys from the piano tuning supply house. From Left to Right--Yellow dust cloth;Wurlitzer Duraphonic Radial soundboard; Soundboard Steel to mount a dust cloth for cleaning under the strings. York's grandpa, a piano tuner, would make his soundboard cleaner out of a… Continue reading York’s tweezers, soundboard steel, hammer stem saw etc.

appraisal piano, Baldwin piano, bluebookofpianos.com, cats, Fresno, Fresno California, Fresno Piano Store, humor, Kawa, Larry Fine, Mr. York, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, piano, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano lesson, piano society, Piano Street, piano student, piano teacher, piano technique, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, Pianostreet.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, rats, scales, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Steinway and Sons, Steinway piano, Steinway studio upright, The Piano Book, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com, you tube, you tube video

Samick, York, Tofujie and me: On the piano-chasing trail

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

York called me from a client's home in Clovis right after our great treasure-seeking adventure under the Kawai 7-foot grand piano. He'd been appraising a Samick studio upright manufactured in 1990 that was owned by Joel Van Ginkel. "I'd appraise it at about $2000," he said, "but between you 'n me, he'll unload the piana' for a lot… Continue reading Samick, York, Tofujie and me: On the piano-chasing trail

antique pianos, appraisal piano, cabinet grand, Fresno, humor, memoir, Mr. York, music teachers associationo of California, Music Teachers Asssociation of California, musicology, my space, New York City High School of Performing Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, New York City High School of Performing Arts, old upright, photos, pianist, piano, piano addict, piano auction, piano finding, piano finding adventure, piano instruction, piano lesson, piano maintenance, piano pedagogy, piano purchase, piano repair, piano restoration, piano sale, piano society, Piano Street, piano teacher, piano technician, piano technician's guild, piano tuner, piano tuning, Piano World, pianoaddict.com, pianoworld, pianoworld.com, Pierce Piano Atlas, player piano, private party piano sale, satire, Schumann, Shirley Kirsten, Shirley Kirsten blog, Shirley Smith Kirsten, Teach Street, Terry Barrett, uk-piano-forums, Uncategorized, used piano, used pianos, word press, wordpress.com, York

A Player Piano Without a Name

arioso7: Shirley Kirsten

"Alice," the owner of an unidentified player, is seen above. On a sultry Friday morning before a long Memorial Day weekend, I stumbled upon a Fresno Bee ad for a brand-less “piano,” sandwiched among “moving sale” items. The seller’s address traced to a working class neighborhood in south Fresno that probably wouldn’t house a pricey… Continue reading A Player Piano Without a Name