{"id":1712,"date":"2015-09-05T19:48:50","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T02:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/?p=1712"},"modified":"2018-03-01T20:04:56","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T04:04:56","slug":"the-piano-as-a-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/archives\/1712","title":{"rendered":"The Piano As a Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Why is it not fussiness or affectation for a pianist to try to assure that he or she has the finest piano in the finest condition for each performance? Because the piano is, with regard to the performance, simply a tool. If the tool is faulty<!--more--> the performance will be damaged.<\/p>\n<p>A piano tuner wouldn\u2019t by choice use poor tools. If the socket on the tuning hammer were made of inferior metal, so that it soon wore out and slipped on the tuning pins, it would be useless for tuning; or if usable, it would waste effort. Would it be fussiness or affectation\u2014or arrogance\u2014for the technician to insist on a good tuning hammer? Would it be a statement that the tuner thought himself or herself better than other tuners? No! It would simply mean that he or she wanted to produce the best possible work for the pianist and audience.<\/p>\n<p>Even with a defective tuning hammer, the tuning might get done acceptably\u2014eventually. But musical performance allows no delays, no second tries; otherwise one gets what one does so often get: a routine experience; just another piano recital. But routine is not why people go to concerts; they go to be moved, to be exalted, to have life itself illuminated by great art. If one isn\u2019t at least attempting to do this, one has no business playing the great works.<\/p>\n<p>No performer can guarantee to play a great recital. But it\u2019s hard enough to make music even on a perfect piano. Any imperfection in voicing, regulation or anything else\u2013or in the fundamental sound quality of the instrument\u2013makes it that much harder, that much more likely that one will not reach the heights.<\/p>\n<p>Attempting to assure a perfect instrument is not an arrogant statement that one is oneself perfect; it\u2019s a way of making up a bit for one\u2019s own imperfections. A way of putting oneself on the spot. \u201cWell, you\u2019ve got a perfect piano,\u201d you are saying to yourself. \u201cYou have only yourself to blame if the performance isn\u2019t good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course most recitals are played on pianos in far from excellent condition, but that doesn\u2019t mean this situation is desirable. The pianist who works actively to have the best possible instrument in the best possible condition is showing an ethical responsibility to the composer, the audience\u2014and the music.<span class=\"jb-end-of-post\"><img class=\"jb-end-of-post\" src=\"\/Mordent.svg\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is it not fussiness or affectation for a pianist to try to assure that he or she has the finest piano in the finest condition for each performance? Because the piano is, with regard to the performance, simply a tool. If the tool is faulty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1712"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1726,"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1712\/revisions\/1726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/boykonpiano.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}