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What I have learned about the piano is that the type of piano directly impacts your rate of progress and the quality of your playing. As a piano teacher, I have found that Yamaha digital pianos (for example, the Asus series and Clavinovas) are better instruments than they are given credit for in pianist circles, but if you're more than an early-advanced player you'll need to graduate to something else. The Kawai Concert Artist hybrid pianos are my favorites even above acoustic uprights, and handle fairly advanced repertoire with the needed nuances. But, most of all, acoustic grand pianos are the best. I ended up choosing a Yamaha GC2/SH2 grand piano over Kawai, as I have learned I like the warmer sound of the Yamaha. The "SH2" is a moniker for their silent system, which somehow and through dark magic lets you play the acoustic piano with headphones. My playing ability has skyrocketed since I purchased the Yamaha last fall.
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The thing that I have found most unusual about studying piano and learning to sight-read chamber music (as a total amateur!) is how much more quickly I can process mental math. When I was a kid, I noticed that I could do mental calculations more quickly than my friends who didn't do music.
I guess it has to do with processing more lines of notes "on the fly"?
It comes in handy in business meetings!
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Everything about it is so complex. The unthinkable things we have to keep track of simultaneously... both hands playing together while reading different cleffs which have the same lines and figures but mean different things, doing different things in different dynamics and pedal and so on... It amazes me and it overwhelms me... I feel like an idiot most of the times... I feel I need two brains, one focused on each hand, to maybe one day be able to play like I would like to play. The only thing that keeps me from giving up on myself (besides the beauty of the instrument and the feeling of finally doing something that felt impossible in the beggining) is knowing that many other human beings can play it well enough and that I can not be that dumb to not be able to, one day, feel like I can, at least, play at some acceptable level. I've only been learning for a bit more than 1 year now... so I know it will take long... but I really want to get there.
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The hight of key, measured from floor level, differs from piano to piano. I switched from Yamaha upright to Schimmel upright and then Grotrian-Steinweg. They are all quite different and need to adjust how I like to sit. I went to store and beg them to cut legs of bench 4 cm shorter with Schimmel upright. Grotrian is taller (meaning more space from floor to keyboard).