Pianos are becoming more worthless by the hour. Still, lots of people own them. And, of course, now that everyone needs money way more than they need pianos, people like me get lots of calls asking for advice on how to exchange a rarely played used piano for the highest price possible. Of course, piano owners get a little upset when I tell them that their instrument is worth only a fraction of what they paid for it. Frankly, I have grown weary of being the bearer of bad tidings regarding a piano's market value. (I guess real estate agents are suffering similar abuse from homeowners.)
But the truth is, no matter how polished or decoratve the woodwork might be; no matter how pleasing the timbre, or well-regulated the action: even a perfectly maintained piano will command a much smaller sum on today's market than it did only a few years ago.
It's a great time to purchase one, though! I'm tellin' you; you can pick up a piano for a song :-). Now that people are out of work in droves, and pianos are readily accessible and dirt cheap, wouldn't it be the perfect time for those who missed out on piano lessons as a kid, or talked their parents into allowing them to quit lessons, to finally learn to play? The study of piano is a process of creative learning and personal development that re-shapes the brain during every practice session. This re-shaping process is a way healthier, if not cheaper, approach to combatting modern mental malaise that is a byproduct of unemployment; namely, depression and boredom.
If you've never owned a piano, consider this:
Let's say you were to take a piano off somebody's hands and make the commitment to invest time learning to play: (You might be surprised to hear that the time investment can be as small as just a few minutes several times a day;) Your body would begin to lay down little paths of a chemical called myelin in your brain. The creation of myelin is the first step in the process of building a more complex network between one's ears. With continued conscious repetition of your piano practice, your brain would build brand new neuro-pathways that would allow you to think and create more quickly and efficiently than you ever thought possible. And, piano study can begin at any age, because the good news is that grey matter has a property of inherent plasticity; so that, even as we age, the brain can continue to grow and improve with conscious usage. The demands of piano study cause the right and left hands to work in tandem and in opposition, which activate the right and left lobes of the brain; and, it just so happens that this process of learning movements with the hands and arms is the most expedient way to begin construction on building an intricate network of travel for thought processing. In other words, the process of learning to play the piano improves and develops one's brain and personality on a daily basis. As you learn to coordinate the eyes, hands, fingers, and arms, you end up with a whole new road system for your thinking process. And the more roads you build, the more places your brain can go. Additionally, once you embark on the journey of learning piano, you will be amazed by the fact that your attention span will increase - without drugs! You will need this increased attention span to stay focused as your mind becomes more like a Ferrari, and your brain interconnects, more like the Autobahn.
Should you decide to give a piano a new home in order to begin and continue the process of learning to play the instrument daily, or almost daily, you could soon learn to perform music that was created by some of the greatest creative intellects who ever walked this planet. In doing so, part of your brain will contain the very same neuro-pathways as J.S.Bach, W.A.Mozart, Joseph Haydn, L. von Beethoven, F. Chopin, J. Brahms... et. al. Not bad company to be in, right?
(By the way, I wonder how these guys would do on a modern job interview?)
You know about Spanx, right? And how older, slightly out-of-shape people are willing to pay over $50.00, if not more, for these tiny pieces of polyester worth literally a fraction of a penny? So, one on hand, we have little pieces of cheap fabric stitched into shapes being sold at a tremendous mark-up, and on the other, intricately crafted musical instruments with hundreds of precisely fabricated moving parts worth very little at all. That's because of the fact that the process of squeezing oneself into those horrible little pieces of stretchy fabric is immediately physically transformative. It's true that an over-priced undergarment can change how a person looks; but, it cannot change who a person actually IS. (Plus, no one can wear a girdle 24/7! There's always at least 8 hours of reality in the life of every Spanx wearer.)
A piano, on the other hand, shapes its owner from the inside; morning and night, for life. And, isn't that really what everyone craves? That is, to actually BE an improved version of oneself rather than to flaunt a temporary, unsustainable illusion?
Geunine, measurable change happens to a person's very being every time a person interacts with a piano - although, I'm sure that somewhere out there, some inspired entrepreneur is dilligently working away at a Spanx for the brain!
Come to think of it: considering everything the study of piano can do for a person, it's no wonder piano owners are incredulous and angry when I tell them their instrument is worth such a small sum in today's market. Frankly, I always hope piano owners will change their minds about selling their piano, and choose, instead, to keep their piano, and change their minds.
So - maybe nowadays pianos are practically worthless. But, if you find yourself in a position to acquire one and make a commitment to it, I'm tellin' you: you will have on your hands one priceless piece of junk.
