Twitter Is Such Fun!

First of all,
my sincerest apologies
for not blogging more.
You know,
you'd be surprised at how much
this old piano has these days!

But I do want to let you all know
that my twitter is exploding these days!
I now have over 3,000 followers!
300 new ones in the past couple of days alone!

And what fun twitter is!
Some has asked
if I would consider running for public office.
You know,
until he suggest that
it never really occurred to me.
But you never know!
Wyandotte is a town
with a lot of things going for it
in the world of visual art.
And the high school
has got some good things happening
in the music department,
I could really play up the arts
in my campaign,
that is,
should I decided to run for office!

And then there is someone
who asked some really personal stuff.
She made me laugh out loud!
Have you ever heard a piano laugh?
Well, she made me laugh,
that feisty lady with her questions.

I'm here and doing well.
Please, do visit me on twitter.
Do add me to your Google+
I'll be youtubing soon!

Oh, and we'll be hosting an 
Open House,
So Save The Dates:
May 16 & 17, 2015!
We are in Wyandotte, MI
just behind Rooosevelt High School.
More info in a later blog post,
for now, please,
Save The Dates!!!!

Musically yours,
Andrea, The Piano.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!!!

Santa is coming!
Santa is coming!
Santa Claus is coming to town!

Does Santa visit old pianos?
Will he come to the Little House in Wyandotte where I live
and leave me any presents?

Will 2015 be a good year for this old Steinway?
Will I get to the restoration place some time next year?

Will I be getting any more antique roommates
any time soon?

Will my roommates also be going in for restoration work?

Hey, Jimmy Fallon,
why didn't you ask me if I wanted
to be in that video?

So, You Wanna Know What Makes Andrea The Piano So Special???

So, what's my story?
People have been asking.
I hope you don't mind
if I repeat myself a little with this blog post.
But my story bears repeating!

My pianist owner
was in search of a piano.
Now,
she is a church musician and choir director.

She is also a piano teacher.
She has taught both at
COMPAS - Center of Music and Performing Arts Southwest
and at Garage Cultural,
both located in the City of Detroit.
She started teaching her niece from home
and then some church friends asked her for lessons,
and well,
she soon found herself in need of a piano.

Now, mind you,
she has several electronic keyboards.
But nothing is quite like a piano.





She is also the proud owner

of an antique Vose Baby Grand piano,

which was actually gifted to her.
But she needed another piano
to teach from in her studio,
away from the goings on of the household.

She quickly decided
that she didn't want a spinet piano.
After owning a baby grand piano
the small sound of a spinet just wouldn't do.
She decided on an old upright piano.
So many uneducated folk
are just giving those pianos away on Craigslist
and on the piano adoption website.

Ugh!
Most of those old uprights
have their original ivory keys.
Ivory hasn't been used on pianos since the 1970s.
And the new ivory laws (as of Feb. 2014)
means you can't import or export ivory from the U.S.
Giving away pianos with original ivory keys?
My pianist owner would take them all
if she had the space and resources
to repair/restore them all!!!

But even more,
the sound of an old upright piano
is absolutely phenomenal.
How this modern world
got all into those crummy little
61-key electronic evil no-name keyboards
is totally beyond me.
Well, you can learn some music
from those little things, that's true.
But an upright piano,
well, the sound is beyond comparison.
The music made from an upright piano
is simply heaven.

My pianist owner wanted an upright.

But then it occurred to her
that the Little Piano House
is a little house.
Uprights are rather wide.
An upright piano, in all likelihood,
would not fit through the door of the little house.
Removing the door from the hinges
might get it in the door,
but the door to the room would be another story.
No, an upright piano
wouldn't make it through that narrow door at all.

So,
she deiced on a square grand piano.
Now,
although a square grand piano is much, much larger
(I am 7-ft. long)
they are disassembled for a move
and reassembled at their new location.
She even posted a photo on her facebook page
of a restored Steinway Square Grand Piano
and stated in her wall post,
that for no logical reason
she wanted one.
(really, a spinet piano
would have been the logical choice!)
Little did she know at that time
that I was looking for a new home.

OK.
This  makes me special to her.
But I'm special for more reasons
than her love of music and pianos.

I am made of Brazilian Rosewood,
which is endangered.
In fact,
rosewood cannot be import or exported
from just about every country in the world.
It is protected because it is endangered.
Many musical instruments
were made from Brazilian Rosewood
back in the day.
We just sound so good made of this wood.

I also have my original ivory keys.
So, this adds value
and a bit of something special to me
as a piano.

I was built in 1872.
Now,
it takes a year to create a Steinway,
even now in modern times.
It takes a year
to create a Steinway piano.
So,
what this means
is that work on me started in 1871.

But,
with the process Steinway uses,
then as now,
it take a year to prepare the wood.
So,
what this means
is that the wood chosen
that would later become me,
Andrea The Piano,
was chosen in 1870.

Henry Steinway died in 1871.
Now,
there is no way to prove or document this,
but it is very probable that Henry Steinway himself
hand picked the wood that would later become
Andrea The Piano.

 

All the world knows

that there is no better piano
than a Steinway.
And I have been graced
to bear the Steinway name.
I have been graced
with the Steinway touch.

I am an American made beauty,
hand crafted by old world artisans
in New York.

I made my way from New York to Chicago
via horse and wagon.
I would later make another trek
via horse and wagon
to a farm in Lapeer, MI.

Then there was a gentleman in Pleasant Ridge, MI
who sought me out as gift
for his lovely wife.
I traveled form Lapeer to Pleasant Ridge
in the back of a pick-up truck
cushioned by mattresses and blankets.

And then,
in May 2014,
my current pianist owner came for me.
For the first time in all my years
I was moved by professional piano movers,
people who all they do
is move pianos for a living.
I knew she loved me
when she chose them to come for me.
And mind you,
she was very picky.
She called a gazillion professional movers
before deciding on the ones she chose for me.

And now
I live in The Little Piano House,
thus named
cuz it's a little house full of pianos
(and one antique organ, but that's another story!)

I am not a piano behind glass,
like Daniel, the piano at Greenfield Village
in Dearborn, MI.
Poor thing, like a caged animal.
People just stop and stare.




Even the pianos

at Wyandotte's Historical Museum
have those "do not touch" signs.
I wish they would remove those signs.
If a piano isn't played
they will forget how to be a piano.

A piano does have to be
tuned and maintained, that's true.

But why have a piano that no one can touch or play?
Is she really a piano if she is silenced?

Seasoned musicians
can enjoy me.

The curious can stop by for a visit.
(just contact my pianist owner!)

Young beginner musicians can play me.
Even older beginner musicians can make music with me!
They learn about music history.
They learn about piano history.

What great composers
would have written music
on a square grand piano?

When did they stop making
square grand pianos?

Why did they stop making
square grand pianos?

When and why did they stop using
ivory and rosewood?

Perhaps I do belong in a museum.
But then,
I would only be a photo opp.
And I want to be so much more than that.

It takes a year to create a Steinway.
But before that,
it takes a year to prepare the wood.
One fine day,
when all the funds are in place,
it will take a year to have me fully restored.

It takes 350 hands to create a Steinway.
But you know,
it only takes 2 to make her sing.
And you know,
I'm not picky.
I am just has happy
with those beginner piano students
playing "twinkle little star"
as I am with my pianist owner
working on her Mozart.

If I were in a museum
I would not have any hands at all
making me sing.

In a museum
my music would stop,
most likely, forever.
And that would really be tragic,
wouldn't it?

I am special.
I am an 1872 Steinway & Sons
Square Grand Piano.
I Am
Andrea, The Piano!!

********************************

Pianos Twitter, too!

Well, it's true.
Pianos do Twitter.
I haven't been blogging much lately
as I've been very busy
trying to make a name for myself
on Twitter.

So,
if you Twitter, do follow me.

As for me,
well,
on Twitter I am particularly interested
in following pianists,
classical musicians,
piano tuners and movers.

But I'm also very much interested
in people, businesses and nonprofits
in Wyandotte, The Downriver Area,
and the Greater Detroit area.

I love inspiration stuff
and motivational stuff, too.

I'll get back to blogging more soon.
I have a variety of topics I'd like to cover in this blog.
So, I'll be back in the blogosphere soon!

twitter.com/AndreaThePiano

-Andrea

Introducing, Guillermo. He's An Estey Organ!

I have a roommate!
I have a roommate!
His name is Guillermo
He is an Estey Organ.
(More on Estey Organs at a later date!)

My pianist owner brought him home
a couple of days ago.
She went to a rummage sale
and spoke to a few people.
A few emails and phone calls later,
she brought Guillermo, The Great Estey Organ
home for the first time!

Poor little guy
has hibernating in an attic
here in the Beautiful City
of Wyandotte, MI
just a few blocks away from us.
She woke him up and now
he is a part of our Little Piano House family!

He actually is in great condition,
very clean and playable. 
All he wanted was to be played!
Boy, is he getting a work-out now!
And so is my pianist owner!
Those pedals you see in the photos
on this little organ
are for pumping!
Yeah, that's right!
Guillermo is an organ
you must pump to play!

We believe that at one time
he was a convent chapel organ.
We are absolutely certain
that he was used for religious services,
which is awesome
because my pianist owner
is a church musician and choir director!

We don't know how old he is
because we don't see his serial number.
We will probably need to remove some screws
and look inside to find it,
but we think he is over 60 years old.

That's me,
Andrea The Piano,
with Guillermo The Great Estey Organ
in the first and last photo!

Welcome, Guillermo,
The Great Estey Organ
to The Little Piano House!
Music Makers Welcome Here!

Enjoy the pics!

-Andrea,
The Piano
 

 

Where Was Andrea, The Piano, Before She Came To Wyandotte, MI?

Where was I before coming to Wyandotte?

Many, many years ago,
I was born in New York.
I was hand crafted
by the many fine skilled artisans
of Steinway & Sons.

Now,
dates are not clear,
but I have lived in a few places
before coming to
The Little Piano House
in Wyandotte, MI.
(the little piano house
is actually a little house behind the main house.
i believe traditionally
they are called "in-laws" quarters.
The city of Wyandotte, MI
has many such little houses
behind the main house.)

Anyhow,
from New York
I moved to Chicago.
Now mind you,
travel for Square Grand Pianos
was a bit difficult back then.
I made my way
from New York to Chicago
via covered wagon.
Yes, that's right!
I made the trek from the east via covered wagon.

After some time in Chicago
I would take another covered wang trip.
This second wagon trip took me to a farm in Lapeer, MI.

Now,
mine is just one of many stories told
that sing the praises of Steinway pianos
that have made the long trip via covered wagon
and arrived at their destination in tune.
I am so proud to be a Steinway!!!

My next home
was in a very beautiful house
and in an absolutely love neighborhood
in Pleasant Ridge. MI.
I was a gift for a very nice lady.
A man brought me to give to his wife.
I made that trip from Lapeer to Pleasant Ridge
in the back of a pick-up truck.
I was cushioned by mattresses and blankets
for that trip to Pleasant Ridge.

And finally,
my arrival to Wyandotte!
For the first time in my life
professional piano movers,
people who all they do is move pianos,
were the ones to bring me to Wyandotte, MI

One of the things these piano movers noticed
is that the last time I was moved
they put my legs in the wrong places.
This is sort of like
a pre-schooler who puts their shoes on the wrong feet!
But my legs are all in the right places now!

I've been in Wyandotte
since May 2014.

I live in a lovely little house
lovingly called
"The Little Piano House."
I  have my own room
in that little house.
Another room in the house
is the music study room.
There are several electronic pianos in that room.
A few local artists
also use the little house
as a studio
and many fine paintings are created there.

Well,
that's the story of where I've been.
Now I am a resident of Wyandotte, MI!

I am
Andrea,
The Piano.

I Am Andrea, The Piano

Hello, World!

 

I am Andrea.

I am an 1872 Steinway Piano.
Yes, I am a Steinway!

Steinway: The Rolls Royce of Pianos.

And I am a square grand piano.

So many have never seen a square grand,

don't even know what one is.

But here I am!

More on Steinway,

about Henry Steinway himself,

about square grand pianos,

about pianos in general,

and even, perhaps,

a bit about some great composers.

I recently moved to

the Beautiful City of Wyandotte, MI.

But I will tell you all more about my travels,

about the journey that brought me to Wyandotte,

as this blog progresses.

I am over 100 years old,

and I have to admit

that I do have a few health problems.

With this blog

I'd like to let you know

what happens to pianos as they age,

and why some (like me!)

are truly historic treasures

worthy of restoration.

Soon

I will put up a "contact me" form

on this blog

so that we can dialogue

and get to know one another.

I'm sure there are many questions

you all might have

for a lady that is 142 years young!

Anyhow,
I just wanted to introduce myself

and let you all know

that I will be blogging here

with a little help from my pianist.

Welcome to my blog!

-Musically yours,

Andrea, The Piano.