Yamaha Player Pianos

They Sold the Keys to the City

A few years ago, our church pianist played an arrangement of �Jesus Loves Me� as the offertory. The song began simply, with just a few notes in the accompaniment and played at a slow tempo. With each verse, the rendition became more complex, with flowing counterpoint and stacked chords.

By the final stanza, it occurred to me that perhaps the arranger was recalling the progression from beginning piano student to advanced virtuoso, with all the lessons, Czerny exercises, and recitals along the way.

Early in a student�s series of piano lessons, there was often a trip with parents to a local music store like ones that used to be in Chattanooga. Here�s a look back at three of them.


LANSFORD�S PIANO AND ORGAN COMPANY

Robert E. Lansford founded this keyboard store around 1912, after working as a piano salesman at another store. The original location was on East Eighth Street across from Dickinson Jr. High. The store was soon sold to his brother, Justin C. Lansford, who was formerly a grocer.

Most pianists recall its later location in the 700 block of Cherry Street. The business was in somewhat a musical neighborhood. The House of Music was a nearby neighbor. They always seemed to me to have every piece of sheet music that was ever printed.

In 1947, Arthur O. �Bill� Morton and his wife, Jerry, purchased Lansford�s. Mr. Morton had been a merchandise manager for Sears, Roebuck and Company. Under the Mortons, the business added locations at Eastgate Mall, Northgate Mall, and Cleveland.

Each year, the downtown Lansford�s hosted the rehearsal for the annual Pianorama recital of area piano students.

On January 29, 1974, the Chattanooga News-Free Press reported that Lansford�s had sold its one millionth Baldwin piano. Around four years later, on July 2, 1978, the same newspaper reported that the store was recognized as the world�s oldest Baldwin piano dealer continuously operating under the same name.

In 1982, the Mortons sold Lansford�s to a new owner. A new facility on South Terrace Road replaced both the downtown and Eastgate stores. Today, this building is a Goodwill retail store. At the time, Lansford�s still sold new rolls for the once-ubiquitous home entertainment system � the player piano.

Lansford�s closed in 1991. According to a Chattanooga Times report on April 4, 1991, a recession had led to a decline in piano sales.

Yamaha's disklavier pianos recall the so-called “player pianos ...

Yamaha Disklavier Pianos

Yamaha’s Disklavier Pianos recall the so-called “player pianos” made famous in depictions of the Old West – pianos, that, by some dint of sorcery, could “play themselves.” In actuality, the old-school player pianos used sophisticated (for the time) mechanics to read special sheet music and make it look like a master concert piano was at the bench.

Yamaha’s Disklavier pianos are in an entirely different league.  The New York Times dubbed the Disklavier Mark IV as “the first piano in the world with an internet connection.” Disklaviers are hybrids: they are functioning pianos, but they are also something “more” — something digital.

The NYT’s 2008 article, “A Grand (i.e., Cool) Piano,” summed up these instruments nicely: “maybe you’ve seen player pianos in a hotel lobby or a shopping mall, playing holiday tunes all by themselves, keys and pedals madly going up and down. This is not an audio recording…the hammer strike real strings, making loud acoustic music. It’s a recreation of a real pianist’s performance, faithful to the tiniest grace note.”

Lots of gear, including microphone inputs, speakers, video outputs, USB jacks, and computer operating systems and a hard drive Disklaviers can be excellent teachers – you can use features to “half press” keys to guide your fingers Need an accompanist? These pianos can actually match your tempo to a degree – slowing down or speeding up as needed Practice in silence! True, cheap digital key boards also allow pianists to practice “silently.” but you can’t get the real “feel” of a piano when you play a traditional digital instrument. If you live with the family members, this feature is fantastic, since you can practice the same piece a million times over without annoying everyone else in the house. Record your own songs. Record orchestral parts as well. Disklaviers can transfer your recorded mixes to your computer through either a network connection or flash drive.

 

If you’d like to explore more about Yamaha  pianos, digital, acoustic and hybrids , connect with the  experienced team at Pianos Plus.