35 Million Kids Learning Piano in China

Interview that included that tidbit - Lang Lang: A Life In Music, So Far. 26 year old Pianist who won his first Piano competition at age 5. The video of his piano playing is wonderful! They are also auctioning a rare Red Concert Steinway he played starting at $160,000 to help the Earthquake victims in China. http://www.langlang.com

So my daughter's competition is 35 Million others learning Piano. Wow!

China and Jews

Interesting article that is a good read - it's a positive article. China good for the Jews

At the Piano Recital my daughter was at today (she got a superior + and is so thrilled by that), the participants seemed to be either Korean, Chinese, or Jewish. I am not sure what that means. So many of the Chinese students at my daughter's school play piano. Even a book that talks a bit about this (super cute book) Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka.

A bit of trivia, I found out my Grandmother got a music scholarship for playing piano for college. During my recent visit to the Bay Area we visited my Grandmother and my daughter played piano for her. My Mother also plays piano and is pretty good. My wife plays a little (and wants to learn more). My daughter has been playing for 10 years and per her Piano teacher, if she decided, could major in Music because she is good enough.

Made in China - Violins, Cello's, pianos, and more!

Made in China conjures up images of low quality junk when it does not have a foreign brand name on it. From iPods to piano to cellos, so many are made in China due to lower labor costs.

There are basically three quality range for Pianos. The low end of the market that is made in China, Korea, and Indonesia. The medium range of the market is piano's made in Japan from Yamaha and Kawai. The high end is Steinway and German pianos such as Bosendorfer (my daughter loved test playing a 9'). There are some pianos that are made in China with German actions, to German design, etc. The made in China Pianos range in quality from poor to fair, the challenge is figuring out which one is good. Many pianos made in China now put on foreign names, such as Vienna for a European name. The quality of the Chinese brands is improving quickly and has resulted in them owning most of the lower end of the market. The challenge is some Chinese pianos have pretty good quality, and others are horrible. A great book to buy if you are looking to buy a Piano is the Piano Book by Larry Fine helps you sort through all the wonderful claims. We bought a Kawai piano after visiting many Piano shops. If your interested in an upright and in the Los Angeles area, we are selling our old one. Contact me for more information

Stringed instruments from China have taken over 80% of the market in the US. The challenge is figuring out the quality. So many of them have a foreign name plastered on them, resold by US companies, it's hard to tell where they came from. Music teachers often have a friend who sells instruments. Music teachers also get a bit upset when you buy from another place. One music teacher was upset that we bought from another person and told us how lousy our cello was. She then showed us the cello of another student, and it did not have tighteners on all the strings as she has pointed out our cello did not. Her credibility was gone after that so we changed teachers.

				Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
				Our Price: $4.50
				Nine-year-old Yang and his family have immigrated from China to Seattle and the father is a professional Violin Play. He has been giving Yang Violin lessons for years, and Yang hates the Violin. Yang discovers Baseball! A great story about fitting in and getting used to a new country and culture.

Dual Piano Performance - Wow!

Amazing performance of dual piano players my family went to today.
Tengstrand-Sun Piano Duo

Husband and wife team. Husband is from Sweden, she is from China. He first performed at 7, she at 6. Amazing piano ability. So crisp and clear!


Related Books:






Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
Our Price: $4.50
Nine-year-old Yang and his family have immigrated from China to Seattle and the father is a professional Violin Play. He has been giving Yang Violin lessons for years, and Yang hates the Violin. Yang discovers Baseball! A great story about fitting in and getting used to a new country and culture.

Buying a Piano - New Chinatown

We just finished the Grand Piano Search. My daughter has been playing for 10 years, and her piano teacher suggested it's time to upgrade the piano.

The piano industry seems to be a boom and bust industry. Right now, it's in a bust. There are also a lot of Chinese made pianos, some of them have become pretty good. The challenge is many made in China pianos have fancy European names on them. Such as Vienna. If you get serious about Pianos, the book to get is The Piano Book - Brookside Press. For finding out the age of piano, the site Bluebook of Pianos has a lot of good information. Next project is to sell our console/upright (if your in the Los Angeles area and need a good starter piano...

We visited 10+ piano stores. The Chinese focused ones were two in Arcadia focused more on Chinese, one in West Covina, and another in Rowland Heights. We had a great experience at www.pianogallerie.com in Arcadia, the owner came across as among the most truthful of everyone we spoke to. Most experiences were not that great on going to a piano store, especially how many of them knocked the competition. Amazing the amount of people who claim how great their piano is! And why this brand is so great! If you talk to enough sales people, read The Piano Book and get the supplement, you get pretty educated. For a high end piano, the Chinese made ones are not there yet. Some of the Chinese made ones are very good, but it's hard to tell which ones are great and which ones are not. Steinway is nice, but at a price! The German made ones are amazing, but even more than Steinway. Yamaha and Kawai are good, safe piano's. We ended up with a Kawai. Our old piano is an American made Schafer and Son which is a great starter piano.

Piano Claims that are suspect:

1. Grey market Kawai and Yamaha are not made for the US market and have a problem of cracking (huge source of controversy in the industry). There was a problem with early Kawai and Yamaha's imported into the US back in the late 60's and early 70's.

2. This Chinese made piano is made to German design, which makes it excellent. Maybe... Hard to tell without a track record of a couple years.

3. This Chinese piano is better because it is all wood. Kawai's use plastic in them, so are not as good. The right type plastic in the right location is not an issue.

4. You should always buy new for Pianos (not true, if a good brand name piano it's not an issue. But it's always a good idea to pay for a Piano technician to look at it before purchase. New pianos have a 30-40% premium. Plus piano's take time to season. You can also take out the action and look at the hammers to see how heavily used the piano has been. The major worry is cracks in the soundboard (expensive to fix).

Cute book about music:

				Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka
				Our Price: $4.50
				Nine-year-old Yang and his family have immigrated from China to Seattle and the father is a professional Violin Play. He has been giving Yang Violin lessons for years, and Yang hates the Violin. Yang discovers Baseball! A great story about fitting in and getting used to a new country and culture.

Music Lessons and Chinese Americans

Disclaimer: My daughter has been doing Piano Lessons since age 3. And per her, she's pretty d*** good at it too (she just walked by).

It seems like every Chinese American Parents has their child learning Piano. Learning piano per a study can help improve abstract reasoning and lead to high grades in Math. There is a lot of math in music when you get into it. I am not sure on why there is such a high interest in the Chinese Community. Perhaps it's recommended for getting admitted to a great school by showing how well rounded their child is. Or perhaps it's just peer pressure because all the other parents do it.

A fun book that captures some of the Chinese attitude on music and adds in baseball is
Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear by Lensey Namioka