Make a Joyful Noise?

I began teaching Dear Daughter piano lessons a few months ago, soon after selling my "sentimental" acoustic piano (gifted to me by my grandparents when I was about 7 years old). As I've said in at least one previous post, parting with that piano wasn't easy. I moved it cross country at least twice and probably about a dozen times in between. We were inseparable from the time I acquired it. I even moved it into my apartment in college while I was studying piano and completing my music degree. I'm sure my neighbors all had "opinions" of their neighbor banging out Chopin and Bach, which I know they could hear through their walls. I had that piano in at least six different apartments over the years.

I considered going digital a few different times over the years, but could never bring myself to it until the point that Dear Husband decided to install a wood stove. Part of the deal was that if he installed the stove, I got a new piano. This was because the only place in our new home where the piano could live was in the same room where the stove was to be installed.
The wood heat would have dried out the soundboard and destroyed it.

I knew what I wanted to replace my acoustic with if I ever did it. I did my research years ago. Since that time, the model was upgraded. It is touted as the "flagship" of the digital pianos. Upon selling my acoustic to some nice young woman who was serious about her piano studies (I wouldn't let the piano go to just anyone), Dear Husband and I went shopping. Early last fall we came home with my very own Yamaha CP300. I was in love. It is the next best thing to a 30 foot Steinway grand, IMO. I've played on those monsters before in performance halls. This digital beauty has an amazing keyboard action that mimics a concert grand piano. It even has a vibration feature programmed into it that makes the instrument feel like a full size grand under your fingers. And it has a sound that I wouldn't be able to distinguish from a full size grand if I were listening with closed eyes. It also has some other great electronic features for MIDI and recording. I haven't learned those yet; I bought this thing purely for it's sound. It is the only digital piano I could accept in place of an acoustic because it literally feels like an acoustic in my hands, only much better than the little spinet acoustic I sold. It has much better tone and keyboard control than my little acoustic ever did. Have I mentioned that I'm in love?

It's a $2,200.00 "toy" that my children love to play with. Fortunately, they are gentle with it and aside from an occasional reminder to be "gentle," and sometimes a little trouble sharing, I am okay with them playing with it as long as I am close by to supervise.








From the looks of their faces, the kids were eating something chocolate before these pictures were taken.

This last one is my favorite. Dear Son is into whatever he is singing while his big sister plays along.

Good thing we live in the country now and the nearest neighbors are not so "near" anymore.