News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Ask HN: What Are You Learning? by RickJWagner on Friday June 25, 2021 @06:22PM (#27636999)
I've been astounded by the number of free pianos I see on Facebook marketplace. I totally get the allure (and used to play a bit myself), but I fear it's a dying art.
Re:Ask HN: What Are You Learning? by jacquesm on Friday June 25, 2021 @07:45PM (#27637602)
Don't underestimate the number of digital pianos that are being sold, they don't have to be tuned regularly which substantially reduces the cost of ownership and they tend to be a lot smaller and easier to move around. The quality of the latest batch is excellent. I have both an acoustic and a digital one and to be fair the acoustic is half a century old and sounds better up close but for practical reasons I find myself playing the digital one much more often using headphones so I don't disturb others.

Even so, you are right, it is definitely not a growth market by any stretch of the imagination, it takes a ton of effort to learn how to play and in a world full of distractions and ready made music more than you could ever listen to in a lifetime the enthusiasm for doing this is waning. There are exceptions to this though, for instance, in Asia where playing the piano is a status thing and still in its ascendancy phase.

Re:Ask HN: What Are You Learning? by mtnGoat on Friday June 25, 2021 @10:18PM (#27638461)
A piano, if not cared for. Is literally just a liability after a while. Most people have to pay to get them taken away. I wouldn’t consider this an indicator of the art dying. Cars go to junk yards too, but cars aren’t dying.