Pianophilia

Have you every thought that your piano is trying to tell you something?
Now you can hear what it says on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muCPjK4nGY4

A spoof though surely? (Unvoiced consonants have no definable pitch!) Good fun though.
http://ablinger.mur.at/

Reminds me of Sparky's Magic Piano:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparky%27s_Magic_Piano

The piano does indeed speak, but mainly to women.

Here is data regarding the relative popularity of different
instruments played by amateurs in the USA.

Male pianists might care to ponder the strongly female preference
for the instrument. (Only the flute, and possibly the harp, appear
to be more female oriented, which is quite worrying.)

Instrument - Nos. of players (in millions) - male/female %age
Piano - 18m - 21/79
Guitar - 15m - 65/35
Organ - 6m - 29/71
Clarinet - 2.9m - 31/69
Drums - 2.7m - 94/6
Flute - 2.5m - 17/83
Trumpet - 2.2m - 86/14
Violin - 1.7m - 32/68
Harmonica - 1.5m - 86/14
Saxophone - 1.4m - 82/18.

If I were to tackle a non-keyboard instrument it would
undoubtedly be the oboe, assuming that that isn't too girly!

Timtin wrote:The piano does indeed speak, but mainly to women.

Here is data regarding the relative popularity of different
instruments played by amateurs in the USA.

Male pianists might care to ponder the strongly female preference
for the instrument. (Only the flute, and possibly the harp, appear
to be more female oriented, which is quite worrying.)

Instrument - Nos. of players (in millions) - male/female %age
Piano - 18m - 21/79
Guitar - 15m - 65/35
Organ - 6m - 29/71
Clarinet - 2.9m - 31/69
Drums - 2.7m - 94/6
Flute - 2.5m - 17/83
Trumpet - 2.2m - 86/14
Violin - 1.7m - 32/68
Harmonica - 1.5m - 86/14
Saxophone - 1.4m - 82/18.

If I were to tackle a non-keyboard instrument it would
undoubtedly be the oboe, assuming that that isn't too girly!

Interesting list Tim, I am amazed at the large number of female organists, only slightly less than the percentage for the piano.
Of course this list does not take into consideration other social factors like the boys must be baseball/American football/basketball players, the girls still suffer from Stepford wives syndrome and this of course is reflected in the statistics. Military band instruments and the guitar/drums/saxophone field are predominantly male which you would expect. American society is still in many ways trapped in the previous centuries, you only have to look at their attitude to sexual issues for example.
I would like to see a similar list for Europe and compare the results, I doubt if it would be much different except hopefully for the piano and organ.
thanks for posting the list and no Tim the oboe is not girly, the cor anglais is.
regards
Brian

Timtin wrote:If I were to tackle a non-keyboard instrument it would undoubtedly be the oboe, assuming that that isn't too girly!

That's what I did (cor anglais as well) - and it isn't

Regards
Freda

always beware of someone who favours instruments with bent reeds
(I chose the French Horn and the Double Bass Dr. Freudbucket... what say you to that!)
Brian

I just love the sound of the oboe, and it uses a sensible clef,
i.e the treble clef, which thickos like me can understand.

Timtin wrote:I just love the sound of the oboe, and it uses a sensible clef,
i.e the treble clef, which thickos like me can understand.

I had a shot at the oboe as a teenager and found it incredibly hard, and never managed to make a nice sound. I already knew most of the fingerings from playing the recorder as a kid - so in hindsight I wish I'd gone for the clarinet or even the saxophone.

hullandhellandhalifax wrote:always beware of someone who favours instruments with bent reeds
(I chose the French Horn and the Double Bass Dr. Freudbucket... what say you to that!)

The reeds are straight, it is the bocal that is bent.

In the hands of less-experienced musicians the FH sounds like a belch and the DB like a fart, so I suspect you were having digestive problems at the time. But then again, you do play the organ (well, I believe) so obviously constipation is not a problem.

Regards
Fred