[Spareribs]

Many decades ago, having a piano was more common in the American household and it was more common for kids to take piano lessons. These days, it's very rare to see an upright acoustic piano in someone's house. You may have seen these upright pianos in old movies at the cowboy saloons out west.

There are theories that learning the piano helps improve the brain. Personally, I think there is truth to it. I also believe that in some cases, learning the piano at an early age can help a child develop a deeper appreciation of more complex music since the piano involves a person playing bass notes and the treble clef simultaneously. It's like performing a mini orchestra at your finger tips. Playing the various chord structures, harmonies and bass notes can help a person become closer to the music composition in an intimate way that no audio gear can ever achieve.

The piano will never go away. It's still very essential in the music world.

 

[RRod]

Probably a combination of:
.A general blase attitude about music as an art (rather than an amusement park)
.A lack of any real music education these days
.A shortage of piano stores catering to the everyday home buyer
 
I can attest to the last one personally: my wife and I went pee-aner shopping up and down the eastern seaboard, and there just simply wasn't much stock anywhere aimed at normal folks having a solid upright in the home. It was all cheap stuff or Faziolis.

 

[Spareribs]

I remember reading an article a couple years ago about an increase of old pianos going to trash land fills. Some people were outraged but I suppose if there is an old piano from grandma's house and nobody is claiming it, it just ends up going to the trash dumps unless it's a Steinway or something high end.

 

[SomeWiseGuy]

But piano lessons are expensive.
 
With rising living costs, many in general don't see the need to learn the piano.

 

[SomeWiseGuy]

I remember seeing on TV a pianist.
 
He was sweating very heavily while playing his music with of course passion.
 
Does anyone have an idea of who he is? I didn't catch his name.

 

[maul]

Learning and playing piano is what made me what I am. A discipline to conquer complex problems and the confidence that you can do it. Learning at a young age creates skills that extent far beyond just the playing an instrument. For every child that grows tired of it or is disinterested, there could be one like me that continues for a lifetime. I'd definitely recommend every parent give their kid at a chance at piano -

 

[Redcarmoose]

Elvis is to blame.