Beale
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Go The Mighty Little Beale!
I got a text message this morning from Hanna, mother of my students Eloise, Wyatt and Jakob. The piano tuner was in and said the piano is well looked after, in tune and is fantastic quality to keep its condition so well! He said he doesn’t get to say that too often and that it’s… Continue reading
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The Grande Dame arrives
Last week I wrote about my Beale going to a new home. Well that sure did happen and I was texting photos like this to Hanna saying, “They’re taking it now!” Later, she sent back… I’ve said before that buying the Beale felt like putting down roots in Australia – I wouldn’t buy an acoustic… Continue reading
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My Beale is going to a new home ❤️
Buying my little Bijou Beale piano in 2017 symbolised a commitment to making roots in Australia. She was made in 1951, had a lot of TLC and I loved playing her. She’s going to a new home in Logan Village with some lovely people I know. Next time I see her will be via Zoom… Continue reading
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Piano Man. Taking the panel off my Beale — video
I removed the front panel of my Beale piano! I thought it would be fun to see all those moving hammers. Some of my students don’t know what’s inside an old-fashioned piano, so I played a short version of Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’, the quintessential pub piano bar song, for my kids. Here are a… Continue reading
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Reshaping the hammers of my Beale piano
I started to learn piano when I was six, and we lived in London. When I was seven we moved, and the lessons stopped. There was a gap until we settled in Hampshire. The third piece of big furniture my mother bought, after beds and a dining set, was a second-hand upright piano for me.… Continue reading
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I bought a Beale piano!
In April, I bought an upright piano! After moving around the world for decades with different digital pianos, I’m finally settled enough to own this big old, magical wooden box with 1,200 moving parts. Now, I am home. I drove all over Brisbane and the Gold Coast checking out pianos advertised on Gumtree. When I… Continue reading
About Joanna
Joanna is British Australian. Her early career was in financial news in London. That ended in 2008. Joanna moved to Sabah, her parents’ birthplace, where she wrote a blog about musicians, which became a book. Joanna came to Australia in 2012 and started this blog — her second. These days, she writes mostly about music, her garden, and trips to Sabah. Oh, and Wookie the Havanese.
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