toy pianos

Just thought I'd put this one in here to see if anyone knows anything about them. Proper toy pianos have been and are used by classical composers and performers. The big manufacture seems to be Schoenhut in the US but I can't find any stockists in the UK. There is a UK manufacturer doing a rather nice tiny grand - keyskills - but that's all I can find.

 

I did not even know that such things existed. What is a toy piano?

 

Sorry to take this thread on a tangent, but it reminded me of some fabulous and very different music I recently found out about....the music of Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997) who wrote, amongst other things, for player piano. So far I have only heard fascinating snippets of his music on the naxos website but I will be checking out more in the future!

 

you can find some more snippets at the itunes store... interesting music!

 

I think the basic point is that instead of strings they use metal rods (still struck by hammers) and are therefore more chime like in their sound.
Schoenhut are here:www.toypiano.com
and Keyskills are here: keyskillspianos
And yes they are smaller - but with full width keys (at least they are on the Schoenhut).

 

Looks cool....didn't even know such things existed

Do you find many teachers willing to teach using these though?