Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

Recording the piano is a very deep subject. Today I’m going to give you an overview of what the process is about. I might offer a video course on this subject in the future because there is so much involved in recording the piano.

A piano is a kaleidoscope of sound.

There are so many different sounds you can get out of a piano. One aspect of the piano is that sound comes out of many different parts of the instrument. You have to decide what sound you are after when recording. There are so many different possibilities and questions regarding how to record a piano!

Microphones hear differently from human ears.

First, there’s the reality of recording versus hearing things with your ears. There’s a fundamental difference. To demonstrate this, say you’re at a party where there are a lot of people around. You can focus in on different conversations around the room. But if you were to take an excellent pair of microphones and try recording a room full of people talking, listening back even through top of the line studio monitors or headphones would not enable you to zero in on different conversations. You would just have a jumble of talking. The best you could hope for his being able to follow the conversation of the people closest to the microphones. You might wonder why this is. First of all, how you can direct your attention to different sounds in a room is a fascinating subject in itself.

Your brain deciphers what you hear.

In motion pictures, or in complex musical recordings, there are recording techniques to enable you to hear many separate elements. Techniques such as panning left and right, and equalizing different bass or treble frequencies can make it possible for you to hear many distinct sounds or conversations in recordings.

Your brain is an amazing machine and it can accomplish this by utilizing the folds in your ears to decipher early and later reflections of sound. It’s able to identify minute differences in distance and frequencies to help you discern the directionality of sound thereby differentiating what you are hearing. That’s why even blindfolded without moving at all, you can tell if a sound is coming from in front of or behind you even if the balance of the volumes are exactly the same!

There are countless variations in sound in recordings.

I bring up all of these aspects of psychoacoustics so you can begin to understand the challenges of recording the piano. If you want to get a more intimate sound, you place the microphones closer to the piano. It will give you a somewhat compressed quality when microphones are placed inside a piano. You can sometimes achieve a warm quality of sound by doing this. However, as you play louder, you can hear more percussiveness with close miking techniques.

Half the sound of a piano comes out from the bottom.

If you want a more balanced sound, try placing the microphones further away from the piano. It’s a compromise between detail of sound versus balance.

There is an art to recording the piano.

What are the challenges of using multiple microphones? Once you have more than one microphone that isn’t physically next to others, you add a level of complexity with such things as phase cancelation. This is when the sound reaches different microphones at different times. Some frequencies will cancel themselves out while others will amplify themselves since sound is comprised of waves. If the sound waves from one microphone are at the opposite end of the wave cycle, the sound cancels out just like in noise canceling headphones There are time alignment technologies that can solve this problem, but it gets complicated, very quickly.

Here’s a tip for you. I suggest when you’re recording, try standing in the room and listen to what it sounds like at different places in the room. Then, place a microphone or a pair of mics next to each other at that point. For example, you might find a pleasing sound at the tail of the piano. Listen to the results of your recording. Then try recording with a different microphone placement and compare the sounds. You might discover a sweet spot where the sound is very pleasing. Ideally, you get someone else to play the piano while you listen on headphones or speakers in another room.

Experimenting with microphone placement.

Better than that, get a pair of mics that you can mount on a stand with headphones and long cables. Have somebody play the piano while you are listening and moving the microphones around the room. There are all sorts of microphone techniques that you can discover. It’s one of the best ways to determine the kind of sound you’re getting out of your piano when you record it. It’s not a right or wrong proposition. There are many different types of sounds you can get depending upon what you’re looking for. Generally, recording closer to the piano will give you a more intimate sound with more action noise. Further miking will give you a more balanced sound. Room acoustics are also an important consideration. Ambient noise may preclude distant miking of your piano. You may have never noticed your ventilation system before. Yet, when listening back to your recording, anything from cars outside to your refrigerator may destroy an otherwise wonderful recording.

My experience in the recording studio.

I grew up with hand me down recording equipment from my father that I loved to play with as a kid! Later, he would let me work with his professional recording equipment. Better than that, I got to attend my father’s recording sessions from an early age and learned a tremendous amount from them. These historic recordings are available now on CD and are on the highest level of the art of recording.

Piano appraisals are not what you might think. Many people seek out appraisals to determine selling prices for instruments, but this is not the purpose of piano appraisals. A piano appraisal is a legal document drawn up by an expert in the field which assigns value to an instrument, often for the purposes of insurance protection or estate settlements. In cases of tax fraud, an appraiser is held legally liable, since an appraisal is a legal document. Although this value is well researched and legally binding, it has little to no bearing on the potential selling price of an instrument.

Selling a Piano is Not Like Selling a Car or House

Selling a piano can be a bit overwhelming at first, so naturally one compares the process to selling other large items, such as cars or houses. There are some key differences in the valuation of pianos. When selling a house, you can access the selling history for a property, and coupled with current market values, this will give a fairly accurate idea of a reasonable sale price. In the case of automobiles, there are reliable valuations available from Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds which provide a general idea of sale prices. When it comes to pianos, there are several factors that affect a potential sale price. The age varies greatly in pianos, from being brand new, to pianos that are over 100 years old. This will affect the sale price. Condition and brand play an even bigger role.

Why You Can’t Use Appraisals to Determine Selling Prices of Pianos

As we discussed earlier, an appraisal is a legal document that assigns value to an instrument, often for the purposes of insurance claims or an estate settlements. However, this value does not necessarily reflect the current market value. There are countless piano brands out there, many that no longer produce instruments. So, the replacement value can be difficult to determine. Also, the type of sale will often affect the sale price. For instance, the price for a piano in a store, where instruments are tuned and regulated will differ greatly from the price on Craigslist, and consignments will vary as well. If you are curious, go to eBay and compare the asking prices for pianos with the prices of pianos that have already sold, and you will find the values are often drastically different.

Your Selling Price is Up to You!

When it comes down to it, all these factors will affect how much you can sell your piano for, but ultimately the selling price is whatever someone is willing to pay for your instrument. Generally, the more work you are willing to put into the sale, the more money you can get for the instrument. For example, if you have the piano put into top shape, take high resolution pictures, post online on several websites, show the piano whenever someone wants to see the piano, offer to help arrange the move, and are patient, you may get top dollar for your piano. On the other hand, if you just want to list on Craigslist and sell fast, or sell the piano wholesale to a piano dealer, you will get far less for your piano.

Piano appraisals are important legal documents. For example, if you lost your piano in a fire and you had to replace it quickly going to the nearest piano store and finding a similar replacement, you might pay appraised value. That’s the whole purpose. You shouldn’t be put out in that kind of situation. You also want an equitable solution in an estate settlement that everyone can agree upon. These are where appraisals have great value. But they really doesn’t have much to do with what you can sell your piano for.

Did you know that if you go to music conservatory or major in music at a university, you have to have a certain level of piano proficiency in order to get your degree?

All Music Majors Have to Play the Piano

Let’s start from the beginning. There are two essential instruments for all musicians. The piano is one and the voice is the other. They are diametrically opposed to one another. One is the most natural instrument we all carry with us. You must hear something in your head before you can even produce the sound. The piano is the opposite, when you push a key it makes the sound even if you don’t hear it first.

The Piano Can Play Complete Music

Most instruments can only play one note at a time. So, in order to play complete compositions, you usually have to play in an ensemble. What’s unique about the piano is that you can play complex, polyphonic music all by yourself! You can play chords and harmony. More than that, it’s visual. The piano is laid out in such a way that you can see what diatonic harmony is all about. That is, the half-step/whole-steps arrangement which is readily apparent on the keyboard. Chords are easy to negotiate as well. Even a child can do it. It’s that easy!

There’s More to Piano Than Just Visualizing Your Music

If you play the clarinet, saxophone or flute; the vast majority of music is written to play with other musicians. In fact, most solo music for other instruments contain substantial piano parts. Piano has more repertoire than all other instruments combined. Piano is a tremendous second instrument because you can realize the other parts to the pieces you’re playing. You might wonder what the orchestra is doing in a concerto you are playing. There will be an orchestral arrangement on our score you can play on the piano so you can hear it!

All People Should Study the Piano

The piano is intrinsic to music. You’ll learn theory and understand chord structure. It makes an excellent tool for ear training as well. It’s visually in front of you and you can produce sounds and harmonies that are impossible to create by yourself on most other instruments. I had the good fortune of starting the piano at a very young age. Later, when I was in 4th grade, I start playing the French horn in school. I could already read music fluently and was playing somewhat sophisticated music (for a relative beginner) on the piano. It was easy for me to grasp the horn initially because I was used to much more complex music on the piano. It made me take to the French horn quickly because I was used to the complexity of reading two staves on a score. Reading music for the French Horn was easy by comparison (even though there are many challenges playing a wind instrument).

There are so many things involved in studying the piano. There is everything from note reading, figuring out rhythms, considering hand position, following fingering, negotiating phrasing, expression and more. There are also skills which must be mastered such as memorization, sight-reading and improvisation. You must also have a keen understanding of the underlying music theory. But there is one intrinsic thing that is a macro to learning to play the piano which transcends everything:

How to Practice

There are so few teachers in this world who teach how to practice; not just in piano but all subjects. I remember when I was in 11th grade, for the first time Mr. Gray showed us how to to compose an English composition. Before that, any time a paper was assigned, I would break into a cold sweat having no idea how to approach such a thing! But Mr. Gray broke it down to an organized method of how to write a clear, compelling composition. I’m so grateful to him to this day. His methods have stayed with me. It’s how I do all my writing, and I write a lot of articles!

Having Productive Lessons:

I was fortunate to study with my father, Morton Estrin. From the very first lesson, he showed me how to practice as he did with all his students. Many of his students went on to teach his methods including my sister and myself. Our teaching is based upon showing students what to do the other six days of the week when they’re not at the lesson. This is the key for effective training which makes the lessons exponentially more productive. It’s not just correcting wrong notes and assigning new material. There are a myriad of things you can do in a lessons from working on scales and arpeggios, to delving into music theory.

Providing a Step by Step Approach

You must show students what to do on a daily basis. They should have a clear idea how to approach each skill set whether it is memorization, sight-reading or something else. The students must be provided with the methods for approaching each skill. The most valuable thing a teacher can do at lessons is to practice with the students. You may work with them for months or even years getting them to the point where they can work effectively independently. Once students reach that level, their progress at home will soar. Your role shifts more to a coach than a teacher being able to work on refining their playing to a high level. So, be sure your teacher (whatever the subject) provides clear, step by step instructions of how to work out assignments at home for fruitful study.

As crazy as it sounds, unlike people, pianos don’t age unless acted upon by an outside force, namely the environment or simply being played a lot. Upkeep also enters into it. A piano that sits in a stable climate with moderate temperature and humidity, away from direct sunlight, kept closed and rarely played, yet tuned on a regular basis can be in virtually new condition even after many decades. We have had a number of pre-WWII pianos that only required refinement but no new parts in order to get an extremely high level of performance and very attractive appearance. We have also seen 10 year pianos ready for major rebuilding. Beach pianos, desert pianos, pianos from schools, restaurants or hotels are examples of pianos.

What is also interesting is that new pianos (and newly rebuilt pianos) require more servicing in the first couple of years of ownership as strings stretch and woods become acclimated to their climate. So, although it may seem counterintuitive, older pianos require less maintenance than new pianos.

There are limits of what is likely to find. Generally, any piano going back into the 1800’s will undoubtedly require work or have had work performed on it in order to play on a high level. So, you must assess each piano for what it is. The year of manufacturer only tells a part of the story.

You may have heard about the need to play on the tips of your fingers. But if you hands are weak, you may find that your fingers collapse and there is no way of playing on the tips of the fingers no matter how hard you try.

I used to watch my father, Morton Estrin play the piano with his massive hands in the rounded position that you hear about.

Some people describe the ideal piano hand position as one that is shaped like holding a ball.

Today we’re going to compare uprights to baby grands and determine which are better. This is a very popular question. People may think they don’t have enough room for a baby grand piano and that a large upright will suffice or possibly sound better than a baby grand. This is because large uprights can have longer string length than smaller baby grands as well as larger soundboards. There is a lot to think about with this question.

Fundamental Differences between Baby Grands and Uprights:

I will tell you right out of the gate that I have a bias. I believe baby grands and grand pianos are fundamentally better instruments than upright pianos. There are a number of reasons why I believe they are superior instruments. First let’s consider why you might want to consider getting an upright piano.

There are 2 Good Reasons to Get an upright:

One reason to get an upright is if you have limited space. The other reason to consider getting an upright piano is if you have a limited budget. However, placement of a baby grand can sometimes be far simpler than placing an upright. Consider that an upright piano takes up 5-feet wall space which you may not have available. Whereas a baby grand piano looks good from any angle which offers more versatility in placement. As far as budget is concerned, you’re going to have to invest more to get a high quality baby grand compared to an upright. So this could be a final determination for you.

Reasons Why a Baby Grand Offers Higher Performance:

If you’ve talked to me about pianos in person or on the phone, you know I always stress the importance of considering the long term implications when purchasing a piano. Unlike buying a car, a refrigerator, almost anything else you buy, the piano you purchase you will probably keep the rest of your life if you buy the right one since they last a very long time.

Since the back of an upright piano is unfinished, they are almost always placed against a wall. Since the sound comes out the back of upright pianos, the sound goes into the wall. Whereas a baby grand or grand piano’s sound is projected into the room. So, there is a sonic benefit to the design of baby grands.

All Students Eventually Outgrow Even the Finest Upright Pianos

Something that baby grands and grand pianos offer is a superior action. In vertical piano actions on upright pianos, the hammers travel sideways. So, there is a limitation to the speed of repetition compared to a grand piano action which has the benefit of gravity since the hammers travel up and down. Even a mediocre baby grand piano can offer much more rapid repetition than a fine upright piano. Uprights will not repeat with a tremendous amount of energy because gravity is not working for it the way it does on grand pianos.

There is More to Piano Actions than Just Speed:

Another area in which grand piano actions are superior to upright actions is in key length. Grand pianos generally have longer keys than upright pianos – not the part you see, but behind the fallboard. Larger grand pianos have even longer keys than baby grands! This is important since pushing shorter keys on upright pianos is like being close to the center on a seesaw. It’s difficult because you are in a weak point of leverage the closer you get to the fallboard. It’s difficult to push black keys and between black keys on upright pianos relative to the ends of the keys. Grand pianos have a more consistent feel because the leverage is more even from the front to the back of the keys.

Pedals On Grand Pianos:

Only the sustain pedal has the same function on upright pianos as on grand pianos. The other two pedals on almost all uprights do not do what they are supposed to do. If you ever push the left pedal, you notice that the entire action shifts to the side slightly on grand pianos. Whereas normally hammers strike three strings through most of the piano, when you depress the una corda pedal, the hammers only strike two of the strings dead on when this pedal is engaged. This gives a change of tonal color. On upright pianos, the soft pedal does not change the tone. Instead, it alters the touch by making the hammers advance closer to the strings making it more difficult to play loud. One of the most extraordinary aspects of expressiveness on the piano is the use of the soft pedal. This is something that is important to experience. The middle pedal (sostenuto) which is rarely utilized in piano music usually doesn’t function properly on upright pianos. Usually they are practice pedals which make the sound soft by engaging felt between the hammers and the strings.

Well Worth the Investment:

So, if you have the space and the budget, you will be rewarded with superior action, projection of sound, full pedal functionality, as well as a more elegant piece of furniture if you get a baby grand or grand piano. Plus, piano students who practice on baby grands or grand pianos progress more quickly than those who have uprights at home since lessons, recitals and competitions are most often played on grand pianos and being used to these instruments gives students a competitive advantage.

I had the opportunity to meet the founders of P.A.S.K., Pianists for Alternatively Sized Keyboards at the NAMM Music Trade Show. They have developed a new size keyboard which is smaller than the standard piano keyboard for pianists with smaller hands. There is a rich tradition of smaller piano keyboards going back generations.

The great pianist Josef Hoffmann had Steinway & Sons manufacture 2 custom made pianos in the 1930’s with narrower keys to accommodate his smaller hands.

Unfortunately, the practice of manufacturing smaller keyboards never became a readily available standard. Fortunately, a growing chorus of pianists with smaller hands are vying for a standard 7/8 size keyboard which is referred to as “DS5.5”. However, there are other standards that exist. The hope is, that by having one alternatively sized keyboard standard, there could potentially be actions manufactured to this specification which could be used in different pianos. Since the Steinway Model D concert grand is the piano model found in the vast majority of concert halls around the world, the hope is there could be actions available that could be used in different pianos with some adjustments.

I had the experience years ago of playing on smaller keyboards. In the 1980’s, there was a cutting edge digital synthesizer, the CZ101 manufactured by Casio. It was a unique instrument for the time being a very affordable, programmable digital synthesizer, something that didn’t exist at the time. I bought 2 of them! They had smaller keys. Much to my surprise, I had absolutely no difficulty adjusting to the smaller keys. In fact, it was a pleasure playing on smaller keys.

There are many concert pianists with smaller hands, myself included.

We learn how to break large chords we can’t reach very quickly catching the notes on the pedal. It creates the illusion of being able to play larger chords than we can reach! While this technique works very well, it requires developing tremendous strength in order to achieve. I spent countless hours building strength in order to play music which years later I discovered students of mine could play on a high level with minimal practice!

For people who have difficulty reaching an octave, smaller keyboards are essential in order to be able to play vast amounts of the piano literature successfully. My hope is that this standard smaller keyboard catches on so it provides an alternative to countless pianist the world over putting them on equal footing to pianists with larger hands.

We would love to hear from all of you how you feel about having the availability of smaller sized keyboards on pianos.