This sounds like a total contradiction. So, I’m going to show you something really fascinating today! You will hear an example of the famous Mozart Sonata in C major K545. Most of you probably know this sonata. I’m going to be demonstrating with
Some people look at fingerprints on a piano with a high gloss finish and think they will never be able to keep it clean. Interestingly, in many ways a high gloss finish is easier to care for than a satin finish. How can this be? The difference is sim
I wear shoes that are comfortable and don’t squeak. It’s always important to test your shoes to make sure you don’t get pedal squeak. It can sometimes happen depending upon the sole of the shoes. I’ve worn so many different types of shoes
You may have heard the term “Asian Production Pianos.” What does that mean? Here is some historical context. The piano industry started in Europe centuries ago offering hand-built pianos from many manufacturers. Eventually manufacturing migrated
I came across this video recently from Ryan at TakeLessons.com. In this video, Ryan demonstrates some very useful piano finger exercises for building not only speed, but agility as well. It is important to be aware of your thumbs when playing the piano and what they are doing. This is a very important factor in building your speed. There are many effective ways of increasing your speed and if you’re playing a scale that is more than five notes, you are going to have to utilize your thumbs by crossing over at some point. You need to be aware of what your thumb is doing after you play a note that aligns to it. The secret to a fast easy scale is all in the crossover technique that is implemented by the thumb.
He also talks about how to make the scale sound clean and smooth by means of crossing the thumbs under at the appropriate time so that there aren’t any rests. There are exercises that you can use to prepare your thumbs for the next note so that you can swiftly cross under without it being noticeable. He talks about not only practicing the scales legato but also staccato as it allows for proper position of the hands. This makes executing scales with ease so much more efficient. You want your hands to be more rounded when doing this. When practicing scales staccato, you want to just use your fingertips rather than the weight of your whole finger or hand. Doing this will let you prepare your thumbs early so you can gain muscle memory when it comes to playing fast.
Another technique that is covered is blocking scales, chords and passages. Rather than playing scales as individual notes, instead play them as chords! You can play them at a faster speed once you get the hang of it. It may seem like an unusual approach, but it is effective in regards to building up speed. You may find it to be an easier approach as your fingers will already know where they’re going. This is something you can do in scales as well as passages. These are just some of the ways you can bring your piano playing to an even higher level. This video can be very useful for demonstrating these exciting ideas in piano technique and improving your speed.
I hope to see another video from Ryan about 3rd and 4th finger crossings since when going in the opposite direction, these fingers come into play. Meanwhile, try out these techniques for yourself and see how they improve your speed at the piano.
I came across this video recently from Ryan at TakeLessons.com. In this video, Ryan demonstrates some very useful piano finger exercises for building not only speed, but agility as well. It is important to be aware of your thumbs when playing the pia
We get this question all the time. So many times people call up and have old pianos they think are valuable. The first question isn’t: What’s the brand or what’s the size? It comes down to one thing: condition. Condition is everything with pian
This is a really good question. There is a simple answer and I’m going to tell you right up front. Last year there were around 30,000 pianos sold in this country. That might sound like a lot or maybe not particularly. If you consider that over one
China has more companies producing pianos than there are piano stores in the United States! The largest piano manufacturer in China is Pearl River. They have several factories and they just put a new factory online over a year ago that has 1.2 millio
It’s a very easy app to use, and it’s available for iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. I use it quite often to check pitches on pianos around the store. Usually, I can tell when they’re low because of an interesting fact. If your piano drops in pitch a bit and it’s in tune with itself, you might think it’s okay until you get it tuned. Pianos are made to sound their best at A440, and when they drop in pitch, you get a dull, lifeless sound. So, tuning your piano will enhance the sound. Also, changes of weather effect tuning. So, put it on your calendar for when you go through changes of seasons. When you go from air conditioning to heat and back again later in the season, your piano could shift, and that’s a good time to get out the app and check things out. Listen carefully note to note and listen to see if any of them have beats or waves that I demonstrated to you. I hope this is helpful for you! Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com – your online piano store! 949-244-3729 info@LivingPianos.com
It seems like an obvious thing. If your piano sounds bad, get it tuned by all means. You might not know how bad or how to know what to even listen for. Maybe you’re new at piano, and you’re afraid maybe you’re going too long, or perhaps you’r