Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

The heart and soul of your piano is its soundboard. Like the top of a Stradivarius violin, the soundboard is the wood beneath all the strings and plate of the piano which gives it its unique quality of sound. There are certain things you should know about soundboards:

– Tight cracks usually present no problems.

– Crown, the slight upward arching of the soundboard is essential for good tone.

– The ribs beneath the soundboard must be firmly attached at all points to avoid buzzing.

– Soundboards can be fixed, but only by removing the strings and plate and rebuilding the piano.

Watch the video to learn how to check the soundboard on your piano.

Robert Estrin performs Chopin’s Nocturne in F-Sharp Major

Portato (commonly referred to as Portamento) is somewhere between legato and staccato. Legato means to play notes connected while staccato means to play them detached, sometimes even short in faster music. Portato would fall in-between these two styles of play. Generally, the notes are played long but slightly detached. Portato is not an exact science so knowing how to play is determined by what style of music you’re playing, the tempo, as well as the context of the particular passage.

A good personality is certainly a positive attribute when it comes to making friends or improving business relationships. But can it also make you a better musician?

Music is an artform and as such it requires an artist’s expression to make it truly unique and stand out. Having a good personality to your playing is a vital component of captivating your audience. But do you need an outgoing personality to accomplish this?

The truth is that many accomplished musicians are not what I would call social extroverts. In fact, I know a number of musicians who are very expressive on their instruments but have a very reserved social personality. There are even musicians who don’t like performing in front of people!

Glenn Gould was an extremely popular and brilliant musician who eventually gave up his live performance career because he simply didn’t feel comfortable and preferred to be in a studio making recordings. He is one of many musicians who prefer to withdraw from live audiences and focus on different aspects of their art in a more comfortable environment.

So yes, personality is essential in your music but this doesn’t mean you have to be socially outgoing to be a great musician. As far as getting opportunities and promoting yourself it’s going to be much easier if you are comfortable talking with people but it shouldn’t interfere with your development as a musician.

Today we are going to discuss something that a lot of you have probably never heard of and that is quarter tone music. If you have ever heard quarter tone music before you would instantly recognize it as being different than anything typically heard in Western music. To most of us it may sound like music that is being played out of tune. So what exactly is it and how is it different from the music most of us know?

Let’s begin by talking about Western music. For most of us the music we are familiar with is founded upon the principles in Western Music. Everything from Rock to Pop to Symphonies utilizes the same twelve notes (or tones) that are the foundation of nearly all the music you know. But all music is not based on the principles of Western music and there are different cultures around the world that utilize notes beyond the twelve tones we are familiar with.

In our music we base things upon the smallest interval of a half step. For example, if you look at the keyboard of a piano, the smallest distance between any two keys (black and white) is a half step. On other instruments it is the same; the smallest distance between notes is a half step. Quarter tone music adds notes between these notes.

Today Robert is going to provide some tips on how to Improvise on the piano. This is a very deep and involved topic but we hope to provide a good starting point with this video.

You probably know that the hammers are responsible for striking the strings on the piano and producing a sound. The dampers are the pieces of wood covered with felt that lie above the strings and are responsible for ending notes.

When you play a note on the piano the damper comes up so the hammer can strike the string and make a tone. When you let go, the damper falls back onto the string and mutes the sound. You might notice that when you hold down the damper or sustain pedal (the one on the right), all the dampers are released and will remain raised until you take pressure off the pedal leaving the strings free to vibrate and produce a long lasting tone.

When you press the damper pedal and all the dampers remain raised, it will make the tone echo inside the piano because of sympathetic vibrations. If you want to have some fun, try holding down the damper pedal and singing into your piano – the sound of your voice will echo around the piano for quite some time; it’s a fun trick you can share with family or friends.

The important thing about this is that you can affect the tone of a melody by using the pedal and keeping the dampers raised. When you play with the sustain pedal down you will get a much fuller tone.

What you might not know is that the sustenuto pedal, the middle pedal is a selective sustain pedal when it comes to dampers. When you depress some keys then press down and hold down the sustenuto pedal, the dampers above only those notes will remain raised. If you play other notes while continuing to hold down the sustenuto pedal, the dampers of new notes will respond like normal and fall back onto the strings once you let go of those keys even though the sustenuto pedal will continue allowing the original notes to sound. This is useful in music which would require 3 hands to play otherwise.

Generally, dampers will do what they are intended to do or not. That is to say, when they are down they should end a note and when they are up they should let a note sustain. If you have ever had notes hang up – keep playing after you let go of the keys and pedals, then you are in need of damper regulation to get them working correctly again. Damper regulation may be required if you hear buzzing at the end of notes. Dampers can be regulated but sometimes the felt becomes old, hard, and worn out and must be replaced in order to function properly. This is a very common problem on older pianos however, it can be fixed with the right technician.

One thing you might have noticed is that there are no dampers above the highest notes on the piano. You might wonder if this is a mistake or something intentional. The fact is, most of the notes that don’t have dampers simply don’t need them – they are not able to sustain long enough to necessitate dampers. The first note that has no damper is usually the 2nd to highest E on the piano. Sometimes on a very fine piano, notes in this register can last a very long time; without dampers there is really nothing you can do about this.

I hope this clarifies some aspects of this important part of the piano. Thanks for reading and watching and as always I welcome additional questions and comments.

I get this question all the time – almost every day! There are a number of different descriptions for grand pianos and it can become confusing. The thing to keep in mind is that all the terms associated with grand pianos are general terms – different companies have different sizes for pianos so classifying them in general terms is necessary.

For example, Steinway makes a 5’ 1”, 5’ 7”, 5’ 10.5”, and then 6’ 2”. On the other hand, Baldwin pianos manufactured 5’ 2”, 5’ 8”, and 6’ 3”. These sizes are all different and each company has their own unique sizes and scale designs. To classify them in the market we use general terms that can be applied to any brand.

There are a few pianos below 5’ and these are called Petite Baby Grands.

Any piano around 5’ to 5 1/2′ is considered a Baby Grand.

Larger 5’ range pianos, such as 5’ 7” and 5’ 8” are sometimes called Parlor Grands.

Pianos from around 6’ up to around 6’ 9” are called Grand Pianos.

6’ 10” up to around 7 1/2’ are called Semi Concert Grand Pianos.

The largest pianos are typically 9’ and above and are called Concert Grand Pianos. (Steinway Concert grand is 1” short of 9’)

If you’re familiar with pianos, you probably know they can be very expensive musical instruments. Many potential buyers might experience some sticker shock upon their first trip to a piano store. Grand pianos can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars! With so much range in price, how do you find the piano that is right for you and your family?

Digital Pianos

The most inexpensive option are digital pianos. A digital piano is not the same thing as a keyboard but they can look very similar. You can find a functional keyboard for as low as a hundred dollars at some stores, but if you want an actual digital piano you will have to invest more.

What makes a digital piano? Here is a quick rundown of what to look for.

88 Keys. A standard piano keyboard has 88 keys and you shouldn’t compromise on that when it comes to buying a digital instrument.

Weighted keys: Select keyboards can have the same weight as found on grand pianos. Have you ever played a keyboard with almost no resistance to the keys? It doesn’t feel like playing a piano does it? Weighted keys simulate the press of real piano keys, and may be the next best thing to having a real piano to practice on. More importantly, it will help you develop strength to play any piano.

Stand and Speakers are pretty standard on digital pianos (as opposed to keyboards). A lot of digital pianos are built to look like upright pianos and have integrated stands.

Having 3 Pedals isn’t essential, but certainly offer a nice addition to simulating the experience of playing an acoustic piano.

So how much does a decent digital piano cost? Plan on spending a minimum of between $500-$1,000 for a decent instrument and more for a digital piano with many features or attractive furniture.

Upright Pianos