All posts by Robert Estrin

The History of Chickering Pianos

Chickering & Sons pianos are one of the oldest, American piano companies going back to 1823. In 1850, Henry Steinway attended a concert featuring performance on a Chickering grand piano. He was entranced by the experience and it provided inspiration to start Steinway & Sons pianos.

In the mid-1800’s Chickering was the largest piano manufacturer in the United States. There have been Chickering pianos in the White House. Abraham Lincoln owned a Chickering piano.

Technically, Chickering was responsible for developing the one-piece, cast iron plate which became a standard for all pianos up until this day. Unlike the vast majority of American piano companies, Chickering survived the advent of radio and the phonograph, the Great Depression, and WWII. However, the influx of cheap Asian pianos finally dealt a death blow to the esteemed, American company in the early 1980’s.

The Perfect Piano – Why You Can’t Tune an Out of Tune Piano

Let’s say a piano is brand new in a store and needs to be prepped. A technician might spend an entire day doing full regulation, voicing and tuning as well as other refinements. After a full day of work, guess what? It’s halfway there. It’s halfway to being the perfect piano, and then the tuner comes back another day. Maybe there’s a customer who plays on a high level who’s not entirely satisfied with the performance. The tuner might spend even another day prepping and fine-tuning. By this time, we have gotten halfway yet again.

This is a process that could be repeated over and over. The piano gets into the person’s home, and they get the best technician they can find because they want this piano to be as exquisite as possible. They bring their technician on a regular basis, and each time they come in, they get just a little bit closer to perfection. Let’s contrast this with someone else who buys a piano who doesn’t play very much, and they don’t tune it for five years. Well, guess what? There is going to be more backward steps then forward steps. The piano can degrade over time!

There is a saying among piano tuners who say you can’t tune an out of tune piano. As crazy as this sounds, there is some truth to this. Think about it. If a piano drops in pitch when a tuner comes to tune the piano, as they tune one section of the piano, the previously tuned section is knocked out of tune because of the additional force on the bridge. That makes the soundboard flex which throws out the part that they just tuned. If the piano has not been tuned in a very long time, it takes multiple tunings to get the piano in the zone. Even that tuning will not hold for very long, and then the tuner has to go back and tune again!

Many people, instead of getting closer to perfection are going two steps backward, one step forward when they tune. If you don’t do it enough, you’re degrading the experience you have when you’re playing your piano. The trick is to get ahead of the curve. If you can put the time in on the front end on your piano and put the time necessary to get it to a point of stability, each time you bring your tuner in you can get closer to the theoretical perfect piano. There it is, the perfect piano! I hope your piano is as close to perfection as possible and thanks for joining us! This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com. info@livingpianos.com

What Are The Different Sizes of Upright Pianos?

Last week we covered the different sizes of grand pianos, this week we will be talking about the different sizes of upright pianos. This is definitely one of the most common questions I receive and this article will break it down for you.

The shortest of all the upright pianos are called Spinet Pianos. These pianos are not only distinctive because of their short size but they actually have a completely different type of action. The pianos are so short they can’t fit the regular type of upright actions so it contains what’s called a drop action (also referred to as an indirect blow action). Basically, the piano has a shorter key length than a regular vertical piano.

When you get up to about 38” to 40” tall you have what are called console pianos. These pianos also have a direct blow action but are a little bit taller than a spinet piano.

A little bit taller than the console pianos (above 40”) you have what is called a studio upright piano.

A much rarer type of upright piano for today’s standards is anything above 50” – sometimes even around 56” or more – you have full-size upright pianos. These models are not as popular in our modern era but there are many of older instruments this size or larger.

As with grand pianos, size will matter in how the instrument sounds: the larger the upright piano; the louder the sound. Larger uprights also will have better actions than spinets but they will never replicate the feel of a grand style action.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

Piano Lessons – Schumann – Scenes from Childhood – Part 2

Welcome to another part in my ongoing series featuring tips for Schumann’s iconic “Scenes from Childhood”. In part 1 of the series I talked about how this collection of pieces is a perfect choice of repertoire for intermediate to advanced students. Each piece has a distinct sound and feels to it so it gives students a wide range of music to learn as well as experience great composition.

Today I will be showing some tips for “Traumerei” which is a very classic piece of piano repertoire but also very elusive. This piece can really be overlooked by many students who don’t really understand the music in its full sense. There is a beautiful melody but it can be very difficult to know when to pedal. There is also a certain amount of freedom to how you can approach the piece as well.

Even though the piece requires the pedal, it’s always best to practice without the pedal. You should ideally be able to connect as much as possible together with only your hands before employing any pedaling. This is not an easy task and you will find it’s incredibly difficult to string much together with just your hands but this will help you understand where the pedal is actually needed.

The key to this piece is to bring out the singing melody – almost as if it were a vocal part. Every note should be smooth and distinct. By connecting as many notes as you can with your hands will allow you to get the desired effect – then adding the pedal will enhance the music.

The piece has a real ethereal quality to it. The piece has a very interesting composition and it really takes a mature student to grasp many of the finer aspects of the music. You should really do yourself a favor and watch various performances and listen to various recordings of this piece. It’s incredible to see how different performances can be for such a seemingly simple piece of music.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

The Periods of Classical Music Part 1: Baroque Era

Welcome to the first of a four-part series on the eras of classical music. Today we will be discussing the Baroque era.

The Baroque era pretty much extends from around 1600 to the mid-1700s. What distinguishes this era of music from others?

Baroque music, much like the art and architecture of the time, is very ornate. There are a lot of different textures and the music is very linear. The music often has several lines of music that intertwine. One of the paramount musical forms is the fugue – which has a subject and counter-subject that develop in an intricate fashion.

It’s very important in Baroque music to not favor the top line of music as is typical in other periods of music. Baroque music is much more like a tapestry of sound – it should all blend together well. I perform an example of this in the video above with the fifth French Suite of Bach. Notice how even though there is a melody, I allow the other parts to have equal say.

The other thing that is a vital component in Baroque music is keeping a steady beat. There is little give and take as in other period styles of music; you should be very clear and be able to hear the lines and allow the counterpoint to come through. You should also employ a minimal amount of pedal when it comes to the piano. When you are playing with other instruments, articulation is vital to getting a clear sound and style.

Another thing to keep in mind with Baroque music is the ornamentation involved. You might notice a bunch of ornamentation markings sprinkled around Baroque scores and there are countless ways to interpret these. Ornamentation includes things like trills, mordants, turns and other techniques that are used to embellish your music beyond what’s written on the page. Here is a video I produced about how to play trills on the piano. These are improvisational elements in the music that allow you to embellish and enhance the music in your own way. The notes are not written out – there are only indications of ornamentation.

Thanks again for joining me and I look forward to sharing our next era in this series of videos, the romantic period. Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How to Buy a Used Piano – Tips for Buying a Piano

How to Buy a Piano:

– Check strings for rust particularly at the pins and hitch pins.

– Play the keys going down to the low notes. If you notice a change of tone of the copper wound strings compared to the steel strings, this can indicate problems.

– Check the soundboard by climbing under the piano or the back of an upright. If there are cracks you can see through this can be a problem. Hairline cracks are a normal part of the aging process in most parts of the country. Make sure the ribs are not detached from the soundboard at all. You can try to wedge a business card between the ribs and the soundboard to see if they are firmly attached.

– Wiggle the keys to see if the felt bushings cushion the keys. If you hear clicking, this indicates a worn action.

– Look at the hammers particularly in the treble section to see if there is much felt left. If the hammers are heavily grooved and flattened, they can be reshaped through filing provided there is enough felt to work with.

– If the piano is wildly out of tune, find notes that are particularly bad. Pluck the 3 strings of the note while holding the key down to hear which one is lowest. If you find other notes with strings that have dropped in pitch, see if they form a straight line at the pins. This could indicate cracks in the pin block which requires rebuilding of the piano.