All posts by Robert Estrin

Piano Questions: Sight Reading Tips – Whats is Regulation and Voicing?

Mr. Estrin, I’ve really enjoyed your video about sight reading.

I’m willing to do whatever it takes to improve (I honestly relate to your story you gave in the video, my sight reading is basically non-existent compared with my level of playing, and it’s starting to hurt me now).

I practice close to 3 hours a day, and devote 1 hour to sight reading very basic pieces – will this help? Is there a more effective way?

– Niraj

Yes, I overcame my inability to sightread on a decent level. It came to me in an “Aha” moment. I describe in a video I produced on sightreading how when my father was performing the Tchaikovsky B-flat minor Concerto at Carnegie Hall, he asked me to accompany him on the 2nd piano for practice. This is when I could barely sightread at all! I kept my eyes on the music and counted and kept my hands moving to hit occasional right notes – but throughout the entire concerto, I never got lost! Since that day I have gotten more and more of the notes and can read anything.

I strongly recommend that you play with other musicians – because when you are playing with others, you absolutely must keep going. It’s almost impossible to discipline yourself to keep going when wrong notes are hit. You would be surprised at how appreciative instrumentals and singers are to have someone accompany them even if the accuracy is poor. What is vital is having a sensitivity to their timing and expression. Knowing what key you are in so that you have some basic framework of the piece will help you achieve decent results. As you read more your accuracy will improve.

Sometimes sightreading involves reducing the score to its skeletal framework and fleshing out the harmonic structure rather than actually reading every single detail. You have to make intelligent assumptions as to what the score is saying when it’s not possible to see absolutely everything on the fly.

As for practicing sightreading alone, choose the music you can play accurately at a slow tempo after playing through no more than 2 or 3 times. If you continually miss notes in your reading playing over again and again the mistakes will become ingrained which defeats the purpose. In choosing reading music on your level, your level will grow. Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31ag-P4fBvg

All the best-

Hi Robert,

How often do your recommend regulating and voicing a Yamaha studio upright? It was built in 1986, 48 inches tall.

Thanks,

– Carol

The frequency of regulation is determined not by the age of the piano so much as by how much it is played. Also, the regularity of maintenance enters into the equation. If your tuner does fine adjustments during regular tuning schedule, then problems can’t build up. If you provide me with information about how much the instrument is played, I can give you some guidelines. I would say that with average playing, a piano would probably benefit from at least some regulation within 10 years. Often times even brand new pianos aren’t regulated up to a high standard. So, if you have never had any regulation performed on the instrument, it could very well benefit from some. Ask your tuner next time you get the piano serviced. If you notice any issues with the response of the piano, of course, that would indicate some adjustments are necessary.

All the best-

What Affects the Sound of a Piano in a Room?

This is a very good question. Many people might not realize that there are many different things that can affect the sound of a piano in a room. Some good, some bad; but they are all things you should be aware of to determine the right size and placement of a piano in your home.

The size of the piano you choose for your home is very important. It is determined not only by the size of the room but the acoustics. Have you ever sung in the shower and noticed how much better your voice sounds? Because of all the porcelain and glass, the acoustics allow your voice to be echoed off the walls and it has a pleasing effect. The same is true when it comes to any live room.

A room with wood floors or slate; lots of windows, and high ceilings may provide an ideal environment for a piano. The sound travels all around the room and reverberates very nicely. If you have a room that is dead acoustically, the piano won’t sound nearly as pleasing. One of the biggest factors in a room is the floor; carpeting will dampen the sound of a piano. Why is this? Half of the sound of a piano comes from underneath the soundboard, so when the sound travels into the carpet or rug it will deaden the sound substantially.

Now there are occasions when you would actually want to deaden the sound of a piano. For example, if you have a room that is too live or has a bigger piano than it should, the sound of the piano can actually become overbearing. To solve this you can put a rug underneath the piano and it will dampen the sound a bit.

Other objects in a room that affect the sound of your piano are things like curtains and couches. Soft and cushy furniture will absorb sound and will actually affect the sound of your piano in the room. In fact, just having people in the room will affect the sound of a piano. When many people are in a room they will actually absorb some of the sounds, making the piano just that much quieter. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a hall before a concert and tested out the piano only to find it sounded completely different once the seats were filled for the actual performance.

The bottom line is that you want a room that will enhance the sound of the piano. You don’t want the sound to be too loud or too quiet. Obviously, this can be a challenge if you already have a piano in a certain room and it will be difficult to change anything but little modifications can help to improve the sound of your room. Some people will even put clear plexiglass under the piano if it is sitting on carpeting to help reflect the sound projecting under the piano!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Why are Piano Pin Blocks Made of Wood?

I love watching and learning from your YouTube channel Living Pianos. I don’t know if you know the answer to this question, but why are all pin blocks made of wood? It would seem that by now someone would have found a better material that wouldn’t have all the disadvantages of wood.

Thanks,
Jay

You ask an intelligent question about pinblocks. In fact, I have a video which explores alternatives to wooden pinblocks pioneered over 100 years ago by Mason & Hamlin.

The good thing about wooden pinblocks is that they can be replaced if they wear out. They also provide excellent tuning stability for the enormous combined weight that the strings exert on the pins. With new technologies, perhaps new materials will surface for pinblocks, but wooden pinblocks have served us well up until this point.

Piano Questons – Production Equipment – The Camera and Audio Recorder I Use

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your emails and videos; they have really valuable information for piano owners.

I would like to know what kind of video and audio recorder you use for your videos.

Thank you,

– Marcos

I use 2 recorders for the videos:

– Sony PCM-D50 for the piano

– Tascam Field recorder with XLR inputs: I plug in a DPA phantom powered, miniature lapel mic for my voice

The video is shot on one (and sometimes a second camera):

– Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 with a Voigtlander Nokton 25mm F0.95 lens

– Canon EOS T2i with Ultrasonic 0.48m/1.6ft 28-105mm lens

It is essential that the mics are placed precisely for a good recording. Lighting is incredibly important for the quality of the video as well.

Piano Questions: Can Chord Clusters De-Tune a Piano? Refinishing an Upright Piano

Can playing successive, heavy chord clusters detune a piano?

I’ve heard that it can, but find it hard to believe that chord clusters could cause more problems than something like a Rachmaninoff or Liszt Etude.

Thank you,
Julie

It may seem amazing that playing chord clusters could de-tune a piano! However, it isn’t the particular sonorities that cause the detuning, it is the sheer force of sound that can flex the soundboard, thereby altering string tension slightly. In fact, one technique that concert level tuners will sometimes employ is after finishing the tuning of a piano, closing it, putting down the sustain pedal and playing as many keys as possible with the arms on the keyboard to generate huge sound. This will help to hasten the de-tuning of strings that may not be solidly set. The tuner can then re-tune the offending notes and have a piano that may endure the strength of a concert pianist’s performance without having the piano go out of tune quite as much since the most susceptible notes have already been corrected.

Hello Mr. Estrin,

Love your youtube channel! Thanks for the tour of those fabulous pieces of history. I have a few favorites.

Quick question. I have a near 100-year-old Nordheimer upright piano and I just adore the sound from it but the piano frankly looks like it was beaten with an ugly stick. I have some woodworking skills and was considering stripping off the old cracked glaze and spraying on a colored high gloss latex paint for some color cause it couldn’t look much worse than it does now. I know where the soundboard is so if spray all the other non-moving cabinet will this ruin my piano’s sound? I will not go anywhere near the soundboard.

Thanks for any advice you may be able to offer.

Sincerely,

Brandt

So glad you appreciate my videos! As for the piano, you shouldn’t underestimate the massive amounts of work it takes refinishing a piano. If a had a nickel for every half refinished upright piano I have seen, I could probably buy a nice Steinway! The piano has to be disassembled to a large extent. It shouldn’t hurt the instrument if it is done correctly.

Good luck!

The Mystery of the Piano Fallboard… Will it ever be solved?

To answer this question honestly, the fallboard doesn’t really do anything of major importance on a piano. Its main function is to cover the keys of the piano and prevent them from accumulating dust. But is there more to the fallboard than this simple explanation?

A very common question I get asked from time to time is whether or not there are fallboard injuries and if people should invest their money into a slow close fallboard. On some new pianos, you will find a slow close feature on the fallboard – this is simply a mechanism that brings down the fallboard gradually as opposed to simply dropping.

But is it really necessary? Not really; for two reasons. One is that injury due to a fallboard is rare – it does happen sometimes – but it’s generally not the fault of the player. I’ve never hit a fallboard down simply playing the piano. However, if someone leans on it while you’re trying to play, it can fall and potentially cause injury. Two, the fallboard falling down over the keys will almost never damage the piano. There just isn’t enough force to be a problem.

But is the fallboard’s purpose of covering the keys really that important? Surprisingly no; I would actually recommend against it in certain situations. If you have ivory keys you will want to leave the fallboard up. Why? If you leave it down all the time the ivory will become yellow over time. If you leave the fallboard up the keys will continue to be bleached by the sunlight and any light in the room. I virtually never close the fallboard on my Baldwin concert grand.

Keeping the fallboard closed will prevent dust from getting on the keys, but then you will have to dust the fallboard!

It really is interesting when you think about it. A fallboard does not provide anything essential to the piano yet almost all pianos have them. Why is it there? One possible use is to discourage kids from banging on the piano.

One last question I was asked once but actually could not answer is why the fallboard is called a fallboard. And I really don’t know – but my guess would be that it is a board that falls over the keys. If you have any insight into this you can share it here on LivingPianos.com!

Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin. Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729