Living Pianos

Developing a solid octave technique on the piano can be a great challenge. Many pianists want to learn how to play octaves legato (smoothly connected) instead of having them sound choppy and disconnected. There are instances where octaves should be played staccato, but there are times when octaves are meant to blend as seamlessly as possible. Today we are going to discuss some methods and techniques to help you achieve smooth legato octaves in your playing.

You might think that the pedal would be a great option. However, you shouldn’t depend upon the pedal alone to achieve connected octaves. As I’ve stated in the past, learning to play without the pedal, is a very valuable skill for your practice. The pedal should be used to enhance the music but not as a crutch to connect what you can connect with your hands.

There is a very simple technique for connecting octaves. The secret is in focusing on the notes you can connect and not trying to connect what you can’t. Instead of playing all your octaves with the first and fifth finger, try alternating the fourth and fifth finger for the top notes in the right hand and the bottom notes in the left hand. But how do you tell which fingers to alternate? It’s actually very simple; use your fifth finger on all the white keys and use your fourth finger for all the black keys.

In reality, you’re not actually connecting both notes on the octaves, but it creates a great illusion – even without the pedal!

If your hands are big enough you can utilize the third, fourth and fifth fingers with octaves.

The great thing about learning to play octaves this way is that not only does it apply to playing octaves legato, it’s a great way to play them staccato as well since you spread the work among more fingers.

I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions about this topic or any other, please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.

How to Play Legato Octaves – Piano Lessons

A number of years ago we had a video that discussed Breath In Music and if you want to get a general overview of the subject you may enjoy watching that video. Recently, someone requested that I produce a video that gives a demonstration of this concept. There are benefits from the visual aspect. So, I suggest you watch the accompanying video.

When it comes to singing, the breath in music is obvious; after all, you have to breathe in order to sing! Wind instruments are a natural extension of singing and utilize the breath in much the same way. The bow of the violin or cello also mimics the continuity of breath in music. When it comes to the piano, while breathing isn’t a part of the technique for tone production, it is intrinsic to the music as much as it is with singing.

In the video you can see how adding a sense of breath can enhance the music and bring it life. Without the sense of the breath, you lose the human element that makes listening to and playing the piano enriching, not just a mechanical endeavor.

All instruments are basically a representation of the human voice and adding this to your music is something that is essential in making it lively and exciting. I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions about this topic or any other, please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.

What is Breath in Music? Part 2 – Piano Demonstration

Moving a piano is a very complex process. It’s not as simple as boxing it up and sending it through the mail! A piano must be moved with the utmost care and consideration for the instrument. As a company that sells pianos all over the world, Living Pianos is very well versed in what it takes to get a piano moved across the country and around the world.

The biggest issue with moving a piano is hiring the right people. When it comes to moving a grand piano, you never want to hire a general purpose mover; you need to hire a professional piano mover. You might be able to have a general purpose mover take care of an upright piano, but even then, you are much better off hiring professionals who specialize in moving only pianos. When it comes to moving a grand piano, you need special equipment such as a grand board, straps, pads and the ability to attach the instrument to the side of the truck. You will also need to remove the legs and pedals. It’s much easier and safer to have a professional who knows how to take care of these things deal with it; hiring an amateur or trying to move the piano yourself could damage your piano.

The problem you will run into next is that there are a very limited amount of companies that move pianos across the USA. These companies have trucks crisscrossing the country all the time and you have to time their arrival in your area correctly in order to get the piano moved quickly. If one of their trucks is in NY and you live in CA it could take a long a time before they are back in your area. You can contact several piano movers to see who can move the piano quickest and for a reasonable price. This is why it’s extremely difficult to get a piano moved across the country on short notice – make sure you plan well ahead for a complicated move across multiple states.

In reality, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to move a piano across the country. It’s a tough task and something certainly left to professionals to handle. Plan ahead of time and never wait until the last minute to plan a piano move. If you need information or help with a piano move, you are welcome to call us here at Living Pianos.

I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions about this topic or any other please email us Info@LivingPianos.com for more information.

How Long Does it Take to Move a Piano Across the USA?

Welcome to the 4th part in our ongoing series on the Burgmuller Studies for piano. If you want to catch up on the past lessons here they are: Part 1 (La Candeur), Part 2 (L’Arabesque), and Part 3 (La Pastorale). Today we are going to be covering “Ballade” which is a wonderful piece for intermediate students that provides impressive music to perform.

The biggest challenge with this piece is going past just playing the right notes rhythm and fingering and putting some life into this music! The secret to making this piece come alive is in how you approach the phrasing and expression – particularly the dynamics. It’s not just about which notes are played, but how they are played.

This piece is in an A B A form, meaning there is a section at the beginning that repeats at the end with a middle contrasting section.

It’s important to articulate the staccatos in the right hand while maintaining a smooth legato in the left hand. These are essential principles that we’ve have talked about before: How to Play Staccato on the Piano, How to Play Piano: It’s all in the Wrist and How to Play Piano: Arm’s Equal Power and depth.

You need to learn when to play from the arm, when to utilize the fingers, and when to play from the wrist; these are fundamental skills for developing a first-class technique on the piano. It’s important to keep your fingers close to the keys when playing fast, and utilizing the wrist for short staccato notes.

As always, I recommend that you practice your music slowly and build up notch by notch on the metronome developing security in your playing. This will help keep your rhythm precise. As you progress faster, you will find it necessary to play with a lighter touch in order to accommodate more speed. When playing faster, keep your fingers closer to the keys and utilize the wrist for staccato notes.

The middle section of this piece has a slow lyrical line in the right hand with staccato 8th note chords in the left hand that is played lightly from the wrist.

In the left hand you make sure to keep your fingers close to the keys (less than an inch above) and play from the wrist – otherwise, it will be too heavy and will overtake the delicate right-hand melody.

In the right hand, you will utilize the weight of your arms to create a fluid line. You will need to play with substantial arm weight even though these notes are played piano. Ask any wind player and they will tell you that playing a quiet line takes as much energy, sometimes, even more, to play quietly; the same applies to the piano. Let your arms sink into the bottom of the keys and you will notice the lovely singing legato this produces as you transfer the weight smoothly from note to note.

The most challenging part of this piece is the ending. There is no shortcut to mastering this section. You must practice slowly at first and work your way up with the metronome. This section takes a commitment of time to master.

When you’re practicing with the metronome at slower speeds you will want to raise your fingers to delineate the notes. Play at a comfortably slow metronome speed until you feel secure and can play numerous times without problems. Move the metronome up one notch and start again. Keep doing this until you reach the desired speed. It is a great way to perfect your performance.

If you are having trouble, try practicing hands individually (WATCH: The Right Way to Practice Your Music). This will enable you to hear each hand separately listening for the evenness of the notes. Another great technique is playing the hands 2 octaves apart so you can hear things more clearly.

This is a really great piece for students and the music is rewarding. I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions about this piece or any other please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.

Piano Lesson – The Burgmuller Ballade – Part 4

Middle C is something that every musician is familiar with. Today we are going to go a little more in-depth on this common phrase and explore some things you might not be aware of.

The piano keyboard has a number of C’s on it, so you might assume that middle C is right in the middle of the piano. While it is near the middle of the piano, there is a slight problem:

The note in the absolute middle of the keyboard is not C. The exact middle is right between, E and F above middle C. So why is middle C called middle C?

There are actually 2 C’s near the middle of the piano:

So which one of these is middle C? It is the lower one.

This is middle C:

It is technically closer to the middle of the piano but this is not the only reason it’s called middle C. The reason it has this term is because where this note is located on the grand staff. While the treble clef and the bass clef form the 10 lines in the grand staff, there is a space you can think of as an 11th line that runs between the two. This is where middle C is located:

This makes perfect sense! Middle C has less to do with its location on the piano keyboard and more to do with where it is located on the grand staff. This is a very important note because it helps you in reading both notes in the treble and bass clefs. Naturally, when middle C is written in the bass clef, the ledger line is closer to the bass clef and when it is written on the treble clef the ledger line is closer to the treble clef – but it is the same note!

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What is Middle C? Music Lesssons

Middle C is something that every musician is familiar with. Today we are going to go a little more in-depth on this common phrase and explore some things you might not be aware of. The piano keyboard has a number of C’s on it, so you might assume t

It’s fascinating to think about how many parts there are in the average piano. Think about how many string there are, how many keys there are, and then how many moving parts are involved with each press of a key; it’s daunting to think of just how many parts there are in a piano!

A typical scale design has around 220-240 strings. In the bass section there are 1 or 2 strings per note. Each one of these strings has a tuning pin as well. We haven’t even gotten past the strings and we already have hundreds of parts!

Most notes on a piano have dampers and damper heads (hundreds more parts). Consider the furniture of the piano, the rim, lid, prop stick, legs, the pedals, and more, and there is the soundboard, pinblock, agrafes, bridges and plate.

Believe it or not, we haven’t even scratched the surface for the parts on the piano! The action of the piano is where the majority of the parts are. When you push a key on a piano you are setting in motion around a hundred parts – that’s for each key!

So how many parts are there on a piano? Around 12,000! Hopefully this gives you a better appreciation of just how complex these instruments are and what it takes to build and service a piano. Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How Many Parts are There in a Piano?

You’d think that finding the right size piano for your home would be an easy thing to figure out. You might assume that the room size dictates what size piano you should get. There is actually quite a bit more to it.

Two issues to deal with when buying a piano are who will be playing it and whether it will disturb other people in your household or neighbors. Beginning players will not generate a great deal of sound out of any piano. However, generally speaking, the larger the piano, the more volume it produces. You probably don’t want to buy an instrument that is going to be a nuisance for people in your home or next door; it’s something important to consider. Fortunately, there are silent piano systems you can add to pianos to mute the sound and hear sampled piano sound in headphones – making the size and volume of the piano, less of a concern. Although this will compromise your playing experience.

It’s important to take note of the room you are going to put your piano in. Not only does the size of the room matter, but many elements affect the volume and tone of the instrument. For example, if you have carpet rather than hardwood floors, the piano will be somewhat muted since the carpet absorbs sound. Half of the sound comes out the bottom of grand pianos. Sometimes a room with hard floors can produce too much sound in which case you could consider putting a rug under the piano.

The floor is not the only aspect of the acoustics of a room. Drapes, soft furniture, and other absorbing objects can dampen the sound of the piano. A large piano can sound much quieter in an acoustically dead space.

Naturally, you must consider the physical space needed for a piano. A small baby grand piano is typically 5 feet in length and about 5 feet wide (as all pianos are because of the 88 keys). Concert grand pianos are usually around 9 feet long. The length of a piano is measured from the key slip (the piece of wood in front of the keys on the keyboard) to the very end of the lid. You should also allow for an additional 2 feet for when the bench is pulled out in front of the piano.

Upright pianos can be a good choice for smaller rooms, but they are less flexible in placement since the backs are unfinished. Therefore, they generally go up against a wall whereas grand pianos and baby grands look good from all angles and can even be tucked into a corner.

These are the main factors in determining what size piano is best for you. Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What is the Right Size Piano for Your Home?

Today we are going to discuss a very important topic, the essentials of fingering on the piano. We are going to use a couple of pieces as an example so you will benefit from watching the accompanying video.

Fingering on the piano is one of the most important aspects for developing a good technique. One of the greatest challenges is figuring out the best fingering for individual pieces. Even with scores that include fingering, you will rarely have all of the fingering written down except in very rudimentary music. Fingering is indicated as suggestions for key sections of the music. In fact, different editions of the same pieces have different fingerings! The fingering you play for a certain piece might not be the same as someone else. You must find a good fingering that works for you.

Fingering is the foundation of good piano playing. When you hit a wall in your practice after trying many techniques such as – slow practice, metronome work, hands separately, and other techniques, you should consider re-examining your fingering and see if there is a solution that works for you. Many times you will be able to solve your technical problems by discovering a new fingering.

Years ago I made a video that breaks down all piano playing into two essential components:

Fingering Patterns and Hand Positions

To sum up the idea behind that lesson, you should try to break down your music to chords wherever possible. By doing this you will be able to take in as many notes as you can in a hand position so you don’t have to jump around more than necessary.

The first piece I use in the video is Bach’s Prelude in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I. I picked this piece because it is simply a series a broken chords – which makes it easy to demonstrate this lesson.

When you approach this piece, try playing block chords first instead of playing as written. It looks like this:

By grabbing as many notes as you can, it makes the piece much easier to learn and makes fingering choices obvious.

The trouble begins when you have to change hand positions.

For example, in the second movement of the Pathetique Sonata by Beethoven, when the first theme finishes, it repeats an octave higher. How do you approach this with the chord technique?

You see in the highlighted section that the piece goes up an octave. There is a technique for handling sections like this when you’re breaking down into chords. You figure out a “pivot note” to switch to a new hand position that gets over the new chord. Typically it’s a third or fourth finger crossing or as in this case, a thumb crossing. This instantly puts you in a new hand position!

Notice the position of my hands, as soon as I hit middle C, I am over the next chord.

By using this technique of identifying pivot notes to switch hand positions, it will guide your fingering choices.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Piano Lesson – The Essentials of Fingering

This is an incredibly common question and there are a lot of opinions on the subject. I have to admit, I do have a viewpoint which I am happy to share with you.

I know a lot of teachers and I’ve known some over the years who worry when their students begin to branch out into jazz, rock or other styles. A common concern is that their students will lose the delicate touch needed to perform Classical music. An even bigger concern for many teachers is that jazz being an improvised style will effect the accurate representations of the great Classical repertoire.

Here is a parallel that may shed light on the subject. Imagine you’ve grown up in the United States and learned English your whole life. One day you decide to learn to speak French. Will this effect your abilities of speaking and comprehending English? I don’t believe so. I think it could present an opportunity to expand your horizons. However, it is necessary to be clear what style of music you’re playing.

The style of music you play extends far beyond the differences in jazz or Classical. If you are playing 19th century music of Chopin, you wouldn’t want to impart the Baroque style of Bach in your playing; it’s a completely different type of music and style. Each period of Classical music has its own set of demands and styles unique from one another.

When it comes down to it, as a pianist it’s best to have a multitude of different styles you can perform. Whether it’s jazz, Baroque, Classical, or whatever it might be, the more styles you can have in your musical arsenal the more marketable a musician you can become. Not only that, but different musical genres offer unique rewards.

I often encourage my students to explore different styles of music. If you want to have a career performing music it helps a lot to have many different talents and styles available. One of my students, Bijan Taghavi who just turned 16 has been studying piano with me for many years. He has performed incredibly complex pieces, has won competitions and even performed concertos with symphony orchestras. (Here is a performance he gave last year when he was 15 playing the Grieg Piano Concerto.) Recently he has gotten into learning and performing jazz – here is a performance of him playing Summertime as a Tribute to Oscar Peterson on KX 93.5 in Los Angeles, California. Has it hurt his classical playing? Not at all. The big challenge he faces is having enough time to keep learning both styles of music! On top of that he is also an accomplished guitarist and bass player! Good luck Bijan!

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

Does Playing Jazz Hurt Your Classical Music Skills?

This is an incredibly common question and there are a lot of opinions on the subject. I have to admit, I do have a viewpoint which I am happy to share with you. I know a lot of teachers and I’ve known some over the years who worry when their studen