HOW TO UTILIZE PARTS OF THE BODY: Power Versus Speed

In playing the piano, different parts of the body are utilized according to the requirements of power and speed. The more power required, the more mass of the body is utilized. The more speed, the less mass is needed.

– Finger technique: When the utmost in speed is required, only the fingers will do.

– Arm technique: When massive strength is called for as in big chords, only the arms can provide enough power.

– Wrist technique: While not as powerful as the arms, the wrists are faster than the arms and more powerful than the fingers. For passages that require power and speed, the wrists can accomplish both.

IT’S ALL IN THE WRIST: The Secret to Dazzling Octaves

The wrists provide the right balance of speed and power for octave and fast chord work. Octaves are accomplished by positioning the hand in two perpendicular “C’s” which utilize the power of the arch for strength and support.

HOW TO UTILIZE PARTS OF THE BODY: Power Versus Speed

In playing the piano, different parts of the body are utilized according to the requirements of power and speed. The more power required, the more mass of the body is utilized. The more speed, the less mass is needed.

Finger technique: When the utmost in speed is required, only the fingers will do.

HOW TO DEVELOP FINGER TECHNIQUE: Hand Positions and Finger Patterns

Almost all piano technique can be reduced down in its simplest form to hand positions and finger patterns. As a beginner, most people learn to play with 5 fingers of each hand over 5 keys. In time this is expanded. Ultimately this is the basis for all piano technique.

So What Are the Best Piano Brands?

The country of origin is often the best indicator of the quality of pianos. Since piano production began in Germany and the United States, these represent the very best piano brands.

The United States only has 3 manufacturers left although there used to be hundreds of piano companies building in America. Today we have only:

Steinway

1. Steinway is the best piano in the world:
There are a handful of piano companies which make pianos equal in quality to Steinway. (For example: Bösendorfer, Bechstein, Fazioli, Blüthner and Mason & Hamlin are all top notch pianos with rich histories.) In fact, if you look in the latest supplement to “The Piano Book”, by Larry Fine, New York made Steinway pianos are rated in the 3rd rank of pianos according to manufacturing quality. So why is Steinway recognized as the undisputed leader? In a word: marketing. Just as Microsoft dominates computer software because of aggressive licensing arrangements, John Steinway helped propel Steinway & Sons to its market dominance through exclusive artist contracts and favorable institutional arrangements.

2. Steinway pianos that have Teflon bushings in the action should always be avoided:
There are some pianos from the period that Steinway was owned by CBS in which Teflon was used in place of the felt bushings in the action. Some of these pianos exhibit problems. However, the issues are not nearly as severe as the problems of Steinways from decades earlier suffering from verdigris (a condition of gumming up of action parts as a result of having them dipped in paraffin oil when manufactured). One of the biggest problems with Teflon action parts is that few technicians know how to deal with them properly. Usually they can work fine unless there is a major change in climate.

3. Steinway upright pianos aren’t very good:
Here Steinway is getting a bum rap! While one could argue that Mason & Hamlin upright pianos and some of the extinct American companies from years ago produced superior upright pianos, Steinway uprights are by no means sub-par pianos. The fact that they don’t measure up to their grand pianos is the nature of uprights compared to grands.

4. Boston and Essex pianos are as close as you can get to a Steinway in a lower price range:
This is a beautiful myth created by Steinway to sell more than the 2,500 or so pianos that Steinway produces. These stencil brands are rebadged Kawais made in Japan, and Pearl Rivers made in China. No company ever OEM’s higher quality instruments to competitors! And the buyer must pay a premium since 2 companies have to make money on the sale. You are better off buying a Kawai or Pearl River directly from the manufacturer. Or better yet, search out a high quality, used American piano other than Steinway since the Steinway name has a price premium attached to it.

5. New York Steinways can’t compare to Hamburg produced Steinways:
Just as there is a mystique to the Steinway name, there is romance to the Hamburg Steinway name. Perhaps there is more consistency from era to era in the German manufactured Steinways. However, a great Steinway is a great Steinway and there are phenomenal instruments from both factories.

Top 5 Piano Myths

1. Steinway is the best piano in the world.

There are a handful of piano companies which make pianos equal in quality to Steinway. (For example: Bösendorfer, Bechstein, Fazioli, Blüthner and Mason & Hamlin are all top notch pianos with rich histories.) In fact, if you look in the latest supplement to “The Piano Book”, by Larry Fine, New York made Steinway pianos are rated in the 3rd rank of pianos according to manufacturing quality. So why is Steinway recognized as the undisputed leader? In a word: marketing. Just as Microsoft dominates computer software because of aggressive licensing arrangements, John Steinway helped propel Steinway & Sons to its market dominance through exclusive artist contracts and favorable institutional arrangements.

2. When you move a piano it has to be tuned.

This is a half truth. The fact is, a piano that is moved will show up pretty much as it left most of the time. However, after the piano gets acclimated to its new environment, it will require tuning. The piano may not sound bad, but the pitch of the entire instrument may adjust slightly up or down. It is important to keep a piano stable. It is best to wait at least a couple of weeks or even longer after a move before tuning to make sure the piano has settled.

3. Kids banging on a piano may damage the instrument.

While it can grate on your nerves, the force with which kids hit the keys of a piano even with their fists can’t match the power professional pianists inflict upon a piano in concert. Just be sure that the children don’t take sharp or heavy objects to the keyboard since this can damage the instrument.

4. The fall board of a piano must have a slow close feature to avoid injury.

The slow close fall-board feature of a piano is a great marketing tool. The truth is, unless you have some really wild kids, the incidence of being hurt by a falling fall board is quite rare. Most of the best pianos including Steinway do not offer a slow close fall board.

5. You shouldn’t place a piano on an outside wall.

Even in a temperate climate, the insulation of modern homes will keep the temperature fairly stable even on an outside wall. However, it is important to avoid direct sunlight on your piano. This will not only effect tuning stability, but it will fade the finish in a matter of weeks. Also, you should keep your piano closed particularly at night. If you leave your windows open at night, the moist night air will rust the strings. Also, even with the piano closed, the cooler air can make the sound board contract destabilizing the tuning. Use your judgment in balancing the enjoyment of your piano versus its longevity.

I’m interested to hear your opinions and thoughts on these piano myths. Please leave some comments below. Thanks for reading.

Perhaps you are aware of the crises facing music and arts programs in the public schools. Music programs are being eliminated in elementary schools and severely limited in middle and high schools all around the state. Music and arts education is fundamental to a complete education. At this time I am offering my Living Piano: Journey Through Time: Historic Concert Experience as a fund-raising tool for school music programs.

While there are numerous studies linking higher verbal and math scores to music education (UC Irvine: Raucher, Shaw “Mozart Effect”), music and arts awareness also has intrinsic value. It is a recurring pattern of cutting funding for essential subjects when budgets are challenged. We must work together to raise awareness and money to help offset these cuts. If you are passionate about this, you can help by offering any small tips on how together we can bring Living Piano: Journey Through Time to schools in support of music and arts programs.

This question is not as simple as it seems. At first, you might consider that Bartolomeo Christofori is credited with inventing the piano in 1709. (Although, there are accounts of pianos prior to the 18th century.) However, the instrument that Christofori built was actually a harpsichord (the predecessor of the piano). In fact, he called his instrument, “Arcicembal che fa il piano e il forte” which translated from Italian is, “Harpsichord with soft and loud”. Eventually the name was shortened to the “pianoforte” and then simply the “piano”.

The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that creates tone by plucking strings with duck quills. As a result, the force with which the keys are depressed doesn’t affect the volume. Christofori developed a primitive hammer action which allowed for dynamics. However, there were subsequently countless technical innovations that led to the development of the piano as we know it.
It was during Beethoven’s life that the piano experienced dramatic evolution. While Christofori’s keyboard was made entirely out of wood, little by little, metal bracing was added to strengthen the piano. By the late nineteenth century, nearly the entire inside of the piano became reinforced by a cast iron plate which supports enormous string tension. Steinway & Sons was producing a fully modern piano by the late 1800’s.

So, it is a subjective question as to when the first “Piano” was played. It depends upon how you define the piano. In the strictest sense one could argue that Christofori played the first piano at the turn of the 18th century. Or, perhaps the first piano was played by Henry Steinway! However, Franz Liszt was the first to play the piano as we know it. The first person to play solo piano recitals, Liszt transformed the instrument to a modern standard with the help of countless instrument builders. While the instrument he played was not quite a modern piano, his performances solidified the piano as we know it today.