Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

Hi Mr. Estrin,

– Youtube Viewer

Thank you for contacting me with this very good question. It is typical for pianists to feel much more comfortable on the instrument you practice on daily since you become so familiar with the response. One of the biggest challenges facing pianists is the fact that unlike other musicians, we can’t take our instrument with us. So, being able to adjust to many different pianos is part of being a pianist. It is important to have a practice instrument that provides a baseline for other pianos you play on. For any reasonably advanced player, a grand piano or baby grand is essential to continue progressing. There are many reasons for this, but primarily, even the best upright pianos have sluggish actions because the hammers travel sideways instead of up and down as in a grand piano. As a result, they don’t have gravity working for them and they are slower in response. You can watch my video on the subject:

Your video on pedal use with Moonlight Sonata was very helpful. I noticed you used the left pedal (Una Corda?) as well. And, I think you kept it down continually as you played. If so, why?
Thank you for the huge amount of time you’ve devoted to helping us all learn to play better,
– Leslie

You are very perceptive! Since the entire first movement of the Moonlight Sonata is quiet, the una corda pedal is appropriate for this movement. However, the una corda pedal has dramatically different degrees of tonal change on various pianos. So on some instruments, it may be necessary to use the una corda only in some sections.

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First, a disclosure is in order: I grew up with a concert pianist, my father Morton Estrin who taught piano in our home. He was my piano teacher as well. He still teaches in the house where I grew up on Long Island! My sister Coren Mino is also a pianist. My life is centered around the piano and always has been, so my viewpoint is definitely focused on the piano!

If you are serious about studying music, the piano can be an essential tool for developing a deep understanding of music theory. If you attend a music conservatory, a minimum level of piano proficiency is required of all music students from composers, conductors, performers, teachers – everyone is required to learn to play the piano. What is so important about the piano?

One reason is that the piano is one of the only instruments in which you can easily play multiple notes at the same time. Most instruments can only play one note at a time. In fact, all brass and woodwind instruments are monophonic. (However, there are alternative techniques to get around this usually involving singing.) The piano is also quite different from other instruments because there is a vast repertoire of music which requires no other musicians to be complete!

The piano lends itself to fostering a deep understanding of the structure of music. On the piano, you can not only see the chord but you can hear it (with absolute certainty) as well. For example, assuming the piano is in tune, if you play a C, it will be a C. If you try and play a C on another instrument – let’s say a French horn – there are a lot of different fingerings that can get very different notes; a piano will play a note with certainty as well as visual feedback. For singers, it can be invaluable having a piano nearby to check pitches of vocal parts.

Another point is that playing a note on a piano is incredibly simple. Even a young child can walk over to a piano and play a note on the keyboard. Just try and do that with an oboe or a flute; you will need a substantial study of embouchure (lip position) breathing, fingering and more just to get a sound!

The piano is a wonderful instrument for everyone even if they don’t have formal training. I personally know people who have never had a lesson in their lives but still enjoy playing the piano. There are even professional musicians who have never taken piano lessons but have been able to play by simply watching people around them and learning by ear. This is particularly true of styles of music involving improvisation such as rock, pop, country, new age, and even jazz.

The piano truly is a universal instrument. Unlike other instruments relegated to being closed up in a case in a closet, the piano is a substantial piece of furniture in people’s homes beckoning to be played!

How do you correct mistakes on the piano? While this sounds like a really complex subject and seems impossible to cover in just one short article and video, the truth is, if you’re looking for an answer for how to correct all your mistakes on the piano; that is impossible! What this article focuses on is how to cement corrections you make so the mistakes can be eradicated permanently!

There are many practice techniques to correct mistakes including going slower, stopping and starting at precise places, playing each hand separately; the list goes on and on. What’s equally important to just correcting problems is how to cement corrections and avoid making the same mistakes again and again.

Here is the secret to making corrections stick. Play your trouble spot over and over again solidifying the corrections until you can play the section perfectly, and not only perfectly, but comfortably too. You might get it three times in a row perfectly but if you’re still a little hesitant or straining to finish, keep working until you can play it with ease; with as little tension as possible.

This is where most people stop. But this next step is vital to retaining the correction and continuing to play the passage correctly. The fact of the matter is that we are all prisoners of our own routines. Whatever we have done repeatedly in the past, we will do again; it’s just in our nature!

So how do you actually make a correction stick? You may play your problem spot over and over again ten times in a row perfectly. Yet when you play the piece later you will surprise yourself and make the original mistake again. So how do you avoid this?

First, you must solidify the correction in the context of the piece going back to the beginning of the section. But even this isn’t enough. You must then go back to the beginning of the entire piece or movement. When you play, be sure you are present so that when the corrected section comes, you are aware of at that moment! Once you play the correction from the beginning of the piece a number of times, the correction will be permanent!

Are the keys on a spinet piano the same size as an upright or grand piano?
– Youtube Viewer

Yes, the keys of a spinet piano are the same as other upright or grand pianos. However, the keys on Asian pianos are slightly longer than keys on American pianos. Also, there are some late 19th century pianos which have keys which are slightly shorter still, particularly pianos which had been player pianos. Black keys have slightly different angles in the front on some older pianos as well. The edges of black keys are sometimes more rounded in older pianos because they get worn from playing. The spaces between white keys also become larger over time from wear as well.

I’ve had quite a few people recently asking me for tips on how to play trills on the piano. It’s no easy task – or is it? This video and article will provide a few tips and techniques you can use to help master trills.

The first thing to do is make sure you play your trills with minimal arm weight. If you’ve watched some of my other technique videos you know that I emphasize arm weight as a very big component in tone production – especially when it comes to slower melodies. The challenge with trills is playing lightly, almost floating your hand above the keys to allow the notes to flow with minimal effort.

The next thing in playing trills is keeping your fingers very close to the keys. Trills are played so fast that there is not a lot of time for movement, so it’s best to keep your fingers very close to the keys – so close you remain in contact with the keys!

Another thing is to make sure your fingers are rounded. It’s nearly impossible to play fast with outstretched fingers; keeping them rounded will help improve speed dramatically allowing more than just one joint to execute the trill. These are some of the most important aspects when it comes to hand position.

However, there is something fundamental about approaching trills. Even if it sounds like just a bunch of notes, you need to figure out exactly how many notes you are playing as if it’s written out. Learn trills like you would learn any other fast passage in your music working with the metronome increasing one notch at a time as you gain confidence.

Another big question is how to know how many notes to play in a trill. One valuable technique that I use frequently is to play just one note of the trill. For example, if you are playing a trill and starting on the upper note, just play that upper note. You will get an idea of how fast you can play the trill by only playing one note of the trill first, either the top note or the bottom note – whichever one you are starting the trill on.

This brings up an important subject in trills, what note does it start on? This could really be a subject for an entirely separate video but I am going to provide some basic information here. As trills are written, you will usually start on the auxiliary (the note above the written note of the trill; the next note in the scale of that key). For example, if you have a piece in C major and you have a D trill, you would start on E.

Can you start a trill on the note written? For example, if it’s written as a D can you start on a D and move up to E? Yes; it depends on the context. There are different schools of thought on this but generally, I would say a trill is basically a long appoggiatura (a non-chord tone resolving into the harmony). So starting on the auxiliary generally makes musical sense. However, in different period styles and in shorter trills, use your judgment as to what sounds best and what you can execute with confidence.

The last thing I want to address with trills is one of the biggest challenges; how to end them! If you don’t know exactly where you are it can be difficult to end them smoothly. The good news is there is a great practice technique for this.

I always like to play the trill right up to the point before it ends, and then stop in a relaxed manner over the keys. Keep doing that until you have a good grasp on where you will be right before the last notes of the trill. Keep playing that passage over and over and eventually add the last notes of the trill. But don’t play them right away; pause in a relaxed manner before you play the last notes. At first, make the pause as long as you need it; eventually, make the duration of the pause smaller and smaller; until the pause is imperceptible to the listener but guides the ending of the trill for you!

Robert,
I enjoy your website and your videos. Thanks so much. My piano is a Baldwin acoustic upright and I have it tuned regularly. But now I have a new piano technician and he is suggesting I add a humidistat to the inside of the piano to regulate humidity at all times. He says this will cause me to not need regular tunings anymore. Does this make sense? I’ve never heard you speak of such a thing.

Sincerely,
Laura

Your tuner gave you some good pointers. In fact, stabilizing the soundboard will help with tuning stability particularly in environments with wide swings of humidity. Although I live in Southern California with a semi-arid climate, I have a Dampp-Chaser System on my concert grand which helps keep the tuning stable. However, all pianos will still require tuning on a regular basis, particularly if they are played a lot. The Dampp-Chaser System just prolongs the life of your tunings.

This might seem like a silly question. How would something as small as the music rack affect the sound of the piano? The truth is, for the audience it doesn’t. However, for the performer, it can have a big effect on what they hear while playing.

I remember during one of my father’s recording sessions he needed to reference the score for one small section – so he placed the music in front of him. This was completely out of the ordinary for him as he memorized all his music for all his performances and recordings. However, he was concerned that it might affect the sound of the recording. When he asked the engineer he said it wouldn’t be a problem; sure enough, it didn’t make a difference.

So you might be wondering what the point of this video is! Well, the music rack might not have an effect on the sound of the piano for the audience but it does have a tremendous effect on the sound for the player.

I would actually go so far as to say that the position of the music rack affects the sound you hear when playing the piano as much or more so than if you have the lid of the piano opened or closed. If you have never played a piano without the music rack down you really should, the sound you will hear is much fuller and is more open; this is yet another great reason to memorize your music!

You might notice on some pianos the music rack has an artistic design with carvings and holes through the wood. If you have a music rack like this, you won’t need to put down the music rack; the sound will travel through just fine.

If you have a piano with a solid music rack, try and play the same piece with the music rack up – then place it down. You will be rewarded with a dramatically improved sound!