Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

We are currently looking for a piano for our church service use. We don’t have very high budget so we are currently looking at used pianos. We have come across the following model and it would be great if Bob could provide expert advice on which one is the better one:

– Yamaha MC10A
– Weinbach serial number 149862

Thank you Bob

Both Yamaha and Weinbach make good quality instruments. From the serial number, you can determine that the Weinbach was manufactured in the Czech Republic before it was acquired by Petrof. Since you don’t have the model number of the Weinbach, I will assume these are both similar style upright pianos. In that case, the better piano is the one that is in better condition. There are many factors that come into play.

You can determine how much use the pianos have had by looking at the grooves on the hammers. Deeper grooves mean the piano has had more use. The hammers also may have been filed. Look at how much felt is left particularly on the highest notes of the piano. Also, you can wiggle the keys back and forth. If there is a lot of play or worse yet clicking sounds, this indicates that the piano has been played substantially.

Another important factor is the environment the piano has been subjected to. An extremely dry or humid environment can damage a piano. Definitely look on the back of the piano at the soundboard for detached ribs, warping, or open cracks. (Tight, hairline cracks are not a concern.) Look for rust or corrosion on the strings. Yellowing of felt parts (hammers and dampers) also indicates parts that are more weather-worn.

It is a mistake buying a piano you think will be fundamentally different after it has been serviced. Unless you have vast experience with pianos, you would be taking a tremendous risk. Ultimately, how the piano sounds and feels is paramount since this is probably what is most important to you.

When a piano is in tune such as the glorious instrument in the accompanying video, you hear the beautiful tone, and you may wonder when to get your piano tuned. How do you know when it’s time to get your piano tuned. It’s not as easy a thing as you might think. So I’m going to liken it to a couple of different things. If any of you play guitar, you know that every time you take it out, you tune it up. In a perfect world, you would do the same thing with your piano! Since there are over 200 strings to tune, it’s not practical.

So there are certain guidelines much like with your car when you get the oil changed, you have an odometer reading, but there’s also a date. So even if you don’t drive your car, it’s still recommended you change the oil periodically. The same thing is true for your piano. Your piano might sound fine to you, but maybe it’s been a year or two since it’s been tuned. It’s very important to get it tuned because the whole piano could shift up or down and might sound good within itself but the instrument will not be able to hold the tuning without several more tunings to get the pitch stable again.

The Piano Technicians’ Guild recommends a piano ideally should be tuned about four times a year, a minimum of twice. Why is that? It’s very simple: the change of seasons affects the tuning of your piano. Even if you don’t play your piano, it’s got to be tuned a minimum of a couple of times a year and in most climates four times a year is close to ideal. If you play the piano a great deal, every time you play, it goes out a little bit – especially if you’re a strong player and practice a great deal. You might even consider monthly tunings of your piano. You might think this gets very expensive. But in the long run, like changing the oil in your car, the more you tune your piano, the better you preserve the instrument and the more stable the tuning becomes.

Christina asks, how do you prepare for a concert? Do you play through your music on the day of the concert?

This question raises many issues of concern to all performers. Performing music requires many different types of preparation including:

– Physical

– Mental

– Emotional

The most important aspect of preparing to perform a concert is the work that is done weeks and months before the performance. This is essential to accomplish all 3 aspects listed above. Obviously, a thorough knowledge of the score as well as technical fluency is required for a good performance. But equally important is the psychological preparation. If the first time you think about being out there in front of an audience is the moment of the performance, you will be ill-prepared for the surge of adrenalin that surely would result. Take time days in advance of the performance to imagine the moment in great detail while being in a relaxed state so you can trigger that feeling when the actual performance comes.

Trying out your music the day of the program is a good idea particularly if the piano is one that you aren’t intimately familiar with. A good addition is to play some of your pieces slowly with the music with no pedal to reinforce the memory. Some people like to have special routines on the day of a performance like taking a nap or a walk, avoiding caffeine, even eating bananas or taking beta blockers to help ease nerves. Other people like to go about their routines as normal. You should do what makes you feel good. The bottom line is to enjoy the performance. If you are engaged with the music, the audience will share the emotions of the performance!

When I was growing up, I would listen to some of the great pianists such as Horowitz and Rubinstein. I would also listen to some of the pianists from the early 20th century such as Hoffman, Rachmaninoff, and Joseph Levine. I was always so impressed with the pristine finger work. It almost would sound like a string of jewels because of the evenness of the notes, and I always wondered how to achieve that sound. So today’s show is about how to achieve brilliant finger work.

I’m going to regress a little bit more. When I first started studying the piano with my father Morton Estrin, he showed me how to practice scales with raised fingers and often times my students ask me, “Why do I have to raise my fingers?” Let me show you what I’m talking about. With slow scale practice, it’s important for strength to raise the fingers. You may wonder why you would ever want to play that way because obviously when you play quickly, you don’t have time to raise your fingers. The secret to getting the evenness in your scale work and fast finger passages is the release of notes.

For example, if you were to put your hand on a flat surface and just try to lift one finger, some of them are pretty hard to lift. Lift your fourth finger with your hands on a flat surface, and it’s very hard. It’s actually the release of notes that takes more strength than the pushing down of notes! So to strengthen and then to release is the reason for practicing slowly with raised fingers so you’ll practice the release of each note and that will lead to the pristine beauty you can get in fast finger work.

If you play the piano even casually, you probably know that the sustain pedal on the right makes all the notes you play hold until you release the pedal. The other 2 piano pedals are not as clear cut. In fact, only the sustain pedal operates on upright pianos. The other pedals do various things, but seldom what they are designed to do. Even some grand pianos pedals don’t operate the way they are intended.

The left pedal, sometimes referred to as the soft pedal is actually called the une corde pedal for “one string”. Indeed, early pianos had 2 strings for each note and the une corde pedal shifted the action so that the hammers only struck one string. Modern pianos have 3 strings for each note throughout most of the piano. So the une corde pedal shifts the action so that the hammers strike only 2 of the strings squarely. This is significant because it not only makes the notes quieter, but if offers a change of timbre. Upright pianos usually offer a soft pedal that changes the feel, not the sound. It does this by shifting the hammers closer to the strings making it harder to play loud.

The middle pedal is seldom used and even more seldom understood. Most pianos didn’t have functioning sostenuto pedals as they are called until the end of the 19th century. Many European piano manufacturers didn’t include middle piano pedals until well into the 20th century. Like the sustain pedal, the sostenuto pedal holds notes after you release the keys. The difference is that subsequent notes that are depressed will not hold, only the notes that were depressed when the middle pedal is engaged. This is useful in a few scores of Debussy and other 20th century composers. It’s like having a 3rd hand to hold notes in another register without blurring the harmonies with the sustain pedal. However, the sostenuto pedal is only called upon in 20th century music and very few compositions. It is by no means essential but could be important for someone specializing in 20th century piano music.

Below are 10 of the most common FACTS and FICTION about Steinway and Sons pianos.

Steinway started as a German company.

FALSE: Steinway began in New York by German immigrants. Later they opened a factory in Hamburg, Germany. Today Steinway pianos are manufactured in both New York and Hamburg.

Steinway was owned by CBS in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

TRUE: Steinway was owned by CBS in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Many people agree that the quality of manufacturing was generally lower during this period of time.

Boston is a lower line piano made by Steinway.

FALSE: Boston is a stencil piano. The name was invented by Steinway to sell pianos through the Steinway dealer network with pianos manufactured by Kawai.

In the early part of the 20th century, Steinway and Sons treated action parts in a way that made them seize up years later.

TRUE: Steinways from the early part of the 20th century often suffer from a condition known as verdigris. The treatment which was thought to avoid corrosion on action parts caused action parts to seize up and require extensive restoration.

Steinway used Teflon in their actions so they wouldn’t wear out.

TRUE: During the CBS period of ownership in the 1960’s and 1970’s and even into the early 1980’s, Steinway experimented with utilizing Teflon instead of the usual felt bushings in their actions. Most technicians found it difficult to deal with clicking noises that resulted over time.

A Steinway 7-foot piano is actually 6 feet 10 1/2 inches.

TRUE: Steinway 7 foot pianos are an inch and a half short of 7 feet. The 9 foot concert grand is also an inch under 9 feet.

All currently produced Steinways have the Accelerated action.

FALSE: New York made Steinways have Accelerated actions. However, Hamburg produced Steinway pianos utilize actions made by Renner and do not employ the Accelerated actions.

A new Steinway direct from the factory is more refined than a Yamaha from the factory.

FALSE: New out of the box, a Yamaha is far more refined than a Steinway. Steinway pianos come to dealers in an unrefined state. It is up to the dealer to have extensive regulation, voicing, tuning and other adjustments to get the pianos playing on a high level.

Used Steinways represent an excellent value in a high quality used piano.

FALSE: While a good used Steinway piano may be a better investment than a new Steinway, there is a premium you must pay on a Steinway piano compared to comparable pianos from other top tier manufacturers because of the recognition of the name.

Steinway is the number 1 selling American made piano.

TRUE: There were only 1600 pianos produced in the United States last year and Steinway produced over 1000 of them.

Videos of Robert Estrin perform at the Irvine Classical music Series: