Growing up in New York on Long Island, it was amazing; every summer trying to mitigate the humidity with air conditioning was a losing battle. By the middle of July, my father’s pianos would just get dead. Not only that, but the actions became
The PianoBuyer.com website is the successor to the classic, “The Piano Book” by Larry Fine which came out originally in the 1980’s. The Piano Book covered topics such as buying a new or a used piano. It also discussed the lower quality of some Asian built pianos as well as the scarcity of European pianos at the time. It mentioned questionable sales tactics and the emergence of digital pianos and other technologies.
According to PianoBuyer, new acoustic piano sales are down by 90% and there are very few bad pianos today. The internet and social media have educated consumers about pianos in ways which were unavailable years ago. Digital pianos have also replaced many low-end acoustics and more high-end pianos from are available from Europe. An emphasis has been put on the sale of institutional pianos. There are a lot of used pianos on the market and even free pianos! There are also a lot of new technologies from digitals, hybrids, players and software-based pianos new to the market which the new book covers.
You might be wondering what else is included in the new book! The book still covers piano brands as well as insightful articles for all levels of players. It covers how to maintain higher end instruments: both home and institutional. There is also useful information on restoring and rebuilding used pianos. One of the most useful resources of the book is in covering the topic of how to dispose of, donate or recycle old pianos. You will also find information regarding the latest technologies in digital pianos, hybrids, software and players as I mentioned.
This book is a great resource for first time piano buyers, teachers, professionals, technicians, and anyone who is interested in pianos. You can order the book now and receive a 20% discount by clicking the link below:
The PianoBuyer.com website is the successor to the classic, “The Piano Book” by Larry Fine which came out originally in the 1980’s. The Piano Book covered topics such as buying a new or a used piano. It also discussed the lower qual
This is a really interesting question and there is a lot to it. It’s fascinating how various cultures prefer different types of sounds. For example, have you ever noticed that Asian pianos tend to have a brighter sound than American pianos? You mig
This sounds like a total contradiction. So, I’m going to show you something really fascinating today! You will hear an example of the famous Mozart Sonata in C major K545. Most of you probably know this sonata. I’m going to be demonstrating with
Some people look at fingerprints on a piano with a high gloss finish and think they will never be able to keep it clean. Interestingly, in many ways a high gloss finish is easier to care for than a satin finish. How can this be? The difference is sim
I wear shoes that are comfortable and don’t squeak. It’s always important to test your shoes to make sure you don’t get pedal squeak. It can sometimes happen depending upon the sole of the shoes. I’ve worn so many different types of shoes
You may have heard the term “Asian Production Pianos.” What does that mean? Here is some historical context. The piano industry started in Europe centuries ago offering hand-built pianos from many manufacturers. Eventually manufacturing migrated
I came across this video recently from Ryan at TakeLessons.com. In this video, Ryan demonstrates some very useful piano finger exercises for building not only speed, but agility as well. It is important to be aware of your thumbs when playing the piano and what they are doing. This is a very important factor in building your speed. There are many effective ways of increasing your speed and if you’re playing a scale that is more than five notes, you are going to have to utilize your thumbs by crossing over at some point. You need to be aware of what your thumb is doing after you play a note that aligns to it. The secret to a fast easy scale is all in the crossover technique that is implemented by the thumb.
He also talks about how to make the scale sound clean and smooth by means of crossing the thumbs under at the appropriate time so that there aren’t any rests. There are exercises that you can use to prepare your thumbs for the next note so that you can swiftly cross under without it being noticeable. He talks about not only practicing the scales legato but also staccato as it allows for proper position of the hands. This makes executing scales with ease so much more efficient. You want your hands to be more rounded when doing this. When practicing scales staccato, you want to just use your fingertips rather than the weight of your whole finger or hand. Doing this will let you prepare your thumbs early so you can gain muscle memory when it comes to playing fast.
Another technique that is covered is blocking scales, chords and passages. Rather than playing scales as individual notes, instead play them as chords! You can play them at a faster speed once you get the hang of it. It may seem like an unusual approach, but it is effective in regards to building up speed. You may find it to be an easier approach as your fingers will already know where they’re going. This is something you can do in scales as well as passages. These are just some of the ways you can bring your piano playing to an even higher level. This video can be very useful for demonstrating these exciting ideas in piano technique and improving your speed.
I hope to see another video from Ryan about 3rd and 4th finger crossings since when going in the opposite direction, these fingers come into play. Meanwhile, try out these techniques for yourself and see how they improve your speed at the piano.
I came across this video recently from Ryan at TakeLessons.com. In this video, Ryan demonstrates some very useful piano finger exercises for building not only speed, but agility as well. It is important to be aware of your thumbs when playing the pia
We get this question all the time. So many times people call up and have old pianos they think are valuable. The first question isn’t: What’s the brand or what’s the size? It comes down to one thing: condition. Condition is everything with pian