Welcome to my ongoing series of music theory lessons. Today we will be covering Pentatonic scales. “Penta” means five, and as such these scales all have 5 notes in them. Major and minor scales contain 8 notes and chromatic scales contain
While you might not be familiar with the term glissando, you have no doubt heard it countless times before. It’s when the player slides their hands across the keys – it’s heard all the time in blues and rock. Believe it or not, it’s not as ea
Anyone who is familiar with historical keyboards is aware that at one point the black and white keys were reversed from what we have today. What many people don’t know (including myself until recently) is the reason why they were changed. On earlie
On larger steinway pianos this bell is attached securely to the rim and the plate of the piano to help maintain the “crown” of the soundboard. This is extremely helpful especially with older pianos because over time they tend to lose crown on their soundboards which is essential for good tone. The link above includes an article and video that explains the concept of crown with regards to soundboards in much greater detail. To describe it briefly, the crown of a soundboard refers to the slight upward arching of the soundboard within the rim of the piano. Over time the wood of a piano may warp slightly with changes in weather. If the rim isn’t stable, the rim’s support of the crown may diminish over time. This will affect the treble notes the most – impacting the projection, sustain, and power of these notes.
The Steinway bell is placed in a strategic part on the rim of the piano. It is designed to attach directly to the curved part of the rim of the piano and the plate to maintain the shape of the rim and prevent it from expanding over time. This will in turn help the piano keep its crown longer.
I hope this is helpful and if you have any questions about this topic or any other, please email me Robert@LivingPianos.com for more information.
This is something many of you might not be familiar with, it’s truly a topic for Steinway aficionados or those curious enough to look underneath their pianos. So what is the Steinway bell and what does it do? If you have ever looked below a large S
With President’s Day around the corner, I thought I would share with you the rich history of pianos in the White House! From the very beginning there were pianos in the White House starting with George Washington. Early presidents had fortepian
Can you clean your Piano? You absolutely can! I have various videos such as how to clean piano keys as well as cleaning various piano finishes. Most people want to know how to clean the inside of their pianos. Well, how do you get in there? The strin
I get this question all the time; can you replace the soundboard on your piano? The simple answer is yes. However, you have to consider a number of factors when answering this question. Replacing the soundboard requires removing the strings, the plat
I get this question all the time and I figured it was finally time to make a video about it. The short answer is no, you can’t soundproof a room. Is it theoretically possible? Yes, if cost and space is no object, then you can soundproof a room.
Welcome to our new series for developing your stage presence in 5 easy steps. Even if you are shy or uncomfortable in front of large audiences you can improve your stage presence with a little bit of practice and a few easy tips. This series was insp