Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

You may or may not have heard of the term pitch raise before but it is something that is very important when it comes to the condition of a piano. It’s nothing to be scared of but it is something you should be aware of, especially if you are looking into buying a used piano or haven’t tuned your piano in a long time. Maybe you have a piano that you haven’t tuned in years or maybe you just bought a used piano and assume that you’ll just get it tuned up and it will be ready to go. Then when your tuner arrives he tells you that you’re going to need a pitch raise; what does that mean?

Hundreds of years ago there were no established pitches. For example, an A on one piano would not sound the same as an A on another piano – pitches would vary quite a bit. Over time pitches stabilized and a standard pitch was established. Today the standard reference of pitch is A 440. That is the note that a symphony orchestra tunes to. But what does 440 mean? The number stands for vibrations per second of the strings and it’s the measurement of how many times the string is moving back and forth each second. If you double the vibrations of the string to 880 cycles per second, you also have an A, just one octave higher! It is the same principal for all musical tones.

So why is it a concern if your piano is not up to pitch? There are actually several reasons this:

One of the most common examples is if your piano is under pitch and you are playing with other musicians you will be playing in two different keys and it won’t work. Or at the very least you will be drastically out of tune with one another.

Another fundamental reason to have your piano tuned to concert pitch is that a piano is designed and manufactured to sound best tuned to a certain pitch. So if your piano has dropped in pitch, it will produce a very dull, lifeless sound.

So is it really that complicated to get a pitch raise? Actually, it is! There are a number of reasons why it’s a complicated and expensive procedure.There are about twenty tons of string tension collectively throughout the piano. Getting a pitch raise means that you will be adding potentially thousands of pounds more pressure onto the plate and the delicate wood parts of the piano; particularly the bridges and soundboard which could possibly cause problems. Worse than that, unless a tuner really knows what they are doing, they could end up breaking strings. So if you’re getting a pitch raise you definitely want someone who is experienced in this. Piano technicians must lubricate the points of friction on the strings if there is any corrosion.When you consider that there are over 220 strings on a piano and multiple points of friction, this is a job in itself! If the piano hasn’t been tuned in years the strings could have become tarnished or rusted melding into the pins and other parts of the piano. If you just tune it up you could end up snapping strings if you don’t take precautions.

Even in a best case scenario, if you tune a piano that needs a pitch raise without any major problems, you can’t expect the piano to hold its tuning. In fact, your tuner will have to do a rough tuning first then then do a fine, second tuning. But even the refined tuning won’t hold very long and you will most likely need to get the piano tuned again multiple times over the course of the next year or two just to get it to stabilize and hold its tuning. So how can you know if a piano needs a pitch raise? Luckily it is something that is fairly easy to tell if you have the proper tools. You just need a source of pitch: a tuning fork, a tuner that produces tones, or any instrument that you know is in tune. You can even use a tuning application on your phone! A lot of times the piano will not produce completely different notes – it will most likely be between two notes which still entails getting a pitch raise.

So make sure you keep your piano tuned up to pitch. You will enhance the tone and prolong the life of your piano.

This is a very common question and something that is extremely important when it comes to music lessons. Whether it’s for budgeting or attention issues, the idea of a shorter lesson can be intriguing to many parents.

If you find yourself thinking, “I’m not sure my child can even pay attention for thirty minutes”, then it’s probably best you don’t have them take music lessons until they are older. If they can’t be attentive with someone guiding their work for thirty minutes, then how can you expect them to practice on their own? It’s probably best to hold off on lessons for the near future and come back to it when they are ready. There isn’t some magic age at which children are ready for music lessons but if they are old enough to go to school and do homework on their own, they could be ready for music lessons with a private teacher.

There are always some exceptions to the rule. If you have a young child starting lessons then maybe thirty minutes is the best option – or better yet having two thirty minute lessons each week. It’s also important to have personal involvement with them outside the lesson and help them through their practice sessions. Once they are of school age and can handle homework, you probably won’t need to sit in with them on a regular basis. It’s also important to be encouraging to them; don’t fret over simple mistakes as learning and practicing music should be an enriching experience and you want to avoid harsh discipline.

Another concern for some parents is that longer than thirty minutes could be too intense for some children. The truth is, it’s exactly the opposite! Let’s say you have a student who has issues with something like rhythm or hand position and it’s going to take some time to resolve. As a teacher, having a shorter timeframe to fix something like this will produce a much more hectic and frantic environment in which you are racing against the clock.

When it comes to thirty-minute lessons, there is not much time to achieve anything other than correcting wrong notes and assigning new material. It’s not until you get into 45-60 minute lessons where you can actually begin to analyze and explore the finer points of technique and study music theory. The longer lesson also allows for the teacher and student to build a better rapport with one-another which enhances the learning environment. After all, the most important part of a music lesson is the time you are not with the student – the independent practice time at home.

Your job as a teacher is to show the student what to do on a daily basis that will improve their playing – how to practice. You can’t be there every day so the little time you have must be spent teaching them how to work on their own. In this sense, the most important part of a student’s week is the time they spend away from their teacher. If a student can learn to work on their own and improve through self-correction and productive practice techniques, this is the mark of a very effective teacher.

So why are thirty-minute lessons so popular? It’s simple economics. Most music teachers will advertise cheap lessons as a way to get people interested. After all, a $25 lesson sounds a lot better on your wallet than a $50 lesson each week. The truth is, thirty-minute lessons are most often a compromise.

Many top teachers will offer lessons longer than thirty minutes. Some of them might even insist on longer lessons. Remember that the quality of the teacher is paramount in providing a better learning experience. You might pay a little more but the results could be well worth the extra time and money.

Chickering & Sons pianos are one of the oldest, American piano companies going back to 1823. In 1850, Henry Steinway attended a concert featuring performance on a Chickering grand piano. He was entranced by the experience and it provided inspiration to start Steinway & Sons pianos.

In the mid-1800’s Chickering was the largest piano manufacturer in the United States. There have been Chickering pianos in the White House. Abraham Lincoln owned a Chickering piano.

Technically, Chickering was responsible for developing the one-piece, cast iron plate which became a standard for all pianos up until this day. Unlike the vast majority of American piano companies, Chickering survived the advent of radio and the phonograph, the Great Depression, and WWII. However, the influx of cheap Asian pianos finally dealt a death blow to the esteemed, American company in the early 1980’s.

Let’s say a piano is brand new in a store and needs to be prepped. A technician might spend an entire day doing full regulation, voicing and tuning as well as other refinements. After a full day of work, guess what? It’s halfway there. It’s halfway to being the perfect piano, and then the tuner comes back another day. Maybe there’s a customer who plays on a high level who’s not entirely satisfied with the performance. The tuner might spend even another day prepping and fine-tuning. By this time, we have gotten halfway yet again.

This is a process that could be repeated over and over. The piano gets into the person’s home, and they get the best technician they can find because they want this piano to be as exquisite as possible. They bring their technician on a regular basis, and each time they come in, they get just a little bit closer to perfection. Let’s contrast this with someone else who buys a piano who doesn’t play very much, and they don’t tune it for five years. Well, guess what? There is going to be more backward steps then forward steps. The piano can degrade over time!

There is a saying among piano tuners who say you can’t tune an out of tune piano. As crazy as this sounds, there is some truth to this. Think about it. If a piano drops in pitch when a tuner comes to tune the piano, as they tune one section of the piano, the previously tuned section is knocked out of tune because of the additional force on the bridge. That makes the soundboard flex which throws out the part that they just tuned. If the piano has not been tuned in a very long time, it takes multiple tunings to get the piano in the zone. Even that tuning will not hold for very long, and then the tuner has to go back and tune again!

Welcome to the first of a four-part series on the eras of classical music. Today we will be discussing the Baroque era.

The Baroque era pretty much extends from around 1600 to the mid-1700s. What distinguishes this era of music from others?

Baroque music, much like the art and architecture of the time, is very ornate. There are a lot of different textures and the music is very linear. The music often has several lines of music that intertwine. One of the paramount musical forms is the fugue – which has a subject and counter-subject that develop in an intricate fashion.

It’s very important in Baroque music to not favor the top line of music as is typical in other periods of music. Baroque music is much more like a tapestry of sound – it should all blend together well. I perform an example of this in the video above with the fifth French Suite of Bach. Notice how even though there is a melody, I allow the other parts to have equal say.

The other thing that is a vital component in Baroque music is keeping a steady beat. There is little give and take as in other period styles of music; you should be very clear and be able to hear the lines and allow the counterpoint to come through. You should also employ a minimal amount of pedal when it comes to the piano. When you are playing with other instruments, articulation is vital to getting a clear sound and style.

How to Buy a Piano:

– Check strings for rust particularly at the pins and hitch pins.

– Play the keys going down to the low notes. If you notice a change of tone of the copper wound strings compared to the steel strings, this can indicate problems.

– Check the soundboard by climbing under the piano or the back of an upright. If there are cracks you can see through this can be a problem. Hairline cracks are a normal part of the aging process in most parts of the country. Make sure the ribs are not detached from the soundboard at all. You can try to wedge a business card between the ribs and the soundboard to see if they are firmly attached.

– Wiggle the keys to see if the felt bushings cushion the keys. If you hear clicking, this indicates a worn action.

– Look at the hammers particularly in the treble section to see if there is much felt left. If the hammers are heavily grooved and flattened, they can be reshaped through filing provided there is enough felt to work with.

– If the piano is wildly out of tune, find notes that are particularly bad. Pluck the 3 strings of the note while holding the key down to hear which one is lowest. If you find other notes with strings that have dropped in pitch, see if they form a straight line at the pins. This could indicate cracks in the pin block which requires rebuilding of the piano.