Living Pianos

This week we are presenting Part 2 in our series on Atonality. In Part 1, we gave a Brief Overview of Atonality. Today we are going to go into a bit more depth. The question of whether or not atonality goes against nature is a difficult one which may elicit a strong response in many viewers – both negative and positive. I would love all of your input on this subject and really appreciate any comments or suggestions you have.

Western music is built upon the Overtone Series – which is a fact of nature: all vibrating objects contain color tones. So when you hear a fundamental pitch it actually contains other notes above it. Any vibrating object that produces a pitched sound elicits these overtones – so a string instrument will produce the same series of notes as blowing through a French horn or even a garden hose! It is all the same series of tones. Here is the overtone series:

The intervals start out very large and then get smaller. These intervals are based upon simple relationships. For example, an octave (the first overtone) is just a 2 to 1 relationship. All sound is based upon vibrations so if you play A above middle C on a piano it has 440 vibrations per second. (This is why people speak of tuning to A 440.). Technically your eardrum is vibrating back and forth 440 times per second and it produces the sound of the note A. If you play A an octave higher you produce 880 vibrations per second, exactly twice the number of vibrations per second. That’s why it sounds like the same note. A perfect 5th (the second overtone) forms a 3 to 2 relationship.

A minor second is a very dissonant interval with a 16 to 15 relationship. The more distant the mathematical relationship of notes, the more dissonant they sound. Why is this? Because the human brain has trouble making mathematical sense out of more distant relationships of tones. So this is why some intervals of notes are harder to figure out than others. Clashing notes are referred to as sounding dissonant. Here is a chart of the mathematical relationship of musical intervals:

Unison (2 of the same note) 1/1

Octave 2/1

Perfect 5th 3/2

Perfect 4th 4/3

Major 3rd 5/4

Major 6th 5/3

Major 7th 15/8

Minor 7th 9/5

Major 2nd 9/8

Minor 2nd 16/15

Tri-tone 135/128

So, to some extent atonality going against nature and and is hard for the brain to digest. If you consider that the universe is constructed in an orderly manner – that there are inherent relationships between everything living and nonliving that can be organized down to a molecular level – than atonality goes against nature as it does not have tight formal relationships the way tonal music does. On the other hand, if you believe that the universe is chaotic and that many things are related only by random chance encounters which we seek to find order in, then atonality is simply an expression of the universe.

So the question of whether or not atonality goes against nature is related to how you see the universe itself. Is the universe ordered or chaotic? This is something that man has been grappling with since we first appeared on this earth and no definitive answer is possible. Ultimately we must find order out of chaos to survive in this world and that’s why tonality is so refreshing and easy to digest. Atonality is something that is hard to digest and challenging, yet some people find order within the chaos. The challenge of finding structure amidst the randomness that surrounds our everyday lives is what keeps us engaged in both art and life itself.

So the appreciation of atonal music ultimately comes down to your intellectual capacity of making order out of chaos. Some people prefer things to be more coherent while others enjoy the challenge of dealing with more randomness. What type of person you are will determine whether or not you enjoy or abhor atonal music. It also comes down to the level of sophistication of the listener because music is a language that must be learned.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com. I would love to hear from all of you and get your thoughts on this subject.

Does Atonality Go Against Nature? The Overtone Series – Atonality Part 2

You have undoubtedly heard atonality in spooky movies and other places where notes clash and you hear strange dissonances. Unlike most melodic music which you can sing along, atonal music can be much more challenging to comprehend.

Western music is based upon major and minor scales that form tonal music which is relatively easy to comprehend. Atonal music is based upon tone rows, where all twelve chromatic notes available are arranged in a random pattern, and the entire piece is built upon that.

If you explore this, you will discover all sorts of unusual sounds and clashing harmonies. We will go into more depth on atonality in future videos and I certainly welcome your comments and suggestions on this subject.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

What is Atonality? Atonality Part 1

This is an incredibly important topic and one that definitely will make an impact on your life. Ultimately it will always be a personal choice which instrument you choose to play but it’s worth examining the pros and cons of particular instruments.

If you have a child who is just starting out in music you might think the best choices would be either violin or piano. This has become conventional wisdom today and I know many people who insist upon either of these two instruments. This is not unfounded because the musical foundation that is laid at a young age with either of these two instruments is very beneficial and they both require a long development period that benefits from starting earlier in life. If you then decide to switch instruments a bit later in life it will be an easier transition – for example if you switch to guitar or a wind instrument the learning period will be much shorter having a solid foundation on piano or violin.

I am definitely biased towards learning piano at a young age. It’s not only because I am a pianist, but it’s arguably the best instrument for understanding music theory because there is such an easy visual representation of everything and the fact that you can play many notes at the same time so easily.

What’s most important though is what engages you and your child musically. If you force someone to study an instrument they have no interest in playing then you are setting them up for failure. It will be hard to get them to practice and eventually there will be a sense of resentment that builds towards that instrument. If you want to play accordion, play it! If your child is adamant about playing a tuba, get them a tuba! If you have a love and passion for something you should go with it.

It takes a long time to develop on any instrument and there is no right or wrong choice. You are better off picking something you have a real connection to rather than something that seems like a safe choice.

If you and your child have no preference and you just want your child to start learning music, I would definitely recommend the piano. With the keyboard in front of them they will be able to visualize their music better and they will develop a better foundation that will allow them to switch instruments more easily if they choose to.

I started learning piano when I was 7. In the fourth grade I began studying the French horn. After the first lesson I immediately took to the instrument and loved it. By the second lesson I came back knowing the whole book! My teacher couldn’t believe it but my first book was so much simpler than the piano music I was learning that I was able to learn incredibly fast. I was leaps and bounds ahead of my classmates because I could already read music and the complexity of piano far outweighed the music for the French horn.

I would love to hear from everyone and get your opinions on this subject. It’s very important to get your children started on the right musical path at a young age even if they don’t plan on a musical career. Many studies have shown that learning music will help your child become a better student and unleash their creativity. Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com

Choosing the Right Musical Instrument to Study

I have received many questions about whether or not playing other instruments or different styles of music can negatively affect your piano playing. Many people have asked whether playing jazz will hurt your Classical music skills. Many people want to know how playing the guitar impacts your piano playing. So here are some points worth considering.

It is my personal feeling that the more you assimilate musically, the richer musical experience you will have to offer. I majored in both piano and French horn in a music conservatory. I always felt that the breakthroughs I had with one instrument always seemed to translate to epiphanies for the other instrument!

Guitar and piano are very different instruments. They do share the ability (that few instruments have) to play many notes at the same time (playing polyphonically). The piano offers a very easy way to understand the basics of music theory because of the half-step arrangement of the keys. Guitar has frets which are half-steps apart, but the strings are tuned at different intervals from one another which isn’t as intuitive as the piano. So, the piano can be beneficial to understanding music theory which can help your guitar playing. Does this work the other way around though? Can playing the guitar help the development of your piano playing?

One aspect you can draw on immediately is the ability of the guitar to alter the tone of held notes while the piano has limited ability in this regard (with the exception of the pedals). For example, you can bend notes on the guitar and create different tones and expressiveness very easily. On the piano, without the use of the pedals, the notes you play will always produce the same basic tone. The thing you can impart to your piano playing is the ability to think about creating expression and tonal differences like you can with the guitar even with a more limited toolset. With practice and proper techniques, you can begin to create new and interesting sounds in your music much like you can working with the strings on the guitar.

You will also find that certain chord voicings are more easily accomplished on one instrument or another, opening avenues of creativity when exploring the same music on both instruments.

But does playing guitar hurt your piano playing in any way? Absolutely not! Play what you want and expand your horizons however you can. Learning new music and instruments will only enrich your musical experience. I would love to hear your opinions on this subject. Please feel free to email me directly with your comments or questions, Robert@LivingPianos.com

Does Playing Guitar Hurt Your Piano Playing?

Debussy’s “The Little Shepherd” from his Children’s Corner Suite is one of my favorite pieces. It is simple but very poetic. This question comes from a viewer who wants to know the best way to use the pedal in this piece.

The challenge of the piano is that it doesn’t have the expressiveness on a single note that other instruments have. Or does it? Achieving expressiveness on single notes on the piano is certainly possible if you use the pedals correctly. In this article I’m going to share some secrets on how to achieve this.

The way that a pedal effects the note all depends on when you depress it.

If you depress the pedal before you play the note you will get an echoey sound with a boominess after the initial attack.

If you are striving for a more sustained tone you will want to depress the pedal after the initial attack. This will create a more linear sound which is rounder than pedaling before playing the note as described above.

You can complement this effect with the use of the una corda pedal (soft pedal) which offers a more sustained sound since only 2 of 3 strings are initially hit directly making the attach quieter.

The effects really are subtle and might be hard to hear over your computer unless you have good speakers or headphones. But it truly makes the difference in bringing expressiveness to the music. Try these techniques on your piano and let us know the differences you notice.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

How to Use the Pedal in Debussy’s “The Little Shepherd”

The metronome is much maligned by many musicians for its incessant ticking which can be like a form of Chinese water torture! Many teachers are insistent upon using the metronome and students have questioned whether or not they need this ticking box.

The metronome really is one of the two most important tools at your disposal (the other being an audio recorder) and you should be practicing with it regularly – whatever your skill level. Today we are going to discuss three reasons why the metronome is so important as well as some great applications on how to use it.

The first reason why you need the metronome is that nobody has a perfect clock in their brain. When you start to learn a piece of music and you encounter tough sections, you will naturally slow down a bit to compensate for the difficulty. You might think that once you work them out and get things up to speed, there should be no problem. But you may overcompensate and actually play these sections even faster! The only way to be sure is to play with the metronome.

Don’t make the mistake my mother used to make by putting the metronome too fast and trying to keep up with it. She would drive herself crazy with frustration trying to match an impossibly fast speed of the metronome. Find a speed you are comfortable with and work your way up to an appropriate tempo.

The second reason you want to use a metronome is that it provides an essential practice tool for difficult sections of music. Start by playing at a slow speed accurately with comfort. Then, incrementally increase the speed notch by notch gaining confidence at each new tempo until you get the passage mastered up to tempo. This is an indispensable tool for developing a refined technique on your instrument.

The key is to use this technique by zeroing in on specific sections of your music – not the whole piece. It will not take as much time as you think and you will master tough sections of your music much more quickly.

The third reason you want to use a metronome is because it will help you improve as a musician. The pulse is one of the most important aspects of music and developing a consistent beat will make you a better musician. This aids in playing with other musicians with a tight ensemble.

These are three great reasons to use the metronome and I’m sure many of you have more suggestions as well. Please leave us some comments or email me directly Robert@LivingPianos.com

3 Reasons You Should Use a Metronome When You Practice Music

We have covered the Hanon exercises in the past: Hanon First Exercises, Scales and Arpeggios, and Tips for Practicing Hanon. Today we are going to cover something that was not covered in those subsequent videos – practicing Hanon in different keys.

This is a question from one of our viewers. Matt asks, “Is it good to practice Hanon in different keys?”. In Hanon, the first 20 exercises are all in C major and have repeated patterns. It is good to utilize these exercises as a way to build strength – especially for beginning players. Once you can play through them, you are ready to move on to scales and arpeggios.

But what about the idea of practicing these exercises in different keys? I would say that after you have progressed through the exercises as written in C major and moved on to scales and arpeggios, there could be value in revisiting the initial Hanon exercises and play them in different keys.

It’s a beneficial exercise because you will have new hand positions which will help to build strength and comfort negotiating different keys. You will also have to challenge yourself figuring out the notes to play in different keys. While not essential, it could be worth pursuing.

My father Morton Estrin once suggested a radical practice routine to me which is to practice all the major scales using the C major scale fingering! For example, you could play a D flat major scale utilizing the C major scale fingering. It feels very unnatural and it would seem to be crazy to even attempt this. After all, you would never play the D flat major scale with C major scale fingering. So, why even attempt it?

This exercise is extremely beneficial because it allows you to experience a level of discomfort that you will eventually run into when you approach counterpoint and complex fugues. While you play these pieces you will run into sections where you must use some very awkward fingering to negotiate the notes. By challenging and preparing yourself for these eventual passages you will be able to approach them more easily.

Thanks again for joining us. If you have any questions please contact me Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729.

Should You Practice Hanon in Different Keys?

This is a very common question. Many times when people want to sell a piano that has been in the family for a long time, they don’t know where to start. When we receive calls from from people in these types of situations, we always ask them the last time the piano was tuned.

The reason we ask this is because pianos need very regular maintenance. The longer they go without tuning or other work, the more problems they might incur. It’s certainly possible that if a piano sits in the right climate for a long period of time and remains untouched it could need very little work, particularly if has been tuned on a regular basis. For a piano that has been in a home where the temperature and humidity have affected it over the years and the owner neglected to tune it on a regular basis, it can sometimes put undue stress on the instrument trying to get it stable again.

Sometimes pianos can’t be tuned. No matter how many times you try and tune them they will continue to go out of tune or simply can’t be tuned at all. Many times this means the piano has to be rebuilt because there is most likely an issue with the pin block which can’t hold the tuning pins tightly. The pinblock is a multi-laminate piece of hardwood custom shaped to the plate of each piano that sits right below the plate.

In order to replace the pinblock you have to remove the strings and pins and then use a crane to lift the plate out of the piano. Then a custom pinblock must be made for the specific piano – which is a very skilled job. This involves substantial expense and not something you will want to embark upon with just any piano. Rebuilding costs thousands of dollars and is only worthwhile on worthy instruments.

So what do you do with a piano that has loose tuning pins and isn’t worth the rebuilding costs? Luckily there are a few things you can try to see if you can salvage some more life out of the piano. The simplest solution is to tap in the pins a bit further into the pinblock to get more friction. There must be some room between the coils of the strings and the pinblock to allow for tapping. This can sometimes alleviate tuning problems. Other times it can only be a temporary fix depending upon the integrity of the pinblock. This is something that can only be done by an experienced piano technician or irreparable damage can be inflicted upon the piano.

If that doesn’t work you can have the piano restrung with fatter tuning pins. Every time you restring a piano you have to put a little bit larger tuning pins into the pinblock in order to get them to stay securely in place. If the pinblock is in good shape, this can solve the problem in some instances. This is a bit more expensive than tapping the pins down but less costly than rebuilding. If the pinblock has cracks, using larger pins will just enlarge the cracks. Also, there is a limit to how large a tuning pin can be used in a piano.
As a last resort I have heard of people trying super glue in the pins! This isn’t to lock them in place, but to add friction to the tuning pins. I would not recommend this unless you have absolutely nothing to lose because the piano is not worth rebuilding.

Something to keep in mind is that if you have a piano in a humid environment that has pins that are slightly loose, moving the piano to a desert climate can make the pins looser and you may have serious tuning problems.

So depending on your situation there are a number of options for a piano that can’t be tuned. If you have a piano that is valuable like a Steinway, Mason & Hamlin, Bechstein or other high-end piano, then it might be worth rebuilding if other structures of the piano are sound. With low end pianos that can’t hold tuning, you may be better off seeking out another piano.

I hope this has been helpful for you. Thanks again for joining me Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What can you do with a Piano that Can’t be Tuned?

This is a very broad subject you could devote at least an entire semester to. Books have been written on the subject! The point of this article is not to suggest that one composer is better than the other, but rather to compare the differences in their music.

One important fact is that Beethoven came after Mozart. This means that the foundation of his music was built upon the music of Mozart and composers before him.

Both composers used the Sonata Allegro form which was widely employed during the Classical period. I have a separate video that explains the Sonata form if you are interested in a more in-depth explanation.

In the video, I use the Mozart Sonata K330 in C-major and the Beethoven Sonata Opus 14 Number 2 in G major. I’m picking an earlier work of Beethoven to highlight the differences between the two composers. Although Beethoven’s later work strayed even further from Mozart. Still, this earlier work is a great choice to highlight both the similarities and the differences.

You will notice right away that even though these composers were working within the same sonata form, the music is very different. They each have their own distinct personalities and this comes through very prominently in their music.

The first thing that comes to mind with the K330 is the roundness of the phrasing and the perfection of the structure. If you changed even one note the piece would sound completely off.

Beethoven has a much more fiery personality. Whereas Mozart’s music is clean and precise, Beethoven employs many surprises in his music. Many times he will build up the music as if it’s leading to something only to suddenly get soft – his trademark use of subito piano. This is a common theme in his music and keeps the listener engaged in the music.

In Beethoven’s later sonatas, he developed the form further as the technology of the piano improved. The development sections are massive and even in his earlier sonatas, they would go much further than in a Mozart sonata. This is just one of many differences between these two iconic composers.

We will be bringing you another part in this series very soon where we will discuss more similarities and differences between Beethoven and Mozart.

If you have any questions or observations please send them to me Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729 Thank you!

Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons