All posts by Robert Estrin

Piano Appraisal Myths

Piano appraisals are not what you might think. Many people seek out appraisals to determine selling prices for instruments, but this is not the purpose of piano appraisals. A piano appraisal is a legal document drawn up by an expert in the field which assigns value to an instrument, often for the purposes of insurance protection or estate settlements. In cases of tax fraud, an appraiser is held legally liable, since an appraisal is a legal document. Although this value is well researched and legally binding, it has little to no bearing on the potential selling price of an instrument.

Selling a Piano is Not Like Selling a Car or House

Selling a piano can be a bit overwhelming at first, so naturally one compares the process to selling other large items, such as cars or houses. There are some key differences in the valuation of pianos. When selling a house, you can access the selling history for a property, and coupled with current market values, this will give a fairly accurate idea of a reasonable sale price. In the case of automobiles, there are reliable valuations available from Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds which provide a general idea of sale prices. When it comes to pianos, there are several factors that affect a potential sale price. The age varies greatly in pianos, from being brand new, to pianos that are over 100 years old. This will affect the sale price. Condition and brand play an even bigger role.

Why You Can’t Use Appraisals to Determine Selling Prices of Pianos

As we discussed earlier, an appraisal is a legal document that assigns value to an instrument, often for the purposes of insurance claims or an estate settlements. However, this value does not necessarily reflect the current market value. There are countless piano brands out there, many that no longer produce instruments. So, the replacement value can be difficult to determine. Also, the type of sale will often affect the sale price. For instance, the price for a piano in a store, where instruments are tuned and regulated will differ greatly from the price on Craigslist, and consignments will vary as well. If you are curious, go to eBay and compare the asking prices for pianos with the prices of pianos that have already sold, and you will find the values are often drastically different.

Your Selling Price is Up to You!

When it comes down to it, all these factors will affect how much you can sell your piano for, but ultimately the selling price is whatever someone is willing to pay for your instrument. Generally, the more work you are willing to put into the sale, the more money you can get for the instrument. For example, if you have the piano put into top shape, take high resolution pictures, post online on several websites, show the piano whenever someone wants to see the piano, offer to help arrange the move, and are patient, you may get top dollar for your piano. On the other hand, if you just want to list on Craigslist and sell fast, or sell the piano wholesale to a piano dealer, you will get far less for your piano.

Piano appraisals are important legal documents. For example, if you lost your piano in a fire and you had to replace it quickly going to the nearest piano store and finding a similar replacement, you might pay appraised value. That’s the whole purpose. You shouldn’t be put out in that kind of situation. You also want an equitable solution in an estate settlement that everyone can agree upon. These are where appraisals have great value. But they really doesn’t have much to do with what you can sell your piano for.

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Store. 949-244-3729 info@LivingPianos.com

Can a 113 Year Old Piano Sound Good?

See this piano here:
Chickering

In this video, Robert talks about and demonstrates the capabilities of a Chickering 105D art-case concert grand piano built in 1906. This piano has been completely rebuilt including a new soundboard scaled after the original. This piano is a powerhouse of sound with a magnificent bass register that has depth as well as projection. This piano was produced in a bygone era and was extremely well cared for throughout the ages.

This Chickering was built at a time when there were almost 2,000 companies producing pianos in the United States!

From the very beginning, it was one of the finest quality pianos that money could buy. Sadly, many vintage pianos are not structurally sound enough to make them worth restoring. However, a piano like this rarely comes along which has benefitted from a gentle life and makes an excellent candidate for rebuilding. The original real ivory keys are a testament to the care this piano has had over the years. The end product of careful restoration can result in a piano of substantial musical quality when the work is done on the highest level as in this piano.

You can experience a sound and look of one of the best American pianos of all time.

Today, the epicenter of piano manufacturing is China. While the quality of these instruments keeps improving, the vast majority of them are not on the level of the few remaining American and European pianos being made today. More than that, the quality of craftsmanship and the woods available 100 years ago made instruments like this possible. So, the answer to the question is a resounding, “Yes”, when everything is aligned properly with the original manufacturing, life of the instrument, as well as restoration work, a 113 year old piano can sound glorious!

Why All Musicians Should Play the Piano

Did you know that if you go to music conservatory or major in music at a university, you have to have a certain level of piano proficiency in order to get your degree?

All Music Majors Have to Play the Piano

Let’s start from the beginning. There are two essential instruments for all musicians. The piano is one and the voice is the other. They are diametrically opposed to one another. One is the most natural instrument we all carry with us. You must hear something in your head before you can even produce the sound. The piano is the opposite, when you push a key it makes the sound even if you don’t hear it first.

The Piano Can Play Complete Music

Most instruments can only play one note at a time. So, in order to play complete compositions, you usually have to play in an ensemble. What’s unique about the piano is that you can play complex, polyphonic music all by yourself! You can play chords and harmony. More than that, it’s visual. The piano is laid out in such a way that you can see what diatonic harmony is all about. That is, the half-step/whole-steps arrangement which is readily apparent on the keyboard. Chords are easy to negotiate as well. Even a child can do it. It’s that easy!

There’s More to Piano Than Just Visualizing Your Music

If you play the clarinet, saxophone or flute; the vast majority of music is written to play with other musicians. In fact, most solo music for other instruments contain substantial piano parts. Piano has more repertoire than all other instruments combined. Piano is a tremendous second instrument because you can realize the other parts to the pieces you’re playing. You might wonder what the orchestra is doing in a concerto you are playing. There will be an orchestral arrangement on our score you can play on the piano so you can hear it!

All People Should Study the Piano

The piano is intrinsic to music. You’ll learn theory and understand chord structure. It makes an excellent tool for ear training as well. It’s visually in front of you and you can produce sounds and harmonies that are impossible to create by yourself on most other instruments. I had the good fortune of starting the piano at a very young age. Later, when I was in 4th grade, I start playing the French horn in school. I could already read music fluently and was playing somewhat sophisticated music (for a relative beginner) on the piano. It was easy for me to grasp the horn initially because I was used to much more complex music on the piano. It made me take to the French horn quickly because I was used to the complexity of reading two staves on a score. Reading music for the French Horn was easy by comparison (even though there are many challenges playing a wind instrument).

So I recommend that if you don’t already play the piano to go for it! It will enlighten you about music structure and help you with your primary instrument. You’ll get to explore a lot of music and it will be fun! You have so much to gain! Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Store 949-244-3729 info@LivingPianos.com

Most Important Skill a Piano Teacher Must Provide

There are so many things involved in studying the piano. There is everything from note reading, figuring out rhythms, considering hand position, following fingering, negotiating phrasing, expression and more. There are also skills which must be mastered such as memorization, sight-reading and improvisation. You must also have a keen understanding of the underlying music theory. But there is one intrinsic thing that is a macro to learning to play the piano which transcends everything:

How to Practice

There are so few teachers in this world who teach how to practice; not just in piano but all subjects. I remember when I was in 11th grade, for the first time Mr. Gray showed us how to to compose an English composition. Before that, any time a paper was assigned, I would break into a cold sweat having no idea how to approach such a thing! But Mr. Gray broke it down to an organized method of how to write a clear, compelling composition. I’m so grateful to him to this day. His methods have stayed with me. It’s how I do all my writing, and I write a lot of articles!

Having Productive Lessons:

I was fortunate to study with my father, Morton Estrin. From the very first lesson, he showed me how to practice as he did with all his students. Many of his students went on to teach his methods including my sister and myself. Our teaching is based upon showing students what to do the other six days of the week when they’re not at the lesson. This is the key for effective training which makes the lessons exponentially more productive. It’s not just correcting wrong notes and assigning new material. There are a myriad of things you can do in a lessons from working on scales and arpeggios, to delving into music theory.

Providing a Step by Step Approach

You must show students what to do on a daily basis. They should have a clear idea how to approach each skill set whether it is memorization, sight-reading or something else. The students must be provided with the methods for approaching each skill. The most valuable thing a teacher can do at lessons is to practice with the students. You may work with them for months or even years getting them to the point where they can work effectively independently. Once students reach that level, their progress at home will soar. Your role shifts more to a coach than a teacher being able to work on refining their playing to a high level. So, be sure your teacher (whatever the subject) provides clear, step by step instructions of how to work out assignments at home for fruitful study.

Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com 949-244-3729 info@LivingPianos.com

Pianos Don’t Age!

As crazy as it sounds, unlike people, pianos don’t age unless acted upon by an outside force, namely the environment or simply being played a lot. Upkeep also enters into it. A piano that sits in a stable climate with moderate temperature and humidity, away from direct sunlight, kept closed and rarely played, yet tuned on a regular basis can be in virtually new condition even after many decades. We have had a number of pre-WWII pianos that only required refinement but no new parts in order to get an extremely high level of performance and very attractive appearance. We have also seen 10 year pianos ready for major rebuilding. Beach pianos, desert pianos, pianos from schools, restaurants or hotels are examples of pianos.

What is also interesting is that new pianos (and newly rebuilt pianos) require more servicing in the first couple of years of ownership as strings stretch and woods become acclimated to their climate. So, although it may seem counterintuitive, older pianos require less maintenance than new pianos.

There are limits of what is likely to find. Generally, any piano going back into the 1800’s will undoubtedly require work or have had work performed on it in order to play on a high level. So, you must assess each piano for what it is. The year of manufacturer only tells a part of the story.

Thanks again for joining me here at LivingPianos.com. If you have any questions or comments about this topic, or any piano topic at all, please contact us directly: info@livingpianos.com (949) 244-3729

Is Pain Necessary to Play the Piano? – Playing on the Tips of Your Fingers

You may have heard about the need to play on the tips of your fingers. But if you hands are weak, you may find that your fingers collapse and there is no way of playing on the tips of the fingers no matter how hard you try.

I used to watch my father, Morton Estrin play the piano with his massive hands in the rounded position that you hear about.

Some people describe the ideal piano hand position as one that is shaped like holding a ball.

If you let your hands drop down onto the keyboard, your fingers will naturally round and you will be in a position that takes no effort to maintain. That is the ideal piano position.

My father seemed to have pads at the end of his fingers which could punctuate the notes on the piano while maintaining rounded fingers playing on tips. But what if you have weak fingers that collapse, and your fingernails extend beyond your fingers? Then, you can’t play on the tips without getting “clickety-clack” sounds with your fingernails sliding all over the keys. So, you end up playing with flat fingers. This creates all sorts of problems, not the least of which is when your fingers are outstretched, your thumbs and pinky don’t extend far enough to play the keys!

So, how do you develop pads at the end of your fingers?

Here is what I experienced: I was always dazzled by brilliant octaves I heard my father, Horowitz and other pianists display. When I had the opportunity to study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria in high school, I worked furiously on the Liszt 6th Hungarian Rhapsody which has a long, demanding octave section that goes on and on at the end of the piece. There were Bösendorfers and Hamburg Steinways to practice on and I was in heaven!

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #6

Then something happened that caused great pain. I’m not referring to the kind of muscle pain you experience from exercise when lactic acid builds up in your muscles. That pain subsides as soon as you stop playing (as long as you don’t overdo it!) If you have ever clipped your nails a little too short then practice the piano intensely, the fingernail can become slightly detached at the very end of your finger. You see a thin line of blood right at the point at which the nail meets the finger. As long as you keep your fingers clean (as well as the keys) you probably won’t suffer infection. (You can even put a Band-aid over the end of the finger if necessary.) But it is intensely painful! Since I was in Austria taking master classes and had this phenomenal opportunity, I just powered through my practice and ignored the pain.

Something really interesting resulted from this. Since the ends of my fingernails became detached from the fingers, I developed the pads like I saw on my father’s hands! I was able to play on the tips of the fingers which were rounded avoiding the clicking of the nails on the keys! I have spoken to other pianists who have had similar experiences. Perhaps there is a method for developing these pads which avoids the horrific pain I experienced developing my piano technique. I would love to hear from any of you who have either shared this phenomenon or have found other ways of being able to play on the tips of the fingers without your nails hitting the keys.

This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com Your Online Piano Store 949-244-3729 info@LivingPianos.com