All posts by Robert Estrin

Can You Tune Your Piano With Your Phone?

Can you tune your piano with your phone? The simple answer to this question is yes, you can! What do I mean by “tuning your piano with your phone”? We’ve come to such an age where we carry super computers in our pockets, and there is remarkable software that can aid you in tuning your piano.

When I was a child, if a tuner would come to tune my father’s piano with a strobe tuner (which was the technology of the time) it was an indication of an incompetent tuner since virtually no tuner could get a piano in tune utilizing just a strobe tuner. Was it because the strobe tuner wasn’t accurate enough? It’s true that the digital technology of today is far more accurate. The technology that is offered today is even more accurate than human hearing!

But there is more to it. To get a piano to sound right, it is not a simple matter of having the piano perfectly in tune. There is a certain amount of artistry that goes into tuning a piano. There are two reasons for this. The first has to do with the deficiencies inherent with pianos. The smaller a piano is, the less fundamental tone you have and the more overtones are present. Those are higher pitches contained within each note of the piano. The overtones must blend with the fundamental tones of higher notes on the piano. There are different formulas for getting a sweet tone out of a piano This is dependent on a piano’s size and its scale design. A trained technician with experience can achieve a sweet sound throughout all registers. The other limitation is that human hearing is not perfect. When you get higher up in pitch, you actually start to hear pitches flat. So, a piano’s tuning must be stretched so that octaves are not exactly 2 to 1 mathematical relationships which is what octaves are. They are ever so slightly bigger!

Strobe tuners and technologies from year’s past did not account for any of these things. The technology today is designed to compensate for these factors. There are several free programs you can use that can assist you in tuning your piano or checking the tuning on your piano. A popular one I like to use is an app called Panotuner.

I use it to set the temperament (all the notes in one octave in the middle of the keyboard) when tuning my harpsichord as well as my fortepiano. However, it doesn’t have the sophisticated features that you really need to tune a piano without utilizing your ears.

There are two programs that are used by professional piano tuners and technicians. One is called Tune Lab and the other one is Cyber Tuner. These are available for your phone or computer. You may ask yourself, how do these technologies account for deficiencies in pianos and human hearing? Think of it this way. In the medical community, we are coming to a point where there will be super intelligent robotic doctors. This is a technology in its infancy. The combined knowledge of tens of thousands of doctor are rolled into a machine that can make diagnosis’ much better than any one doctor could. While this AI technology is evolving in the medical profession, it is already highly evolved in the piano tuning realm. The software programs include the input from thousands of piano tuners as well as many different pianos and the correct mathematics in order to get pianos to sound right. For example, if you have a piano that is low in pitch, it is really important to stretch the tuning so that it can accommodate the added stress and tension on the bridge and soundboard which changes the tuning of previously tuned sections of the piano as you are tuning!

On these software programs, typically, you play all the A’s on the piano first, and it will calibrate how much to stretch the tuning so that by the time you are done tuning, the piano will be in tune. Otherwise, you may have to tune the piano twice – once to raise the pitch and a second time for a fine tuning. There are basic tools you need in order to tune a piano besides software. You need a tuning hammer and wedges as well as felt strips that are relatively inexpensive. Here is something vitally important to understand. Any competent piano tuner will get a piano in tune. Only a great tuner can get a piano to hold its tuning for any reasonable amount of time. If I were to play massive works of Prokofiev and Liszt for example just after a piano has been tuned, if it had been tuned by a novice, it may sound good initially, but the tuning would go out very quickly. A concert level tuner knows how to set the pins and strings so that it can sustain hard blows and still maintain pitch.

So yes, you can tune a piano using your phone. However, it takes years of experience tuning hundreds of pianos in order to be able to tune a piano to hold well over a reasonable amount of time. I hope this article has been helpful for you. You are welcome to send your questions which may appear in future articles and videos to Robert@LivingPianos.com.

How to Find a Good Piano Teacher

This is one of the most common questions I get from people. Parents are often looking for resources to help find a good music teacher for themselves or their children. While there are the usual suspects like Yelp!, Craigslist and flyers around town, are there any other resource to help find good music teachers?

Here in California you can utilize the MTAC (Music Teachers’ Association of California). You may have a similar organization in your state and which can be a great place to start looking for a teacher. While these resources can provide you with a list of names, how do you know if any of them are good?

There is an interesting dynamic when it comes to teachers and their ability to play. Not all great teachers are fine pianists, and not all great pianists are capable teachers. You might wonder, how someone who can’t play the piano very well could be a great teacher? In some cases the person might have been a better player in their youth and as they’ve aged, their skills have diminished due to physical limitations. There are also some instances where high level musicians have no idea how they do what they do and can’t provide valuable instruction.

Another option is attending student recitals of teachers you’re researching. The solidity of their performances can give you great insights into the quality of the teaching.

You can also ask people around you locally who play the piano, who they’ve studied with, and why they like their teacher.

Once you find a teacher and call them up, one of the most important questions you can ask them is, “Do you teach how to practice?”. Listen carefully to their response. If they say yes, ask them for a brief explanation of how they approach it. A concise, well thought out answer is a good sign that they offer high quality instruction.

Teaching is not just assigning material and correcting mistakes, teaching students how to practice their music on their own and what they should be doing on a daily basis will help take their playing to a whole new level. Once a week is nowhere close to enough time to learn the piano. Your teacher should be providing you with instruction on what to do when you are away from your teacher the other 6 days of the week. This is essential.

You may run across teachers who have an incredible collection of talented students who are all extremely gifted. However, just because they have a number of students who are very talented doesn’t necessarily mean they are great teachers. There are a lot of instances where very accomplished pianists attract great students because of their reputation or the status of the school where they teach. They may be valuable as coaches to foster the growth of already accomplished pianists as opposed to offering formative instruction on their instruments. There are a some instances where this is exactly what a student needs, but it might not be right for you.

The most important thing is to select a teacher who matches your expectations. For example, if you want to learn classical music, find a teacher who specializes in classical music. The age group of the teachers’ students is also something to be aware of. Not all teachers are good with children while others specialize in teaching children or even very young children. There are so many teachers out there and finding the right one can be a real challenge. But with a little research you can find someone who offers the right instruction for you.

If you have any questions about this topic or any others, please contact us at: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What if You Disagree with Your Music Teacher?

This can be an uncomfortable situation for both teachers and students. But it’s one that invariably happens. I have personally dealt with many students over the years who have disagreed with me – and if you’re reading you know who you are!

Talented students may actually give you the hardest time as a teacher. They tend to question why they have to do something and while this can be frustrating at times it indicates that the student is thinking and that’s a positive sign. So how do you deal with situations like this?

I studied with my father, Morton Estrin ever since I was a young child until I went away to conservatory after high school. I found myself at the Manhattan School of Music with a phenomenal pianist Constance Keene and from the very first lessons I knew I was going to be challenged. Her ideas of learning and practicing the piano were radically different from my father’s and it presented new ideas for me. My father has very large hands and my hands are quite small. Ms. Keene was a much smaller person than my father. So her way of approaching the piano was different from my father’s and her approach offered me benefits.

If you are paying money for lessons or paying a lot of money to go to a conservatory to study music, it’s essential you at least listen to your teachers. You’ve selected a teacher for a reason. You have to trust what they are telling you and at least try what they are teaching you; even if it goes against everything you think and believe in. It doesn’t hurt to try.

If you are paying money for lessons or paying a lot of money to go to a conservatory to study music, it’s essential you at least listen to your teachers. You’ve selected a teacher for a reason. You have to trust what they are telling you and at least try what they are teaching you; even if it goes against everything you think and believe in. It doesn’t hurt to try.

Once you’ve tried their methods – at least a week – and have time to evaluate the value of the lesson, you might change your mind. As a student, you should be willing to keep an open mind. But you shouldn’t blindly accept anything they tell you. If you truly feel that something they are trying to teaching you is not valuable, then you can simply ask them what the purpose is. Try to keep a level head when you question their lessons as it might not go over well and you don’t want to become combative. However, asking questions can aid in the learning process.

Teaching is not a one-way street. As a student, you need to interact with your teacher and ask questions in order to learn from them. If you don’t understand something, it wont be beneficial for you to just sit there! Great teachers know how to listen to their students and get inside their heads.

Take your teacher’s advice. If time goes on and things aren’t working out then maybe you should consider finding a new teacher. Otherwise, give their ideas a chance to develop before rejecting them.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for future videos please contact us directly: info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

What is a Straight Strung Piano?

This is an interesting topic that many of you might not be familiar with. Recently we had an amazing instrument come into the store – an 1875 Erard Concert Grand Piano. What made this piano so unique is that it’s one of the very few instruments surviving today in good condition that feature a straight strung scale design.

Around the 1880s it became much more common for pianos to feature cross stringing – which is what you will see in pretty much any piano designed and built in the modern era. Also referred to as being “overstrung” this design of crossing strings over one-another allows them to be longer and fit into a smaller frame.

Before the advent of cross stringing, pianos would have to be larger in size to produce a vibrant tone. The strings of a modern baby grand piano are generally longer since the crossing allows for longer string length for much of the piano. This is one reason why small baby grands were impossible to design before the advent of cross-stringing.

Other than the placement of the strings, the location of the bridges on the soundboard also differs dramatically between a straight strung and a cross strung piano. Modern pianos with cross-stringing allow for placement of the bridges closer to the center of the piano for more of the notes. You may wonder how the sound of earlier straight strung pianos differs from modern design instruments.

Playing one of these straight strung pianos is truly an experience. As you play you’ll hear the same type of tone production that Chopin and Liszt experienced in their day for the most part – it really transforms you back in time to a different era. It’s an exhilarating experience to hear and play their music as they heard it – a punchier, more percussive sound.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions about this topic or any others please contact us directly: (949) 244-3729 or email us: Info@LivingPianos.com

How Do You Play the Piano with Your Mind?

While this might sound silly, learning to play music mentally is one of the best practice methods. All practice is mental practice. While the action of playing an instrument has a physiological component, learning and practicing is much more of a mental experience than anything else. In fact, recent brain scan tests have found that there is no difference in brain activity between someone playing an instrument or just thinking about playing an instrument!

In college I had come down with mononucleosis when I was scheduled to play a solo recital. I had become very weak but was determined to play the program. An hour and half a day is about all the practice I could handle – and that was about how long the program was. Needless to say, this was not enough time to practice. Determined to succeed despite my physical ailment, I tried something new. I ended up taking all my scores into bed with me and I practiced mentally. To my surprise, the performance ended up being the best I had ever had by far! But how can this be?

Don’t hop into bed with your musical scores just yet! You have to develop technique and playing your instrument is essential. However, you should continue practicing even when you are away from your instrument. Imagine the performance in great detail, every sound and action. By doing this you will be able to hear the music exactly how you want it to sound so you can develop your performance. Learning your music mentally away from your instrument will help you identify problem spots you didn’t know existed before. You may be depending upon tactile memory on some passages and you may realize that you don’t actually know the music as well as you thought.

Here is a great exercise for you: Take a piece you are very familiar with, remove the score, and try and play it mentally. Play as far as you can go without stopping and when you have to stop, refer back to the score and start again until you can play the entire piece from memory away from your instrument. If you do this, you will have mastered that piece of music better than any other piece you’ve played before. Whenever I play a recital I play my music in my head constantly before the performance. I make sure I can get through difficult sections again and again until things are totally clear. There is great reassurance in performance when you know your scores on this level.

Thanks again for joining me, Robert@LivingPianos.com 949-244-3729

The RIGHT Way to Practice Music

Today we are going to talk about why it’s crucially important to practice your music thoroughly as opposed to just quickly. You might think if you can practice something quickly it would be a big benefit to you but that’s not always the case.

I am actually someone who is very much in favor of short cuts wherever they can work. I’ve talked about methods in the past such as The Band-Aid Approach to practicing music that is a method in which you focus on the trouble spots of your performance in order to save time. This is not to say that this method isn’t a form of thorough practice; it’s just incredibly efficient focusing 80% of your time on 20% of the music which needs most of the work. I once had a student whose former teacher told them to play an entire piece through at a slow speed with the metronome and then speed it up one notch at a time playing through the entire piece again and again. This is definitely thorough practice but it wastes your time since only sections of the piece may require this kind of approach.

So what do I mean by thorough practice? Sometimes you’ll be learning a new piece and it’s not up to the level you want. You might find yourself jumping into random spots and trying to fix problems – this can be a mistake. Instead of moving on, go to the first spot you have difficulties with and stay focused on it. Stay with this section and keep working on it until you have it absolutely dialed in, perfect and reliable. If you stay with a section until you have it mastered as described above, you will find yourself playing it correctly even after time has elapsed. Even more importantly, the techniques you learn in that section will help you throughout the rest of the piece. There is rarely a piece of music you will encounter that doesn’t contain a repetition of ideas, techniques, harmonies and textures. So, the thorough work you do on one section will translate to other parts of the piece.

As you move through the piece perfecting trouble spots, you will find that your practice becomes incredibly productive. As opposed to just going through the piece and working on random trouble spots, find the origin of your problems, start there and practice it so completely that you can play it accurately with ease.

To recap, work on the difficulties you encounter early in a piece of music and you will be rewarded later in your practice. Thorough practice is what will make you a more accomplished musician. It is so gratifying to perfect a small part of a piece and continue on that path than to plow your way through without refining your work.

Thanks again for joining us here at Living Pianos. If you have any questions or comments about this video or any other subject please contact us directly: Info@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729