Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

You’ve probably seen pianists gliding all over the keyboard almost effortlessly. It’s amazing to witness their speed and precision – it seems almost impossible. Sadly there is no turn-key solution for playing the piano faster but I will try and give you some tips on how you can improve your speed.

Learning to play fast is something that takes a lot of work and dedication. It’s not something you can master overnight; it’s something that can take years to develop and a lifetime to master. The most important aspects to improving your speed are to develop strength in your fingers and play lightly as you increase speed.

In the video on the top of this page, I use the Mozart K332 Sonata to demonstrate these techniques.

This is a very important issue when it comes to playing any instrument. There are books written on how to warm up on the piano and countless techniques and exercises you can utilize. I’m going to share a few tips with you that I use in my own practice and performances. The good news is, none of this is as complicated as you might think.

Let’s start holistically. Any warm-up is predicated on you being physically healthy; if you are ailing from anything such as stiff muscles, soreness, illness, or anything that would hinder your well being, it can affect your performance on the piano. If you suffer from any chronic ailments, you should take your time with easing into playing the piano.

The first thing you will want to do is make sure that your hands are warm. If you have cold hands it means that your blood is not circulating well and if you just start playing virtuoso music without warming up your hands you could do some damage. An easy solution for this is to run warm water over your hands so you feel comfortable before you start playing.

I strongly recommend doing some stretching on a regular basis – whether it’s yoga or simple stretches you would perform before a workout. This can be incredibly valuable to your long-term health as well as keeping you injury free while performing.

This is one of the most common questions we get asked. You might think how fickle some musical instruments can be with tuning and assume that a piano would probably have to be tuned after it’s moved because of the potential stress the strings exert on the structure.

Conventional wisdom states that you would need to tune a piano after it’s moved; some people might even insist on tuning a piano if you roll it across a room. Is this really the case?

Pianos are much more robust than many people might imagine. After all, pianos used to be transported across the country on horse and buggy, they are very rugged instruments and a simple move across a room or even across town is not going to necessarily knock it out of tune. It would take a tremendous amount of force to knock a piano out of tune just by moving it.

For longer moves – let’s say across the country or hundreds of miles – unless the piano is shipped in a climate controlled truck it could possibly need to be tuned once it arrives at it’s new location. The move itself is not what will make the piano go out of tune however, it’s something much more important.

The climate of the room where a piano is kept is the determining factor in whether or not a piano will have to be tuned once it’s moved. Pianos need a stable environment in order to stay in tune and unless you are moving a piano in a climate controlled truck it may need to be tuned once it reaches its destination and becomes settled to it’s new home. Just moving a piano across town will probably not make the piano go out tune as long as the climate in your home is similar to the climate where the piano was previously. So how long should you wait before you decide to tune the piano after a move?

I always recommend letting a piano sit in it’s new location for at least a couple of weeks before performing its first tuning in its new location unless there are some issues with the piano that need to be addressed sooner. This will give the piano time to settle and acclimate to it’s new home. You shouldn’t wait too long after a move to tune your piano though as there is a potential danger to be aware of.

Today’s question is something you might or might not have heard of. You’ve undoubtedly heard a prepared piano on film scores but you might not even realize what you were hearing. Today we’re going to discuss what it is as well as how you can experiment with these sounds yourself.

The piano has been around and advancements have been made over hundreds of years. Despite where the instruments are today, some composers still want to get even more out of the instrument. Composers like John Cage and others have experimented with altering the piano by adding different tools and other objects to the inside of the piano.

The video included with this article gives you an example of how a prepared piano can look and sound, although there are endless possibilities. We used just a few household objects placed on top of and between the strings. You are certainly not limited to just these types of enhancements; sometimes players will pluck strings or make changes to the keys as well – the only limit is your imagination and the capabilities of your piano.

If you feel brave enough to try and prepare your piano and experiment with different sounds, go for it!

This is a musical instrument after all and anything you want to do to illicit new sounds is fair game – there are no strict rules for what you can and can’t do. Just be careful not to harm the piano and certainly be wary of doing anything that involves pulling the action of the piano – this is something only a technician should be doing for you.

The ability to record professional-level music has really grown substantially in the past decade. What you can achieve today with just a simple computer in your home exceeds what you could achieve in a top of the line recording studio just a few decades ago.

As a child I grew up around studio equipment – tape recorders and other seemingly archaic recording technology were all around my home and in my father’s studio. As a young adult, I owned my own commercial recording studio and it was both a formidable investment and came with great compromises. Today, this is no longer an issue – anyone can set up a home studio with a few hundred dollars and a bit of knowledge.

Now before you go out and set up your studio, it’s a good idea to get a grasp on exactly what you will be using it for. Is it just audio recording? Maybe you want to incorporate video – what if you are a composer and you want to print out music you compose? These are all things you should be aware of before making your initial purchases. Planning and budgeting will lead to much better results when everything is in place.

You should also be aware of what operating system and software you intend on using. If you’re going with a Mac you can use Apple Logic or Mark of the Unicorn’s Digital Performer; on PC you have programs like Sonar/Cakewalk, Cubase, Reason and many others. When it comes down to picking the platform and the software, you should investigate what specialty the programs might offer. Most of them do nearly everything, but some of the programs specialize in certain areas better than others. It’s a very good idea to research the available programs thoroughly before making a purchase since some programs can be expensive and the learning curve can be steep.

Music recording in the home has become so advanced that you can literally plug in a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) enabled keyboard, play something, and have your program instantly record and transcribe the notes of what you just played! It might not be perfectly accurate transcription – it will assuredly need a little human editing – but it’s a great leap in the ability to transcribe music.

The one aspect of recording that hasn’t changed as much over the years is the recording hardware itself. Microphones, amplifiers, speakers, and room acoustics haven’t changed as much and still remain an important – and potentially expensive area of recording music. Surprisingly, some of the best equipment out there today is older technology. Tube amplifiers, ribbon microphones, and other older technology can still produce amazing – and in a lot of cases better results than newer digital equipment.

The bottom line is, you will need the following equipment to get even a minimal setup going:

microphone(s):
Look for quality here; it makes a huge difference.

Speakers:
You don’t necessarily need anything top-of-the-line here. But since this is your reference they should be relatively neutral rather than flatter any particular frequencies.

Computer:
You can get away with a mid-level PC or Mac.

Recording Interface:
You can use anything you can connect a microphone (or several mics) to a computer with. Make sure it’s compatible with your operating system and computer hardware and that it fits your needs.

Recording Software:
It is very important to research this thoroughly since you will be spending a lot of time familiarizing yourself with this.

MIDI enabled keyboard and printer
Choose a keyboard that suits your playing style. You only need a printer if you want to have score printing capabilities.

This is a very extensive topic and could be covered in-depth for hours upon hours – in fact, they have entire college courses dedicated to this subject. The good news is that anyone looking to set up a studio to record music in their home is able to achieve it with minimal investment in both time and money. You can forgo the audio interface and use the onboard capabilities of your computer if you want. Even Apple’s Garage Band on the iPad has substantial capabilities!

We are living in a wonderful age of technological advancements that enable everyday people to achieve tremendous results with only a minimal amount of investment.

The short answer is, yes! While we will definitely dive deeper into this subject in this article, reading and writing music is not necessarily a requirement to be a musician – although the type of music and what you’re looking to get out of your musical experience are important factors.

There are many styles of music in which people don’t read music at all and they can still be very successful. A lot of folk music and rock music is composed and played without the need to write or read music in a traditional way and it doesn’t hurt the overall experience.

With the advent of technology there are tools that have been developed for composers who don’t necessarily write things down. For example, when someone is scoring music for film or TV it might not require writing any music down. A musician could use a keyboard connected to a computer to simply improvise music and play any instrument sounds imaginable with certain programs. They might even use sound design elements that are incorporated into their music that aren’t even musical instruments at all – which would make it impossible to write down “notes” for something like that.

Sequencing programs on computers allow you to plug a keyboard in and they will record everything you play. Whether you are playing with a piano sound or different instruments, everything is recorded in a raw format that allows you to revisit it later and change the sound, instruments, or even the notes however you want. You can achieve all this without knowing how to read music. It can definitely be helpful in the editing process to use notation, however, there are other ways of dealing with notes such as piano roll representations which can be manipulated on the computer screen.

There are some limitations to composing without knowing how to read a score for certain types of production. For example, if you want to add acoustic instrument tracks to your score, being able to flesh out a part, put it on staff paper and having a professional musician come in and record that part would be much more time consuming without the ability to work with musical notation. However, there are workarounds even for this, such as recording the part on a keyboard and having someone learn it from the recording – or having someone transcribe the part to written form for you.

Another possibility is using shortcut notation – such as lead sheets. In Jazz and other improvised styles of music, lead sheets are how musicians generally communicate with each other.

The further your progress in your music, the more important learning how to read and write music may become. It’s not a necessity to get started but it can open up possibilities for your musical creations and collaborations.

If you’ve played music for any length of time you may be familiar with etudes. What they are exactly is a two part answer, because there are fundamentally two different types of etudes. Even though they are both called etudes, these two different types are radically different from one-another. So let’s explore this topic and explain the differences in etudes and how they relate to your music.

Etude comes from the French word meaning, “study”. Etudes generally focus on overcoming specific technical challenges. One type of etude is strictly an exercise. There are famous Czerny and Hanon etudes that are famous exercises, but they aren’t pieces people generally perform. Their main purpose is to develop technique on an instrument.

Most Hanon etudes are simply a series of repeated note patterns. They are valuable for younger students to develop strength. Hanon Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises also contains the standard fingering for all major and minor scales and arpeggios, a staple for serious pianists. Brahms and Czerny also have etudes that are used for developing technique as opposed to necessarily providing great musical compositions. However, some Czerny etudes are quite enjoyable to listen to.

The other type of etudes are musical etudes. Chopin, Liszt, and others have created masterful pieces of music called etudes. These etudes explore different technical issues such as double thirds, sixths, octaves and other unique challenges. Yet, they are masterful works of music.

Musical etudes from Chopin, Liszt, Moszkowski, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and others are sometimes extremely complex and can be daunting for intermediate students to attempt to play. But the good news is there are some musical etudes from composers such as Burgmüller that are very nice pieces of music which help develop technique, yet provide intermediate level students with richly rewarding music to play! There are musical etudes that range from student level to virtuoso. Mastering a musical etude can greatly benefit your development as a pianist and give you music to perform as well.

One of the most common questions I get is how to build strength on the piano. This is a tough topic because practicing the wrong way can potentially lead to injury, so you must always be aware of how you feel. The fact is, there is no simple method to instantly gain more strength in your piano playing – but this exercise will definitely help.

This is a very tough exercise that will take some practice to master. However, with persistence and patience you will find that this can be a very beneficial exercise to use and it’s something that you’ll only have to do once every practice session.

If this exercise is too challenging, try this exercise first:

This is a common question when it comes to dealing with your piano. Many aspiring pianists play their pianos a great deal. But the volume can be an issue (and there is no volume control on your piano!) Yet, you have to be considerate of the people you live with as well as your neighbors. Are there any ways you can quiet the sound of your piano? There are a number of things you can do to lessen the volume of your piano!

Closing the Lid

The most obvious solution to making your piano quieter if you have a baby grand or grand piano is to close the lid. There are two options for this – you can close the lid and keep the fly lid open:

Or you can remove the music rack and close the lid completely to make the piano even quieter:

This will do a lot to quiet the sound of your piano without compromising your ability to play it. If you like, you can pull the music rack out of the piano and place it on top of the piano. (You will want to protect the finish with a towel or other cloth first.)

Getting a Rug

Another technique is to place a thick rug underneath your piano. About half the volume of the piano comes from the bottom. So, placing a rug underneath it will absorb a lot of the sound. This can be a good solution if you have neighbors that live below you that are complaining about the sound of your piano. You can even get more creative and add foam or other insulation-type materials to the bottom of the piano to further dampen the sound.

A String Cover

Adding a felt string cover in the piano can lessen the sound somewhat as well. It’s not going to do that much to cover the sound but it will help.

Ask Your Piano Tuner

While covers, lids and rugs can dampen the sound of your piano, your tuner/technician can help as well. You can actually voice down the volume of your piano by having your tuner needle the hammers to make them softer.

Over time the felt on the hammers harden and make the piano sound very bright – this is especially true on many Asian production pianos because Japanese felt is harder than German felt. By having your tuner voice the piano down it will make the piano sound more mellow and lower in volume. You may appreciate the warmer tone as well!

Mute Rails on Upright Pianos

This feature is very common and available on many upright pianos. The middle pedal on some upright pianos functions as a “practice pedal” which lowers a piece of felt in front of the hammers and makes the piano extremely quiet.

This works surprisingly well and is the easiest solution for people with upright pianos.

Mute Rails on Grand Pianos

They aren’t as common but there are muffler systems that can be installed on grand pianos that function in a similar way to practice pedals on upright pianos.

Placing an Upright Piano Near a Wall

Most of the sound of an upright piano comes from the back – where the soundboard is located:

Depending on where you place the piano in your room you can dampen the sound of the instrument. Placing an upright piano right next to a wall will make it quieter because a lot of the volume of the piano will be absorbed by the wall. Better yet, put dampening material behind the piano. This will also lessen the amount of sound that travels through the wall to neighbors.

Silent Systems

There is new technology available that can completely turn off the volume of your piano! A felt covered bar is placed in front of the hammer shanks so the hammers don’t hit the strings at all. Optical sensors read the performance of each key and transmit it through MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) to a sampled or other virtual piano sound played through speakers at any volume, or even through headphones for totally silent playing!

The only downside is that you’ll be hearing a simulation of a piano and not your actual instrument. However, you can hear the sound of a 9-foot concert grand even if you are playing an upright! The other good thing is that it is possible for you to enjoy the feel of a real piano.

Treating the Room

The sound of a piano relies heavily on the room around it. You can add pieces of furniture or heavy curtains to absorb some of the sound if you feel the piano is a little too loud for the room.

We made a whole video about the best size piano for your home and how to treat the room in case it’s a little too loud for it’s surroundings:

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.