Many people wonder if there is anything they can do to improve their fundamental skills of playing the piano once they progress past the basic lessons to become a competent player. Are there any tips, tricks, or advanced exercises you can employ to p
I can’t tell you how many times my wife Florence (florenceflutist.com) and I have attended a concert where we see the musicians barely pecking out notes when tuning. Many times we look at each other wondering how they can possibly be sure of their tuning. That’s because they aren’t playing the notes anything like they will play in the performance.
One great technique when tuning is to play the tuning notes separately so you can compare the pitches. It may be easy to tell if you are in or out of tune, but to know whether you are high or low can be difficult when playing at exactly the same time. You can certainly overlap the notes, but have at least some time where you can hear the pitches separately.
The best way to play a tuning note is to alternate notes and play them out – just like you would in the performance. On a piano you can add D and F below the A forming a D minor triad which is easier to tune to. (You can also provide an A Major Chord, A – C-sharp – E and the A an octave above.)
For an example of this technique watch the video included with this article. Florence and I demonstrate our technique for you that we use in every performance we play.
Sometimes soloists are squeamish about tuning – they don’t want to play too loud if they don’t have to. (They seem concerned about alienating the audience). But it is far better to endure a few moments of tuning than suffer through an out of tune performance!
So remember to take your time with tuning and make sure the soloist is comfortable and has time to adjust their instrument as needed. You should never rush a tuning and you should always make sure you are tuned properly before you perform. Your audience will appreciate it!
You might think this sounds simple. (All you have to do is play a note, right?) but there is actually a lot more to it. Tuning correctly with other musicians is vital to a good sounding performance. I can’t tell you how many times my wife Florence
There is a lot of conflicting information about this topic floating around online. When it comes to rebuilding a piano or buying a rebuilt Steinway piano, you will encounter a lot of different opinions from various sources. There are some people who
This is a topic that many people might not be familiar with but it’s actually very important to be aware of. When it comes to buying a new piano, do you need to break it in? Much like getting yourself a new baseball glove, you may wonder if you nee
This is the time to celebrate the life of my father, Morton Estrin who was a world renowned concert pianist, recording artist, and master teacher. His uplifting spirit will be missed. My father knew early in life that he had found his passion, and wo
There are different schools of thought about how to approach the relative minor in solfeggio. We know that “Do” is always the tonic of any major key in movable Do solfege – so with no sharps or flats, C is “Do”, if you add one flat, F would be “Do”, and so on. But what about the minor? If you have no sharps or flats you could be in the relative minor of C major, which is A minor. So what syllables do you use then?
Some people will say that “Do” is always the tonic, so in the case of A minor, A would be called “Do”. I personally don’t like this approach and will explain why using “La” as the tonic of the minor makes perfect sense.
The great thing about using “La” as the tonic of the minor is that you don’t have to use accidental syllables where there are no accidentals found in the music. For example, if you were in A minor and there are no accidentals, if you started the tonic on “La” it would be: La, Ti, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La. However, if you tried the same thing starting on “Do” it would be: Do, Re, Me, (accidental syllable), Fa, So, Le, (accidental syllable) Te, (accidental syllable) Do. This makes no sense; Having accidental syllables where none exists in the music is confusing.
Just think about dealing with pieces based on modes. The tonic can start on any of the tone degrees. Imagine figuring out all the modes starting on Do. This would be an arduous task! Instead, all the modes are simply like starting the major scale on different tone degrees. A dorian mode would be Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do, Re. So, all the modes are that simple to figure out!
Needless to say, I am a big proponent of starting the solfege on “La” when it comes to relative minor keys. It is particularly helpful in pieces that go back and forth between the major and relative minor. I would love to hear your opinions on this subject.
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.
Last time we discussed the differences between Fixed Do and Movable Do Solfeggio. Today we are going to go a little bit more in-depth and discuss how to handle minor keys in movable do solfege. There are different schools of thought about how to appr
Last week we talked about how long piano strings last, today we are going to discuss whether or not it’s possible to replace only a single string. This is something I deal with on a regular basis. I have very intense practice sessions and I regularly break strings on my Baldwin SD-10 concert grand piano.
When it comes to piano, you should always have an experienced tuner or technician replace the string for you – unless you are well versed in servicing pianos. You must install the correct gauge string properly so it matches the other strings – you will want to make sure it’s wound tightly and that the becket (the part of the string that points out from the hole) is flush, among other issues that must be addressed when replacing a string. It’s not a job for an amateur.
If you’re familiar with other string instruments, like guitar for example, you know that replacing a single string can be a bit problematic. In the case of a guitar, replacing one string will cause that string to stand out from the older ones on the instrument. It will have a brighter sound and it will go out of tune much more easily than the strings you already have on there until it stabilizes. When it comes to piano, you will find similar problems.
Replacing a single string on a piano will cause that string to go out tune quite regularly. It will need to be touched up regularly – possibly eight to ten times before it holds a tuning. What a lot of piano tuners will do is to stretch the string a little sharp and insert a small rubber wedge to avoid hearing the out of tune string. The next time they come to tune the piano the string will probably hold pitch better and they can hopefully get the piano back to normal.
What I suggest for serious players is to become somewhat competent in touching up the tuning of your piano. I own a tuning hammer and a set of wedges and I constantly touch up the tuning of my piano. This enables you to enjoy your piano without having to constantly have a technician or tuner come over to tune your new strings. It’s worth learning if you find yourself breaking strings regularly. Not only that, but you can keep your piano in tune longer by touching up the tuning between piano technician visits.
When it comes to copper wound bass strings, there is a bit more involved. These strings are very specific and it may require you to send in the string to the manufacturer and have them send you a replication. Mapes is a great string manufacturer that provides this service. If the piano is very old and the bass strings are a bit tarnished, a new bass string could be significantly brighter than the others. At this point you might consider replacing the whole set of bass strings which could really brighten up the sound giving new life to your piano.
It’s not the end of the world breaking piano strings, but it requires some work and the help of an experienced tuner to remedy the situation. If you find yourself breaking strings regularly, you should consider learning how to touch up the tuning on your piano. You may also consult with your piano technician to see if there are issues with your piano that are causing strings to break.
Last week we talked about how long piano strings last, today we are going to discuss whether or not it’s possible to replace only a single string. This is something I deal with on a regular basis. I have very intense practice sessions and I regular
So, what do we mean by movable-do or fixed-do solfeggio? These are two distinct types of solfege and there are a number of variations on those styles as well.
With Fixed-do, C is always “do”, D is always “re”, E is always “mi” and so on through the scale. You don’t account for flats or sharps. So, it is basically note naming. The notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C are called: do, re, mi fa so, la, ti, do.
Movable-do is different from fixed-do except for the syllables. The notes in movable-do are based on pitch relationships so that “do” is the tonic of the major key you are in. So, in a piece with no sharps or flats, C is “do”. In a piece that has one sharp, G becomes “do” because you may be in G major. In a piece in G major (with F-sharp in the key signature) with movable-do, the notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G would be: do, re, mi fa so, la, ti, do! This is true for all keys. “Do” is the tonic (first note) of whatever key you are in. So, for example, if you had 5 flats in the key signature, D-flat would be “do”! You might wonder what the purpose of this is.
You also account for accidental syllables:
do – di – re – ri – mi – fa – fi – so – si – la – li – ti – do
Descending chromatic scale is:
do – ti – te – la – le – so – se – fa – mi – me – re – ra – do
Movable do can be extremely valuable for developing your ear. It enables you to hear all intervals since all scales have the same pitch relationships. For example, a perfect fifth will always be a perfect fifth whether it’s a C to a G, or a G to a D, or anywhere else. Utilizing movable-do can help you learn the pitch relationship between notes. It is a great tool for comprehending the music you hear.
Movable-Do
A great tool for hearing music
As a young child I was taught solfege and it is an extremely valuable skillset I utilize whenever I hear or play music. In fact, whenever I hear a piece of music, I automatically translate it into the syllables which helps me know the notes of music just from hearing it. It makes it possible to play by ear and to transcribe music I hear into written notation.
The problem with Atonal music
The whole idea of movable-do solfege is based on tonal music – having a tonic – that is having a starting note of the scale and all the pitch relationships between. Without this context, movable-do is meaningless and doesn’t work with atonal music.
Fixed-Do Solfege
Note naming is more important than you might think.
If you play the piano or the flute, it is probably not a big deal naming notes. Once you know how to read music, the notes are the notes and translating them to syllables may seem pointless.
But if you are a conductor, things are quite different. You have a many instruments in different keys and different clefs. It can be a great challenge knowing what notes you’re looking at. Note naming becomes an essential tool in this case for having a baseline for all the notes and naming them appropriately. It is also essential to communicate pitches with members of the orchestra.
Which One is Better?
This really depends on the situation and what your goal is.
If you want to be able to hear music and develop the ability to sight-sing music, transpose at sight, and transcribe music, learning movable-do solfege is an extremely valuable tool in achieving this. You will learn the relationship between notes to a very advanced degree that will make reading, transposing, and dictating music much easier.
Fixed-do solfege is a valuable tool in learning how to read a conductor score filled with various transpositions and a variety of clefs and being able to know what the absolute pitches are. If you’ve ever seen a conductor go through a score and digest it on the fly (realizing the music at the piano) it’s awe inspiring.
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.
If you’re a musician, you are probably familiar with solfeggio (or solfege). But, if you are unfamiliar with the term or need a quick refresher course, please check out our full video on What is Solfeggio? So, what do we mean by movable-do or fixed
This is a good example that shows why composers would use this method. In the case of Bach, the counterpoint illustrates this clearly. Two-part inventions are simply two musical lines; there are never more than two notes played at the same time. If you look at the music you will notice that each hand plays a different melody but it comes together brilliantly with Bach’s writing.
Today we will be dealing with bar 13, the eighth note in the measure. This is where the first instance of this double note occurs. I suggest getting a copy of the music and following along with the video.
So what do you do when this occurs? Do you have to play the note with both hands? Actually, you only have to play the note with one hand! The reason that composers do this is to show the sensibility so you hear the connection that occurs with each voice. You will know that this note is a part of both lines and while it doesn’t require any special attention, it is important for understanding the music.
As you progress into later period music you will notice a lot of these double notes and while the music might be much more complex it still retains the same function as it does here. It’s a way to illustrate where the music is going and how the lines are moving. So don’t worry, you won’t have to play the same note with both hands – although you can if you want – it’s just merely a way to further illustrate where the composer is going with the music.
Thanks again for joining me, if you have any more questions please send them our way. I’m Robert Estrin, Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
If you have played piano for any length of time you may have come across this situation. Sometimes your music will have the same note written for both hands and they are meant to be played at the same time. You might wonder how to approach this and w