Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

You might wonder if there is a difference between the pedals on upright and grand pianos. Not only is there a difference, but there are actually no upright pianos with pedals that function the same as pedals on fine grand pianos!

Let’s discuss each of the three pedals and see how they differ from one-another:

The Sustain Pedal or the Damper Pedal (The Right Pedal)

This is the most commonly used piano pedal and it is the one pedal that functions the same on uprights and grand pianos.

The Right Pedal releases all the dampers so that the tone lives on after you release the keys.

The Sostenuto Pedal (The Middle Pedal)

On a grand piano, the middle pedal functions as a selective hold pedal. It will release the dampers only on the notes that you depress and hold before pressing the pedal. To put it simply: You play some note – while holding them down, press the middle pedal and hold it down to keep the dampers of the held notes from going back down again after releasing the keys. Only those notes continue holding, but new notes played will not hold after you release the keys.

On upright pianos there are a couple different functions for the middle pedal but they rarely perform the function of a sostenuto pedal that a grand piano offers.

Older Upright Pianos

Some older upright pianos have a bass sustain for the middle pedal function. This will only release the dampers on the bass section of the piano and leave the other notes in the middle and the treble alone.

The reason for this is that most pieces of music that utilize the middle pedal have low notes that hold while other notes are played in the upper register. So, it functions almost like a sostenuto pedal in many musical contexts.

Newer Upright Pianos

The trend in recent years has been to move away from a quasi-sostenuto (bass sustain) pedal in upright pianos and replace them with what is referred to as a “practice pedal”

The practice pedal is designed to allow someone to practice the piano while reducing the volume of the piano substantially. It accomplishes this by placing a piece of felt between the hammers and the strings. The hammers then strike the felt and the volume of the notes is greatly reduced. This pedal will “lock” into place by pushing it down and to the left and will enable you to still utilize the right and left pedals on the piano in addition to utilizing the practice function.

This is a very useful pedal for homes or apartments where the sound of the piano could be bothersome to neighbors, parents or other members of the household.

Una Corda or Soft Pedal (The Left Pedal)

This pedal is important because it changes the tone of the piano. On a grand piano this pedal will shift the entire action – you can actually see the keys move from left to right – and the hammers will strike the strings off center making for a softer sound.

Una corda means “one string” because originally pianos only had two strings for each note and this pedal would shift the action so the hammers hit single strings instead of both. Modern pianos have three strings for each note (through most of the piano) and shifting the hammers makes it so they don’t hit the strings squarely. Not only that, the hammers will hit the strings where they aren’t grooved which produces a warmer tone since the felt is softer than the compacted, grooved part of the hammers.

On upright pianos the left pedal does not function at all like it does on grand pianos. It does not shift the action from left to right but typically will move the action closer to the strings.

By placing the hammers closer to the strings, the left pedal will change the touch of the piano but does not change the tone. It is much more difficult to gain momentum with the hammers closer to the string making it harder to play loud, but not change the tone.

There is a little trick you can try with the left pedal on upright pianos. Because it shifts the action closer to the strings, if you hit the pedal quickly, it can make the hammers strike the strings and produce a sound. On some older pianos if you hold down the right pedal and pump the left pedal you can produce some very weird sounds! It’s certainly not meant to function this way but it’s something fun to try sometime.

I hope that this solves the mystery of the pedals on upright pianos. There is a lot of misconceptions about how these pedals function when compared to grand pianos and my hope is that this article has shed light on this subject.

This is a very common question and it has less to do with the player than the style of music being played. Classical music is distinctively different from jazz or other styles of music where you are playing more by ear.

When it comes to jazz specifically you should always listen to a piece before you play it (if you have the chance) because it’s a great way to get the general melody and rhythm in your head before you start playing. Jazz can be very improvisational so it’s always best to know the structure of the song you will be performing. When it comes to jazz and rock, sometimes listening to a piece is really the only guide you have to actually playing it since it isn’t written music.

When it comes to classical music things are much different. In classical, every note is written down and intended to be played as written. As you progress as a classical musician it’s very important that you learn to play a piece without listening to it. You should ideally be able to look at notes on a page and understand what type of sound and melody they should produce.

If you listen to a piece of classical music before you learn it you will find yourself being very influenced by the performance and not so much what’s written on the page. As a kid I used to listen to my older sister Coren (who’s also a pianist and piano teacher in Ohio) playing the pieces I was going to learn later on. I definitely found it helpful to listen to and know the pieces I was going to learn – it did affect my way of learning new music.

You really are better off learning a piece of classical music on your own and figuring it out for yourself. You will be able to learn your own modes of expression and put a unique stamp on the music. After you’ve learned a piece give yourself a treat and listen to not only one but a number of different recordings of the piece you just learned.

Remember, when it comes to jazz and rock, listen as much as you can because the sound and the recordings are your guide to the music. When it comes to Classical music, learn first and listen later.

Controlling the tone and volume of your playing is something that every great pianist must master. Being able to bring out the quietest notes adjacent to the loudest chords will bring out the true color of the music. This can be challenging to achieve but I have some great tips I would like to share with you today.

For this example I’m going to use Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata as it has massive chords followed by extremely quiet sections. If you watch the video above or listen to the piece on your own you will notice the incredible dynamic range this piece exemplifies.

Beethoven was one of the first composers to explore the capabilities of dynamic range in the piano. During his lifetime the piano had developed to a point where it could handle drastic changes in dynamics. This is a later work of Beethoven and you might notice that his earlier works don’t explore extreme dynamic range in this way.

This is a very important decision and it’s something you should take very seriously. Having a teacher help you pick your repertoire is a great option, but there are a few tips I’ll share to help you pick the right piece for your skill level.

Sometimes teachers will make the mistake of having their students learn pieces above their skill level. Having a student playing a complex piece of music can be very gratifying and offers bragging rights for a teacher, but sometimes it comes at the detriment to the student. Learning a piece of music above your skill level will take you much longer to learn and it will be an arduous process. It is incredibly gratifying studying a piece on your level which you can refine to a high level of performance in a reasonable amount of time.

When you are a beginning or even intermediate student, you shouldn’t be playing pieces that take months to learn. Instead, you should try to focus on learning many pieces gradually building up your skill level. You will achieve two things by doing this: adding more work to your repertoire right away and gradually increasing the difficulty of the pieces you learn. In the same amount of time you would spend learning a complex piece, you could have much more music learned and have progressed much further in your playing.

You should also try and learn pieces that you can master playing up to tempo. Learning something and barely being able to get through it will not help you progress as a musician. The piece will not only sound bad but you will probably end up feeling frustrated.

As you progress as a pianist, it’s a great idea to push yourself with each new piece of music you add to your repertoire. You should find enjoyment in a new challenge but always be assured that it’s something you can achieve and master within a reasonable amount of time. As you advance to very complex music you will mature to the point of spending months learning an extended work, but you must be sure you have the skills to handle it.

As you advance in your playing this will inevitably come up and it’s going to be a challenge for many people to overcome. But why would you cross your hands? Sometimes it can be the composer specifically writing something that would require it; sometimes it’s just easier to cross your hands in certain passages; either way, you will eventually encounter this technique in your repertoire.

For the video above I use the first movement of the Pathetique Sonata of Beethoven to demonstrate the technique. In the exposition section of the piece there is a part where one hand keeps playing the same group of notes and the other hand jumps around the keyboard. You simply can’t negotiate this easily without crossing your hands.

How do you handle these sections? It’s always a great idea to learn your hand positions before you start playing. Not only should you have your hands over the first note of the phrase, you should position them over as many keys as you can. By doing this you will eliminate having to move your hand more than necessary – which could lead to wrong notes – and you will have a set position you can constantly refer back to. For specific examples in this piece, refer to the video embedded in this page.

It’s always a great idea to be over the keys before you need to play them. It will help you relax and be able to concentrate on actually playing and not just where your hands are located. A great way to achieve this is by practicing your music right up until the moment where you need to move your hand. Keep practicing the same line over and over and when you get to the notes you need to play next just move your hand over them but don’t play them yet, just get your hand in position. Keep doing this until your hand effortlessly glides to the correct spot and keep doing it until it just feels natural. When you feel confident you have achieved a fluid and precise movement over the keys, play the notes. Continue to play the phrase and the proceeding notes until you feel confident enough to move on.

You can really do this for all your music – whether it requires crossing your hands or not. The best thing you can do is to stay relaxed and be ready over notes ahead of time. You should never play from a position in which you feel like you are constantly catching up.

You’ve probably heard these terms before and there are many differences between them There are also different aspects to each of the terms themselves. In this article, I will discuss the differences between compositions and arrangements and the differences that can lie within each of these two categories. To put it simply:

Compositions are musical pieces that are conceived as a complete work written for a specific instrument or group of instruments. Generally, compositions are to be played as written because it is what the composer intended. The nuance of expression is imparted into the framework of the piece and everything from the notes, rhythm, and all other aspects are as the composer intended. Like an actor in a movie, you will bring your own unique voice to a composition and that will be what separates your performance from others.

Arrangements are pieces of music originally written for one instrument or group of instruments and then transcribed for another instrument. Arrangements can also be a piece of music that is simplified or embellished from its original form without changing the instrumentation. A great example of this would be if a piece of music originally written for the piano is then transcribed for an entire orchestra. There are a number of different reasons for arrangements but generally, the rules are the same – they are interpretations of music which sometimes create entirely new musical aesthetics from the original. In modern pop music, these are referred to as a remix.

Arrangements sometimes encourage the player to embellish, simplify, or improvise with the music in front of them. Some arrangements are not written with strict guidelines in mind so it allows musicians the opportunity to express themselves in ways that compositions might not allow for. While some arrangements are simplified versions of famous pieces, others are highly stylized technical displays.

Transcriptions are a form of arrangement that is generally meant to be played as written. They are musical selections that are taken from one instrument (or group of instruments) and meticulously transcribed for another instrument. A great example of this is “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky. This piece was originally written for solo piano but was later transcribed by Maurice Ravel for Symphony Orchestra. Today, the orchestral version is much more widely played and heard that the original piano version! Some transcriptions are embellishments of original compositions like the Paraphrases of Chopin Etudes by Leopold Godowsky.

You will want to make sure you know whether a piece you are studying is a transcription or an arrangement because there is sometimes a fundamental difference in how you approach the two. An arrangement is generally a fun and new way to share music, while a transcription can be a more serious musical statement.

This really is not as easy as it sounds. Just like finding a good dentist or mechanic, finding a good piano tuner can be a great challenge. Luckily, there are resources available in finding the right piano tuner for you.

It might seem that the best decision would be to simply pick up the phone book or Google the cheapest piano tuner you can find. However, tuning a piano – and especially working on them for more advanced jobs like voicing and regulation – is a very important part of keeping your piano playing its best. You shouldn’t just trust anyone to do this job. If you find a great piano tuner your piano will actually stay in tune longer than if you use someone who is less experienced or gifted. So finding a highly skilled piano technician could actually save you money! The perspective that an experienced tuner offers can also help guide you through important decisions required in the upkeep of your piano.

As with most service professionals, one of the best resources is to contact close friends or relatives who you know have fine pianos. They will most likely have a tuner they trust and would be willing to share information with you. Another great resource is to inquire at a local University that has a performance space. They will most certainly have a piano technician they use on a regular basis. Performance venues (local symphonies) will very likely use a great piano tuner because the piano must perform on a high level for visiting artists.

Another great resource is the Piano Technicians Guild. http://www.ptg.org They are an organization that has been around for years. They have tuners and technicians listed in nearly every part of the country; they can be a great resource in finding a tuner right near you. Keep in mind that there is still a wide range of skills that registered piano technicians possess. I’ve met and worked with many tuners who are part of the guild and they are fantastic people with a passion for the piano.

Something you should be aware of is that a piano tuner is different from a piano technician. All piano technicians are piano tuners, but not all piano tuners are technicians. A technician will specialize in more advanced work like regulation, voicing, fine tuning, and other things while a tuner usually specializes in tuning and may have limited additional skill sets.

How do you get a good sound when you’re playing the piano loudly? This really is much tougher than you might think. If you have ever been around someone who is banging on the keys of a piano you know the sound can be incredibly harsh. Even the most glorious of instruments can sound horrible when played incorrectly. So what’s the secret?

The first thing is learning what not to do. You must be aware the piano is incredibly sensitive to how you approach the keys. If you merely slap the keys, you’re going to get a harsh sound. A piano is not like most instruments. Most instruments have a direct access to the production of sound – especially when it comes to woodwind or brass instruments as well as string instruments. The tone you get out of a piano relies on how you approach the keys.

The proper method is to caress the keys; like a masseuse (with deep energy) it will create a beautiful and warm sound. How do you achieve this? The secret to getting a good tone is to always strike from the surface of the keys. If you strike from above, you will get a harsh sound.

A lot of times you will see pianist throwing their hands up and down and it looks like they are banging on the keys; it’s all an illusion. This is purely for show. If you look at a great pianist, like Arthur Rubinstein playing the Ritual Fire Dance, he would throw his hands up and down as part of the performance but when it came to actually playing the piano, he would strike from the surface of the keys.

The best method is to simply place your hands on the keys and then drop all the arm weight and pressure directly to the bottom of the keyboard all at once. Try this at home. Put your hands over the keys, don’t press them down at all, and then drop all the pressure and weight at the same time – you will produce a clear and beautiful sound no matter how much energy you exert on the piano.

The exception to this is rapid staccato chords or octaves in which the wrists are called into play for a combination of speed and power.

I hope this technique is helpful for creating rich, fortissimo piano playing for you!
Thanks for joining me, Robert Estrin. Please feel free to contact me about any piano questions at all: