Piano Lessons- Music Theory Lessons

This is a question I get all the time; almost every day! There are really two factors involved in this question: The condition of the piano and the ability of the player. I’m going to cover both of these topics for you.

If you have a piano that you think might be experiencing some problems, you have to assess the situation carefully and make sure you’re not throwing good money after bad. Problems that arise in pianos differ immensely based on the type of piano you own.

If you have an older (10 or more years) cheaper Asian production piano that is experiencing issues, it might be time to consider buying a new piano. Otherwise, you might end up costing yourself a lot of money in ongoing repairs. These pianos are built with a limited lifespan; they won’t last forever and eventually you will need to upgrade if you are a serious player.

If you have a higher quality piano, many times you can get repairs or work done that will prolong its life for generations. In some cases – specifically when it comes to soundboard issues – you might be stuck having to pay thousands of dollars for a rebuild. If you keep your piano in a nice climate, you close the lid at night (particularly if windows are open) and you generally maintain it well, you probably won’t run into major problems for quite a while depending upon how much you play. If you have an older piano that has been handed down through your family, it will probably require some work at some point.

Small repairs with the action or strings require some expense but they are nothing compared to the cost of rebuilding a piano. If you are looking at a bill in the tens of thousands of dollars – or even a few thousand dollars – it might be time to consider buying yourself another piano depending upon the level of the instrument. Many dealers will even let you trade in an existing piano toward the cost of a new one. It’s a great idea to consult a piano technician you trust and ask them honestly if it’s worth putting money into your piano or just buying a new one. For example, in a vertical piano the hammers travel sideways, so they don’t have the benefit of gravity for repetition like grands do. So eventually you will progress to the point where you can play faster than the piano will respond. When you advance even further as a player you will want something larger than a baby grand because the tone develops differently and the keys are longer (behind the fall board) giving a more uniform feel when playing black keys and between black keys close to the fall board.

Moving a piano is a very complex process. It’s not as simple as boxing it up and sending it through the mail! A piano must be moved with the utmost care and consideration for the instrument. As a company that sells pianos all over the world, Living Pianos is very well versed in what it takes to get a piano moved across the country and around the world.

The biggest issue with moving a piano is hiring the right people. When it comes to moving a grand piano, you never want to hire a general purpose mover; you need to hire a professional piano mover. You might be able to have a general purpose mover take care of an upright piano, but even then, you are much better off hiring professionals who specialize in moving only pianos. When it comes to moving a grand piano, you need special equipment such as a grand board, straps, pads and the ability to attach the instrument to the side of the truck. You will also need to remove the legs and pedals. It’s much easier and safer to have a professional who knows how to take care of these things deal with it; hiring an amateur or trying to move the piano yourself could damage your piano.

The problem you will run into next is that there are a very limited amount of companies that move pianos across the USA. These companies have trucks crisscrossing the country all the time and you have to time their arrival in your area correctly in order to get the piano moved quickly. If one of their trucks is in NY and you live in CA it could take a long a time before they are back in your area. You can contact several piano movers to see who can move the piano quickest and for a reasonable price. This is why it’s extremely difficult to get a piano moved across the country on short notice – make sure you plan well ahead for a complicated move across multiple states.

In reality, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to move a piano across the country. It’s a tough task and something certainly left to professionals to handle. Plan ahead of time and never wait until the last minute to plan a piano move. If you need information or help with a piano move, you are welcome to call us here at Living Pianos.

Middle C is something that every musician is familiar with. Today we are going to go a little more in-depth on this common phrase and explore some things you might not be aware of.

The piano keyboard has a number of C’s on it, so you might assume that middle C is right in the middle of the piano. While it is near the middle of the piano, there is a slight problem:

The note in the absolute middle of the keyboard is not C. The exact middle is right between, E and F above middle C. So why is middle C called middle C?

There are actually 2 C’s near the middle of the piano:

So which one of these is middle C? It is the lower one.

This is middle C:

It is technically closer to the middle of the piano but this is not the only reason it’s called middle C. The reason it has this term is because where this note is located on the grand staff. While the treble clef and the bass clef form the 10 lines in the grand staff, there is a space you can think of as an 11th line that runs between the two. This is where middle C is located:

This makes perfect sense! Middle C has less to do with its location on the piano keyboard and more to do with where it is located on the grand staff. This is a very important note because it helps you in reading both notes in the treble and bass clefs. Naturally, when middle C is written in the bass clef, the ledger line is closer to the bass clef and when it is written on the treble clef the ledger line is closer to the treble clef – but it is the same note!

It’s fascinating to think about how many parts there are in the average piano. Think about how many string there are, how many keys there are, and then how many moving parts are involved with each press of a key; it’s daunting to think of just how many parts there are in a piano!

A typical scale design has around 220-240 strings. In the bass section there are 1 or 2 strings per note. Each one of these strings has a tuning pin as well. We haven’t even gotten past the strings and we already have hundreds of parts!

Most notes on a piano have dampers and damper heads (hundreds more parts). Consider the furniture of the piano, the rim, lid, prop stick, legs, the pedals, and more, and there is the soundboard, pinblock, agrafes, bridges and plate.

Believe it or not, we haven’t even scratched the surface for the parts on the piano! The action of the piano is where the majority of the parts are. When you push a key on a piano you are setting in motion around a hundred parts – that’s for each key!

You’d think that finding the right size piano for your home would be an easy thing to figure out. You might assume that the room size dictates what size piano you should get. There is actually quite a bit more to it.

Two issues to deal with when buying a piano are who will be playing it and whether it will disturb other people in your household or neighbors. Beginning players will not generate a great deal of sound out of any piano. However, generally speaking, the larger the piano, the more volume it produces. You probably don’t want to buy an instrument that is going to be a nuisance for people in your home or next door; it’s something important to consider. Fortunately, there are silent piano systems you can add to pianos to mute the sound and hear sampled piano sound in headphones – making the size and volume of the piano, less of a concern. Although this will compromise your playing experience.

It’s important to take note of the room you are going to put your piano in. Not only does the size of the room matter, but many elements affect the volume and tone of the instrument. For example, if you have carpet rather than hardwood floors, the piano will be somewhat muted since the carpet absorbs sound. Half of the sound comes out the bottom of grand pianos. Sometimes a room with hard floors can produce too much sound in which case you could consider putting a rug under the piano.

The floor is not the only aspect of the acoustics of a room. Drapes, soft furniture, and other absorbing objects can dampen the sound of the piano. A large piano can sound much quieter in an acoustically dead space.

Naturally, you must consider the physical space needed for a piano. A small baby grand piano is typically 5 feet in length and about 5 feet wide (as all pianos are because of the 88 keys). Concert grand pianos are usually around 9 feet long. The length of a piano is measured from the key slip (the piece of wood in front of the keys on the keyboard) to the very end of the lid. You should also allow for an additional 2 feet for when the bench is pulled out in front of the piano.

Upright pianos can be a good choice for smaller rooms, but they are less flexible in placement since the backs are unfinished. Therefore, they generally go up against a wall whereas grand pianos and baby grands look good from all angles and can even be tucked into a corner.