This question comes from a viewer (Jay) who asks about deciphering different music symbols. If you’ve read a lot of music then you know there are a ton of symbols and there will undoubtedly be some you are not familiar with.
So how do you decipher these symbols? The first thing I would recommend is grabbing the free: Music Principles Resource on VirtualSheetMusic.com. This should provide a great resource for any symbols you might not be familiar with. There are plenty of other books and resources out there (both online and off) to help you in this process – but there is no substitute for working with a great teacher.
Another thing you can do is to follow along with your scores with recordings of the music. You will be able to pick up nuances which can clarify the meaning of the musical symbols.
Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin: Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729
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Robert Estrin: What would constitute heavy use in a piano?
is it what you play? or the length of time? (3 hrs) If your playing cocktail piano such as the American songbook or some George Shearing or Oscar Peterson, rather than say classical (Chopin Heroic Polonaise) pounding away?