This is a common question. Sometimes you will see pianos with more keys, (as in the Bosendorfer Imperial and Stuart & Sons concert grand pianos) but most of the time they have less. Is this something to be alarmed about? Let’s explore this subject.

The original design of the piano evolved from the Harpsichord which had about five octaves of keys. Throughout Beethoven’s life, the piano evolved in its robustness as well as the keyboard range. He demanded more out of the instrument in regards to dynamics utilizing techniques that simply outgrew what pianos of the time were capable of producing.

By the middle of the 19th century, pianos typically had 85 keys. By the end of the century, pianos began to emerge with the now standard 88 keys. It wasn’t really until the late 1880s when 88 keys became standard on pianos.

So if you have a piano or a keyboard with less than 88 keys is it something to worry about? It really depends upon the music you are playing. If you’re playing very old music – that was originally written for the harpsichord or early piano – it won’t be an issue at all. However, if you play a great deal of 20th century music, then you might want the full 88 keys but it really isn’t a deal breaker since these keys are used sparingly.

Much like the sostenuto or middle pedal, 88 keys are a late development in the the evolution of the piano and not necessarily something you absolutely need unless you’re playing a great deal of relatively modern music.

Welcome to the first in a three part series on learning Clementi’s Sonatinas Op. 36 in C major. If any of you out there are piano teachers or intermediate level piano students, you are probably familiar with this piece. This is a great piece for students. I have personally taught it hundreds of times, and I have encouraged all intermediate level students to learn it. Today we are going to discuss some tips for the first movement.

This might seem like a crazy question to ask. Upright pianos are extremely common and popular and for many people with limited space are the only option they might have for a piano. In fact, in many parts of the world such as Europe and Asia, upright pianos are the standard type of piano because of smaller homes and limited space. Today we are going to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of buying an upright piano and you can decide if it’s a good fit for you.

This might sound like a crazy question, however, this might be possible!

Player pianos have come a long way since the days of paper rolls and pedal-based systems:

Eventually player systems progressed to floppy disks, to CDs and eventually to what we have today, which are player systems that are barely even visible on the pianos:

Today’s systems are controlled wirelessly through remotes, smart phones, and tablets that actually work off your home’s wi-fi network. Because these systems are based on a wi-fi connection, they could theoretically be hacked!

You’d need to have someone who is pretty adept at breaking into home networks and a strange reason to hack your piano but anything is possible right?

The only scenario I could see this being even a remote possibility is if you’re a famous musician who stores your piano recordings on your piano’s player system – such as Disklavier or other recording device. Maybe someone would want to steal your music or destroy your work for malicious purposes. This is a far-fetched scenario, but it could potentially happen!

Expert hackers will always find a way around encryptions but keeping strangers out of your wireless network or piano is dependant on you to come up with a strong passwords and not share them publicly.

While I don’t think people will be hacking into your piano anytime soon, if you have a wireless player system on your piano and hear your piano playing in the middle of the night for no reason – this could be why!

Memory can be one of the great challenges for musicians. You take the time to learn a piece, practice it again and again, and master it. Then you may forget something! Today we are going to discuss how to retain the music you’ve learned.

This is a unique challenge that pianists face. Unlike pretty much every other musician who can bring their instrument with them, typically the pianist will have to perform on whatever piano is in the venue. Sometimes you will have very limited time to prepare yourself and try out the piano so it’s great to have a quick routine ready to check the piano.

There will be times that the first note you will ever get to play on a certain piano is at your performance. This type of instant adjustment is very difficult and if you can avoid this you should. Assuming you have some time to try the instrument you will want to make sure you check certain critical aspects of the piano.

The first thing I always like to check is the pedals, even before the action or anything else. This is because pedals can be drastically different from piano to piano. When I was growing up my father had a number of pianos around the house and the difference between the pedals on the Steinway baby grand and Baldwin grand were immense. On the Steinway if you even leaned your foot on the pedal the notes would begin sustaining and on the Baldwin you had nearly half an inch of play before anything would happen. It’s incredibly important to know how the pedals respond because it can drastically alter your performance.

Another thing to check with the pedals is whether or not they make any noise. For example, if the pedal thumps when you press it down with force you will want to depress it gently avoiding noise. One great test is to play a chord and, hold the pedal down and then slowly lift up to observe the point at which the pedal disengages.

When it comes to the una corda pedal (or soft pedal) the results can be dramatically different from piano to piano. On some instruments it’s like throwing a blanket over the piano and on others it is barely noticeable. This can have dramatic consequences on your performance so getting an idea of how the pedal works on a particular piano can be very important. Sometimes a piano will be voiced very bright and you might want to use the soft pedal quite a bit to give a warmer tone. Other times it might be a very dramatic effect and you will want to use it sparingly.

If your music contains sostenuto pedal (the middle pedal) you should check to see if the pedal is even functioning properly. The middle pedal is used rarely and sometimes the pedal doesn’t operate properly! If your music calls for it you really need to test to see if it is functioning properly.

The next thing I like to do is check the tone life of the piano. I do this by playing something with a high melody like a Chopin Nocturne. Getting an idea of the degree of sustain and how long the melody lasts will greatly impact how you perform on specific pianos. You will also want to check to see how quietly you can play on a piano and still control the notes. A nice slow and soft melody will help to determine this.

On the other hand, you will need to test the piano with something big. Sometimes you will play on a piano and if you go above a certain level of volume the sound will become degraded and ugly; in extreme cases you might even experience vibrations and extraneous noises. There could be issues with the damper rail guides or the felt being worn out; these are things you should test before playing a performance on a certain instrument. I will typically play a big chord section from something of Chopin or Liszt. Don’t be afraid to really settle into something and play it like you would during the performance so you discover the limits of the instrument ahead of time.

Knowing the capabilities of a piano before you perform on it can be absolutely crucial. If you have time to perform your entire program or even half your program on your performance piano you should absolutely do it. Understanding the qualities of the instrument will aid you immensely.