Archive for the ‘Acoustic Pianos’ Category
Why Should I Tune My Piano?
September 22nd, 2009
Tune Your Piano 2 to 4 Times Per Year
In one of my last posts, I talked about how to save up for a piano, and mentioned that you should always, always, always be prepared to pay a few hundred dollars to tune your piano at least a couple times a year.
Now, I’m going to talk about how often you should do this, and most importantly, WHY it should be done.
Generally, how often you should tune your piano depends primarily on its condition, the environment its placed in (including weather conditions) and the musical stress and demand it undertakes. If you have a piano that isn’t played often at all and mostly just sits there as a piece of furniture, you should still have it tuned, but you can limit this to once per year. A piano in great condition with regular usage by its owner or students would likely need to be tuned twice a year as the extreme changes in humidity take place over the course of each year. And finally, a piano that is given a serious workout on a regular basis by a professional or several different students would need four tuning sessions per year or more.
The following factors will affect your piano’s tuning over the course of its lifetime:
- Changes in humidity
- Changes in temperature
- Stretching of the strings
- Slipping of tuning pins
- Regular and hard usage
As you get ready for the changes in season, turning your heat on in the winter or air conditioning in the summer means that you are relatively two weeks away from needing your piano tuned. The humidity change causes the wooden structure of your piano to swell or shrink, resulting in its sound going out of tune. You should wait until your house is used to the change in temperature and humidity so that you can get ready to tune your piano.
Here are some other great tips and answers to questions as related to piano care:
How Should I Take Care Of My Piano’s Wood Finish?
Keep drinks off your piano to avoid ring stains. Newer pianos can be wiped with a dry or damp cloth on occasion, while older pianos may need an occasional polish. Be careful not to polish it too frequently and be sure to use a good quality polishing product.
What Does “Piano Action” Mean And How Do I Maintain It?
Take a look inside your piano. You’ll see a harp-like structure that is strung with strings over a huge wooden structure, called the soundboard. You can also see levers, springs, and hammers in the piano, which are connected to the keyboard. When the hammer strikes a string (as you press down on a key), this is called the “piano action.” A lot of technical engineering goes into this complex system, as it needs to respond to every touch of the piano, from loudness, to softness. As the seasons change, the humidity changes cause the felt tips and the wood to change. That’s why you need regular tuning sessions to keep our piano’s action working well.
How EXACTLY Does Humidity Affect My Piano?
We’ve touched on the fact that large changes in temperature (winter and summer) cause the most stress on your piano. Dryness in the air will make the pitch of your piano to fall flat, while moisture in the air will make it go sharp. Additionally, the more repeated changes in humidity that your piano experiences could cause your piano’s soundboard or other wood structures to crack.
Very dry weather can cause the glue that joins the soundboard with other wood parts to weaken, and excess moisture may even lead to rusting. Ideally, a piano can avoid these dangers when it is placed in an environment with fairly consistent humidity conditions (not too wet or too dry), usually between a temperature of 68 degree Fahrenheit and 42% relative humidity.
What Is “Piano Voicing” And How Do I Maintain It?
Your piano’s voice is its tone. As the felt hammers wear down, the tone will change, so frequent services to your piano can help keep the piano voice up to par. This will ensure that your piano will have an even, full tone when you play and produces the widest possible dynamic range in sound.
How Often Should I Have My Piano Fully Serviced?
Maintaining your piano involves three components: pitch, tone, and touch. Most manufacturers and qualified technicians recommend a full service of two to four times per year. The first year of your piano’s life is also its most important year, which will probably require four services sessions. If you have a piano that has not been tuned in a very long time, it will likely need a lot of extra work in raising its pitch with repeated service sessions.
Where Can I Find A Qualified Piano Technician?
You can visit the Piano Technicians Guild, where they have a Registered Piano Technician (RPT) online member directory. Click here to go there now.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Please take care of your piano and get it tuned two to four times a year. My piano has not been tuned in years and when we brought a technician in, he still could not bring up our piano to full tuning because it had not been serviced in so long. Also, I live in Canada where the winters can be very dry and the summers very humid. This does not help at all with our piano. So, take my advice and schedule your piano tuning session right now! Do not put it off because you will regret it (it is more costly when you let it go way out of tune), and you may even cause some of your piano parts to be weakened, damaged, or broken.
Posted in Acoustic Pianos, Piano Tuning & Maintenance | 
Tags: Acoustic Piano, Action, Hammer, Humidity, Piano Service, Piano Technician, Voicing, Wood Finish | 
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How To Save Up For A Piano
September 20th, 2009
A lot of people these days opt for the cheaper, smaller, and more technologically-functional electronic pianos. I don’t blame them, I have one myself and they are a great alternative to a big, clunky piano.
And yet, there is nothing like a big, clunky piano. Even though the piano market has seen a huge increase in electronic pianos of all different kinds, acoustic pianos are still in high demand and have not gone out of style.
If you just love the sound of a real acoustic piano and want one for yourself, I’m going to give you a few tips that you should seriously consider as you enter the wonderful world of acoustic pianos, whether upright or horizontal. When I’m older, with my own place and more money, I’d like to buy a baby grand piano.
Largest of all Pianos, 9-Foot Concert Grand
First of all, you should obviously educate yourself on the different types of pianos you can get. I have listed all the acoustic pianos in another article, which you can find by clicking here.
The type of piano you are going to choose depends on several factors. Where do you live? You may want a 9-foot concert grand, but that’s definitely not going to work if you live in a tiny condo or apartment building. Horizontal pianos usually require the most room, which is why a lot of people choose upright pianos.
What’s your budget? How much are you WILLING to spend on a piano? Acoustic pianos are not cheap these days (especially brand new ones), and there are a lot of extra, foreseeable costs that you need to consider.
You can likely get a small, used piano for several hundred dollars and up. I did some research, and found that newly made baby grand pianos generally cost anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000 USD.
The trick is to really take into account where you live and where you want to place your piano (I highly recommend to measure the space you want to place it in) and then match it up with a piano of relative size and style (horizontal or vertical).
You should have a pretty good idea of the type of piano you want to get. You can then do some research online to figure out the price ranges. eBay.com is a great place to look, especially if you are willing to purchase a used piano.
Now, the trick is to start saving immediately. I plan to save my money for a number of years before I decide that I can afford that $6,000-baby grand piano.
But wait… there’s more. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you only need to save up for the cost of that piano before you can party on with Beethoven and Mozart.
Even BEFORE you think about putting a deposit on a piano, it’s a good idea to get a certified piano technician to check it out. You may sit down, plunk the keys with your fingers, and scream, “SOLD!” to your piano dealer, but there are lot of things that you nor I could see without a skilled technician. That technician can check everything, from the action, to the pedals, to the hammer, to the weighted keys, to the resonance, to the corresponding change in note pressure. He or she can give you the A-OK one whether or not the piano is worth its price. Think of it like a home inspection, or a “second opinion.”
What about movers? You need to get that piano to your place, right? You can count on forking over $200 to $300 for a simple move. Some piano movers are known to charge $100 per step depending on the difficulty of the move.
So, now you have the perfect piano and it’s all nice and settled in your home. You’re done! Right? Wrong.
FACT: New pianos need to be tuned four times during its first year (once with every change in season) and then twice a year after that.
Why? An acoustic piano needs upkeep, no matter which kind you buy. It’s easy to forget about it and let your piano go drastically out of tune. I have an upright console at my house, about 45 years of age, and it’s probably been tuned once in the past 20 or 30 years. It sounds dreadful. We got it tuned a few years ago (very pricey) but the piano tuner could obviously not bring it back up to its full potential, and told us that it would need to be tuned again, and again, and again.
I beg you, do not let your piano go out of tune over a long period of time. It’s such a waste of a beautiful instrument (and your initial investment). Piano tuners do not come cheap, but trust me, they are worth it. They will clean the dust out and position the strings for tuning and let you know if something needs to be replaced or repaired further in your piano.
So, the major things to consider here are space, budget and style. Once you’ve chosen a piano according to those variables, you need to consider the cost of a professional piano technician, piano movers, and regular piano tuners over the years of your piano’s life.
It’s not an investment to be taken lightly. Buying a piano is serious business. Taking care of it is also serious business.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
Here’s a great resource: Piano Information Services Online. Here you can find piano, organ, and keyboard appraisals, piano price listings, and age lookups, and a lot more. I advise you to check it out. Good luck piano shopping! NO impulse buying, please. 
Posted in Acoustic Pianos |
Tags: Acoustic Piano, Buying A Piano, Grand Piano, Horizontal, Piano Information, Piano Movers, Piano Technician, Piano Tuner, Tuning, Vertical |
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How Does A Piano Work?
August 9th, 2009
During this post, I’m going to explain how an acoustic piano operates. It may seem dull and boring to some of you, but it’s actually quite interesting. It’s like taking a look at science, and seeing how it can create art (music).
First of all, what is sound? Basically, sound is a kind of energy produced by vibrations. When any object vibrates, it creates movement in air particles. When the particles bump into each other, they start to vibrate as well. This movement is what we call sound waves. It keeps going until all those tiny particles run out of energy, and if your ears are within range of the vibrations, you can hear the sound.
So how does a piano then create sound? Well, as you push down on a key with your finger, a mechanism inside the piano called the action forces a hammer to go up (in horizontal pianos, such as grand pianos) or forward (in vertical pianos, such as a console) and it strikes the strings.
Piano Hammer
You’ve probably seen a piano hammer before. It looks like a round stick with a head on it, almost resembling a real hammer. The head is covered in very dense wool felt. As the strings vibrate, a musical sound is produced. Connected to the string is a large soundboard, which amplifies the sound a lot louder than the string could produce by itself. As you let go of the key, a felt pad known as a damper drops back onto the string, which stops the sound.
As you may know, when you press down the damper (far right) pedal, it raises all the dampers in the piano sot the strings keep producing sound. The strings then vibrate right across the soundboard to the bridge. The sound is held by the soundboard, cast iron frame, and the case. The sound flows through and out of the piano.
Do you ever wonder why some grand piano’s have their top up and some have them down? When the top is up, a higher tone quality is produced, as well as great resonance. Even the wood used to construct the piano affects its resonance. Obviously, if the wood is of high quality, the resonance will be excellent. If the piano is made with poor quality wood, the resonance will also be poor. And when the top of the piano is left down, the sound is much quieter, but still holds great resonance.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
If you have an acoustic piano, or have access to one, here’s a fun experiment. Sit at the piano and hit the keys, and evaluate how it sounds. Then, lift up the lid (or get permission to lift it up) and hit the keys again. You’ll notice how different it sounds; louder, clearer, and probably with greater resonance. That’s the science of sound! Interesting stuff, if you ask me…
Posted in Acoustic Pianos |
Tags: Damper, Damper Pedal, Hammer, Piano Hammer, Piano Strings, Resonance, Sound Vibrations, Sound Waves, Soundboard, String Vibrations, Strings, Vibrations |
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Types of Acoustic Pianos
July 30th, 2009
Today I’m going to give a little lesson on the types of different pianos you can find.
Basically, there are two categories of pianos: vertical and horizontal. First we’ll take a look at the vertical pianos. You can tell if a piano is vertical by looking at their height and also the position of their strings. Vertical pianos range from 30 to 60 inches high and the four main types include:
The Spinet. This piano has a height of 36 to 80 inches with a width of approximately 58 inches. The spinet is the smallest of all pianos and a popular choice for people who have limited space. A downside of this type of piano is its “lost motion,” which generally means that it has less power and accuracy because of its relatively small size and construction.
The Console. This piano is slightly larger than the spinet with a height ranging from 40 to 43 inches and a width of 58 inches. As an advantage, consoles come in a variety of styles and finishes to match your home. It’s also made with a direct action, so it produces more enhanced tones.
The Studio. Most music schools and music studios use this type of piano. It’s height ranges from 45 to 48 inches and a width of 58 inches. The studio has a larger soundboard and longer strings compared to the spinet and the console, so it has very good tone quality and durability.
The Upright. The tallest of all vertical pianos with a height ranging from 50 to 60 inches and width of 58 inches, this type of piano is also among the oldest pianos. When taken care of properly, the upright can seem timeless and maintains its rich tone well.
The Spinet - Smallest Of All Pianos
Now we can move on to the horizontal piano category. These are also most well-known to be grand pianos. You can recognize their horizontal quality by their length and placement of strings. Of the horizontal pianos, there are six general types:
Petite Grand. The very smallest of the horizontal pianos. While still very powerful a piano, its size ranges from 4 feet 5 inches to 4 feet 10 inches wide.
Baby Grand. This is a very popular type of piano for people who cannot accommodate the space for a very large piano This type is unique because of its great sound quality, aesthetic appeal and inexpensiveness relative to other grands. The baby grand has a length from 4 feet 11 inches to 5 feet 6 inches.
Medium Grand. This piano is just larger than the baby grand, measuring up at 5 feet 7 inches.
Parlor Grand. Also known as living room grand piano, measuring from 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet 1 inch wide.
Semiconcert or Ballroom. Slightly bigger than the parlor grand is this piano, measuring at a width of approximately 7 feet.
Concert Grand. Finally, the largest of all grand pianos. The concert grand measures a width of an impressive 9 feet.
The Concert Grand - Largest Of All Pianos
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
I own both an electronic keyboard and an acoustic piano. My acoustic piano is a vertical console with a medium-dark wood finish. It’s about 45 years old, and was bought by my grandmother when my mother was a child from a piano dealer in Toronto, Canada. The make is “Mason & Risch.”
Acoustic pianos are big investments, and they can also be tricky to move. I don’t suggest purchasing one unless you can afford it, you have the room for it, and hopefully you want to at least use it. You can type “piano dealers” into your favourite search engine to find one near you. Later on, I hope to make a post on how to choose the right piano for you and also what to look for in a piano, and how to prepare yourself for purchasing and moving one.
