2 April 2017 Why Adult Piano Lessons Help With Aging

Why Adult Piano Lessons Help With Aging

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Want to keep your brain young and healthy? Want to bring a little bit of fun into your life?

Consider piano lessons. 

Many people believe they reach an age where they no longer can try something new. Where their ability to learn new skills is too difficult a task to take on. It’s simply not true. The real problem lies in that most don’t want to go through the awkward first steps of struggling to bring something new into their lives. They don’t want to embarrass themselves in front of their peers. Why Adult Piano Lessons Help With Aging

But developing new skills is vitally important in maintaining cognitive strength. And there is no time limit to starting. 

Learning to play music helps to guard against cognitive decline, memory loss, and the loss of being able to distinguish consonants and spoken words. And it’s not just a child this helps. It helps the first time learner, no matter what age they begin. 

Musical training helps to create lasting neural pathways in the brain. Learning and practicing give a person motor control and coordination, as well as listening skills that can boost the brain’s capacity later in life. This impact has been measured through a study that shows professional musicians have significantly more gray matter than non-musicians. And because music requires both the left and right brain for processing, it stimulates many different parts of the brain in a variety of ways. 

Music also helps reduce the difficulty many older people have with discerning conversations in noisy situations. This skill is most likely derived from the preciseness required and developed during music training. Memorizing notes, playing tunes, and improvising throughout the process helps tie cognitive skills together. 

In order to keep your body fit as you age, exercise is an important skill to take on in a variety of ways. The same holds true with your brain. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. 

The damage done to cognitive function by age can be reduced by stimulating the mind and encouraging the brain to continue to work in new ways. How you do that is up to you. 

Learn piano today. 

Filed Under: Piano Music, Piano Playing Tagged With:
30 March 2017 Digital Piano: Mac or PC?

Digital Piano: Mac or PC?

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People invest in a digital piano for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons we love them is because of the many built-in tools available for learning and making music. 

One of the questions we’re frequently asked is: How do you record actual sound of your keyboard onto your computer? There really isn’t a difference between Mac or PC; what software packages you prefer is up to you. What is important is to understand the connection process and how to make it a reality. Digital Piano: Mac or PC?

There is a difference between a MIDI connection from your keyboard and the process used to record sound. If you want to record the actual sound, a MIDI connection will not do the job. A MIDI interface will only transmit your performance data to software on your computer. This includes things like which notes you have played, or how loudly you play your music. 

If you want to record your actual sound – the music you produce by playing the keyboard – you need to connect the line out from your keyboard to your Mac or PC. 

The way you do that depends on your budget. 

The easiest and least expensive way is to connect an audio cable from the audio output on the keyboard to the mic port on the computer. If your computer or iPad doesn’t have a mic port, you can buy an external sound adapter that has a separate headphone and mic port and connect this to your USB port. While not the highest quality way to connect, it is the easiest and gets the job done. 

 A more cost effective and reasonable quality sound solution is to invest in a linelink, or an out-USB interface that bypasses your existing soundcard and outputs studio quality audio directly to your computer. A y-cable converter allows left and right stereo sound to be sent from your keyboard and produce a higher quality sound to record. 

The best approach would be to create a high quality professional recording studio using a professional audio interface. You can find all-in-one home recording studio packages that connect your keyboard to your computer, giving your freedom to record a variety of inputs, from vocal and maybe guitar. Most complete systems will pack everything – audio interface, microphone and headphones all in one box. They all come with their own software packages as well. 

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23 March 2017 Why It Matters If Your Piano Is In Tune

Why It Matters If Your Piano Is In Tune

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Have you ever attended a concert performed by an orchestra? Before it begins, one person will provide a note to tune to. Then the rest of the members take the time to ensure their instruments are in perfect balance. 

Can you tell the difference between an out of tune instrument with one that is in tune? It depends upon your musical ability. 

We walk before we learn to run. We start out with 101 classes in college before we progress to 400 level coursework. We don’t start out as experts at anything we choose to do. We must start at the beginning, learning the fine details as we go along. Only after we experience different levels do we start to understand the nuances within a niche. And that’s what makes all the difference. Why It Matters If Your Piano Is In Tune

Take a bottle of wine, for instance. Place an award winning bottle next to a boxed wine from your supermarket. Is there a difference? Of course. But to someone untrained in the nuances of wine tasting, they may not understand these finer points. They may purchase the box solely based on price. They may purchase it because they lack the knowledge of what makes a Merlot different from a Pinot Noir. Or what the difference is from a table wine from one more refined. 

If you want to learn more about wine, you have to study wine. That means trying different grapes from different regions. Learning about perfect growing conditions. Understanding what wines are paired best with different types of foods. 

Over time, your skills are refined. You understand the differences and quickly can tell one from another. You can pick out what makes one better than the other. 

That same experience is found within music. That’s why the musicians will all tune to the same note before a performance. It’s also why every musician invests in the highest quality instrument to give them the results they are looking for. 

Because as our knowledge grows, our senses improve. And the more aware we become, the better our experiences become. 

We perceive music on a deeper level, and the experience attained from the performance becomes inspiring in more ways than we might have previously appreciated. 

Sure, a child can play just about any keyboard or piano you put in front of them, no matter what condition it’s in. But to have a child begin to hear and feel the difference, perceive music on a deeper level, and very quickly improve their levels of understanding, quality is everything. 

Are you going to trust that to a free piano you found on Craigslist?

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19 March 2017 Moving Tips To Prevent Piano Damage

Moving Tips To Prevent Piano Damage

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If you hire a general moving company to move your personal belongings to your new home, they’ll often recommend hiring a specialty company to move a piano. Why?

Pianos can weigh anywhere from 400 to 1,500 pounds or more. Not only are they bulky and heavy, but they are also very fragile pieces of furniture. One wrong move and you could lose your piano forever.Moving Tips To Prevent Piano Damage

Piano moving companies won’t attempt to move your piano with just manpower. Instead, piano moving companies use special tools to get the job done. Skids, ramps, pads and slings all make the process a little easier.

Smaller pianos generally are transported in one piece. Concert and grand pianos are usually dismantled before moving.

An experienced piano mover will wrap the instrument in moving pads and secure it to a piano board before it is every lifted from its resting point. Then the piano board is used to slowly move the piano up or down the stairs.

In some circumstances, a crane may be used to hoist a piano from a higher floor level if there isn’t an elevator in place that can handle the piano. Then they will use dollies to transport it on level ground, using ramps to move the piano onto the truck.

A piano company doesn’t just move your piano, they dismantle it at the beginning, and they also reassemble your piano in your new location.

Spend a few minutes in your new location considering your piano’s final placement. Humidity and temperature affect the sound, tuning and performance of your piano. Try to find a place that is less prone to moisture, sun or extreme temperatures. Stay away from drafts or vents where airflow can have an impact.

After the move, wait a few days before tuning. By that time, the piano should have settled into its new spot, and hold the tune as you begin playing in your new location.

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16 March 2017 Why Piano Tuners Preserve The Sound Of Music

Why Piano Tuners Preserve The Sound Of Music

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What makes your piano work?

Some might say it’s the piano player who presses the right keys in the right order.

Others might get into the mechanics, describing the way the hammers meet the strings.

In reality, both are right to some degree.Why Piano Tuners Preserve The Sound Of Music

A piano is a sophisticated instrument built with thousands of parts. And if one of those parts isn’t working correctly or is substandard at best, the final product – the music – isn’t going to be its best.

That’s where piano tuning comes into play. Piano tuning is the science of ensuring all working parts are operating together. But more importantly, it’s also an art form to ensure each tone sounds good with the other.

That’s something you can’t get when you sit down at the piano for the first time. It’s something a good piano tuner develops over years of practice.

Imagine sitting down at a computer and making a change to one note. That one change didn’t just impact the tone of that one note, it impacted the way the piano creates music altogether. Because if that note is now not congruent with the others, it will sound “off”.

Which means that every time one change is performed, the same thing needs to be done 88 separate times to ensure every key on the piano is impacted the same way. Every key on the piano is an independent machine, coming together to create a beautiful sound.

Ant that’s the challenge. That’s where art form comes into play.

It takes gluing fabric into place, fitting tiny cork stoppers into tiny wooden holes, using tweezers to slip tiny pieces of paper into place, sanding just enough, turning tiny screws you can barely see, working in tight places with intricate tools and very large fingers – it’s the fine details that matter most.

And all of this doesn’t come naturally. It takes time to learn the best approach. It takes practice to get it all right.

But if you do, the sound of music it produces, in the end, is simply superb.

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13 March 2017 How To Be A Better Piano Player

How To Be A Better Piano Player

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What do great musicians have in common? They all practice on a regular basis.

Becoming a better piano player isn’t about going into competition with other in the field; it’s about going into competition with yourself. What can you do to improve? What can you do to take your playing piano skills to the next level?How To Be A Better Piano Player

Piano playing can be a lot of fun when you feel there are no limits to what you can achieve. The better pianist you become, the more enjoyable it will be. And these few things may help you improve your technique.

Learn Music Theory
People approach playing the piano because they have the desire to create beautiful music. But like every other art, there are many different dimensions to become proficient and excel. Music theory allows you to be able to see the music in different ways. You can recognize key signatures better, recognize and form chords that connect and work together, learn about chord progressions. By learning the theory behind music, it will help you go from tinkering around with music to actually understanding why things work the way they do and how to apply things to work together.

Go Classical
Most new students today want to play the piano to be able to play their favorite songs. And usually that has more to do with wanting to play Maroon 5 or Ed Sheeran than it does Bach or Beethoven. But Bach and Beethoven are considered all-time greats for a reason. Classical music is very demanding and can steer you into huge improvements in your technical abilities. Classical music can help you build a solid foundation with your piano playing skills. While you don’t have to make it an everyday occurrence, introducing classical music into your regular training can make you even better when you do pick up your favorites.

Take Lessons
Every professional has a coach in their lives. And many professionals have multiple coaches for different things. While you may have no desire to turn professional with your piano playing abilities, there is something to be said for having a coach. Lessons can help you overcome what’s holding you back, even if you have no idea what that thing might be. Because we all reach certain levels in our lives and can’t move forward until we learn what’s holding us back. That’s what a teacher can do for your piano skills. They can guide you from where you are today and help you get to a place of improvement. And they can do that in many different ways. With goals and deadlines in place, you’ll have a new lease on a skill you choose to improve at. And if you’re really serious about playing and want to improve, this could be the best investment you make in yourself.

How could you become a better piano player?

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9 March 2017 Do You Need A Better Keyboard?

Do You Need A Better Keyboard?

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Did you purchase a simple keyboard for your child to determine if they enjoy playing the piano before you invested more? Are you debating if now is the time to upgrade and purchase a better keyboard?

Many people start out as simple as possible. Before investing a lot of money into a piano, they prefer to get a few lessons under their belt before taking the next step. But practicing on a piano that is less than perfect can actually take away your ability and drive to move forward with your lesson plans. It can take away your goals and desires.Do You Need A Better Keyboard?

There are two primary reasons to upgrade and buy a better keyboard than what you’re working with now.

1. Your keyboard is old and worn out
Unless you have a professional keyboard, chances are your current keyboard may not be performing up to par. Beginning and mid-range keyboards are designed to last a few years at most. The more play and activity you give it, the faster it will wear out. Look for cracked cables and cords, or a faded or striated appearance. You can also listen to the music – is it starting to sound hollow or buzzy? Old keyboards aren’t designed to have repair work and last for years of time. At some point, it’s time to purchase a new one.

2. Your keyboard no longer fits your musical goals
If you’ve been playing for any length of time, chances are your ability has improved significantly. New piano players grow quickly in the first few months of training. And the more you learn, the more you’ll appreciate a better instrument. You should also take into consideration what your future goals are. If your child loves music and anticipates playing piano for years, now may be the perfect time to step into an acoustic piano. If your child has envisioned creating their own band, a keyboard with better action and a more piano-like feel will give them flexibility in both what they learn and how they transport it from place to place.

Evaluating your needs and determining the best choice for your situation can leave you feeling stuck and unsure. Stop by and allow us to help you to evaluate your needs and show you different opportunities that can meet your needs.

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5 March 2017 Piano Careers: Becoming A Music Therapist

Piano Careers: Becoming A Music Therapist

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There’s something special about music. It relaxes us. It motivates us. It inspires us. It can take us instantly back to a place and time in the past. 

Every culture has a unique connection to music. Every person has a life interwoven with the music that has been introduced into their lives. From the time we’re tiny infants, we associate music with some of the best times of our lives. Piano Careers: Becoming A Music Therapist

  • Like a young mother singing softly to her infant.
  • A group of teenagers bonding over a song.
  • A bride and groom dancing and creating a memory.

That’s why music therapy is a growing field. This type of therapy can be used to help an individual that suffer from mental or physical ailments or disorders. All levels of musical experience are incorporated into music therapy, from listening to playing to writing. Music therapy has been found to help with illnesses and disorders such as:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Grief
  • PTSD
  • Cognitive issues
  • Autism
  • Alzheimer’s
  • Dementia
  • Heart disease
  • Seizure disorders
  • And more.

Music affects feelings and emotions. Listening to certain songs, for example, can bring a person back to a time and a place they remember fondly. And when you listen to the right song, it can have subtle effects on our bodies. For instance, the right music can temporarily lower blood pressure and heart rate. It’s also been found to cause the brain to release less cortisol, a hormone that has been dubbed the “stress hormone.”

Music therapists often start out their careers with a love of music. They’ve developed strong music skills early on, and music therapy is a great way to continue learning more about how it impacts our lives. Most start their careers with a degree in music therapy, though many branch out and grow with master’s degrees as well. 

Have you considered starting your child on the path to success with music? Piano lessons are a gift that can keep on giving for many years to come. 

Filed Under: Piano Lessons, Piano Playing Tagged With:
28 February 2017 What Makes Piano Brands Different?  

What Makes Piano Brands Different?  

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What Makes Piano Brands Different?  Baldwin
Hamilton
Chickering
Bosendorfer
Haessler
Kawai
Sohmer & Co
Pramberger
Schimmel
Steinway
Wurlitzer
Yamaha

Start searching online to find a good, reputable piano manufacturing company and you’ll quickly be overwhelmed by the sheer number of piano builders to do business with. In fact, in the last 200 years or so, there have been well over 12,000 piano brands in the marketplace. That’s not models … brands.

How do you know which manufacturer to choose?

How do you know which one is best?

And what’s the difference anyway?

Every piano on the market is made in a different way, in its own factory environment, using parts selected by a particular manufacturer. Some are made to be inexpensive alternatives; others are built by hand and designed to be collector’s items; true works of art.

But in all cases, a piano is as unique as the person playing it.

Pianos come in two styles: grands or verticals. Grands can be small to large: a small parlor grand can be 4’5” to a concert grand as large as 10’2”, while a vertical spinet can be 35” in height to a professional vertical at 52”. Choice is usually based on the size of the space you have to place your piano.

When making your selection, you are looking at the touch, or function of the action, and the sound. Each piano creates its own sound; some may be bright with lots of treble, others have lots of bass. Some may sound muffled while others may be vibrant with lots of voice.

It’s a personal preference. What sounds good to you? Because the better your piano sounds, the more likely you are to enjoy making music with it. Testing multiple pianos is the only way you can do that.

Are you ready to see how different piano brands sound?

Filed Under: Buying a Piano, Owning a Piano, Piano Brands Tagged With:
20 February 2017 Digital Piano: Is There A Difference Between Beginner, Intermediate And Advanced Playing Needs?

Digital Piano: Is There A Difference Between Beginner, Intermediate And Advanced Playing Needs?

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As a piano dealer, one of the most common questions we receive is “How do I buy a good piano for a beginner?” Do a quick search online, and you’ll find the same question holds true. 

Because when you’re new to an industry, starting up a new hobby, you want to learn what you can before investing in the right equipment. Buying something you’ll outgrow quickly is never a good tactic. Digital Piano: Is There A Difference Between Beginner, Intermediate And Advanced Playing Needs?

And in there lies the problem. If you purchase a good digital piano as a beginner, how long will it last? Will you outgrow the digital piano in just a few short months? 

That could impact your budget big time. Which is why it may be necessary to add more questions as you search for the right piano. Instead of just asking:

  • What’s the best digital piano to buy for a beginner?

Follow it up with:

  • What the best digital piano that will allow me to grow from a beginner to an intermediate or advanced piano player too?

The difference between pianos will provide you with more opportunity not only for playability, but also for sound and function. 

People transition to higher digital piano levels because they have progressed into further understanding of music. They’ve moved beyond basic note letters, chords and compositions and most likely have more general knowledge of music theory. More advanced pianos have a wider range of rhythms and tones, along with more functionality and connectivity options for other platforms. 

By asking the question early in your search process, you can quickly learn what items make the biggest difference. It can also help you choose when to upgrade your requirements to choose a digital piano that can accommodate many of your needs. Possibly for years to come. 

What digital piano is right for you?

Filed Under: Buying a Piano, Piano Playing Tagged With:
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