6 February 2016 Buying The Best Digital Church Piano

Buying The Best Digital Church Piano

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Ready to upgrade your music program? Want to purchase the best digital church piano to fit your needs? It may not be as easy as it appears. Buying the top of the line just because it’s the best won’t necessarily give you what you need. Likewise, purchasing a low cost keyboard on sale won’t provide you with the motivational sounds you’re looking for.Buying The Best Digital Church Piano

There is a process to finding the best digital church piano for your congregation. Here’s a few things to look for.

Stay away from keyboards that are too complicated for your needs

Digital pianos come in all sizes and styles. They come with a variety of abilities, and many different options. As a musical director, it’s easy to get “wow’d” into one of the largest and most expensive keyboards available. Do a quick search online and you’ll find many top of the line digital pianos being recommended for church music programs. Yet for many pianists and keyboardists, they never use the great majority of the options available on the church piano available to them.

Yes, you have to be able to create the perfect sound. Focus on choosing a digital church piano that is performance based, not work based. Some digital pianos are designed for the studio, giving you many options to create and record the perfect sound. Digital church pianos will be played and performed with on a daily basis. Make sure it offers only what is truly needed for the person that will play.

Purchase one that provides a great sound

While some churches go all out and purchase top of the line digital keyboards, the next will undercut the process and purchase the lowest piano available. You get what you pay for is always true, especially in the world of digital pianos. If it doesn’t sound very good, it won’t deliver an enjoyable sound to your congregation.

Buy one that is as portable as you 

Have you ever stopped to consider the different places you bring your keyboard to, or what is possible if you had the right digital piano in your possession? How about heading off site with a youth group? Or performing a concert at a sister church? Sure, you can make just about any piano work. But if you understand your needs before you buy, a professional piano dealer can help you select the right church piano that makes the process easy. It’s not just the keyboard, it’s the USB connectivity, the stand, the speaker functionality, the ports. Together it all creates a digital church piano that offers you the greatest potential.

Have additional questions about choosing the right digital piano for your church? Stop by today and see our wide selection of pianos, perfect for whatever needs you may have.

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1 February 2016 Advantages Of Practicing On A Digital Piano

Advantages Of Practicing On A Digital Piano

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Debating whether to invest in a digital piano for your child, or sticking with the ever-faithful acoustic piano? Each have their distinct advantages and disadvantages.Advantages Of Practicing On A Digital Piano

For most piano players, their roots stem from an acoustic background. And in many cases acoustic pianos offer a world of benefits to every level of piano playing. But in today’s technological world, digital pianos do offer some distinct advantages.

Advantage #1: Lots of opportunity to change the sound

When you look at a high quality digital piano, you can’t miss the buttons and levers that bring different sounds to life. Push a button and your piano instantly turns into a harpsichord. Push another and you’ll move to an organ. And that’s just the beginning. Each voice has it’s own variations, with the ability to switch things quickly to make it brighter, or more mellow.

You can adjust things to match your playability. Like a lighter touch? Change it with a button. Want different reverb options? Change it stronger or lighter. Not only can you change it based on the song your are playing, you can use the different functions to change the mood, add creativity into every song you play. The ability to change the sound at the touch of a button can add to your creativity, and make you a better player. Boredom will never come with this many functions.

Advantage #2: The recording function can improve your playing

One of the best ways to become a better piano player is to hear how you play. In fact, people have been recording themselves for years. (Only digital makes it easier.) Play a piece until you’re reasonably sure you play it well. Record. Listen. Then use it to change and correct the errors you heard in what you played. When you’re busy playing, you miss the tiny details that become oh so obvious when you listen. This can improve your playability in just a short period of time.

Advantage #3: Use the headphones

Using headphones while you practice offers many distinct advantages.

Feel like playing and practicing … at midnight while the rest of your family sleeps? Headphones give you the ability to play any time without a sound.

Feel a little self conscious when you pick up a song for the very first time? Headphones allow you to plunk away at a tune and play it badly, until you repeat it many times to help it improve.

Get easily distracted while you play? Headphones can bring you to your own private world. It helps you stay focused while you play.

Of course there are many other advantages to practicing on a digital piano, these are just three. And is digital playing perfect? Nope, there are always advantages and disadvantages to everything. But if your ultimate goal is to become a better piano player and have fun with it along the way, owning a digital piano may give you options you would never have with an acoustic. They are amazing instruments, one you’ll fall in love with from the beginning.

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26 January 2016 Why Is A Grand Piano Better?

Why Is A Grand Piano Better?

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When someone mentions the word piano, what comes to mind? For many of us, it’s the thought of a grand piano. We don’t see an upright piano in the corner. Instead, we see the grand piano commanding attention in the middle of the room.Why Is A Grand Piano Better?

But is a grand piano better? Is that the piano all piano players strive to play? Aesthetically, the answer may be yes.

While grand pianos usually command an audience in a room, uprights are generally placed in a corner or off on the side. Out of sight, out of mind.

But what about quality?

With a grand piano, it is all about the size. A concert grand piano is 7 to 10 feet longer than an upright; a baby grand measures in at about 5 feet. The length of the strings and the size of the soundboard increases at the same ratio.

Longer pianos have longer strings, which produce richer, more in-depth sound. The shorter the string, the more the human ear perceives it as a harsher tone.

The action also changes. In a grand, the action remains horizontal, working with gravity to create sound. In an upright, the action is sideways and requires force to create the same sound. Because grand pianos are often place in better rooms, better conditions, they often command a better sound. Compare that with an upright placed in a corner, out of the way.

Yet none of this changes the fact that a high quality piano – upright or grand – has the ability to produce beautiful music.

Is a grand piano better? It depends on your point of view. It depends on your ability, the maintenance, the quality of the piano. Both can offer you years of enjoyment, from any room in your home.

Which do you prefer?

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23 January 2016 So You Want To Play Piano In A Band

So You Want To Play Piano In A Band

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Your teen has been hinting around they want to start playing the piano. It could be they want to play in a band.

Being in a band is cool. They envision themselves as the next member of Rolling Stones. But before they ever head out on tour, music has to become a part of their lives.So You Want To Play Piano In A Band

Playing piano in a band is different than playing for yourself. You have to rethink the way you play.

Rarely will you be playing things you learned, and instead will be making things up as you go along. You improvise. You invent.

Which means the art of playing comes to be. You start thinking as a “we” rather than a “me”. You have to compliment every other member of the band in order to create a sound that works together.

Because of the wide variety of sounds on a digital keyboard, they are often tasked with creating many different sounds. Learning traditional piano is important, but it also becomes beneficial to understand how to incorporate other sounds as well. The challenge is to play those parts as if you are the other instrument, not as if you are a solo pianist.

It takes training.

It takes practice.

If you are playing like a guitarist, you have to build chords like a guitarist. If you are playing like a horn player, you can’t play multiple notes at the same time.

You also have to be a better listener, a better ear player. Like any skill, the more you do it, the better you will become. Playing by ear is often called upon whether mimicking popular music, or creating new sounds. Chords come together and compliment each other throughout the song. As you listen to others, it becomes easier to implement your own ideas.

Is your teen ready to start up a band? The first step may be to get them into music. A quality digital piano is the best place to start. Stop by today and we can help you find the perfect instrument.

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21 January 2016 Vintage, Antique and Used Pianos, What’s The Difference

Vintage, Antique and Used Pianos, What’s The Difference

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People use the words vintage, antique and old interchangeably when describing a piano.

The adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” can describe many things. And often times the words we use to describe are subjective at best.Vintage, Antique and Used Pianos, What’s The Difference

But is there a difference in the way the labels are used? Does one hold more value than the other?

In general terms, the word antique describes an object of considerable age valued for its aesthetic or historical significance. While time periods change depending on who’s valuing an item, antique is usually associated with something 100 years or older.

Vintage is usually used when describing an item that was popular in a different era. It’s not necessary that the object was produced within that time period, simply that it mimics the look and feel of the item that peaked in popularity during that time frame.

In some cases, people look to labels to help determine value. But this only holds true if both sides agree. Arguably, antique should be used to describe a piano with considerable age. But in all other cases, your good judgment will come into play.

In a physical situation, where you can touch, feel and listen to a piano, you can decide quickly how well it meets your qualifications. If evaluating it from a virtual world, a picture online, being conscious of the meaning and what is used to place a piano in that category will be a judgement call at best.

Which brings us to used. The term used applies to everything that can no longer be sold as new. It’s been used on a showroom floor. It’s been owned by a previous owner. Antique can be used. Vintage can be used.

No matter what label a piano has – antique, vintage or used – playability is never guaranteed. A piano can easily be classified as an antique, and not be able to produce a sound. A piano listed as vintage can be severely out of tune. A piano with the used tag can be comparable, even better than a new one in some cases, depending on upkeep and maintenance.

In all cases, research is your best course of action. Learn all you can about your potential purchase. Do your research online. Trust a piano expert who can guide you along the way. Then purchase the right piano for you.

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17 January 2016 Piano, Pianoforte or Harpsichord

Piano, Pianoforte or Harpsichord

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Have you ever looked at the history of a piano? You’ll find a variety of keyboard instruments listed throughout time. But are they all related to the piano?

The harpsichord was a very popular instrument in the 18th century. While a piano uses hammers and dampers to strike the strings and create a sound, a harpsichord performs the function differently. When the keys on a harpsichord are depressed, the strings are plucked rather than struck. Therefore the sound produced will be different than what you hear from a piano.Piano, Pianoforte or Harpsichord

Today, if you purchase a spinet piano, you are purchasing a small harpsichord. Spinets have only one string per note. Because they are smaller, they will have less volume, less harmonics, less sound than a more traditional harpsichord or its piano counterpart.

With the popularity of the harpsichord in the 1700s, changes quickly followed in an attempt to make them even better. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the pianoforte was invented in the early 1700s by artist Bartolomeo Cristofori. He was charged with caring for the harpsichords belonging to the Florentine court of Grand Prince Ferdinando de Medici. While maintaining them and attempting to make them better, he designed a harpsichord with loud and soft capabilities, which eventually came to be known as a pianoforte.

This invention mirrored today’s pianos, a harpsichord with hammers and dampers, two keyboards and a four range octave. They were highly complex instruments that were also very expensive to produce. Over time, pianofortes were reinvented, reincorporated, and redesigned, eventually becoming what we today call the piano.

You will sometimes find pianofortes also described as an antique. In reality, not many pianofortes survive.

Today’s pianos provide a rich sound quality that we’ve come to know and love. Are we still reinventing and redesigning? Yes, all the time. We’re moving into the digital world. Many are relying equally on acoustic and digital pianos to create the desired sounds.

Stop by today to see our entire line of acoustic and digital pianos.

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12 January 2016 Should I Buy A Piano If I Want To Learn?

Should I Buy A Piano If I Want To Learn?

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Ready to learn the piano? What are the first steps you should take?

When it comes to piano playing, practice isn’t everything. Even the best musician would have trouble focusing and playing a piano that is of poor quality. Imagine playing your favorite song and half way through, a tinny, out of tune note throws off your focus. The rest of the song is off. You can’t get your head back into your music.Should I Buy A Piano If I Want To Learn?

That makes sense for a top professional. But what about a person just starting to learn? After all, they won’t play a complete song for quite some time. Is it really that important to own a quality piano? Can you use a smaller, inexpensive keyboard? Are there other options?

Learning to play the piano means acquiring a variety of skills. It requires locating the notes, controlling the tempo, reading the music. It demands attention to detail and a thorough understanding of the technical aspects of playing, including positioning of the body, controlling the touch of the keys, and the speed in which you press down on the keys to create music.

When it all comes together, it allows you to become a better piano player.

The feel of an acoustic piano or an high quality digital piano will provide the highest level of satisfaction, and give you the best results as you navigate learning to play. Yet playing on high quality equipment doesn’t have to equate to buying an expensive piano. There are many ways to ensure you receive high quality workmanship at a budgeted price you can afford.

Think of buying used. Because quality pianos have been in the marketplace for generations, you’ll find quality in both the used and the new. If a piano is used and has been well kept, it can offer you years of enjoyment at a lower price than if you purchased one new.

Go digital. Digital pianos allow you to own a high quality instrument that takes up less space in your home (perfect for people living in small quarters), and gives you the opportunity to move your piano anywhere you choose.

Restoration. Have a piano passed down from generation to generation? A little restoration may create a piano you can be proud of for many more.

Not sure what’s the right direction for you? Start by visiting our retail location first. We can help you understand the differences between new and used, acoustic and digital. In no time you can define the right instrument for your needs, and choose one budgeted perfectly for what you hope to achieve.

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9 January 2016 How Long Will It Take To Learn The Piano?

How Long Will It Take To Learn The Piano?

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Have you decided playing the piano is in your future? How long will it take to learn the piano? It’s a difficult question to answer as it depends on a variety of factors.

How much time do you have to dedicate to learning the piano?How Long Will It Take To Learn The Piano?
A small child of 6 or 7 years old may only have the attention span to play 10 minutes per day a few days per week. An adult may be able to focus 40 minutes per day or more. However, this practice difference doesn’t always equate to improving your skills. A child of 6 or 7 doesn’t have the fear factor in place. She isn’t distracted by her abilities, or let previous setbacks cloud her mindset. She may be able to more easily play things simply because she chooses to do so. Yet in most cases, you’ll reap the rewards by putting more time into the process.

What is your inspiration?
Nobody can learn to play the piano if the desire isn’t behind them. Forcing your kids will never make them great piano players. Instead, it’s important to stay motivated from week to week, always having an understanding of why you want to learn in the first place.

How good of a teacher do you have?
Have you ever tried to learn something on your own? While it’s easy to pick up books or follow a software program, it can be difficult to stick with it long term. You need motivation. You need a teacher that will continue to push you from week to week. When you’re having trouble moving forward, they will guide you along the way. They know how to push you to achieve more.

Do you have time for regular practice?
Learning music is like learning a new language. Every time you put it to use, it helps you progress further in your knowledge. Forget assigning a time frame; a rigid schedule of thirty minutes a day on the clock can make you lose motivation. Instead, create regular time frames in your days for challenging yourself with concepts you need most. Give yourself tasks: I will play this new piece three times. Be patient; you’ll advance the more you work at it.

Do you love it?
When we love things, we spend more time with them. We strive to be better. We attempt all we can to learn more. Look for the things that help you stay motivated to reach your goals. Then continue to do them every day.

Realize you or your child will probably never be a world renown piano player, and that’s okay. Everyone is capable of playing the piano at some level. Depending on how you apply yourself, you can create beautiful music and enjoy the process for many years to come. You don’t know how much talent you have until you apply yourself. It’s the journey, not the destination. Make it a fun and enjoyable ride.

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2 January 2016 New Years Resolutions Perfect For Piano Teachers

New Years Resolutions Perfect For Piano Teachers

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Ready to start the New Year out right? If you’ve been wanting to increase your piano teaching business, there are a few things you can do to breathe new life into it.

1. Start playing the piano againNew Years Resolutions Perfect For Piano Teachers

Unless you are a concert pianist with the opportunity to play daily, you’ve probably fallen into the pattern of listening to your students play a whole lot more than you do. Change that up a bit this year. Schedule time each week for you to sit down and enjoy playing something new. Give yourself new exercises and a plan of action. It will energize you and make you more interested in what you teach your students.

2. Discover a new composer

We all fall into ruts. We all like to stick with things we are comfortable with. Yet with so many different composers out there creating a variety of different music styles, why stick with the same style you’ve played for years? Head back to a classic. Try someone new. Choose a new genre. Explore a new style – it may wake you up to new potential.

3. Sit down and give yourself a plan

When was the last time you sat down and created a plan for your piano teaching business? You know, thought out how many students you like to have and what you hope to help them accomplish? How would you like your business to look a year from today? Maybe bring on a few new clients with different goals? Maybe clients that help you stretch as much as you can help them? Writing a business plan creates a structure for you to vision out what you do and how you’ll help your community overall.

4. Network, network, network

You’re busy. You’ve been meaning to connect with other people in the industry, but who has the time? This year, make the time. Search out those music stores you’ve been meaning to connect with. Find other piano teachers in your area to build relationships with. Find a forum online to see what people in other parts of the world are doing. Sign up for a conference to learn some new skills.

5. Refresh your resources

Have you been using the same training materials for years? Are you still teaching in the same way? The world has changed over the past few years thanks to technology. Look for new resources that can help you teach in a brand new way. Do a search for apps. Look at new software. Because kids are more technologically savvy than ever, maybe now is the time to incorporate technology into the way you teach piano.

6. Learn something new

Speaking of technology, does it scare you? Do you use social media as well as you could? If not, sign up for a class to learn more about it. You can always look at your local community college – most have adult education programs that give you insight to many different concepts and ideas.

7. Enjoy more, stress less

What causes you the most stress in your business? Vow to find a way to reduce or eliminate that altogether. What brings you joy? Put more of that into your life. By focusing in on taking away problem areas and increasing the tasks you enjoy the most, you’ll begin to fall in love with the piano all over again.

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29 December 2015 Things To Do Before Your Child Begins Piano Lessons

Things To Do Before Your Child Begins Piano Lessons

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Is this the year you sign your child up for piano lessons? Great choice. A lifelong love of music can inspire your child to do great things. Yet to give them every advantage, there are a few things you should do before your child ever has their very first piano lesson.Things To Do Before Your Child Begins Piano Lessons

These few things will speed up your child’s learning curve, and help nurture their love for music for years to come.

Buy the right piano
Yes, there is a right piano and a wrong one. Ideally, having a piano that sounds great and motivates your child to keep practicing will be your best investment. That means finding a quality piano that is kept in a room in your home where they will enjoy playing on a regular basis. It also means having a piano that creates beautiful music.

Too many times parents find the least expensive method of attaining a piano – a free piano on Craigslist anyone? – and assume that is good enough in the beginning. Yet you can’t enjoy creating music if the piano isn’t capable of creating a beautiful sound. If it’s out of tune, or has notes that won’t play, your child will never stay motivated from week to week.

There are many options when buying the right piano. Acoustic. Digital. New. Used. The key is finding a piano dealer you can trust to help you find the best piano for you.

Put the piano in a great place to play
Kids often fail at practicing because the piano is either in a gloomy part of the home they don’t enjoy playing in (the basement) or it’s in a room where other activities constantly take place (the television). Even when they are starting out, a child will remain positive about their practice schedule if they feel included in the family. They enjoy others hearing what they have to play.

Maintain your piano
A piano isn’t a piece of furniture you can tuck away into a corner and neglect for as long as it’s in your home. It needs consistent maintenance to keep it in top playing form. You need to find a piano tuner and have them come in on a regular basis. Once you have one you work well with, they will help you develop a schedule that’s right for your piano. Children are far more likely to practice when they enjoy hearing a pleasant sound while they are playing.

Have a piano be a big part of your home
If you want your child to play the piano, it’s never too early to bring a piano into your home. Even as infants, they can grow comfortable touching the keys and hearing sound. If you play, set up a regular schedule so they can hear you play too. (And if you don’t, maybe it’s time for lessons for yourself.) Music is something everyone can enjoy for a lifetime. The more you make it a part of your home, your lifestyle, the more eager your children will be to keep playing.

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