21 March 2015 How To Get The Most Out Of Your Piano Practice

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Piano Practice

posted by

The big day is fast approaching. The moment you’ve waited for is finally here. And you know you have to be on top of your game; the best you’ve ever been in order to come out on top.

No, I’m not talking about the World Cup or the Superbowl. Its your moment to shine as you showcase your piano playing talents in front of an audience. No matter how large or small of a group you perform in front of, it can be nerveracking, especially if you aren’t comfortable with your performance. Yet the best way to be prepared is to know the music inside and out – practice will ensure you’ve achieved all you can.How To Get The Most Out Of Your Piano Practice

But just like there’s an art form to perfect practice for an athlete, there’s also a routing for perfect practice for a piano player. Have you put these ideas into your practice routine?

Commitment
The key to improving your skills as a piano player is to routinely practice without letting other things get in the way. Small bursts every day will benefit you far more than spending long periods of time one day of the week. Build it into your schedule and stick with it, no matter what.

Stay Organized
Keep your space organized and free of noise and disruption. Leave your phone in another room. Group your practice into sections – focus on scales, technical work, sight reading, specific sections of music, etc. Keep a log of how well you do each day, and try and stick with the same routine every day.

Set Goals
If you will be playing at a music festival on a certain date, your goal becomes easy to see. Yet if you don’t have specifics lined up, goals can be harder to stick with. Goals give us motivation and drive to move forward. You can create short term goals – what you want to accomplish in a session. And you can create long term goals – perfecting certain songs by an end date. Make sure you stick with your time periods and reward yourself with your accomplishments.

Spend Time On Problem Areas
As songs become more difficult and complex, you’ll have parts that come and easy, and parts … well, not so much. When you sit down to practice, it doesn’t mean you have to start at the beginning and work your way through the song in its completion over and over again. Instead, mark with a pencil those areas that are giving you trouble. Start there and work through your difficulties. Its much easier to put your focus on a few lines than an entire piece. As you feel more comfortable with the line, then play the entire song and see how well you do at fitting trouble spots in. Continue in this manner until you’re comfortable playing the entire piece.

Practice With Full Concentration
Its hard to do anything the right way if several other things are going through your mind. If you have things that require your immediate attention – taking something out of the oven for instance – complete that task before you sit down to practice. Five minutes of concentrated practice is far more effective than spending thirty minutes of up and down practice. Because of the different skills it takes to fully engage in practicing, having an active mind will allow you to full connect with the music, and help you become better each day.

You Don’t Need A Piano To Study
Piano playing is a skill you can work on even when you’re not sitting down in front of one. When was the last time you took in the symphony? Head out to a concert and listen for each note. How does the music come together? Piano practice makes you more aware of the different parts of music; by tuning in to how music is created, you can improve your own piano playing ability. You can also analyze music you are currently practicing by reviewing each line, seeing it in your mind, even humming it again and again.

Filed Under: Piano Lessons Tagged With: ,
18 March 2015 How To Be A Better Piano Player By Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

How To Be A Better Piano Player By Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

posted by

There are two kinds of skills when it comes to playing the piano. On one hand, you’ll find people that can play by ear. By listening to a song, and sitting down to a piano to feel the notes, in just a few moments they can play the song as if they’ve been practicing it for years.

Then there is reading music. In order to effectively learn how to read music, you must incorporate what you read from the notes in the music and transfer that understanding down into your fingers as they play.How To Be A Better Piano Player By Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

Reading music and understanding it takes time. That’s what practice is all about. Yet the better you get, the easier it becomes. Reading music becomes almost second nature; its something you can quickly transfer from reading to playing, without the necessity of practice to understand how it all comes together.

The concept of sight reading can be one of the most difficult concepts to master as a piano player. As a sight reader, you can take any piece of music, and by reading through it once can convert that knowledge into playing the piece at a fairly accurate level.

In the music world, sight reading is an important skill to have, especially when you’re working with new opportunities every day. In order to improve your sight reading skills, there are a few things you can do.

Practice Every Day
Just like your piano playing skills will improve with every day of practice, so to will your sight reading skills. Consider picking up sight reading music that will help you become stronger with your skills.

Become More Confident With Your Skills
As a piano player, you have two skills developing with every song you play. One is to read the music. Two is to connect the notes to your fingers and be able to play the tune without  hesitation. If you find yourself consistently looking down at the keyboard, second guessing your abilities, try playing in the dark to perfect your skills. It’s a great way to allow you to trust your playing ability, which will give you more confidence in connecting your reading and playing skills together.

Work With Other Musicians
Working with singers or other instrumentalists can bring your music skills together in a unique way. Having others to work with will help you create broader skill set and learn how to hear the music through several different channels.

Chunk Musical Elements Together
When you become a proficient reader, you learn to read based on words, phrases and clauses. You read quickly by seeing patterns and putting things together quickly in your mind. Reading music is no different. The more proficient you become at reading music, the more your eye will gravitate to patterns that appear again and again. Learn to recognize these and use your knowledge to help music flow easier, even when its your first time through.

Pick Up Traits From The Best
Listen to particular composers or genres. Then take what you learn when you pick up a piece of music from that composer or genre. Its not just about the notes; its also about the musical elements and style. Even when the notes aren’t perfect, if you can achieve the flavor of the period just by putting the right mood into the piece, you’ll be able to sound more like the real thing every time.

Filed Under: Piano Lessons Tagged With: ,
14 March 2015 Tips For Teaching Piano To Young Children

Tips For Teaching Piano To Young Children

posted by

When you send your child to school, you know his or her teacher will have the experience and knowledge necessary to teach a child of that age. They will understand what knowledge they already have in place, what skills are easy for them, and what they are capable of learning in the months ahead.

They teach in a style that’s best for the age of the child in the classroom.

Yet piano teachers have a different story.Tips For Teaching Piano To Young Children

They may be working with a 5 year old girl in the morning, and a 72 year old man in the afternoon. Two extremes, each requiring a completely different teaching approach to excel at the art of playing the piano.

As a parent, its important to realize that every piano teacher has his or her own unique talents. They have a strategy to use to teach their students to the best of the ability. To ensure their teaching style matches your child’s learning ability, its important to ask questions about the process before you begin.

As a piano teacher, its important to realize that every age requires a different approach. When you spend your time focusing in on one group, you can quickly discover the little tips and nuances that will make you better at teaching to that age range.

Young children require a certain style of learning. Here are a few things that meet their needs.

Only give them tasks they can succeed at
Children have short attention spans and bore quickly. If you give them too difficult of a challenge, they will quit. Instead, give them small challenges that are easier to achieve and build from there.

Teach by using phrases
If you’ve ever chatted with a child for any length of time, you know that by the second or third sentence, their eyes are wandering, they begin touching other things, they may even get off the chair and begin to dance around. Long lectures are beyond comprehension. They need things quickly to process. At a young age, you don’t need to lecture about the dynamics of piano playing; only provide the steps to achieve the tasks at hand. “Play that quicker” will be better received then a two minute speech on why the composer designed the song the way he did.

Let them think
When you ask a question, don’t jump right into the answer if they hesitate. Give them a chance to think it through. If they are struggling, offer clues to push them forward. Only provide the answer when you see it simply isn’t coming through. Then consider ways to make your questions more understandable in the future.

Play with their curiosity
Kids are naturally curious, and are more receptive to learning when it becomes a game. They like to play. They like to experiment. If you provide them with “what if” concepts, they will be more curious to find the answer. “What if we play these notes together” will press them to want to move to the next level every time.

Experience and reinforcement
Learning to play well comes with lots of practice on a regular time schedule. While a child may not retain all the fancy names for the different terms in music, they will remember concepts with a little practice. Focus in on how they play as opposed to getting the concepts down and being able to pronounce it. The concepts will come in later life; the only important thing today is to give them the love of music.

Filed Under: Piano Lessons Tagged With: ,
12 March 2015 How To Keep Piano Students Motivated

How To Keep Piano Students Motivated

posted by

Why do students quit piano lessons? Boredom. If they aren’t motivated to take action and practice every day, they will eventually reach a point where it no longer makes sense investing in lessons.

Before they reach that point, its important to understand what will keep them motivated, and change things up to keep them coming back for more.How To Keep Piano Students Motivated

Give them a balanced repertoire to work from
When people want to learn the piano, its usually so they can make music they are familiar with and are comfortable playing. When they dive into music they’ve never heard before over and over again, it can be frustrating because they can’t pick out the tune, and have no reference to the outcome. While its important to expand into a variety of genres, its equally important giving them something to strive for. Always ask for suggestions and find things that match their interests. You can find sheet music for every level of piano playing, in every genre imaginable. Pop music, jazz, soundtracks, new age – its all possible, and will help students stay on track.

Start an incentive program
Students can be motivated by a variety of things. And in some cases, bribes work well. While you don’t have to go overboard with promises, as you discover what helps motivate your student, use that to consistently take them to the next level. It can simple things, like a sticker for each level they achieve. Or highlighting their performance at an upcoming recital. Whatever motivates them, use that for all its worth.

Improve your own piano skills by taking lessons
A teachers job is to teach; its also to learn. With technology as advanced as it is today, if its been a while since you’ve taken piano instruction yourself, set up some time to work with an instructor and learn in a new way. Have you ever taken lessons via Skype? Have you used piano games online? With so many different strategies, take the time to review them and find out how you can incorporate some of the ideas into your own teaching methods.

Give students a chance to work together
Facing the same lesson style week after week can become monotonousness. If you have a variety of students working with you, consider bringing like-skilled students together for duets. If you work closely with other instructors that teach violin, cello, or other instruments that compliment the piano, you can introduce them to the world of playing together as well. This will help them understand how they can come together as a larger group and entertain not only themselves, but those around them as well.

Give them a chance to perform
A once a year recital for mom and dad is a great place to start, but the more active you can keep them, the more likely they will be to want to share their talents. You can find a variety of places to perform on a regular basis – nursing homes, senior centers, even local schools may welcome the chance to bring a little entertainment into their community. As their talents increase, opportunities may increase as well.

Filed Under: Piano Lessons Tagged With: ,
7 March 2015 How Many Keys On A Piano Do You Need?

How Many Keys On A Piano Do You Need?

posted by

“I’ve recently started looking at digital pianos. I’m new to piano, but love making music. I’ve noticed as I search through different sites that keyboards come with 61 keys, 76 keys, and 88 keys. Why? Is there a difference? Will I be disappointed if I buy a 61 key? Will it limit my playability?”

Great question, and one we hear a lot when people first come in to our retail location, looking at digital pianos.How Many Keys On A Piano Do You Need?

Like every market, there is room for a variety of things. If you go back in time, to the 18th century, you’ll find the harpsichord was created with five octaves, or 61 keys, while pianos were manufactured with 88 keys.

Today, digital pianos are created in a variety of ways, for a variety of needs. That is why you’ll find you’ll find the variance in number of keys. A keyboard designed with 61 keys will have less features, and offer a less than full range of playability for a musician. It also makes the piano more portable. And because many of today’s songs rarely go beyond the five octave range, a smaller keyboard may be just fine.

However, longevity should also be taken into consideration. Is this a starter piano for a budding musician wanting to learn how to play? Or is it a more sophisticated choice, with plans for continued use in the future?

To ensure you have a top quality piano both in sound and playability, focus instead on these:

  • Make sure the keyboard provides full sized keys. In many lesser quality pianos you will find miniature keys that don’t have the same feel as a traditional piano. To ensure you create piano playing skills that can be easily transferred from piano to piano, learn on a full sized keyboard.
  • A full 88 keys is idea for long term playability. 76 is good, 61 is bare minimum. Anything less won’t offer you the keys necessary to learn to play music effectively.
  • The keyboard should provide touch sensitive keys that are weighted to mimic a traditional acoustic piano. Without it, a student will never learn to control the sound they are producing.

The more a keyboard looks and acts like a real keyboard, the easier time you’ll have learning to play and creating quality music.

To feel the difference, stop by our retail location any time. We can show you the differences between today’s leading manufacturers, and help you choose the right keyboard for you.

Filed Under: Owning a Piano, Piano Playing Tagged With: , ,
5 March 2015 What’s New With Today’s Pianos

What’s New With Today’s Pianos

posted by

If you are ready to give your child the gift of music, many look no further than to the traditional piano. It’s an instrument you can learn to play on your own, taking in both roles of harmony and melody, fully creating the sounds you desire most.

When you think of the sound and playability of a traditional piano – an acoustic piano – little has changed from the peak of their What’s New With Today’s Pianospopularity a century ago. When you sit down to play, running your fingers over the keys on a keyboard, you can easily create the sounds that have been created generation after generation.

Where have the technological advances to pianos been made over the last few years? In digital technology.

To the casual consumer, the concept of a digital piano may equate to the thought of inexpensive toy keyboards that can be purchased at big box stores or electronic stores. You’ll find several options being pushed hard around the holidays.

Comparing these toy keyboards with today’s digital pianos is similar to comparing a toy car you would purchase for your three year old, to the luxury sedan you have parked in your garage.

Today’s top digital pianos are capable of producing sophisticated sounds. Digital pianos are software driven, electronically created, and designed to produce amazing sounds. Depending on the make and model, some digital pianos have been created by sampling some of the top, most sophisticated pianos in the world, which means your resulting sounds will be rich and vibrant. What’s more, they step beyond the sounds of a piano, often incorporating hundreds of other instrument voices into their memory, giving you the ability to create any sound, any mood you desire.

From the beginning, digital pianos offer a wide array of technology tools to help the beginner. For a brand new player that has never played before, choosing a piano with light up features that can “light” the way to playing a song can be exciting. And motivating to keep going.

As your abilities increase, on screen displays can provide you with pointers and tips for increasing your playing skills. Its easier to hear the song, touch the keys, and see the notes, putting all of your new skill set into play.

Digital pianos bring the power of an entire orchestra conveniently into your home environment. If you have a budding musician, going digital can expand the possibilities tenfold. Not only will he have the ability to create entire symphonies with a few strokes of the keys, he can also tap into the Internet and be able to collaborate with may tools that exist all over the world. He can share his attempts at originality, download and store new music, even connect with peers and mentors that can quickly help his level of music sophistication grow.

And the more sophisticated a musician gets, the more tools become available. Digital pianos can come with preset features, providing sounds not possible with a more traditional instrument. How about layering effects? Blending sounds to create unique musical movements. The possibilities are only as limited as a player’s imagination.

If you’ve never looked at what a digital piano can do for the creativity of your child, maybe its time. Stop by, we would be happy to share with you all of the wonders that make today’s digital pianos true works of art.

Filed Under: Buying a Piano, Owning a Piano Tagged With: ,
28 February 2015 Repairing A Broken Piano String

Repairing A Broken Piano String

posted by

Pianos are built to last. As long as you provide your piano regular maintenance, and don’t expose it to extreme conditions, you will almost never have a string on your piano breaking. Piano wire is extremely elastic, and can take quite a bit of abuse before it moves to the point of breaking.

On older pianos, strings can become brittle with age, especially if exposed to harsher conditions and not mainRepairing A Broken Piano Stringtained on a regular basis. While piano strings rarely break with non-use, they can snap when a tuner is attempting to tune the piano, especially if they are attempting an extreme pitch raise.

If a piano string does break, never remove and throw away the piano string. In all cases, a piano repair technician will attempt to reuse the wire whenever possible.

With a broken bass string, which is core wire with other wire wrapped around it, often called a wound string, its best to splice the old string back into place if possible. If not, keep in mind that each bass string on each and every make and model of piano is different. The broken string will have to be ordered to expectations to ensure a perfect fit. Even if the broken string cannot be repaired, by having it as a guide, it can be sent in to be duplicated, to ensure a proper fit for a proper sound.

If more than a few strings are broken, it is usually an indication of a deeper problem within the structure of the piano. The strings are extremely brittle, meaning even minor tuning could continue snapping more of the piano wires.

If this is the case, the only solution may be to restring the entire piano, and restore it to its original condition. Depending on the piano, the sentimental value, and the overall quality of the piano, this could be an expensive proposition. With a full evaluation, it can be determined how extensive the damage is, what it would take to recondition it back to playing condition. Which allows you to make an educated decision on the direction to take.

If you have further questions about the condition of your piano, don’t hesitate to call. With over 50 years in the piano business, we have the experience and the know-how to help you with all of your piano needs.

Filed Under: Owning a Piano, Piano Renovation Tagged With: ,
25 February 2015 Can You Repair A Piano With Water Damage?

Can You Repair A Piano With Water Damage?

posted by

It doesn’t take a natural disaster to fill your home with water. A broken pipe, a busted water heater, or even a leaky roof can open up the potential damage to any room in your home.

And if your piano happens to sit in that room, it could face extensive water damage too.

Once a piano has been subjected to water, can it be saved? Can you repair a piano with water damage?Can You Repair A Piano With Water Damage?

Exposure to water of any kind can be damaging to a piano. Even extreme temperature changes, or a sudden increase/decrease in humidity can create an unstable environment for a piano, requiring extensive regulation of the action and numerous tunings to bring it back to proper performance levels.

If a piano has been sitting in water that has risen to the level of the case or higher, it will most likely be too damaged to be restored or replaced. When the case, soundboard, strings and action are exposed to water, it can cause glue failure, an integral part of the structure of the piano.

The rim and the keybed are the most critical elements to a functioning piano. Once exposed to water, the glue begins disintegrating and cannot effectively be repaired. The strings in a piano have a combined tension of several tons of pressure. Once the water begins penetrating this force, it severely compromises its playability.

Keep in mind that water damage isn’t always an obvious, immediate act. In some cases it is possible to dry out a piano and assume its working fine. The effects may not be truly noticeable until six or nine months down the road.

For a piano that has been sitting in a few inches of water, but the water level has not reached the level of the case, the piano may not be ruined beyond repair. However, moisture will have caused damage, and will have exposed the piano to further damage from things like expansion, contraction, rust and warping. Once moisture makes contact with a piano, restoration is the only way to ensure that it moves back to its working condition.

  • Humidity can cause rust to form on any of the metal parts in a piano, including the strings, tuning pins, action, hardware, or plates that support the tension of the strings.
  • The glue joints and wood grain of the soundboard can be impacted, allowing it to expand and contract to the point of cracking the wood.
  • Mold and bacteria can form in different places throughout the casing.
  • The finish can be damaged, with cracking, checking and other finish defects impacting its look.

In all cases, early action can put restoration potential on your side. As soon as possible, contact your insurance agent to begin the process of reimbursement, and connect with us to begin evaluating the possibilities of restoring your piano. The only way to determine if its possible is to look at its potential. Timing is everything; the quicker you can begin, the better your chance of saving your piano.

Filed Under: Owning a Piano, Piano Renovation Tagged With: , ,
21 February 2015 Forgetting Your Piano Can Turn Moving Day Into A Horror Story

Forgetting Your Piano Can Turn Moving Day Into A Horror Story

posted by

Its moving day. You’ve packed boxes, purchased padding for your dishes. You have friends and family coming to help. You’ve planned the day from beginning to end.

Did you remember the piano?

Most upright and grand pianos weigh between 500 and 1,000 pounds. A standard upright has a width of 5 feet and depth of 2 to 2 ½ feet. A standard grand will be 4 ½ to 6 feet long. Its probably the heaviest, bulkiest, most expensive thing you own.

Forgetting Your Piano Can Turn Moving Day Into A Horror StoryMany people have thought little about the process until it comes time to move. As they grab it by the edges, pull and tug, it quickly becomes apparent that this will not be an easy thing to move. Getting it from living space to truck will be a monumental task. Squeezing it out doors, through hallways and down staircases will be next to impossible.

Unless you’re trained in moving a piano, have experience in moving all types, and have the necessary tools to make it a safe experience, chances are moving a piano won’t be a success. Scratches may occur. Damage may be extensive. And injuries may transpire depending on how you move.

But there is a better way. Hire a professional piano moving company instead.

Measure

In order to provide the proper tools for moving your piano, the professional piano moving company you choose will need to know the dimensions of your piano. Measure the height, width and depth of your piano, and provide this to the movers when you book.

Remove loose parts

Don’t leave your piano until the last minute. Remove any added parts and pack them away in a box labeled piano. Lyres, detachable music stands, lights – anything that sits on top of your piano that wasn’t originally attached should be removed and stowed away.

Don’t forget the piano bench

The lid on a piano bench can easily flip up at the most inopportune times. Pack away sheet music, metronomes and anything else you regularly stow away.

Clean and assess

If your piano has been a apart of your life for awhile, you may not have given it a thorough look over in quite a while. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the different pieces. Are the keys in good shape? Pedals functioning? Wheels intact? By assessing the condition before you move, you’ll have a better idea of repairs that need to be made once its in its final resting place.

Prepare the path

Moving day can be hectic. It will be even worse if the piano movers show up and find the path to the doorway strewn with boxes. Make sure you are aware of when the movers will be there, and create a clear path for them to do their job. Be flexible for changes that may occur during the process. Likewise, make sure you have a clear path at your final destination, and know exactly where the final resting spot will be.

Schedule a tuning

After you are settled in and life gets back to normal, schedule a piano tuning to make sure your piano is in top shape.

Moving soon? Give us a call today. We’ve been helping families just like yours move and keep their pianos safe and secure for over 50 years, and we’re looking forward to helping you too.

Filed Under: Owning a Piano Tagged With: ,
18 February 2015 Different Finishes On A Piano

Different Finishes On A Piano

posted by

Pianos come in a variety of woods.

One of the most common is ebony (often called ebonized), which isn’t actual ebony wood, but instead is an inexpensive veneer that has been painted black. While black may be considered traditional, it by no means is your only choice. Mahogany, cherry, walnut and oak are all popular woods. IDifferent Finishes On A Pianof you prefer exotic woods, you can find bubinga, rosewood, and many other styles and colors. And if you prefer color, you can find pianos painted white or ivory, or in some cases through special order you can find red, blue, or many other original colors.

In addition to the wood itself, you will also find a variety of finishes available. Pianos are typically finished in one of two ways – high polish (high gloss) or satin finishes. High polish produces a near mirror-like quality, where as satin will reflect light but not images.

You can find variations on satin finishes. Matte, which is completely flat, will reflect no light. An open pore finish, common on European pianos, provides a grainier texture as the grain is not filled in before finishing is completed. Semigloss is a finish partially between high gloss and matte.

While finish is entirely a personal choice, it is important to note that pianos finishes do take on different qualities, and therefore require different levels of maintenance. Satin finishes tend to show fingerprints more than do the high polish finishes.

Most piano finishes are either lacquer or polyester. A lacquer finish was most common for pianos produced from the early 1900s into the mid 1970s. Polyester made the scene by that point and has gradually taken over the market share. Lacquer finishes are often times considered more beautiful, but they scratch quite easily. Polyester finishes are more durable, making them a better choice in high traffic areas.

No matter what type and style piano you have, its important to care for it in the proper way.

The Three Biggest Tips For Caring For Your Piano

Filed Under: Buying a Piano, Piano Brands Tagged With: ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »