23 August 2014 How To Find A Piano Tuning Company In Memphis

How To Find A Piano Tuning Company In Memphis

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When was the last time you had a professional come in and tune your piano?

Piano tuning is necessary to ensure your piano is in top condition. Imagine learning to drive a car if the engine keeps dying at every stop light. Or learning to bake when the oven can only be set to one temperature. Yes, you have access to the right tools, but they aren’t performing in an optimal way. And without optimal performance, you can’t get the results, and your desire to continue with a project quickly goes away.

Learning to play on a piano that is out of tune impedes the experience. It is difficult to play notes that sound just a bit off, or have lingering notes caused by defective hammers and strings.How To Find A Piano Tuning Company In Memphis

When looking for a piano tuner, keep in mind that there are varying levels of expertise. A piano tuner tunes a piano – he tightens or loosens the strings to find the right pitch, so they play the correct tone when struck by the hammer.

A piano technician will tune your piano, but can also provide more skills on an as needed basis. He can regulate, repair or voice your piano so that it sounds and plays its best. Keep in mind that a piano does not need all of these services every time, but depending on age, conditions, and hours played, like anything, it will need work over time. The key is recognizing a problem early and fixing it before it becomes critical.

A repair can include a variety of issues with your piano. Anything from fixing a broken string, to replacing a worn out or broken part would help extend the life of your piano. Pianos need to be played to stay in top condition. And when played, the moving parts can become old, brittle, and crack over time.

Regulating a piano is the process of making sure all moving parts are moving at the same distance at the right time. A properly regulated piano is easier to control, more rewarding to play, and produces a better sound. Which overall helps you become a better player.

Voicing a piano helps it sound its best. Have you ever listened to a choir or an orchestra where one voice is out of tune? It stands out. Pianos are like that too. Each has its own voice, capable of making a variety of sounds and tones. When one part is off, it stands out every time that note is played. With a few simple techniques, the range can be brought back into tune, and once again provide beautiful, quality music that is a joy to play.

With all of these services available and in need to keep your piano at its best, where do you find the ideal person to work on it?

Start by asking the people around you. As a piano player, you probably know other piano players as well. Piano teachers, orchestra members, even local schools all have their pianos tuned and regulated on a regular basis, and would be happy to provide a referral. And if you are here in Memphis, you can also stop by or give us a call at any time. We’ve been in the industry for over 50 years, and are experts at all things piano. Whether you have a simple question, or are in need of a new piano, we can provide you with advice at any time. We love pianos, and look forward to sharing that love with you.

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21 August 2014 Why Vertical Piano Maintenance Is Important

Why Vertical Piano Maintenance Is Important

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When buying a piano, you have two choices: a vertical piano or a grand piano. The difference lies in the size of the instrument and the way it is constructed.

A vertical piano is made to save on space. Also known as an upright, it is meant to fit into to tight spaces, lie flush against a wall, and give optimal sound in a condensed format.

All pianos, whether vertical or grand format, need routine maintenance and tuning to keep it in peak performance. One of the benefits of purchasing a vertical piano from a dealer – whether you look at a new or used vertical piano – is you can also use them as a reputable piano technician that will be able to provide regular tunings and maintenance on an as needed basis.Why Vertical Piano Maintenance Is Important

Vertical pianos are different than grand pianos in the way they are constructed. Therefore when hiring a technician, its important to hire someone that works on vertical pianos regularly, as they have their own unique nuances.

Regular tuning is needed as a piano is played, strings and hammers stretch and wear, and the sound changes based on every day circumstances. Care and maintenance depends on where your piano is located and the types of influences it has on a daily basis.

  • Is your home regulated for temperature and humidity?
  • Is the piano subjected to direct sunlight?
  • How often is it played?
  • What conditions does it have within the room itself?

When problems start to arise, it usually begins with the piano’s inner workings … in other words, with the piano’s soundboard.

The soundboard will move due to changes in the humidity of the room, and its really not something that can be changed. Because it’s a moving, working, breathing unit, changes will happen. You can use a humidity control system to keep humidity regulated, but keep in mind that wood will change. And as it changes, the sound will change as well.

Regular maintenance is the key to giving your piano the best care possible. If its been a while since you’ve had your piano tuned or repaired, give us a call today. We can help you maintain your piano’s sound, and provide you with top quality care.

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13 August 2014 How To Make Piano Recitals More Fun

How To Make Piano Recitals More Fun

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Piano recitals are a great way to showcase all that your students have learned over the past few months. Yet for many, recitals can be a source of frustration and fear.

In all cases, it starts with the instructor, and how you approach recital day. If you make it joyful and full of fun, it will be a day that both your students and their families look forward to and appreciate in many ways.

Looking for a few ways to make it even more fun? We’ve found these tips from many successful instructors throughout our community.How To Make Piano Recitals More Fun

Never Hold The Same Recital Twice

Recitals are always a mixture of young and old, beginning, intermediate and advanced. Which means you’ll always have someone at each level, capable of playing only a few songs at any given time. Your advanced students and families can quickly grow bored if they know they’ll hear the same songs at every recital, so mix it up instead. Mix classical with popular songs. Have duets to help motivate two students with similar skill. Ask if any student plays another instrument in school; they may be willing to add that to the mix as well. Or even focus in on a theme – how about having every student play a song from Les Miserables or Harry Potter? This also gives you a theme for a small party afterwards.

Recitals Can Be Community Events

Recitals are usually held in the instructors location, but they don’t have to be. If you have a community rec center in your neighborhood, why not rent it out for the afternoon and post flyers? Some nursing homes also have large gathering rooms with pianos, and would welcome the opportunity for a performance from players of all ages. Kids always feel great when they play for their families, but it can be equally rewarding to receive praise from others too.

Costumes Are Great

These work well with a theme recital. Instead of putting on your symphony best, have each person dress up like a character from the movies, and play the theme song from the movie. Then you can have parents and family guess who each child is, and even have a contest for the best character.

Piano Request

Instead of having each child play in order to a specific schedule, have a free roaming recital instead. Set up a mini café in which parents, family and friends can stroll through the café and have coffee, tea and dessert. Students can play in any order they choose, and play as often as they wish. Just make sure they are courteous to all, and each student is offered an equal chance at performing. If a student is up to it, they can even take special requests to show off their talents even more.

Involve The Family

Does a student’s mom, dad or grandparent play the piano? Why not let them play a duet together? It will hold special meaning for them and their loved one’s and make the recital even more memorable.

Team Bach vs Team Beethoven

People tend to migrate towards a specific type of music. Divide your students up into equal groups and present based on interests. Presentations should be short, but they should work together to showcase talent and music from one specific composer. Then they compete against each other to see who has the better music … all in fun of course. The key is keeping the audience more engaged, and the students having fun and appreciating music in a new way.

Give Them A Gift

Visit the dollar store or section at your local big box store. You’ll find things year round that you can use as small gift ideas. You can have picture day with the recital and put each student’s picture in an individualized frame. Or have a small craft project that’s music themed and can be completed very quickly at the end of the performance. In some cases you can even find items that will help you carry out a theme – how about Aloha days where everyone wears Hawaiian shirts and drinks from a coconut glass? Use your imagination and have your guests commenting it was the best recital ever!

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2 August 2014 What’s Your Piano’s Bluebook Value?

What’s Your Piano’s Bluebook Value?

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Have an old piano and are wondering about its value? Did you recently inherit a piano and wonder if its worth restoring to enhance its value?

We get questions like this all the time.

If you are trying to determine a fair value for your piano, it can be a difficult process at best. There are many things that go into the process of determining its value. Things like:

  • Local market – a piano from a dealer in New York City will cost more than from a dealer in a small mid-west town
  • Supply and demand – there is more demand in a large city filled with musical opportunities than in a small rural town
  • Quality – quality of a piano is determined both by the internal and external features of the piano, as well as the manufacturer, when it was made, and the care it received

What’s Your Piano’s Bluebook Value?Yet if you head online, you’ll find all kinds of sites that offer you bluebook value of a piano, charge you a small fee for “coaching” to tell you what you should pay for a piano, or even offer to appraise your piano to tell you its worth.

The problem is most of the time, this is pure guess work.

Traditional bluebook values for items like cars are easier to track because a car has a title that follows it through its life. The title will show the make, model, year, color, etc of the car, and assess its value based on all events that occur around that car. Its easy to track.

Not so with a piano. Pianos don’t have titles, they aren’t registered, and there is no way of tracking all the detail that followed a piano throughout its life. So where do sites like these get their information?

If you are in the market for a piano, there are a few ways to ensure you get the best value for your money.

Work with a reputable dealer that knows pianos. When you buy from online sites and individual sellers, you have no idea the history of the piano, its care or its ability to create quality music. A dealer makes sure every piano that is sold meets certain qualifications and will provide quality sound in the future.

Compare pianos. When you call on an ad from Craigslist, what you see is what you get. You buy, you haul it away, you deal with the consequences. You purchase as is and will have no idea if it’s the right piano for you, your learning abilities, or the location you will place the piano. All of which make a huge difference in your ability to stick with playing the piano for a lifetime.

Quality can quickly be compromised if the piano isn’t well cared for. If an individual is selling it, how well was it maintained? Did it exist in a storage shed or a garage for years before it was cleared away? Has it been tuned in the last year (or even decade for that matter)? Even when you push and pull to get it into the back of your truck, bounce it around as you move it into your home, all of that can take its toll on the sound quality.

If you don’t have quality sound, you are less likely to continue playing because you simply won’t be able to “hear” something that makes sense.

If you want to give yourself or your family the best chance at success, make sure you buy a quality piano from a reputable dealer.

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23 July 2014 Choosing The Right Piano For Your Church

Choosing The Right Piano For Your Church

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Does your church have the budget to select a new piano this year?

Its not as easy as heading in and buying the first one you see. If you select the wrong piano for your needs, it can cause plenty of problems now and down the road.

Because there is a lot of variety in the piano industry, with many sizes, styles and kinds available, take into account a few crucial factors before you make your final selection.

Start with the spaceChoosing The Right Piano For Your Church

How large of a space do you have? Smaller churches may have a small space off to the side of the congregation, while a large church may have an entire area dedicated for the piano. Keep in mind that older churches typically have smaller spaces than new churches built for today’s technology. Make sure you take accurate measurements before you make your final selection.

Look to the mood

Different churches have different styles of worship. Likewise, the final piano you choose can produce different sounds and different moods. Do you prefer quiet and solemn, or lively and energetic? Does your congregation expect a traditional sermon, or do they look forward to new age sounds? Also think about what your piano will have as accompaniment; will it be the only sound, or have an entire band and choir with it?

Fit in to the surroundings

The architecture of your church should play a part in the final selection process. A large, open space will be complimented with a beautiful baby grand, while a smaller space may do better with a smaller upright. The last thing you want is a beautiful new piano to look out of place with its final resting spot. Because it will be on display for years, make sure it compliments the surrounding area and matches the architecture of the building.

Acoustics

Every church is built a little differently. The materials used and the exact placement of the piano will all impact the overall sound quality produced. What do you like about your current piano? What do you wish you could change? Do you want a richer, more vibrant sound, or are you comfortable with the sound currently being produced? Be sure to bring all these ideas to the table when making your final selection.

With so much to consider, it may be wise to bring in a reputable piano consultant at the beginning phase of selection. With over 50 years of experience, we can help point you in the right direction, and help you love your final selection without any regrets.

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19 July 2014 Spinet Piano – Should You Restore?

Spinet Piano – Should You Restore?

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The spinet piano goes back to the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, times were tough. People were still recovering from the economic downturn that rocked society. They remembered the good times from before; yet no longer had the income to live life the way they used to. Although many wanted a piano for entertainment, the traditional uprights and grand pianos were simply out of reach.

And so the spinet piano was born.Spinet Piano – Should You Restore?

Spinet pianos were manufactured between the 1930s and the 1990s. They were smaller in size, cheaper in price, and inferior in sound.

The casing for a spinet piano is smaller than that of a regular piano. Because of the smaller size, the strings are shorter. Shorter strings reduce the quality of the sound, especially in the deeper keys.

And because of the smaller casing, it also impacts the mechanism used to produce sound. The keys are shorter in order to make room for the drop action. A traditional piano makes sound by having a striking key cause a hammer to strike the piano string, resulting in immediate sound. In a spinet, the action is dropped below the keys. When a key is struck, the movement pulls on rods to engage the action, resulting in poor leverage and thus a poorer quality of sound.

While many of the early spinets were of good quality, in many cases quality was compromised as time went on. Because of a huge increase in competition in the 1950s and 1960s, price came down along with workmanship. Cheaper parts were used to keep costs down, meaning quality inside and out was shoddy at best. While spinets did the job for a little while, the musician playing it quickly learned the differences between spinets and traditional upright or grand pianos.

Because of limited space inside the spinet piano, even a simple tuning can be a monumental task. In many cases the entire spinet piano must be disassembled to work on any portion of it. All eighty eight connecting rods must be disconnected and tied up, then all of the keys must be removed before the action can be lifted out and repaired. Even once all parts have been removed, it can still be a difficult process to tune.

For all these reasons and more, restoring a spinet piano is usually performed on a case by case basis. Have more questions about your own restoration project? Have a spinet piano you aren’t quite sure of its value? Give us a call today.

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16 July 2014 Piano Types and Piano Sizes: What You Should Know

Piano Types and Piano Sizes: What You Should Know

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If you are ready to purchase a piano, your first decision will be which type: a grand or an upright piano. Once you make that decision, there are still a variety of choices in each category, size and type, that will impact your overall quality of sound.

Grand Piano

The grand piano is considered the top of the line for many. People prefer it because of its looks. A grand piano looks better in a room and commands more attention. It also improves the pianists view, allowing him to look around at his audience while he plays. Because an upright is usually against the wall, causing the player to have his back to the audience with no particular view in front of him, status and enjoyment are reduced.Piano Types and Piano Sizes: What You Should Know

The standard grand piano is about 5 feet wide, with the length varying from around 4 ½ feet to 9 ½ feet. The soundboard and the strings of a grand piano are positioned horizontally inside the case. The size of the soundboard and the length of the strings influence the tonal sound of the piano. Larger soundboards and larger strings will produce the greatest volume of tone. If you are considering the smallest of grand pianos, you might compare it to a higher end upright for comparison.

Upright Piano

The standard width of an upright piano is about 5 feet, with the depth typically between 2 and 2 ½ feet. The height of an upright is where quality comes into play, and its what impacts the overall sound produced. The height of a piano is measured from the floor to the top of the piano, and four types of vertical pianos can be found: spinet is less than 36 inches tall, console is 40 to 44 inches tall, studio is 45 to 50 inches, and the upright is anything over 50 inches.

Spinet Piano

The smallest of the vertical pianos, the spinet is on the lowest end of size, tone, and price. It was produced when demand for pianos was high, yet poor economic times meant people needed a less expensive option. Because of the size, the standard piano action won’t fit; a drop action is used instead. A two step process is used to create sound, rather than the standard hammer action used in most pianos.

Console Piano

A console is one of the most popular vertical piano choices. The action sits directly on top of the keys; the hammers sit in an upright position. When the hammer strikes the string, the tone is created until the key is released, pulling the hammer back into original position.

Studio Piano

The extra height of a studio piano gives the sound richness and a tonal quality comparable to may grand pianos. Because the casing has more room, the location and the feel of the action is slightly different, allowing better functionality.

Upright Piano

The tallest of the verticals is the upright. These pianos were made in America in the 1920s to the 1940s, and are often referred to as Grandma’s piano. If properly preserved and restored, they can be one of the most pleasing and beautiful instruments ever made.

Which is the right choice for you? Give us a call today. We can answer all of your questions and help you make the right choice for your situation.

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10 July 2014 Do Digital Pianos Need Tuning?

Do Digital Pianos Need Tuning?

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When people say the word piano, they are usually referring to the more traditional acoustic piano. But by no means is that your only option.

A digital piano is an instrument that duplicates the sound and feel of playing an acoustic piano, and takes it to a different level. It uses digitally sampled sounds, amplifiers and speakers instead of strings and hammer in order to produce its sound. The keys are weighted to imitate the action of playing an acoustic piano, thereby making the transition between the two easy.Do Digital Pianos Need Tuning?

Of course digital pianos come in all types of styles, options and price ranges. What makes a digital piano a great choice in today’s world is its ability to create many different sounds, combined with the technology to produce and record music in many different ways. Since all sounds are produced and stored in electronic form, you can listen through headphones instead of speakers, store recordings in many computerized formats, and stay portable to bring it easily into any venue.

It’s a great instrument to bring into tight spaces. From tiny studio apartments, to college dorm rooms, to living with room mates who might not appreciate your jam sessions until the wee hours of the morning, a digital piano allows you play silently without bothering those around you.

It’s also low maintenance.

  • Keep liquids away from the keyboard
  • Keep it away from direct sunlight
  • Dust regularly
  • Clean the keys with a soft cloth and occasional soap and water

And if you are used to the regular tuning and repair process that comes with acoustic pianos, you are in for a surprise. Digital pianos never require tuning. The sounds for a digital piano are recorded and stored digitally within the hardware of the piano, so it will never go out of tune.

Think a digital piano may be the perfect choice for you? The best place to start is by comparing your options and finding one that meets your needs. Come in today and we’ll show you a complete line, and help you select the right digital piano for you.

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5 July 2014 Piano Tuning in Memphis Tennessee

Piano Tuning in Memphis Tennessee

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Buying a piano? Once the piano is in your home, ready to make music whenever you sit down at the keyboard, it will need a little maintaining to keep it at top performing levels. A simple dusting with a soft cloth will keep in looking great. And in order to keep it sounding great too, you’ll have to hire a piano tuner on a regular basis.

Regular piano tuning is important to ensure the person playing it hears the Piano Tuning in Memphis Tennesseeproper tune. Nothing can be more frustrating than trying to learn a song and not having it come together because the notes are always out of sync. Part of playing the piano is listening and appreciating the music. If its doesn’t sound right, it becomes harder to play. This is one of the top reasons people quit lessons – if the music doesn’t sound right, the desire to continue playing diminishes rapidly.

To find a great piano tuning company, you can ask for referrals from your local community. Here in Memphis Tennessee, we have a strong music culture. You can find a great referral source just about anywhere, including neighbors, music schools, , local churches, or piano dealers like us that have been in the business for years. We work with the best and are happy to provide you with quality referrals whom we know will get the job done the right way the first time.

Many piano tuners will recommend tuning your piano twice per year. The tuning process is not dependent on how much you play. A piano will need tuning no matter if you play once per month or once per day.

Piano tuning is the process of making small adjustments to the tensions of the strings, to properly align the intervals between their tones. A tuner will start with the middle notes, and adjust both up and down from there to give your full range of notes an accurate tonal sound.

Fine tuning involves an assessment of the vibration interaction between the notes. This process is different for every piano. The sound depends on many things: manufacturer, age, quality, location. Which is why every piano tuner works by tone, and adjusts the strings to provide the richest, highest quality sound possible for your instrument.

Have questions about tuning your piano? Need to find a quality piano tuner to help you keep your piano in top quality? Give us a call today. With over 50 years in the piano business, we value reputation and will find the perfect person to meet all of your needs.

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28 June 2014 Railsback Curve and Piano Tuning

Railsback Curve and Piano Tuning

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Have you ever heard someone play the piano when it hasn’t been tuned in a while? Everything is fine until they hit that one note. Ouch. The sound completely throws off your perception of great music because all you can focus in on is the sound of the piano.

That is why its important to have your piano tuned on a regular basis.Railsback Curve and Piano Tuning

Imagine learning to play the piano. You finally get close to playing a song to perfection. Yet you hit that one note over and over again, and the song just doesn’t have what it takes to make you proud to play it. It sounds off. The enjoyment is gone. And the desire to play goes away.

Piano tuning puts the notes back into perspective, and gives your piano a clean, crisp sound that has every note working together in a harmonious way.

For all of you piano techies out there, lets get into the nuts and bolts of piano tuning. There is a difference between having a normal piano tuning by a master tuner, and an equal tempered piano tuning.

The Railsback Curve is a measurement developed by O.L. Railsback, which expresses the difference between normal piano tuning and equal tempered tuning. For any given note on the piano, the deviation between the normal pitch of that note and its equal tempered pitch is given in cents (which is hundredths of a semitone).

The Railsback Curve shows that octaves are normally stretched on a well tuned piano. That means that high notes are higher and the low notes are lower than they are on an equal tempered scale. And not all octaves are equally stretched. So the octaves that occur in the middle range are barely stretched, while the octaves on either end of the piano will have more range.

Railsback discovered that most pianos are tuned the way they are because of inharmonicity in the strings. And this inharmonicity causes the overtones to be higher then they should be.

As a piano technician is tuning an octave, he reduces the speed of the beating between the first overtone of the lower note and a higher note until it disappears. Because of this inharmonicity, the first overtone will be sharper than a harmonic octave, making either the lower note flatter or the higher note sharper, depending on which note is being tuned.

So, to produce an even tuning, the piano technician will start with the middle octave of the piano, and proceed outwards from there. This gives the piano its overall rich sound. The notes on the upper range are not compared to the notes in the lower range because they would begin to sound “off”. Yet when combined as one unit, the overall sound remains at a constant.

The key to a great sounding piano is to have a piano technician that understands tuning and can masterfully adjust the sound by ear. He works to ensure your piano has the sounds and the tone that will make piano playing enjoyable for all.

Call us today to schedule your piano tuning session with our master technicians.

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