Piano Care Tips

Have your piano tuned regularly. Twice a year minimum.

Ask your technician to do a minor "touch-up" regulation at each tuning. This will prevent most instances of
unnecessary wear and breakage.

Have a full regulation done every 2 to 5 years. You'd be surprised at how your piano should have sounded and
responded to you playing all these years.


Don't attempt any "home repairs" on your piano. Although it may appear easy to fix yourself, an innocent mistake
can be costly. Let a technician do it - they have the right tools, replacement parts and expertise to do the job right
the first time.

Keep your piano away from heating registers, radiators, fireplaces and air conditioning vents. Subjecting it to
extreme fluctuations of temperature and humidity levels can do major damage. Keeping a piano away from an
outside wall was probably necessary in poorly insulated older Victorian homes, but should not be a problem these
days. Avoid direct sunlight on your piano - it can damage and fade the finish, or even create horrible tuning
problems. Use curtains or blinds.

Try and keep the temperature and humidity levels as consistent as possible in the room where you have your
piano. Using a temperature/humidity gauge (hygrometer) can keep this in check.
Seasonal swings in relative humidity are the piano's greatest enemy. Swelling and shrinking of wooden parts affect
tuning and keyboard touch, while extreme swings can eventually cause wood to crack and glue joints to fail. Pianos
are happiest in a relative humidity level of 40 to 45 percent. If you don't have a central humidifier/dehumidifier,
consider getting a room humidifier for the winter, and a room dehumidifier or air conditioner during the summer
months. There's even such thing as a special piano humidifier/dehumidifier that can be installed in your piano. Ask
your piano technician.

Keep plants, vases, drinks, or anything to do with liquid off the piano. Condensation can ruin the finish, and
spillage of liquids into the inner mechanism can result in irreversible damage.

To prevent scratches on the finish, never place objects on your piano without a soft cloth or felt.

Don't use furniture polish to clean your piano. It can soften the finish if overused, and the silicone & oils present in
many household brands can even contaminate the wood, despite what the labels may say.

Just feather-dust the piano first (dust is abrasive, so wiping it first can cause scratches), then wipe with a soft,
damp cotton cloth, wiping in the direction of the grain. Then, wipe up any excess moisture with a similar dry cloth.

Do the same thing as above to clean your keys, but use separate cloths for the blacks and the whites. Don't use
cleaning agents!

If more thorough cleaning and polishing is desired, special polishing products are available through us, and they
are made specifically for piano finishes.

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How to Learn Piano for Beginners

The piano is one of the most versatile musical instruments, essential for many styles of music. While mastery of the piano takes years of study and practice, a beginner can learn the basics of playing piano by an independent study, including the locations of keys and how to read sheet music.


Instructions

1

Learn the basics of music notation not. Any Western music is played on a stick, a series of five parallel horizontal lines used to indicate ground. The height is determined by which line or space of a personal note head (small circles, symbols, usually attached to a fal) is sitting on. The upper head is the note on the staff, plus the height.

Some locations will sit just above or below the bars. In this case, they may have small lines drawn below and / or through the note heads. They are called "leger lines" and have the effect of extending staff.

2

Familiarize yourself with the staff at the Grand - two staff lines that are played at the same time, the one with the right hand and the other with the left. The right hand usually plays in the treble clef, the notes are (from bottom to top) E, G, B, D and F on the lines and F, A, C, E spaces. The left hand plays the bass clef, the notes are E, G, B, D, F and on lines A, C, E, G on the spaces. If there are lines Lightweight, lines or spaces follow the alphabetical pattern up or down. Note that the musical alphabet goes as far as the letter G, then starts over A.

3

Sit with good posture. Sit, relaxed but your piano bench, placed in the center of the keyboard. Raise your hands and rest on the keyboard with elbows hanging below, and always in search of a sense of weight in your arms, lifting them as necessary to play the notes. Curl your fingers so that your thumbs can comfortably reach the keyboard. Always relax your shoulders.

4

Find out where the notes on the piano. If you have a full piano keyboard piano with 88 keys (all natural pianos will be full), the first note on the bottom left of the keyboard will be an A. Whatever the type of piano, note the most important for a beginner is located in the center of the keyboard: the C. the medium is a C white key just left of center group of more than two black keys. Every other button that follows this pattern on the keyboard is also a C, but in a different octave (which means it will sound similar, but weaker). The middle C appears on the first leger line below the treble clef staff and the first leger line above the bass clef staff.

5

Operate the pedals with your right foot. Rest your left foot and press your heel on the ground and use your foot as a sort of hinge to lower the pedals. The piano has three pedals (electric pianos could be less) used to create different musical effects. The right pedal is called the damper pedal, and is used to give the piano a more sustained, the echo-y sound. The middle pedal is the sustain pedal. This will keep the locations that are played at the same time the pedal is pressed, but no further. The left pedal is the soft pedal. This pedal is used to soften the overall volume of the piano.

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How to Play Piano by Ear - A Great Skill

A lot of want-to-be pianists struggle to learn the basics of piano playing. One major problem that they have is that they cant play the piano by ear. You have to determine the exact methods needed so that you can easily cope with your piano lessons. If you dont want to end up like other unsuccessful novice players, continue reading.


Playing the piano by ear is truly effective. In fact, it has been proven by many people including the piano teachers and advanced students. It is difficult to learn but ever since you were born, you are continuously learning. Life means learning and you cant just stop it. Everyday, you learn new things and dont you think its time to learn to play the piano?

The piano songs are classified according to grades. For you to be able to play piano songs between grades 5 to 8, it would take 7 or 8 years of piano lessons. So you see, you cant learn to play the piano in a weeks time. If you see some claims online telling you that they can help you learn the piano in a few days, thats not true. If you want to learn how to play the piano, it requires months and to some, even years, of dedication and patience.

You can greatly improve your learning abilities if you learn a specific technique called playing by ear. This is a great method that is proven very effective. Can you imagine yourself playing a new song in your piano? That is possible. Once you learn this method or technique, whenever you hear a song over the radio, you can easily play it on the piano.

If you think that this technique is only suited for the advanced pianists, youre quite wrong. However, it can help advanced players a lot but if youre just starting to take your lessons, this is the best time to learn this method or technique.

Paying for your piano lessons is quite expensive. You also have to purchase music books. If you can do without these added costs, you can save a lot of money. If youre truly serious in learning to play the piano, you can learn this technique. But if you simply want to have fun, you will have a hard time in coping with the lessons.

In playing the piano, you have to have brains. Memorization is also important. If you cant memorize your lessons and you cant play with your heart in it, the sound will not be very pleasing to the ears. Dedication is of utmost importance. Thats why you also need to invest on a piano. If you practice frequently, you can improve your skills day by day. Remember, it takes years to learn to play piano gracefully and with life.

Learn to play piano by ear now. This is a technique that every desiring pianist should learn. If youre piano teacher already knows about this technique, you can ask him or her to teach you. Always be patient when having your lessons. Aside from learning about the different chords and notes of the piano, you also have to study your music pieces.

For you to be able to play gracefully and like the experts, you have to know the technique. If youre teacher cant help you, then find another learning option that will be able to teach you what you need to know.

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The Basics of Playing Piano

Many people likely remember their childhoods of being forced to learn to play the piano, and highly dislike it. Some of these may decide to give learning another try, just for the thrill of learning a musical instrument. Even though it’s hard at first, with a basic understanding playing the piano can become second nature with time and practice.


All the black and white keys may be scary when you first sit down at the piano, but don’t worry – most of them won’t be used at first.

The hammer that each piano key is connected to makes its sound by hitting a string when you press a key, and each key has its own note. On the left-hand part of the keyboard, the strings are longer, and thus the notes are lower in pitch. When you go along the keys to the right, the notes get higher, and to play piano you have to know where your hands need to be. The first thing to know is where you need to have your hands placed, and to understand this you need to know the basics of music notation.

There are 88 keys on a piano, which is a wide range of notes. Middle C is the most basic note you’ll start with, and the brand name of the piano is usually near this middle C. There are seven notes starting with A and going to G, then back to A to repeat the cycle.

There’s a rather noticeable pattern of black keys – three black keys alternating with white, two adjacent white keys, then two black keys alternating with white, then two more adjacent white keys, after which the cycle repeats. The white keys are your natural notes – A, B, C, D, E, F and G. On the other hand, the black keys are the tones in between those natural notes. With the exceptions of B to C or from E to F, there’s going to be an accidental between every pair of two notes. The progression goes, for example, A, A sharp/B flat, B, C, C sharp, D, D sharp/E flat, E, F, F sharp, G, G sharp. There is no B sharp or E sharp because those two notes are actually C and F, respectively.

So, to find C on a piano keyboard, look for the white key that’s set just to the left of two black keys. First, you’ll learn a basic scale – the “do re me fa so la ti do” sequence that you’ve likely heard is a scale, or a progression of notes from one octave to the next.

To place your hands on the keys right, curl your fingers and move your thumbs inward so the nails are facing one other. You can play between the black keys this way, as well as using the thumb to strike notes that you can’t get to with your other fingers. If you leave your thumb at its natural position, you may end up playing notes next to the ones you’re trying to play.

Now, to play a simple C scale, starting with your left middle finger, play C, then D with the left index and E with the thumb. Then, you reach over the thumb with the middle finger and repeat for the next three notes, and again for the last two. Going back down the scale is the mirror image of this technique. If you opt to play with the right hand, start with the thumb and reach under the middle finger to continue up the scale

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Learn Piano Playing By Ear

Is it Really Possible to Learn to Play by Ear?

Yes! If you want to learn to play an instrument and you have no interest in learning the music theory required to sight read, then it's more than possible to learn how to play by ear. What you do need before you start however is some sensitivity for pitch and rhythm so that you can identify the intervals between notes and the speed at which you should play. Can you sing? Can you clap along with a song on the radio? If so, then you should be able to play by ear.



When learning to the play the piano you traditionally start with learning how to read music first, but think back to when you learned how to read, couldn't you already use your instrument? Your voice? Of course you could. Piano teachers want you to sight read because it will allow them to teach you how to play from manuscript music, but if you can play by ear, you possibly have no need for the manuscript. This means that learning how to play by ear will allow you to teach yourself rather than have a tutor if you have the dedication to not only learning the skill, but also mastering it.

Listen to a piece of music, any piece of music. Hum along the melody line. Capture the right tone for the first note of the music. This is the note from which all the rest of the tune will come so you need to spend time getting this perfect. Of course you can play it in a completely different key to the original by starting on a different note and just following the line of the music up and down the keyboard keeping the intervals between notes the same as the music that you're trying to copy, but it won't sound the same unless it's in the same key, so take the time to locate the right note to start on.

Next you should work through the music one note at a time, tone to tone, working out the right intervals between each of the notes. If you have some idea of basic scale progression and can hum up and down scales you'll find this easier so this is something when you can practice when you're not at your piano. If you are at the keyboard, press any key and practice singing up and down the octave. Check if you have each note right by pressing the next tone before moving up/down the scale.

Once you've mastered the melody line, listen to the music again and play alongside it - this way you'll learn the rhythm of the composition. You'll know when there are intended rests and when notes are held. This is all part of the information supplied on a piece of manuscript but by practice you can train your ear to hear those slight pauses or learn when to play extended notes.

With the melody and tune in place, now listen to the original again and in the same way that you learned the melody, it's time to pick up on the harmony. Try to shut out the familiar melody line, and work on identifying the harmony. This may be more difficult to isolate but once you can recognize it you'll find it easier to work on.

Learning to play piano by ear is a process of fine-tuning your ear to hear not only the dominant melody, but also the subtlety of harmony. As with sight reading, playing the piano by ear is something that comes over time with practice.

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Learn Piano By Ear

Have you always wanted to learn to play the piano by ear? Well, now you can! Playing the piano by ear is easy and fun! My students have been learning to play the piano by ear for over 17 years. In fact, one student is 65 years old and is having the time of her life learning songs from her youth! Other students are children as young as 9 years old (although some children begin as early as five years old).

To learn piano by ear, one must first learn about the piano as an instrument. Different from reading notes, the student is required to have some knowledge of the instrument so he/she can learn piano. In my lessons, I follow some easy basic steps to learn piano by ear.

1. First, I teach students the names of the white and black notes on the piano. This involves learning what a 1/2 step and a whole step is so that the student can name the black notes as either a sharp or flat. Sharping (#) a note requires the student to raise a note 1/2 step and flatting (b) a note requires the student to lower the note 1/2 step.

2. After learning the names of the white and black notes, my students then learn the C scale. The C scale begins on middle C and continues "up" playing each white note until you reach the next "C" note. That consists of eight white notes in consecutive order. (CDEFGABC). The scale can also be numbered as 12345671.
That means that the letters and numbers should coorelate as:
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

3. Students then learn how to make the C chord by learning the rule for making a chord. To make the C chord, the students learns to play the numbers 1-3-5 together in order to play the C chord.

4. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated for the scale and chords for F and G.

5. Finally, the student is ready to begin learning how to pick out the melody to a simple song. This is a very important step and is the most exciting step, because the student is learning how to predict the next note when learning a melody.

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Learning to Play Piano by Ear

Rесkοn about thіѕ… wουld уου lіkе tο play thе piano lacking thе fuss of dragging уουr music sheets? Or mаkе music wіth јυѕt humming along with the tune? Hаνе уου always sought аftеr tο play but your visual senses mаkе іt quite impossible? Dont you know thаt bу simply humming a tune, you could play іt thе same?


Sοmе musicians, professional іn thеіr οwn art, didnt ѕtаrt thеіr career through аnу manuals οr instructors. Whаt thеу did іѕ follow thе tone thаt thеу hear аnd play along thе beating οf thе music. Nο clarification, nο mentors.

1. Assemble your things. Of course youll need a piano οr a keyboard, whatever іt іѕ thats available. You hаνе tο hаνе аt least three available fingers, јυѕt іn case others hаνе been decapitated οr just gοt lost. Bе sure уου have a lot of time tο practice. Oh, and tune уουr piano first.

2. Remember that the piano іѕ an instrument thаt іѕ comprised οf 88 keys. Along these аrе 12 straight clarification. Thе first white key іѕ thе A-note, next white note іѕ B, C, D, E, F, G. Thеn after the last white G-note, thе next white note again becomes thе A-note, then the repetition ѕtаrtѕ. Thіѕ sequence is repeated until thе last white note іѕ done fοr аbουt 7 times. Thаt wουld include the black notes thаt represent flats аnd sharps.

3. The C note іѕ also known as thе Home Key. Tο trace thе C note, іt іѕ thе white key on thе left side οf two black keys. If youre still amazed, ѕtаrе аt your piano. Youll notice that аt thе middle раrt іѕ thе C-note. Thus, thаt would be the first major chord.
Thе thumb of уουr rіght hand will serve аѕ number 1 bесаυѕе іt іѕ рlасе аt thе C straddled in thе middle. Frοm thеrе, count аll keys going tο thе right. Include thе black keys. Whеn уου have counted till 5, that would serve as thе 2nd note іn C chord. Place your middle finger thеrе. Frοm together wіth tο number 5, count till 8, that wіll bе уουr final note. Put your pinkie on іt.
Signal іt all together and youll hear quite аn impressive cycle.

4. Bе familiar іn using the abovementioned sequence1,5, 8 together wіth. Yου сουld ѕtаrt wіth any note, јυѕt bе sure that whеn уου count, include thе flats and sharps. Uѕе thеѕе chords as уουr roots. Thіѕ will work реrfесtlу іf уου сhοѕе tο start οn a sharp. Youll bе making a sharp chord bу thеn.

5. If уου hаνе time on involved these easy chords, youll finally realize thаt through together wіth аnd attentive listening, youll easily get through. Fοr example, іf chord number 5 іѕ dropped this wіll result to a number 4. At that instance youll еnd up wіth a minor chord. Now, іf youre playing fοr a C chord, all уου hаνе to do іѕ move your finger one key tο thе left tο bе able tο yield a C minor.
Through thе advantage οf listening, youll bе аblе tο distinguish the variation іn sound. Youll bе аblе tο spot thе slight differences іn tune. Nοt unless youre deaf.

Pieces of advice:
Dont settle уουr practice just on the middle keys οf the piano. Thеrе аrе numerous keys tο choose frοm.
Dont limit yourself іn using one or two fingers. Through practice, уου сουld υѕе аll fingers including both hands.
Practice.

More Articles:

Learn Piano Playing By Ear
Learn Piano By Ear

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The Secrets of Power Piano Practice

One of the best ways to improve your child’s progress is to improve the quality of their practice sessions.

For many students, a practice session consists of simply sitting down at the piano and playing their favorite piece from start to finish as fast as they can.

The secret to getting the most out of each practice session is to have a general structure for each session. You should discuss this with your child’s piano teacher to identify a structure that is consistent with their approach to teaching.


To show you how this works, let me share with you the structure I recommend to my students.

ACTIVITY #1: Fun Warm Up

A good way to start a practice session is for students to play their favorite piece for fun. This is really just to get their fingers moving and to get the session off to an enjoyable start. You should not make a big deal of any mistakes made during the warm up.

ACTIVITY #2: Technical Work

Technical work consists of exercises that help a child develop the coordination and technique they require to play the piano. When a child is just starting out, these exercises usually consist of simple patterns which help children learn to move their fingers.

ACTIVITY #3: Focus Piece / Focus Exercise

Rather than playing all their pieces, I suggest that at each practice session a student selects one piece to focus on. In addition to focusing on one piece, I recommend that the student focus on one particular exercise for the selected piece.

There are many different exercises that can be used to ensure that each session is different and engaging. Here are some of the exercises I use with my students:

Divide and conquer – This simply means that the student divides the piece up into different sections and concentrates on a particular section during each practice session. By practicing and perfecting small sections of a piece, students progress much more quickly than if they try and practice the whole piece each time they play.

Hands Separate – Another good exercise is to practice only the left hand or only the right hand of a piece. This is much easier than playing hands together and it is a good way to ensure that the child’s left hand is not neglected.

Vary The Tempo(speed) – In this exercise, the student plays the selected section at a slow manageable tempo in strict time with a metronome. When they can play the section without a mistake, they are allowed to increase the tempo by one notch. If they make a mistake the metronome has to go down a notch. This can become a bit like a game of snakes and ladders and is a lot of fun.

Vary The Dynamics – The dynamics of a piece relate to how the music changes in volume. It is an excellent idea to occasionally vary the dynamics of a piece so that a student becomes familiar with how it feels to play loud and soft. You can also ask a child to play a piece with different moods eg. Happy or Sad. This helps children learn that there is more to playing piano than simply pressing keys.

Record Your Child Playing – It can be a lot of fun for children to hear a recording of themselves playing. It is also an excellent idea to keep some recordings so that occasionally you and your child can sit down and listen to old recordings and appreciate just how far they have progressed.

ACTIVITY #4: Sight Reading

Sight Reading is the ability to pick up a piece of music you have never seen before and play it simply by reading the music.

Sight reading is a skill that students of all ages struggle with. I believe that much of this struggle is due to the fact that many students are not really taught how to read music.

Learning the note names and keyboard positions of the piano is not very exciting. It is simply a matter of rote learning -- very much like learning the times tables.

This is why I developed ‘Piano Is Fun’. The idea was to make the process fun by breaking it down into easy to manage sections and then providing students with an incentive to progress by rewarding them with colorful rewards each time they complete a lesson.

When students are just beginning to play piano, I suggest that each practice session end with a game of Piano Is Fun.

This not only motivates students to concentrate during the practice session, it also acts as a reward and is a great fun way to bring a practice session to an end.

You will probably notice that I did not put a time against each of these activities. As you have probably gathered. I do not like to regiment practice sessions using a stopwatch. I simply instruct parents to ensure that each practice session contains the four previously mentioned activities.

Lets stop and have a think about this for a moment. Picture two imaginary students. One named Tim and the other named Melinda.

Each time Tim practices he sits down at the piano and plays his favorite pieces from start to finish for half an hour.

Each time Melinda practices she does the following:

(1) Warms up with a fun piece
(2) Plays some technical finger exercises
(3) Selects a single piece and focuses on improving a particular aspect of that piece
(4) Finishes off by playing a game that helps her learn how to read music

Which student do you think will progress more quickly? I can tell you from experience that students who practice in a structured manner generally progress much more rapidly than students who practice in a random fashion.

It is important to remember that different teachers will have different ideas when it comes to how students should practice. The ideas above are some of the things I have found useful over the years with my own students.

You may like to print this article out and take it along to discuss with your child’s piano teacher. That way you can ask them how they would like your child to practice at home.

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Best Mode to Begin Piano Lessons

Gone are the days of old school piano lessons. With the power of the internet, anyone interested in learning how to play the piano can actually find lessons available online.

Before, it takes great time and effort to learn how to play the piano. There is a lot of discipline and patience involved in learning. Aside from that, piano lesson instructors are usually old and are strict disciplinarians. These makes learning piano before a bit hard. However, nowadays, everything is made simpler. Piano lessons are now available online.


Anyone can actually learn how to play piano without leaving their houses. Through the use of the internet, one can select from various online piano courses offered. Regardless of experience and age, learning piano has never made easy for anyone. Learning is made fun with online interactive courses offered.

Like any other piano course offered, whether online or the old style teaching, there are two major lessons that must be taught at the beginning. The two most important lessons are the piano scale lesson and the piano chord lesson. These are the fundamentals of playing the piano. Mastering these two will make learning how to play piano very easy.

The online piano courses follow the same introductory course. The DVD courses starts with teaching the student how to form scales and chords. After the completion of this lesson, the students are introduced to the next fundamental lesson, the chord progression lesson. In this lesson, students will learn the modes of piano, mastering the treble and bass notes and other simple progressions. Mastering these two will make the next courses easy. Online piano courses also give other supporting materials for effective learning. Materials like audio and video files and mini games are used to enhance the learning experience.

Before, piano lessons rely mainly on the availability of the instructors. But now, learning how to play piano is made convenient. Take the course anytime, depending on the availability of the student. Since it is an online course, instructors are available 24/7 to teach students. One can take the course at home, while on a vacation trip or any time available. So, with online piano courses, gone are the days the schedules should be adjusted to accommodate the piano lesson.

Another benefit of online piano lesson is that one can study at his or her own pace. This means that one can opt to finish the course faster or slower compared to other students. No more pressure to cram for difficult topics. Repeat courses as much as possible until mastered. Also, there are no more strict instructors that could be very frustrating.

Learning how to play the piano has never been made fun with the online courses offered. Build a strong musical foundation with the instructional audio and video files. Piano lessons are also made affordable. Search through the internet now to select from the variety of available online piano courses being offered. Learn how to play the piano in a high tech way. It is never too late to learn.

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How To Clean Your Piano Keys

I am sure that many of you would be passionate about music and might be having some of the music instrument to enjoy this pleasant joy given to us. There are different sorts of musical instruments that people usually own such as guitar, trumpet, drum, woodwinds, strings or piano. Out of these, pianos is the one that is not easy to play and also to maintain in comparison to the others.

So if you have a badly stained piano and you want to care for it then it does not require any professional cleaner or polisher but all you need is a regular soft buff with a lint free cloth. Any sprays or harsh chemicals will damage the surface of the delicate keys and will also make the instrument look older and worn.

For cleaning the ivory keys you should not:

1. Immerse in water

2. Scrub with a brush or even a scouring pad

3. Use any type of chemicals. Even washing up liquid can damage the previous

5. Use air-freshener anywhere near the keys or piano

Ivory should be gently wiped with a soft clean cloth and for stubborn marks or fingerprints you should first wash your hands and thereafter you can use a mild toothpaste without colour on a damp cloth but ensure that you gently rub and never scrub. Rinse with fresh milk with another lint free cloth and buff well.

You should leave the piano open on sunny days so that the keys stay bleached and don’t turn yellow. Keys that are badly discoloured or stained should be scraped and recovered by a professional piano cleaner.

For cleaning plastic keys you should not:

1. Use chemicals

2. Leave the piano open for long period of time as this shall cause discoloration of the keys

3. Use furniture polish as this could be very harsh

Dust regularly and wipe occasionally with a soft solution of warm water and vinegar on clean chamois leather. Then buff well for added shine. If you want to clean the casework that usually gets very dusty you can use a vacuum cleaner attachment to get rid of any cobwebs or dust. It can take sometime but it will surely be worth and remember not to use any water or liquid to clean the casework. For stains and marks you can consult a professional piano cleaner or tuner.

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Thinking Of Moving A Piano Yourself?

If you're thinking of moving a piano yourself - think again! It's just far too dangerous to attempt to move a piano, even with helpful friends. Hire a professional piano removal firm is my advice.
A young woman asked her father to help her move a piano from one place to another in her house. Her father got a couple of his friends to come along and they brought a dolly.


While they were lifting the piano - a full-size vertical - it tipped back too far and got away from them. While it was falling, its upper corner dug down through the wall. The trench it made was deep enough to sever an electric conduit, which shorted and began to burn. The "movers" were unable to stop the fire, which also spread to the floor below, another person's apartment. After the fire department was done, there was little left of the two apartments - or the piano. Obviously, this is an extreme example of the damage that can be inflicted when moving a piano in do-it-yourself fashion. Even if you don't burn down your house, there is a substantial risk of personal injury, not to mention damage to the piano.

Pianos are very heavy. The average spinet or console weighs in at from three hundred to five hundred pounds, full-size uprights at about seven hundred, but sometimes as much a thousand. Grands vary from about five hundred to a thousand pounds, though a concert grand may weigh as much as thirteen hundred pounds! If it were simply a matter of weight, though, all it would take would be enough strong people to do the job. Unfortunately, along with the weight come problems of balance and inertia, knowledge of which can make all the difference in doing a moving job safely and efficiently. Piano moving may conjure up images of men with monstrous arms and huge torsos, but actually two or three people of average build can do most piano moving jobs - even grands if they have some brains, experience, the right equipment, and a knowledge of just when and where to apply a little force. So, the task of moving a piano is not just a matter of weight. The asymetric shape, the fragility of the outer cabinet and inner mechanics, the uneven distribution of parts - all this and more demands not only proper equipment, but also an understanding of the unique dynamics of balance and inertia that pianos pose.

Attempting to move a piano by yourself may easily result in a costly trip to the doctor for both you and your piano. Don't take chances, hire a professional! How to Move a Piano If you need to move a piano, hopefully you'll have professional help available. If you decide to ask friends, you will have to give them very clear instructions to avoid inflicting damage to bodies and objects. Move a Piano Within a Room

1. Make sure the piano you want to move is easily accessible from all sides.
2. Make sure the new location you have chosen is suitable for the piano. Do not move it into cold drafts or close to heating devices.
3. Lower the lid and lock it before you start moving.
4. Position at least one person on each end of the piano if you are moving an upright piano.
5. Move the piano endways, not sideways.
6. Make sure you do not bend your back when handling the piano to avoid severe back strain or injury. Lift with your knees bent and your back straight.
7. Be certain there are no obstacles in the way the piano is moving.
8. Be careful not to strain the legs of the piano if you have to move it on carpeting or over a threshold.
9. Move the piano slowly and carefully, just a few inches at a time.
10. Put at least three persons around a grand piano, one at each leg.
11. Take enough weight off the castors to make it roll more easily, but do not lift it off the floor.
12. Make sure you lift the castors over bumps in the floor, one leg at a time.

Warnings: Because most of the weight of an upright piano is located toward its back, it does tilt over easily. When moving it away from a wall, be absolutely sure no one is standing behind it. Spinets and console pianos have thin front legs that can break off easily if caught. Tip the piano back very slightly as you roll it to avoid damage. Moving an Upright Piano From Room to Room or House to House

1. Assign a team of four movers and place two at each end of the piano. Let no one other than your assigned movers touch the piano.
2. Make sure none of the movers has a history of back problems.
3. Make sure your helpers are wearing work gloves to protect their hands.
4. Cover the piano with protective plastic if you have to move it outside for transport.
5. Make sure the lid is down and locked.
6. Give your movers very specific instructions on how and where to move the piano safely.
7. Put the piano on a heavy-duty dolly. This will preserve tuning. It will also keep movers from damaging the piano or your home.
8. Remember to lift and roll the piano endways.
9. Keep hold of the handle behind the piano all the time it is rolling.
10. Be careful rolling the dolly over thresholds and door jambs.
11. Make certain that the piano won't tip over by being pushed over any obstacle too fast.

Warnings: You should use friends for moving your piano only if you really cannot afford to pay professional movers. Paying a moving company might well be worth the money you might save on paying for damaged pianos and bodies! And don't even think about moving a grand across town, let alone up and down stairs, without professional help!

Tips: Rent Proper Equipment! Piano dollies (four large castors mounted on a sturdy frame) are usually available for rent from do-it-yourself centers (same place you'd rent a tractor or floor sander). The dolly simplifies moving an upright piano while protecting the floor. Rate this tip: Get one person at each end of the piano, fold the lid back and have one person pull back on that panel and lean back, while the other person lifts the other side of the piano to it's balance point. The person pulling back will make it a lot easier for the person lifting. This technique will allow you to get a piano trolley under the piano properly (uprights only).

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Piano - A World Of History And Class

By Tony Brings

Pianos have entertained thousands over the last century or 2. When we think about this grand instrument, composers like Mozart and Beethoven come to mind. The piano's got their boost in the hundred years between 1790 and 1890. Yes, during the industrial revolution. This is when stronger steel and iron was manufactured. Helping in building strong Iron frames and Steel
piano wire for good instruments.

The first company in Britain that manufactured pianos was the Broadwood. They made big and excellent sounding instruments. By 1820 however, the piano had moved to Paris through the Erard. Erard also invented the double action where the piano could be played even the key was fully up allowing for rapid playing.

All manufacturers used this technique as time went on.

The first piano's had 5 octaves but by 1810 they had become 6 and by 1890 7. In the 19th century, it was to the piano's were
tougher to operate. They required muscle power to depress the keys to produce good quality sounds. However, as time went on, softer strings were made that reduced this tension. Today, Electronic keyboards are simple to operate and give you the
option of a piano with out its bulk and weight.

Today, piano's come in 2 versions: the grand piano and the upright piano. In the grand piano, the strings go away from the keys making them large. For these piano's, big and spacious rooms with high roofs are required. Only then can they be enjoyed to the full.

The upright pianos are more compact and sleek. The strings extend up and down allowing for space conservation. The companyYamaha produces some of the best products in this line.

A modern day piano has 88 keys and miner. This key set represents all 7 octaves and the miners as well.

All modern musicians face a problem however. Due to the large evolution of the piano, the compositions of greats like Mozart
and Chopin are no longer meant for these instruments. The instruments that these composers used no longer exist. So a
long and arduous task of interpretation is required before they can be played on the modern pianos.

Not withstanding the above problem, pianos have still got that beautiful sense of music about them. Today musicians like Yanni
control your emotions using this instrument. Some even believe that piano music can help cure health problems. Indian
classical music has such measures in its music.

Pianos have always been attractive to people who like beauty and romance. They have been appealing to classical tastes as
well. Producing haunting, cheerful and beautiful music, the piano can never be forgotten. That is why so many people own them in their home and why even more wish they had one of their very own to sit at and play. There are not many things as relaxing as sitting down at your piano after a long hard days work.

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