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Sorry - pressed the wrong button before I'd finished! :oops: No child can learn from books/tapes/CD's/internet alone; if she starts a bad habit, no book/tape etc. will pick up on it! And unless you're a pianist, neither will you :) .... I think ease of action is important for a beginner, but to be h...

If the teacher suggested it, then they obviously feel that your child can handle it. She will have to learn to read the bass clef - and the younger you do that the better. Financially, the only way to get a cheaper lesson is to get both violin and pianolessons at the same place - is there a local Mu...

If it's the lock rail twisting that's causing it,then usually only white notes are affected, if that's any help...

Fan heaters are a bit vicious - you could try just leaving the top of the piano open to get a little air circulating in it. Or even take the front (top door) off completely. I have occasionally (when the piano has been required for a party or a lesson that evening, not allowing time for recentring) ...

Heckschers of Bayham Street London will sell you keys, but you need to know whether it's a hollow key, a triangle or a solid one. Have a look in the hole - if there's a central spline it's a hollow one, if it's triangle - shaped it's..er...triangle, and if it's got nothing but a hole, then it's prob...

That should read 'PORTland Square'...can't type, either!

If you were to contact the Associated Board at Potland Square, London, they have a publication whose name escapes me (Allegro? Can't remember - getting old and stupid! :roll: ) sent to teachers and people who enter themselves for exams. In one of these I'm fairly sure there was an in-depth discussio...

Alfred Knight gave his factory over for the war effort, and I think they made Spitfires there. The Knight pianos are generally well-made and nice instruments, but everything depends upon its condition. The only real way of getting a true valuation is to ask a technician or tuner to have a look for y...

Well if you want a restoration project, it looks as though you've found one...

Beware of breaking
strings if you're a new tuner - the rusty ones can be b*****s, so you have to go very carefully and creep up on it!
Good luck...

No. don't belt it, just use a heavier arm weight on the top notes by leaning into the notes you want to bring out. Practise hands separately - you'll hear better what's going on if you do it one hand at a time. Basically you need to practise, practise, practise until you drive everyone else mad. I f...

It's a bit like asking what Rolls Royces are like - depends how old and how it's been looked after! Allison were one of the leading British makes at the beginning of the twentieth century and very solidly made. The uprights I tune are very good for their age, but the only grand I tune is in dire nee...

Digital's better than nothing, but a proper piano lasts longer and keeps its value.From a teaching point of view, the touch of a digital is not the same, whatever they tell you in the shops, and neither is the sound, certainly not at the lower end of the price spectrum. Five hundred quid will get yo...

Thanks for the plug, Barrie - fiver in the post!

Don't listen to 'im - I've been tuning over 20 years and never ONCE dropped dead on the job. Yet...

Do a proper course; electronic gizmos are fine, but you're not learning anything - the gizmo tells you what to do but not why you're doing it. Also, if you have a piano with false beats (like a small grand! :? ) the gizmo can't cope. It's built to tune perfect pianos, and any tuner will tell you the...

Yes - don't! They can be really false with odd harmonics. Where are you going to do the tuning course? They'll probably warn you off small pianos to start with, and ease you into it with just a strung piano back which you pluck first - it's easier to hear the soundwaves on a plucked string. You'd be...

A lot of my customers go to Pianoforte in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, or Aaron Pianos in Northwood, Middlesex. Both offer substantial discounts and very good after-sales service.
I TOLD you Barrie would know all about it, didn't I...?

Some of these big dealers pay exactly what the small ones do for their stock, but sell at a smaller profit margin; I think the logic is that if they sell a piano cheaply and provide a good service (free delivery and first tuning, etc) then people who are pleased with their service will recommend the...

The Fanny Waterman and Marion Harewood books are excellent - First Piano Lessons? Can't remember, but the first book has a huge black & white picture of a piano keyboard taking up most of the cover. That said, it's over 20 years since I worked in a music shop, but I have seen it on(and moved it ...

...line. As in washing line; that's the last word. I think it would only rhyme if you sang it with a Geordie accent - even then not terribly well. Those are the words I know to the tune as well!

I agree with everything Barrie has said; it might be a Schimmelly thing as one I tune does have a slightly 'muted' sounding bass, but that's only one of five that I tune. If you're unhappy, you could bring in an independent -ie, not linked to the shop where you got the piano - tuner, and ask his opi...

What sort of piano was it, Barrie? I take it that being Conran it had a fancy case, but what else? I haven't heard of these...no-one tells me nuffin

What is also relevant is the amount of time between its last tuning and the one before that; if someone is selling a piano privately, they don't want it. If they don't want it they haven't been playing it, and if they haven't been playing it they're not going to spend out on having it tuned. A tunin...

Despite the government cutbacks, most places have public libraries (for the moment, at least! :roll: ) where you can borrow sheet music. If you find a local library with a sheet music section you can go and have a browse and see what appeals to you. I also haunt second-hand bookshops and charity sho...

If I might be sexist at this point, Quinie...it's always men who think something with lots of bells, whistles, switches and buttons to press will be a good idea. This observation is based on over 20 years tuning real pianos for women whose husbands/other halves periodically try to make them buy some...

It's like buying a big car; just because it can do 160mph doesn't mean it can't do 10mph. You'll adjust your touch to your new instrument, and soon find out where the louds and softs are. The bigger piano will give you a better tonal quality, whether the note be quiet or loud. Enjoy it!

There's felt in the bottom of the keys which bushes a hole where the key locates over a pin. All you need to know is that new felt is fat and fluffy, it gets fatter and fluffier if the air's damp, and then it grips the pin so the key sticks down. The tuner/regulator can ease the keys (squash the fel...

If it's a new piano you can ask the dealer to send a technician who can regulate it for you, perhaps on its first tuning. Any competent technician should be able to do this, so your own tuner would be able to do it or recommend someone who can. Sometimes a heavy touch can be due to tight centre pins...

The Boyd seems expensive when you can get a good second-hand Yamaha or Kawai for only a little more than that. Also an older piano can be unhappy in a modern centrally-heated house, whereas with a newer one you don't have to think about it as long as you don't actually park it on top of a radiator o...

I've taught a Down's lad in a very rudimentary fashion; we had different coloured stickers on the keys, and I simply drew coloured blobs on a page (eg, Jingle Bells was red red red, red red red, red blue green pink red). Matthew had a terrific memory and was an excellent mimic, so once I'd demonstra...

Depends on the dealer; it sounds like the price some of the more expensive dealers near London might charge, certainly. I like the Welmar piano, as you've got the power available with the control to play softly if you want to. I've often said that if I had to have a modern piano on under five grand ...

My parents were utterly bemused by my wanting to play the piano as well; neither of them played a note either. It's actually a help for the child, believe it or not...my friend's parents were always telling her to play louder/softer, lift/drop her wrists, play louder/softer, and so on, until, severe...

You can get picture chord books which have photos of hands in the apposite positions for various chords - is that any help? For me chords are too much like maths for comfort and I go all of a doo-dah if I have to work 'em out, so a book like that would be useful for me in your situation. However, it...

It's amazing what you think you can do after a large glass of chilled white wine...

Are the three notes which won't stay in tune in a pattern of 'every other note' on the keyboard? If so, there's probably a crack running along the wrestplank. You (or your tuner) might be able to wedge something beside the offending strings to silence them - loo paper often works! Not an approved re...

The price sounds fairly right to me. Unfortunately you can't budget for sentiment; I speak as a woman who's spent more on her Morris Minor than it'll ever be worth... Some years ago I had a similar dilemma; the piano my parents had bought me was no longer capable of giving me the sound I needed, but...

Is the piano action an overdamped action? In other words,when you look in the top of the piano, is there a long strip of wood running from left to right across the top of the hammers (bits that hit the strings)? If so, I have managed to revive a couple of 'untuneables' by standing old (small) margar...

You can also get chord picture books which have photo's of the chords on the keyboard if you need them; several of my customers have found those useful.
As a confirmed sheet music dependent, I envy you the ability to play by ear - you always want what you ain't got!

Gawd...I know what it is, but I'm not sure how to tell you without lots of pointing and hand-waving. I'll see if I can explain... basically, the bracketed bars are part iof a repeat. You play bars 1 - 10, then go back and play bars 1 - 8 again, but carry on to bar 11 and 12 omitting the bracket mark...

...and I'm off for a lie down in a darkened room...

Also 'Pianoforte' based in Faringdon, Oxfordshire are very competitive on price - I've never found cheaper in the south of England, anyway, and can recommend them for service; delivery and after-sales tunings are usually included.

Was any of that in English, Barrie??? Wot did it mean?

Who's Sid?

Do you do computer masterclasses?

A Bechstein?! Very nice, but you don't need an Aston Martin to learn to drive...

Do you mean keys -ie, the bits you press - or hammers -ie, the bits that hit the strings? Hammers would be more likely; they are often missing (usually found rattling around inside the bottom of the piano) and most piano supply houses sell replacement parts, but the size of the hammer varies dependi...

...and of COURSE you should get it tuned regularly; we piano tuners have to eat, you know!

Not that I'm biased...

They ALL lie about practising at some point (God knows I did...and sometimes still do :twisted: ) but some of them do it all the time and look at you as though they want to call Childline if you suggest half an hour's practice a day would be beneficial. I once tried to teach a four year old who had ...

Why would you need to insur yourself? Would you injure them, or would they injure you?! :shock: I started teaching in a small informal way from Grade VI onwards...it depends whether you're doing this for a career or pocket money. If it's as a career then the Incorporated Society of Musicians would p...

Splendid that you're taking the plunge! The best way to find a teacher is unquestionably by recommendation. If you have friends who are learning and they like their teacher and are happy with their progress, then ask their teacher if they are willing to give you a trial lesson to make sure you like ...

Hear, hear! Hope you had a merry one, Geminoz. I'm told I did...

Gill x

Have you thought about the Bristol Piano Company? They're in Whiteladies Road, Bristol, I think, and although they're millions of miles from here (Buckinghamshire) I have 2 clients who have bought from them because they were so reasonable. They are willing to come down on prices more than your avera...

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