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I did say to her that a couple of pots of Dulux might be cheaper than a set of key covers...
Interesting how the black naturals/white sharps thing happened; all to do with the relative prices of ivory and ebony at different points in history, apparently.

Customer sent me a still from the film; it's a bog standard 1940s D'Almaine with reverse key covers applied - after all that! Thanks anyway...

A customer saw a piano whose sharps were white and naturals black. This was on the Bohemian Rhapsody film. Does anyone know whether these pianos are in production and if so, who makes them?

As well as the Lindner pianos, there was a similar one called Topic; run away from these as well!

I like the fact that YouTube recommended a film about vandalism to follow that one... I think that piano is past worrying about the state of the strings. The initial sound on the (REAL) Doctor Who theme tune (the Radiophonic Workshop one) was created by the composer dragging a copper penny (a real o...

I said to my husband that we could always eat off it or sleep on it, when a lovely big grand was going for nothing.
I've got an upright...

It looks as though it was modernised in the 40s; can they look in the top for you amongst the tuning pins and find a serial number? That would date it more accurately.

You can go to 'Piano Parts' in the index to the left of this column and have a look, or if you put 'black piano key' into eBay you can get 36 for about ten quid or one for £2.08. Or you mention it to your tuner and ask them to bring one when they come to tune your bargain. Lots of possibilities!

Hickie and Hickie is a music shop in Reading: it just means that the piano was originally bought from them.

Not without knowing what make the piano is, no. A photograph might help, too.

Hello Bill. Stanley (and in smaller writing was Robert George) Brinsmead is not a name I have come across before - I suppose there was some sort of rift in the Brinsmead family? Anyway, tuned this straight strung overdamper today, serial number 10819, retailed by Herbert of Stratford, London E. Seve...

If you still have the bottom most key there might be a date written on it. Similarly there could be something written - or a label - on the keyframe under the keys.

R&D were a big reputable department store on (I think) Liverpool, along the lines of Selfridges. Didn't sell rubbish so your piano was probably once a decent one - but a lot depends on its subsequent treatment! If you can get the bottom (extreme left hand end) key out, there may be a date scribbled ...

I do (though not every tuner can play) but rattle 'em off quickly!

Lovely. I admire anyone who can perform in front of an audience. My number of thumbs is directly proportional to the number of people listening.

From distant memory, I think it finishes at about a grade 3 level, but the best thing to do is to go into a music shop and have a look.

It looks to be early 1880s to me, but when Bill drops in
he'll tell you more because he will probably know when the firm who sold it were in business. There may be a number inside amongst the tuning pins (probably the left hand end) and this will help date it a little more accurately.

Three whole words about tuning!

Interesting film, though. All those English makers that are now defunct...

I constantly recommend The Complete Piano Player by Kenneth Baker as it uses songs they know (Abba, Elvis, Beatles, folk songs) and so they can pick up on mistakes quickly and feel a sense of achievement as they're playing something recognisable to them and to others. I hope Colin is reading this as...

...and I bet you're more confused than ever! :D I think the advice to play everything you can lay your hands on and to buy the piano you've played and like a lot, NOT just the same model, is the best advice. Every piano is different, even in the mass-produced factory made models and the one you buy ...

Almost always a longer thinner string will make a better noise that a shorter fatter one. Personally I would always favour a tall upright over a little fat grand. In fact I did - can't accommodate a grand unless we eat off it or sleep on it!

I never clicked with him either. I expect he's really upset about that... However I do like the posthumous one. Or the one he wrote after he was dead, as one kid told me.

It sounds as though the owner is doing all he can - you're right, the open top lid is to let a bit of air circulate - except PLAY the thing. Have you spoken to the tuner in person? Be guided by whatever he tells you. He will know the piano better than the owner, I expect. Ask him how much it will co...

Bit like saying you've been offered a Ford Focus and is it any good? As with a car, it depends how old it is, how it's been treated and where it's been kept. Schiedmayer are a good make but go back a long way so the piano could be very old. The sticking keys - if at the right hand end in particular ...

Well done - a lot harder for adults to learn than children!

Some piano shops offer an upgrade service whereby they promise to pay you back what you paid for your piano that you bought from them, less the VAT and knock it off the price of the next piano you get from them. That way you can spend a sensible amount of money and hedge your bets in case she ever g...

So am I. Doing my head in! Getting a pain in my scrolling finger...

Bill Kibby wrote: ↑
31 Aug 2018, 12:27
Imagine - Pierce didn't help!?!?

Ah, but Eizenham did give me a laugh though...so it does have its uses apart from standing my sarnies on in the car!

Looked very like a tiny Cramer I tuned once but looks older than 1943.

Good job! Hard to replicate the distance with an upright though, isn't it? That was what threw me when I took my first ever piano exam on a grand rather than the uprights I was used to...good job my eyesight was perfect then!

Hello Bill, tuned a tiny weeny Dale Forty today, 5 and a half octaves, no 43022. Oak case, looks to be 1920s but could find no date and Pierce was no help at all. It was sold by Mickleburgh in Bristol. Would you be able to help with an accurate(ish) date please? Tickled by Pierce's interpretation of...

Pianist magazine often finds some unusual little gems; might be worth looking at their back numbers for some ideas. A composer called Mompou is little known but has some interesting little pieces - sort of Satie-esque, if there is such a thing. I like some of the pieces by lesser known Russians like...

Well since you are going to need the piano tuner, why not let your tuner sort it out - sounds as if you've exhausted everything we might suggest! The keys themselves might have twisted and be touching, or the key leads might have oxidised and be touching. Let the tuner have a look.

ABRSM also do a Dip ABRSM and there's a qualification to bridge the gap between that and grade 8. But I think it'd just point the person questioning your qualifications to happy pupils/parents - they are your references. And never say 'only grade 8', say Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Musi...

It doesn't seem that they have a Certificate for Music Educator's equivalent. They do have a diploma in community and music group teaching but it doesn't seem to be the same sort of thing.

Did you do ABRSM (Associated Board) exams? I taught from about Grade 6 onwards and didn't get complaints. As long as you're teaching carefully and thoroughly and not pretending to have ten teaching degrees then I don't see any problem. ABRSM do teaching courses and certificates I think and that woul...

Sorry Michael, only just seen this post. You'd get more response by posting it under a new topic - something like 'Piano tutor book recommendation needed.' Tried to move it but don't have the know-how! The Complete Piano Player by Kenneth Baker is excellent; songs you know and aimed at an adult teac...

1934 according to Pierce Piano Atlas which is fairly unreliable on British makes. They were fairly good at dating their pianos; get your tuner to take out the first key on the left hand side and there should be a date, either written on the key, or on a label underneath it.

Blimey, you're starting early! I get teachers moaning about Good King Wenceslas is September! Still forewarned is forearmed as they say...

You could also ask for the tuner's number to chat about the general condition of the instrument. If they don't know/can't find the tuner's number then it's a fair bet that it hasn't been tuned for a while.

Take the bottom door off, follow the sustain pedal backwards into the piano and you'll see a nut atop a long bit of wood. Tighten that (lefty loosey, righty tighty) and keep testing the sound/feel until you get the desired result.

Ah, so THAT'S what 'chernigov' meant ! I thought it was a manufacturer. Thanks,Max!

Did Belarus pianos sometimes have no name on the fall? I tune an unbadged Russian piano - not bad! - but the only words I can discern are 'student' and 'diplom' on a transfer on the frame.

More to the point why should such a young piano (Petrof?) have loose tuning pins?

That's true, Barrie; it is a distinct sound all of its own, isn't it? Often followed by a dull thud, the sound of the tuner's heart hitting the diaphragm...

Moved this to the piano advice section since that what we wandered in to! Yes, I thought that once you'd seen a diagram you'd appreciate how complex a job it might turn out to be. But on the plus side it seems to be just the one note so hopefully it won't be too big a job. Do mention the fact that i...

When I started at 21, my projected retirement age was 60. Then it moved to 65. Now I'm 57, retirement is supposed to be 67. By the time I'm 67 it'll be 97...

I'll retire when either my ears or my thumbs give out.

Absolutely'; just have fun for now and explore which way you want to go. Then if needs be, find a teacher who works in your particular area of interest.

Nope, look at a diagram of a drop action - it will show you from the side what one nope comprises. There is a lever called a jack which is right in the centre of the whole shebang, at a slant of about 60 degrees, The top of that nestles on a pad of felt when the action is at rest and it's the pad th...

Can you take the bottom door off (the bit in front of your knees when you sit at the piano) and then sit on the floor and play the note. If the click is in front of you, it's a notch felt. If it's above you, it's possibly felt under the flange (what your arrow indicated) that's been eaten. Google 'p...

The click is probably a missing notch felt; when the jack goes back to its original position it should be resting on a tiny felt pad. These get eaten, worn or the glue gives up and the pad drops off, so instead of a silent repositioning of the jack, you hear the click of wood upon wood. Tell your tu...

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