UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Customers often say to me 'I bet you have to have excellent hearing to do this job.'
And I always reply 'What?'
Sometimes they ask me twice more before they twig...

Come on, Pianoguy; you're just jealous because YOU haven't got 'sliding ornamental lightly trays', aren't you?

Well, wot a grin; I have a stitch in my side now from laughing. I may put him on my 'Favourite Sellers' list...

. Go and have a look, everyone!

...and I'm looking forward to the revenue from all those loverly broken strings; seven on the last 'it looks so easy I thought I'd do it myself; I was an engineer you know' victim that I was called out to! :roll: :wink: The wedge just shuts up the strings (on the note you're tuning) that you don't w...

Electronic tuners are wonderfully accurate...for perfect pianos. But there aren't many of those around. Most pianos (at the realistically priced end of the market, anyway) and older pianos have odd beats on odd strings (some more than others :? ) and the human ear can hear these, recognise them, and...

I reckon you'd better wait till Barrie's finished basting himself with butter (and beer) in Benidorm!

A44o wonders why people don't trust their local reputable dealer; I find it's not a question of trust, it's a question of cost. The pianos I'm often asked to vet only cost about two hundred quid, and are generally straight strung overdampers for their kids to start on. Dealers - even if they sold th...

You could always take the top door (bit in front of you when sitting at piano) and fall (lid) and any other rail off, lift out the end key in the bass, and see if there's a date scribbled on it anywhere. Or there may be a label underneath the key on the key bed (if it is 1879, brace yourself for a l...

Carefully! If I remember rightly, the boards behind the keyboard slide upwards to leave the action exposed so you can slide it out towards you, gently! Look at each end of the various boards for swivel pegs which you turn to help release the board/rail. On early uprights there was sometimes a wooden...

Coo, edyoucated, ent 'e?

Up to grade VIII, yes, probably, if it's been reconditioned. Beyond, debatable. Do you really want to go through all the upheaval of buying a piano all over again in three years' time? I'd think about a second hand Yamaha U3 or similar if you have the room for a tall upright; the taller the piano th...

Is that number on the case? If so, casework numbers don't necessarily tally with the actual serial number of the piano. Look on the frame (inside, amongst the tuning pins sometimes) or perhaps on the soundboard underneath the keyboard. As we always say, get a tuner/technician to value it. That way y...

Go and have a piano lesson...honestly, it'll do you no end of good, and the teacher can tell you which areas need work and how to tackle any problems. You could ask for a one-off consultation lesson, and you'll get a lot from it. There's no law that says you have to have a lesson a week; ask about h...

1899, according to Pirce's Piano Atlas, but I know Bill has more detailed records!

Made in 1885 according to my book, worth millions...not. Sorry! Nice old pianos, though - well made and last for years. Just love it for being an antique!

Make sure all the panels are on tight - any clips or hooks holding bits on should be firmly in place. Clear all the cr...rubbish off the top - your piano should be NAKED!!! (said the woman who hasn't seen the top of her piano for some time :oops: ...) And make sure there's nothing leaning against th...

There are a couple of 'coffee table' tomes with nice diagrams in; The Book of the Piano (ed. Dominic Gill); Piano by Jeremy Siepman, and Piano by David Crombie. Your local library will probably have it or get it for you. Barrie may know about websites; I think the American Piano Technician's Guild h...

Do you mean the bolts which hold the action (engine!) against the strings inside? If so, the action should be pushed as close to the strings as possible (so the action standards are close to the frame) and the bolts tightened hand tight. You can't overtighten them, but don't make the tuners work too...

...and a wooden floor will make the piano sound louder than a rug/carpet underneath would. If you're moving the piano across the floor, roll it across hardboard so as not to gouge marks on the wood; not all piano castors turn as well as they should, particularly on old pianos!

Lift up the top lid, look at each top corner of the frame; if there's a number there it'll probably have 5 or 6 digits. OR; take top door off completely and look to the left-hand side of the action on the soundboard at the back. OR; take out bottom door (in front of your knees when you sit at the jo...

Technically, no, you don't need a licence or even exams. However, for your own sake and the pupils', it's best that you do at least Grade VIII to be competent as a teacher. The Associated Board do teaching qualifications after Grade VIII. That said, most people have taught in an informal way without...

I neeeeeeed the music as a comfort blanket.
And I never close me eyes...someone might nick me piano!

The A expreses the tonality of the bar better, I'd have thought...but it's all a matter of opinion really, isn't it? Have you read the books by Tobias Matthay? He's very big on arm weight and whether the weight is at the top of the key travel (staccato/light) or the bottom (legato/heavy). All touch ...

The people who look after it will have the best idea of price; give them a ring and ask the question! Is there a serial number inside it? That will pinpoint the date for us. Or again, the people who tuned it probably have a note of it. They'll have a better idea of market prices there as well.

Depends where you live, how it's been looked after...all sorts of things. Risk a tenner or so and ask a tuner/technician to come and look it over for you. S/He will also know the state of the local market,may know where you can advertise it best and may even have a customer (or 'client' if you're so...

Is it an upright or a grand piano? Makes a lot of difference!

If you do the ABRSM Jazz exams the pieces DEPEND on improvisation; the first page is a jazz piece written normally, and then SHOCK! HORROR! :shock: , all of a sudden there is mo music, just a load of spots! These indicate pitch but not music, and the candidate is asked to improvise on these notes fo...

You can buy recordings of someone tuning a piano on eBay (!) but I have no idea how useful that would be; you'd need a superb sound system to be able to hear the beats. I recently taught a client of mine (into modern music, wanted to try a piano tuned in perfect intervals all the way through...I'm b...

A piano teacher client of mine had a teenage 'thrasher' who was playing (and I use the term in its loosest possible sense) when the piano fired a bass string...she said it cured him! Nothing like a bit of adrenalin-fired terror to instil piano technique in a child, says I!

Blimey, a whole dollar; you ought to be careful splashing your money about like that... :) I tune LOADS of John Spencers, and they were very well made despite not being top-range instruments. One which I tune regularly has been lugged from England to Australia and back, the soundboard is in several ...

...and if they don't want you playing a heap of music in the corner to test the piano, then I'd assume they don't want to be inconvenienced by having to count your money either!

The polystyrene slabs used for lagging tanks is quite good for that, if you can face trolling round a B&Q.How is the room furnished? Sofas, curtains and carpets all serve to absorb sound, and this current fad for plasticky wooden floors and blinds instead of curtains has brought me a host of cus...

I could only play Liszt with the assistance of Class A drugs. Even then I'd probably have a breakdown! I'm too old to start taking on Liszt - at my age it'd kill me.

The only way to get a proper idea of value is to call in a tuner/technician. The 1885 may not refer to year of manufacture, but to the year in which they won the gold medal - firms used them as advertising PR long after the actual award! The firm isn't listed in the Piano Atlas which I have, but Bil...

But pianists always USED to play from music; I believe it was Liszt showing off (damn him!!!) who started the old memory lark!

...and some of us can't even SAY words like 'equilibruiurbiuibum'...

Why, A440 (or can I call you A?), what a cynical beast you are!!

...unles it's a Steinway D for two and threepence.
Delivered.

...and there are many creative and informative things to do with piano wire, of course.

Rosi, you might like to read the thread (well, more of a rope now!) entitled 'Which is better...' under this same 'General' section. Most of the arguments are set out there for you (in an increasingly hedgehoggy fashion - but stick with it!). If you are buying new, then it really boils down to 'You ...

O dear God, don't let 'em start on the ABS again...I don't think me nerves will take it...

I too am a manky pianist (!) and it's great fun to belt through what I call the PMT repertoire (my husband doesn't know much about music, but he knows Rachmaninov means trouble) at fffffz , and it shouldn't hurt as long as you're relaxed. It's when (usually) kids - specifically teenage boys! - keep ...

...but mines are more fun; I LIKE loud explosions with my fireworks...

although I suppose sparks can be pretty...

For what you'd get for it, you wouldn't get a decent new piano. You'd probably be better off with a good quality older piano than a nasty modern Chinese -or similar - upright. Everything depends on how it's been looked after, really, and what level pianist you are. More info needed! Any chance of a ...

It's male, about seventeen with an adam's apple protruding approximately level with chin, spotty and even when it's forbidden by uniform/dress codes from wearing a baseball cap you know it would want to be wearing one - preferably backwards, which as we all know drains all intelligence from the brai...

Did I ever tell you about the little oik doing a survey outside Dixons? He wanted to ask me about my computer, and at the time I didn't have (or want) one, and told him so. "You don't have any keyboard skills, then?" the oik said, innocently. "LISTEN, SONNY, I'VE PLAYED THE PIANO FOR ...

It's hard getting into homes after school as well; they can't do Monday because Marcus has Moneylaundering, Tuesday's out because Tarquin has Taxidermy...I'm also getting piano teachers complaining because the poor little s*ds are exhausted when they come for their lessons and consequently learn ver...

Damn. Just as I'd cleared a space in the music room...

If we ARE time travelling, could anybody give me last night's lottery numbers, please? I feel a Steinway coming on...

Ho yes...three years at College studying piano technology, but DID they ever teach us precisely how to deploy Blutack? Nope. Should be in every tuner's toolcase!

Perhaps the exclamation mark was to reassure those people who flick through the music from the back first and would therefore have felt faint; I know I would...

Search found 4028 matches