Search found 4028 matches

by Gill the Piano
10 Jun 2004, 18:11
Forum: Piano History
Topic: Piano tuners - a history.
Replies: 6
Views: 10159

As ever, Barrie, you have come up with the goods. If you didn't prefer Northern beer, I'd call you a prince among men! I'll raise a pint of Brakspear's to you tonight... :lol: ! Gill x
by Gill the Piano
08 Jun 2004, 17:13
Forum: Piano History
Topic: Piano tuners - a history.
Replies: 6
Views: 10159

Piano tuners - a history.

I'm trying to find information on the history of the piano tuner in England for a PhD. Are there any tuners descended from generations of tuners out there who might have information, ledgers, notebooks, tools, or other ephemera they might be prepared to lend me? I'd guard it with my life and send it...
by Gill the Piano
07 Jun 2004, 15:30
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Performance tip: When should my students bow?
Replies: 2
Views: 7139

All the music festivals I've been to have seemed to involve the child announcing the piece beforehand ("My name is Vladimir Ashkenazy and I would like to play Black Sabbath's Greatest Hits") and then bowing afterwards. Any help?!
by Gill the Piano
07 Jun 2004, 15:26
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Teaching little children the piano
Replies: 18
Views: 36336

If it's the reading of music which worries you, then you could try a colour-based method such as the Lisa Childs method. I personally don't see the point of teaching a child that middle C is a red blob, then teaching it the correct name later - why teach it twice? I started at 4 and was taught by a ...
by Gill the Piano
07 Jun 2004, 15:14
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: replacing keyboard
Replies: 7
Views: 13936

Are the ivory keys actually chipped, or bits missing? Why does the tuner suggest replacement? I have to say that new plastic keys on an old piano often look like a new set of gnashers in the face of a very old gentleman, and Barrie's right about the feel; ivory absorbs sweat - sorry, perspiration!- ...
by Gill the Piano
20 Apr 2004, 17:21
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: forgot the name!
Replies: 1
Views: 5842

You don't mean 'Annie's Song' by John Denver, do you? (Words begin "You fill up my senses like a night in the forest...") It rather depends how old you and your grandad are as to what era the song could be from. Being a teenager in the '70's, Annie's Song was the first one that came to min...
by Gill the Piano
04 Apr 2004, 22:13
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Learning Piano using Keyboard?
Replies: 2
Views: 9831

Well, it's a bit like using a motorbike to learn to cycle in that a keyboard is a diffent beastie to a piano; the touch won't be right, even on a weighted keyboard. However, from the note range point of view, it'll be a long time before you use more than 49 notes. You have 4 octaves, and a learner c...
by Gill the Piano
31 Mar 2004, 19:37
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: candle holders (sconces)
Replies: 2
Views: 7094

You can also get them on Ebay, the online auction thingy, but they tend to go for silly money at times!
by Gill the Piano
16 Mar 2004, 20:23
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: Revitalising felts
Replies: 2
Views: 7509

The first thing I usually check is that the action is in place correctly; in a place like a church, where pianos often get shunted around, the action can sometimes get dislodged, especially if it only has a brass hook either end of the action to hold it in position.(Overenthusiastic pedalling can so...
by Gill the Piano
14 Mar 2004, 20:43
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: age of teaching
Replies: 4
Views: 10194

I don't know where you live, but around here all teachers have waiting lists. If you're still having lessons you could ask your teacher if she/he would supervise you if you took on a few beginners, perhaps from their waiting list. That way if you hit a problem you could ask for advice. I started a f...
by Gill the Piano
14 Mar 2004, 20:36
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Piano excercises
Replies: 5
Views: 10979

My teacher made me do the Wieck studies by Clara Wieck (later Mrs Clara Schumann!) and these were the exercises devised by her father. They're melodious and interesting...more so than Hanon and Czerny, I thought, but then I never liked studies! :roll: I think they're published by Edition Peters. Hav...
by Gill the Piano
14 Mar 2004, 20:26
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: Which type is good?
Replies: 1
Views: 5551

Have you actually measured the footprint of a lavinova compared to a proper (small) upright piano? You might find that the difference isn't as big as you think, and a Grade VII pianist would probably prefer to play on a piano. Just a thought! :)
by Gill the Piano
14 Mar 2004, 20:19
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: teacher recomendation
Replies: 2
Views: 9054

Try asking at your local music shop, or try the Incorporated Society of Musicians, who probably have a website you can look on. They have a recommended scale of fees which is to the high end of what people usually pay, but you can be sure that the teachers are well-qualified. The UK Piano Page has a...
by Gill the Piano
04 Mar 2004, 18:46
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: Is White all right?
Replies: 3
Views: 10415

Just a thought; a few of the white UPRIGHTS I tune have shown signs of yellowing, even in homes where nobody smokes. These pianos are all 1970's -80's ones, so whether that trait has been put right or not I'm not sure. I was talking to an ex-Steinway tuner today who told me that Steinway let a conce...
by Gill the Piano
12 Feb 2004, 19:07
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: Where can I learn/study piano tuning & repair?
Replies: 18
Views: 22875

There used to be a course at Newark on Trent when I first looked at colleges 24 years Ago (aaargh!) but I don't know if it's still going. Stevenson College in Scotland was another one, I think, in either Edinburgh (posh) or Glasgow (not so posh). It's all so long ago...! The Pianoforte Tuners Associ...
by Gill the Piano
06 Feb 2004, 20:16
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: learn to play piano from scratch !!!!!!!!!
Replies: 2
Views: 11001

A lot of people like the Complete Piano Player series by Kenneth Baker; it uses familiar songs (Abba, Elvis, Beatles, etc), doesn't go too fast but neither does it assume you're an idiot. There's a useful keyboard indicator/chart stuck in the back which you fit at the back of your keyboard and helps...
by Gill the Piano
15 Jan 2004, 22:14
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Which Exam borad should I choose?
Replies: 7
Views: 20492

...they seem to focus quite closely on scales...
...in which case I'm very glad I didn't do the Guildhall exams!
by Gill the Piano
13 Jan 2004, 22:09
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: black v wood upright piano
Replies: 3
Views: 10212

If he wants to buy a black one, let 'im polish it; they show fingerprints and dust like nobody's business, and if you chip a high gloss polyester finish it has to be repaired professionally to be perfect. Depends how well-behaved your family are! Amongst my customers who have new pianos, the black p...
by Gill the Piano
12 Jan 2004, 16:35
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Which Exam borad should I choose?
Replies: 7
Views: 20492

All of the boards you listed are internationally recognised, but the ABRSM is probably the one which is most commonly used by teachers both here and abroad. Both Trinity and Guildhall are respected institutions in this country, but I'm not sure how they are viewed elsewhere. The grades of all three ...
by Gill the Piano
10 Jan 2004, 17:51
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Learning after long hiatus!!
Replies: 2
Views: 8017

Try your local music shop; they'll know most of the piano teachers locally and will probably be able to tell you who'd suit you. Alternatively, try the Incorporated Society of Musicians who'll be able to give you the name of a qualified and experienced teacher in your area. No idea how you find 'em;...
by Gill the Piano
22 Dec 2003, 22:23
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: Carl Schatzlien Upright Piano
Replies: 5
Views: 11227

You could just put an ad in a FreeAds or Loot type publication - Free To Good Home, that sort of thing. You may find a family who would like a piano but can't afford one. Also shop-window ads are cheap and effective.
Good luck!
Gill x
by Gill the Piano
21 Dec 2003, 18:24
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Learning by Listening
Replies: 6
Views: 18950

Here Newt, have a laugh on me; I played at an old dears' carol singsong today and took a stack of music with me. 'Any requests?' some fool asked. 'Silent Night', they wanted. Now you and I know how simple that is...but I couldn't find the music and was petrified! Yet I should have been able to do it...
by Gill the Piano
15 Dec 2003, 21:23
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: some help needed for a newbie learner
Replies: 4
Views: 10850

There are also older six octave pianos about, by makers such as Zender, made in the 1960's and 1970's. You might pick one up for about &500 (I'm near London, so prices are higher.) I'm not saying that's what they're worth, but many of the houses they're throwing up these days are so small that s...
by Gill the Piano
14 Dec 2003, 00:31
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Learning by Listening
Replies: 6
Views: 18950

No, not academic self preservation - just fear :shock: or self conciousness, call it what you will: that's why I said it was like (NOT the same as!) playing from memory. The trouble with starting piano lessons at the age of 4 is that doing without music is a bit like getting rid of the stabilisers o...
by Gill the Piano
29 Nov 2003, 19:35
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Learning by Listening
Replies: 6
Views: 18950

Teaching to play someone by ear is difficult; you need a natural ability to play without music - such as you yourself have. I have played the piano since I was 4, but the thought of playing from memory fills me with horror, let alone playing by ear - and I've got all sorts of musical qualifications!...
by Gill the Piano
30 Oct 2003, 20:40
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: Piano not holding tune
Replies: 3
Views: 8931

Sounds obvious, but when you buy a piano it's usually been sold because the former owner didn't want it. If they didn't want it, they wouldn't have played it and certainly wouldn't have spent money on getting it tuned, so when you bought it, that could have been its first tuning in a long long time....
by Gill the Piano
28 Oct 2003, 19:54
Forum: Learning & Teaching Piano
Topic: Teaching Piano In England
Replies: 2
Views: 9088

Basically, most piano teachers in this country use the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music for examinations, but the Guildhall School of Music, Trinity College of Music and the London College of Music are also used extensively. There are eight grades in all these boards' systems, then the...
by Gill the Piano
25 Oct 2003, 20:13
Forum: Piano Advice
Topic: School teacher are amazing
Replies: 3
Views: 8735

School pianos

What these teachers don't realise is what a false economy the plastic pianos are; five years down the line when something goes wrong with them and they try to have them repaired, the parts will be unavailable, and that particular model obsolete, rendering the "instrument" useless. Whereas ...