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joseph

Don't always be put off by what you think is a bad piano. It may be that your piano isn't great but. . . ..... my first piano was a terrible straight strung upright with a split soundboard, a birdcage action which didn't even know that a note could repeat, and pedals that never worked properly. Some...

joseph

my beethoven 5 concert is in london, and yes its a wonderful thing playing a concerto. Its so nice to be on stage with a large group of musicians to achieve one common goal, that sounds almost hippy but its true!

I'm going to post more details in the concert section soon. . . . .

joseph

PS -

IMHO one with a bell, you then can't argue with where the first beat is (believe me its so easy to miss a beat!), you can set how many beats in the bar and you can turn the bell off too.

A good metronome will last forever so don't be afraid to spend 50 to 100 pounds.

joseph

use a metronome from the outset, but don't let it become a millstone round the neck. Playing with a metronome is something that needs to be practiced, like everything else. I am sure that you will be able to find ways to make metronome practice fun (little and often i find helpful) and that when you...

joseph

If those really are your only two choices then my gut feeling says go with the Yamaha. Its bigger, so should have a wider choice of tone colour, and it will be more robust but of course it depends on how old it is and what condition it is in. There are other pianos out there by Brodmann, Wendl and L...

joseph

i'm learning the emperor concerto by beethoven, well, re learning it for a concert in november, also working on a programme for a short recital tour.

joseph

hi mark i have no idea BUT i have seen such a system on some IRMLER upright pianos (imported by bluthners in London) and it was something that bolted on to the end block of the keyboard (you know, where the pencils and the mobile phone goes), so just perhaps talking to Rodney and Bluthner might help...

joseph

not so strange actually - you're never too advanced to take advice from those more experienced! If you think about it, advanced players do this all the time. Record producers advise the artists, there are hundreds of masterclasses throughout the world aimed at advanced pianists and teachers of piano...

joseph

My guess is it won't be worth more than 500 UKP because old pianos just don't fetch high prices when you can get a new piano that works for not very much these days. Uou probably want to get it tuned more than once every century though. Some of these pianos have a beautiful tone even if they're not ...

joseph

ask him to concentrate on relaxing his shoulders before doing anything else.

I have had exactly the same problem with one of my students only a month or so ago, and after doing these exercises things have improved dramatically.

Hope things work out for him!

joseph

georgia? Are you OK over there? The situation in your country sounds grave from our media.

joseph

schimmell are a very well made german piano that command high prices when new. They're not so easy to sell 2nd hand because it is a bit of an unkown name when compared to yamaha and steinway etc. I think you need to get the piano evaluated by an independent tuner/technician because without seeing th...

joseph

[quote="jakbowtell"]I am a pianist and in my personal opinion i think that steinways are very well made but i disslike the sound produced by them, i like the somewhat brighter sound of a kawai or yamaha, there is no doubt that if buying a new upright i would go for a kawai... Thats a fair ...

joseph

if your heart is set on an acoustic, buy an acoustic, and keep your 170 as your emergency piano.

joseph

well there is only one steinway and sons that is true! They don't have their reputation as the best pianos in the world for nothing! I find that Steinways make you play better because they are so sensitive and unforgiving in a way, they show up all the nasty little bumps in the sound etc. This means...

joseph

first of all STOP him from playing for HOURS A DAY! He's overdone it and he's used a bad technique. So he must stop playing for a week and start again. OK you need to get yourself a copy of mark westcotts technical regime from the october 1978 issue of piano magazine (I have a photocopy i might be a...

joseph

thats where the motive comes in . . . OK lets talk about phrasing: A phrase in music is made up of a string of notes organized into a melody. That melody has several components to it. First of all there is the phrasing. Phrases can be divided up into smaller phrases and then into motives. I recommen...

joseph

I have just spent the last two days recording on the steinway D in dundee's caird hall. It was great fun, the hall seats nearly 3000 people and despite its huge size, it has a really warm sound. The piano was very very bright but we coped with that with our mic set up, and being well tuned by an out...

joseph

. . . if i was spending 26k i'd buy the kemble and get a new bathroom, kitchen, holiday and pay off some more of the mortgage (credit crunch and all. . .)

joseph

....there are only so many numbers available, not enough for many scottish couples to combine their weight!

joseph

yeah call me a cynic, but a copy of an old dining room chair for 900 euros? Forget it! Besides, why would you want to copy the style of another pianist? I wouldn't want to play like Glenn Gould, I want to play like me, albeit a much better version of me! (NOTE: I mean by this that all great artists ...

joseph

practice 'motivically' that is, find the motives and work on them individually. Then work on the phrases individually. Don't settle for anything less than the sound you want on each motive. Spend a long time on this because you will get to know the pieces really really well and they will be spacious...

joseph

oh thats a difficult one! Pianos are all so different, and I have played many unknown uprights that have been amazing, and some top level uprights that just haven't cut the mustard! IMHO the best uprights are all the 130 cm or thereabout size and in joint first are Bechstein 8/Bosendorfer 130 /Stein...

joseph

my room is very humid too, especially as it rains so much in dundee, yet both my pianos are ok, sometimes the brodmann gets a bit sluggish but i have it regularly regulated! Of course its still quite new (1 year old now) and I'm teaching on it lots and practising on it for hours a day, yet it still ...

joseph

what if the good boys are gay? no females deserved! :wink: Anyways, one I use with my pupils is granny's boots don't fit aunty all cows eat grass of course great big dogs fart alot works just as well and probably has more truth in it, because granny's boots may just fit aunty, yet dogs ALWAYS fart!

joseph

it is bad for your touch because your touch wont develop properly. It is true that some high end digital pianos have a key weight equal to some acoustic pianos however its not all about weight and its not all about finger strength. Its about subtlety too. You see, a digital piano effectively works b...

joseph

wow a 1930s yamaha! I'd LOVE to see pics of that, and hear it too. I wonder if they are high quality pianos or not? It would be very interesting anyway. The oldest yamaha I have seen is from the late 60s or early 70s

joseph

i'm sure it will be fine in the long run. Yamaha's are technically perfect pianos and the bright sound is just part of the package. It can and will improve with several voicings. I guess the reason your tech wont voice it to be extra mellow all at once is because he wants to find out what tone you l...

joseph

you could get the mic in your computer to convert the tenor voice of your bach fugues to the humming sound for added authenticity. isn't it more of a dee dah dee than a hum? Glen Gould was a jewel, I love his playing. Some people say his sound is spikey and abrupt. I think his sound is warm, its jus...

joseph

i can second a visit to the edinburgh piano co, I got a fantastic deal on my brodmann from there. I don't know much about peter smith but i know that he does a roaring trade amonst amatuers and musicians alike so that should count for something!

joseph

I second that.

what about a high quality chinese piano like brodmann? then in a couple of years or so when you have more cash you can upgrade.

joseph

True, and Bluthners etc are less consistent than Yamaha who undoubtadly have their quality control down to a very fine art. I find also that certain pianists sound good on certain pianos. I know that we should be able to make every piano sound good, within reason. However, some pianists don't sound ...

joseph

ok call me a philistine.... but i haven't yet fallen in love with an S6. I preferred the Bluthner Model 4 which is the same size. Once upon a time I played a C6 that I thought was beautiful tho, much better than most s6s that I've played, altho it could have just been that particular one. Also, ther...

joseph

not that this is relevant to a wheelock (which i've never heard of) but my brodmann has a screw which attaches the fall to the slow close mechanism. I took the screw out though, and taped it to the underside of the piano, because my pencil keeps falling behind the fallboard. . . . and its a pain in ...

joseph

how about something like a yamaha p121, its the same size as a U1 and is apparently an improvement on the old u1 that is being imported. Here's a link to chris venables website that has inifo on it. BTW I have no connection with mr venables, I live in dundee and have nothing to gain from giving this...

joseph

my recent bargain was

a kawai kg2 for 600 quid! yes thats right. a 1980s model.

I sold it.

for alot more than 600 quid.

LOL AND I'M NOT EVEN IN THE TRADE!

joseph

Personally, I'd go for the new estonia. I've played loads of Bluthners and the new ones are absolutely beautiful, they rank among the best that money can buy. The old GDR pianos tho, are a bit naff. IF the price is right tho and you like the Bluthner then go for it. I have a new brodmann 187 which i...

joseph

scotland Seems like you can pay anything from 35 to 75. I used to use this guy who was charging 50, and it seemed that the piano would stay in tune for ages. It also seemed that every other piano would sound slightly sharp. He was tuning the blessed thing flat so the piano stayed in tune longer. SO ...

joseph

i've used the middle pedal in the poulenc trio for bassoon, oboe and piano. Its marked in the score. I've also used it in rhapsody in blue and some very modern works like McCabe stuff. The fourth pedal on the Fazioli puts the hammers closer to the strings, like an uprights soft pedal, except its mor...

joseph

YES I've bought one and i think its beautiful. It is a good solid grand piano with a fantastic action and a sound not unlike a Steinway model A. Infact, the scale design and cabinet are copied from the model A. I had a tuner who is steinway accredited look at it and he confirmed this. OK THE BUILD I...

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Schiedmayer

Re: Best Pianos (Upright)

caird hall steinway