Tanya’s Piano Studio

Question: Why do I need to have my acoustic piano tuned?

Answer: Your piano is an investment.  If you ever want to sell your piano in the future, it will be worth more if it is tuned regularly.  It will give you many hours of musical pleasure and should be maintained.

Question: What factors affect the piano staying in tune?

Answer:  It is subject to the climate, since it has wood and felt inside.  Extreme temperature changes can affect the tone, pitch and touch.  Try to place your piano on a wall that is away from doors or windows that are opened frequently.  Direct sunlight and air condition vents should also be considered when you look for the perfect place to put your piano.

Question:  How often should we get our piano tuned?

Answer: If you have a new piano, it should be tuned at least two or three times in the first year.  The strings on the piano are more elastic on a new piano and by having it tuned often in the first year, you set the string length to be in tune.  After the first year, the piano should be tuned at least once a year.

Question: How does a piano that is tuned help my child?

Answer: If a students practices on a piano at home that is not tuned, then comes to their piano lesson and plays on a tuned piano, they think that they are playing wrong keys, since it sounds so different.  A student tends to practice more on a piano that is maintained because it is pleasant to practice and perform on.

An acoustic piano can last 100 years or more, while a digital piano may be obsolete in 5 years. An outdated keyboard is often difficult to sell. The tone and touch of an acoustic piano is usually far superior to a digital piano and it will hold it’s value much better than a keyboard. The disadvantages are the size, the cost and the tuning expense.

The keyboard has made it possible for many students to learn to play the piano.  The advantages of a keyboard are the lower cost, smaller size, ability to play quietly with headsets and no need to get tunings. Most digital pianos have a MIDI output which allows you to connect them to a computer via an inexpensive interface, which allows you to record and edit your playing and add additional parts, as well as control other instruments.  Many times, a student will start lessons with a cheaper keyboard and when the parents see the level of commitment that the student has to learn to play well, they will then go and buy a much nicer keyboard or an acoustic piano.

Piano fingering is your finger placement on the piano keyboard.  Good fingering is an important skill that should to be used to allow your fingers to master difficult passages.   Some things that you can play at a slow speed are impossible at the finished tempo, unless you use the best fingering.   Practicing fingering may seem tedious at first, but stick with it; your fingers will adjust quickly.

As a teacher, I find myself repeating these words over and over,

“Practice this piece today or no later than tomorrow”.  I say, “Don’t wait days before you play this.”

Students forget how to practice a piece correctly when they wait for days to play it.  This results in wrong notes, rhythms and fingering.  After a piece is practiced with mistakes, it is VERY difficult to learn it correctly.

When you start a new piece, what do you do first?  If you try to concentrate on all the things that go into learning a new piece to perfection, it is overwhelming.  Here is the order of what I believe is a good plan for learning:

1) Notes -  hand separately first and slow with correct fingering

2) Rhythm -  slow and correct (sometimes a metronome is helpful)

3) Pedaling – now begin to use the pedal as marked in the piece

4) Dynamics – being to notice the louds and softs in the piece and all instruction written by the composer.

5) Tempo – the speed of the piece is usually written at the beginning above the first measure.  Slowing increase your speed.

6) Memory – if you are going to memorize your piece, begin to work on it now.  It may surprise you how much you already know by memory.

Happy Practicing!!!

Before the recital, I train my students to be performers.  This is a sample of what I teach students:

1) The performance starts when you get out of your seat and start to walk up to the piano.  Look confident and sure of yourself.
2) Sit down and put your music on the music rest of the piano.
3) If you are using the pedal in your piece, put your foot on the pedal before you begin.
4) Look at the keyboard and make sure that you put your hands in the correct place for your piece.
5) The is the most important step:  Once you begin your piece, if you make a mistake, do not pause or make a sound or shake your head.  Try not to start over.  Try to recover and keep on going.
6) After finishing your piece, pick up your music and face the audience.  With your music tucked under your arm, smile at audience then bow (look at your toes for 3 seconds).  You are thanking your audience for their applause.

Professional pianists make mistakes, but they do not let you know.  They continue regardless and their countenance never shows the error.  You must practice performing just as you practice the notes in your music.  Have a parent or relative or friend sit down and listen to you.  Practice following the 6 steps above.   Above all, let the joy of sharing your music overcome your fear of not playing every note exactly perfect.  Enjoy!

This is a question that all students ask when beginning piano lessons.   In my contract that all new students sign when starting lessons,  it states that the requirement is to to play each piece  two times per day.  This is for a beginning student, usually  7 or 8  years old.   As you progress through the study of music, it becomes more challenging and demands more practice time to master the musical skills.  The amount of  time should grow longer as you begin to play more advanced  music.  The rewards are very fulfilling when a student can play well.  It is a full circle, as the student practices more, they get better, and as they get better, they want to play the piano more, etc.  Let me end this post with an appropriate quote, “Piano is like life, you get out of it what you put into it”

My mother gave me the gift of piano lessons when I was a child. She had no idea how those lessons would impact my life. I have been teaching piano for about 30 years now. I would never have had the confidence to purse a career as a musician if I had not had these lessons. I remember walking down the block  to the neighborhood teacher for my piano lesson. My teacher expected me to play my pieces with a metronome even though I did not have one at home and was not required to play with one at home. My recitals were really scary events. (Much different for students who learn in groups). We lived in a big old house in a small town in Texas and it did not have central heat or air conditioning. I would go in there to practice in the winter and it was freezing cold at times. These are some of the memories of learning to play the piano from my childhood. Who knows what each student will do with their music as they grow up. Even if they only play the piano for their own enjoyment, that is a wonderful gift that has been give to them. I believe sports have a place and that it is important, but will the average man or woman be playing soccer or football when they are 40 or 50 years old? Music is enjoyed at all ages for a lifetime.

Playing the whole piece from beginning to end and continuing to pause at the same place or making the same errors over and over is not productive. Play each hand separately and then play them together SLOWLY. Very slowly at first and then gradually increase your speed. Play from one measure before the difficult spot, to one measure after.