Why You Should Get Your Piano Tuned

Everyone knows that learning how to play the piano is a tremendous challenge. It takes years of experience, an enormous level of commitment, and a lifetime to master. Because of the massive amount of time that goes into learning this classic instrument, it is vital to ensure that every one of those hours count.

Therefore, make sure the piano is in top notch shape. The keys should function. The sharps and flats should not be chipped. All three pedals should function properly. The back should open properly if necessary. Of course, the piano should also be tuned.

Piano tuning is very important to making sure the piano sounds its best. After all, if the piano isn’t tuned properly, how will you know if your music sounds the way it should? Read the reasons for piano tuning below!

• Piano strings are wires under pressure

While pianos have 88 keys, many of these keys have more than one string. This means that each piano has hundreds of strings under a tremendous amount of pressure. In fact, these strings are under so much tension that it can move cars. As the strings are repeatedly struck and attempt to hold their tension, the degree of tension changes. These tension changes contribute to the piano going out of tune. Make sure the strings are at the proper tension by tuning it regularly.

• The wood of the piano changes based on the weather

As the seasons come and go, the temperature and degree of humidity changes. Did you know that wood stretches in warm, wet conditions and shrinks in cool, dry conditions? Did you know the bridge across the strings is made of wood? Over time, the changing conditions that make up the wood in your piano changes the degree to which the strings are stretched. Therefore, it is important to make sure the strings are tuned to match the stretch in the wood.

• A piano tuned regularly will hold its tune longer

Every piano is designed to stay at a certain pitch designed by the manufacturer. The concert pitch is called A:440. What this says is that the first A above middle C vibrates 440 times per second. If the piano isn’t tuned regularly, the seasons will cycle multiple times. The changes may be so drastic that the tuner may need to give the piano a pitch raise. This will change the above pitch in a way the manufacturer of the piano did not intend. This can impact the way the piano sounds and alter the product that results from practice on the piano.

Ultimately, a properly tuned piano is essential for strong practice. Strong practice is essential for maximum benefits from these practice sessions. There are many different piano tuners to choose from, particularly with piano tuning Atlanta. If you need piano tuning Atlanta check out the website here! You won’t be disappointed with the resulting sound of the piano. This will keep that piano sounding the best it can.

ADHD and piano lessons

One thing that’s amazing about children is how full of spontaneous energy they are. In some cases, however, that energy can be so chaotic it becomes a problem. Some kids have attention disorders that have the potential of affecting their behavior to a detrimental degree. One of the most common of these challenges is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

It’s a disorder characterized by difficulty focusing and controlling impulsive behavior that affects a great number of kids today. Luckily, ADHD is a problem that can be managed and overcome with various therapies and treatments, some of which are completely natural and drug-free. Out of these treatments there are some that are based on music, many of which focus on the learning of an instrument.

To understand why learning music can help combat the symptoms of ADHD it’s important to realize that children with the condition have areas in the brain which are weaker than normal. Through the power of engaging the auditory, visual and motor cortices of the brain, music can help strengthen and exercise the affected areas.

This will have a positive effect on the kid’s ability for speech, general comprehension, problem solving and even math. It has also been shown to hugely improve their mental organization, focus and concentration. There are several practical applications for this kind of therapy. For example, when performing a task, kids affected with ADHD who listen to music will finish before kids with the same condition who do not.

As beneficial as the simple act of listening to music can be, new therapies encourage a more interactive approach in order to get better results. For children with ADHD, learning how to play a musical instrument has been shown to have a direct correlation with an improvement on social skills, memory, expression and even self-esteem.

However, it is important to point out that some instruments may be more fitted for this kind of therapy than others. While it’s good that kids are able to let out steam and have fun, it’s also vital that the experience is more than just a creative outlet for them. The main objective of having this form of therapy is to help the child’s brain become more disciplined and orderly, organizing information better and promoting healthier reactions to different challenges.

A simple and straight forward instrument, the piano provides for the child a logical and orderly introduction to the world of music learning. Structure is critically important for sufferers of ADHD so to them it’s very helpful that the keys of the piano are a perfect visual representation of how notes are organized.

The kind of short and precise sounds a piano makes are perfect for learning the basics of melody and rhythm. At the same time, the sounds are soothing and calming, which helps the student achieve a clear and focused mind while exercising self-control. Minimalist, clean-cut and beautiful, the piano gives the child with ADHD a way to become more aware of themselves and their surroundings.

Careful When Buying a Used Piano

The piano is one of the most popular instruments out there. It teaches students to read music in two separate clefts across the largest range of any instrument in more keys than any instrument. Unfortunately, this classic instrument is also one of the most expensive instruments available. This prompts people to consider purchasing a used piano. Far cheaper than a brand new grand piano, this can save people thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, purchasing a piano also comes with a myriad of risks associated with this purchase. Read below to learn about some points of caution to be aware of when looking for used pianos.

• Use extreme caution with Craigslist

Craigslist is one of the first sites people go to when looking to save money on expensive items. Used for a wide array of purchases, from computers to cars and even more eclectic purchases, people both sell and buy items on Craigslist. Unfortunately, purchasing a used piano on Craigslist carries major risks. It is impossible to be fully aware of what you’re getting off of Craigslist. The piano may have flood damage, broken, keys, or overt lies associated with who made it and how long ago. Be careful with this site.

• Extreme restoration costs

Used items just aren’t as good as new items. This is a fact. When purchasing a used piano, this is as true as any other expensive purchase. In order to get the piano in solid playing condition again, this may require some major restoration costs. Potential keys and strings may need replacing. The wood may be damaged. The pedals may be broken. Regardless of the problem, the money saved on purchasing a piano used may be exceeded by the money spent restoring the piano. Consider this before making that piano purchase. You may be opening your wallet multiple times.

• The damage associated with the piano

The money spent restoring the piano is dependent on how much damage is associated with the piano. Keep your eyes open for chipped and worn keys. Make sure you sit down and try the keys because if the keys are worn or rounded from use your fingers may end up sliding off. Worse, the keys may not even play when struck. Ensure all of the keys are working. Check the dampener, sustain, and sostenuto pedals to ensure all are working properly. Make sure the back opens and closes the way it’s supposed to. Make sure you’re fully educated on what you’re about to buy.

• The hidden costs

Restoration and damage costs are up front with the piano. Hopefully you know this before purchasing it. The hidden costs come down the road. Used pianos are bound to have items and accessories break faster than new pianos. While you may not have any restoration and damage costs up front, it’s bound to break quicker than a new piano. Make sure you remember this before making the piano purchase. It’s something you should be prepared to deal with sooner rather than later.

Why Children Should Take Piano Lessons

Deciding the proper extracurricular activities for children can be a major challenge. While every parent wants their children to be involved outside the classroom for both a well rounded childhood and to keep children out of trouble, many factors go into deciding the activities they should sign their kids up for. The child should enjoy the activity that hopefully will become a hobby. The activity should offer some opportunity to learn a new skill. The activity should foster a love of lifelong learning. Many of these factors, and more, factor into many parenting decisions and many adults sign their kids up for piano. Why are so many parents deciding to sign their kids up for a child piano lesson? See below!

• Learning the piano can increase confidence

Pretty much everyone has gone to see a piano concert and been blown away by the performance. Perhaps the child was 6 years old. Perhaps it was a professional pianist. Regardless of the level, receiving praise from individuals can do wonders for a child’s confidence. Seeing how much other people enjoy their playing will only encourage children to continue to pursue improvement at piano lessons.

• Hand eye coordination development

Most people associate sports with hand eye coordination. In truth, piano also requires a remarkable level of hand eye coordination. The finger and hand dexterity to rapidly hit multiple keys at once and make music out of it requires a high level of coordination. In addition, the piano offers great cross training for athletic activities. Sports such as baseball, basketball, and football require large amounts of hand eye coordination as well. Why not foster this coordination in multiple directions by learning the piano?

• It teaches patience and determination

Piano lessons are far easy as this is a challenging instrument. Children will experience frustration and disappointment along the way; however, piano will also teach children to overcome these disappointment with hard work and patience. Like any skill, piano takes time to learn and years to master. If children learn to stick with the instrument through the rough patches with support and encouragement, this will translate into further success in other areas of life such as school and sports. This instrument with ingrain important qualities into children such as commitment and time management. Children will learn not to procrastinate on other activities because piano will take up that time. Children will learn to be efficient, making them masters of time management by the time they reach college.

• Fill your home with beautiful music

Of course the piano sounds beautiful and will impress anyone around. You can continue to work on other projects and run errands in the background while you get to watch and listen to your child learn and master a new skill. Over the years, the music will progress to gradually resemble the music you once heard in that professional concert hall. No child has ever regretted learning how to play the piano. For a top notch child piano lesson experience, why not check out Cooper Piano’s piano lessons here?

Baldwin: Timeless Instruments for Playing Timeless Music

Baldwin Piano Company (often shortened simply to “Baldwin”) is a company specializing in the production and manufacturing of pianos, organs, and other keyboard instruments. At one time, Baldwin Piano Company was the largest manufacturer and seller of pianos in the United States. The company was founded in 1889 by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin of Cincinnati, Ohio when he promised himself after many years of teaching students how to play that he was going to build the best piano that could possibly be built. The first piano ever produced by Baldwin Piano Company was a classic upright piano, with an oak finish (which was standard fare at the time) which began production and sales in 1891. The company introduced the world to its first ever concert grand piano just four years later, in 1895.

Four years after the introduction of the company’s first grand piano, Baldwin passed away from unknown causes at the age of 78. The very next year, Baldwin Piano Company was the first American piano company to win first prize in the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France, using its Model 112, a classic upright with a dark mahogany finish; an updated version of the Model 112 can still be purchased today, and is generally recommended for young beginners who need full-size piano performance in a compact size. In addition to its victory in France, the company also won expos in the United States, including the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1910 and the Anglo-American Exposition in 1914. Due to the company’s repeated success at these events, both nationally and internationally, news about Baldwin Pianos began spreading all over the world. As a result, sales began to skyrocket, and Baldwin Piano Company was exporting their instruments to over 30 countries by 1930, and to over 50 countries by 1945. These sales included both upright pianos and grand pianos, as well as the new line of player pianos Baldwin Pianos began manufacturing in the late 1920s in order to compete in the ever-growing player piano market.

World War II was a trying but ultimately important event in Baldwin history. During that time, the United States War Production Board demanded that all piano factories cease production in order to convert them into productions for aircraft to aid in the United States’ efforts in the war. It is with this event that the president of the company at the time, Lucien Wulsin II, published his famous quote: “If humanity can no longer create art, then what are we fighting for?” Ultimately, however, while the production of aircraft by former Baldwin factories cannot be considered successful, many of the lessons learned involving the creation of plywood aircraft wings proved incredibly useful in the production of future pianos by the company after the war, marking a very important event in Baldwin history.

The company had successfully doubled its production by the early 1960s, and in 1973, sold its one millionth upright piano. Subsequently, the company attempted to make itself known in the popular music industry with its purchase of Burns of London, where it attempted to sell guitars, but largely failed due to Gibson’s overwhelming dominance in the market. Much later, in 2005, Baldwin became a subsidiary of Gibson guitars, and also began manufacturing pianos under the Chickering, Wurlitzer, and Howard names, as well as organs under the Hamilton name. In 2008, the company acquired two production plants in China, where it continues production and manufacturing to this day.

Most of the notable people who performed on Baldwin pianos were early- to mid-20th century performers, such as Bela Bartok, Leonard Bernstein, and Igor Stravinsky. However, there are musicians that continue to perform on Baldwins to the present day, including John Williams and Richard Carpenter. Additionally, one of Claudio Arrau’s final performances before his death in 1991 was on a Baldwin concert grand piano.

The importance of a good piano moving company

Piano moving is one of those things that people don’t really ever think about until it’s time for them to. You’ve just spent a small fortune on that beautiful brand new grand piano, but now how do you get it to your house safely? You can’t put it in your car, and you probably simply do not have the equipment on hand to move it yourself.

Or worse yet, you’ve lived in the same house for years, and you’re moving into a new place. But you have that piano, how do you move that?

Thus you realize that you need a piano moving company, something that you probably didn’t even know existed. There are people trained to professionally, (in every sense of the word), move your new musical centerpiece from point A to point B safely.

Which Piano Moving Company you go with is also incredibly important, because you don’t just want some amateur moving something that expensive. There’s nothing worse than having all the stress of moving, and then something happening to one of your most expensive possessions. You can always gamble with a company that “offers” piano moving as well as other services, but this doesn’t mean they’re specifically trained to handle a piano. This just means they have the capability to move a piano.

So what other option do you have? There are companies that specialize in moving pianos.

Why Piano Moving Companies?

A lot of them have guarantees and clear liability policies so that you can feel at ease. This basically means that if they break the piano, or damage it in any way shape or form while moving it, they are responsible for fixing it. This is not always the case, but it’s one of many features that you would want to be looking for when weighing the pro’s and con’s of each company.

Think of it like this. We’ll say a moving company is a dog sitter. And a piano moving company is a baby sitter. The dog sitter may have some of the basic skills to take care of your kid. But are you really  going to leave your kid in the hands of the dog sitter, when there is someone else who is specifically trained to take care of your kid?

Choosing The Ideal Piano Moving Company

Make sure that the people who are moving the aforementioned property are certified to whatever degree possible, and that they have all the proper equipment to do the job right without issue. Also check reviews because reviews simply don’t lie — both good and bad. Most people don’t realize that they can find most everything they are looking for in the reviews section of a company’s business page on Google or other review panels!

And if you’re looking to move a piano in Atlanta, look no further than Cooper Piano. Cooper Piano provides the best piano moving service in Atlanta. You can find out more information here.

Always Try a Piano Before you Rent One

Everyone knows the piano is an instrument that is every bit as beautiful as it is difficult to play. It takes years to learn how to play a piano well and a lifetime to master. It is an instrument that starts conversations with anyone in the room and will earn the respect of anyone who hears a pianist play. It teaches important life skills such as time management, commitment, patience, determination, and discipline. It makes excellent cross-training for people playing sports as it trains hand eye coordination and finger dexterity. Despite this, many people are simply too busy to justify investing in a piano purchase. Furthermore, people sometimes need a piano for a specific venue that doesn’t have one. Unlike smaller instruments, people cannot drag a piano to a location for a concert. Moments like this make sense for piano rentals. What are important tips for renting a piano? Like any other major purchase, trying the item before investing in it is important. Why should you try a piano before renting one? Check out our reasons below:

• Make sure the piano is in tune

Like any other instrument, the piano needs to sound appropriate before putting money down for it. Showing up to play a piano that is out of tune will make all of your hard work go down the drain. It doesn’t matter if you’re a child learning scales or a virtuoso with a lifetime of experience. If a piano is out of tune it simply will sound bad. For this reason, make sure you try a piano before you rent it. If the piano is out of tune at the store it isn’t a big deal. Simply ask the owner to tune it before renting it or rent a different piano. Just don’t wind up surprised by an out of tune piano on the night of the event.

• Make sure you’re comfortable with the keys

Piano rentals come in all shapes and sizes. From keyboards to uprights and all the way to baby grand and full grand pianos. Along with the size the keys also come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes this isn’t intentional. Keys get worn down and chipped with years of use. The owner may tell you the piano simply has character. Character is fine, but you need to make sure the feel and texture of the keys is appropriate for your purposes. If you find your fingers are slipping and sliding off the keys perhaps a different piano is better.

• Make sure the piano will fit the venue

Make sure to take stock of the size of the piano as well! If the piano won’t fit through the door or fit in the room with the rest of the venue you should select a different piano! Bring a tape measure just to be safe!

There are lots of great piano rental places in the Atlanta area locations to choose from, Cooper Piano being one of the best. If you’re looking for piano rental in Atlanta click here for rates here!

THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A PIANO APPRAISAL DONE

Have you ever thought about getting your piano appraised? Well, you should. It might be worth more than you think it is. There are a lot of benefits attached to getting your piano appraised. In order to discuss the benefits, we must begin by looking at how to go about these re-evaluations.

Did you know that two pianos, of the same make, model and were made at the same place could have vastly different values? It’s true. Just because the two look and sound alike, it doesn’t mean they will bring in the same coin. Each piano sell will be different.

That’s what makes piano appraisals so important. A piano is an investment. Make sure you’re getting the most out of your investment.

THE THREE LEVELS OF PRICING DURING A PIANO SELL

RETAIL– This is the price a dealer would ask for the piano, out-right, at the time of the sell.

WHOLESALE VALUE– This is the price the dealer would pay, if he were going to buy the piano.

THE INDIVIDUAL SELLER’S VALUE– This is the price you might get, if you decide to advertise the piano for sale.

THE BENEFITS OF DOING THIS APPRAISAL

By getting your piano appraised, you now have a rough idea of the value of your piano. You don’t have to worry about lowballing yourself when it comes to selling your piano.

We also like knowing the value of our items. There’s a joy in knowing that you have something valuable. A level of pride comes with owning something on inherent value. By getting an appraisal, you may look at the piano in the corner in a whole new light.

Getting the appraisal

You can go about this a couple of different way. The easiest way for  you to get a piano appraisal in Atlanta would be to visit Cooper Piano’s appraisal section. However if you’re not looking for a piano appraisal in the Atlanta area, there are still several options.

One of the easiest is by contacting the dealership you purchased your piano from, or from another professional piano appraisal company.

Do not skimp on your appraisal. And don’t just assume the value.

There are hundreds of factors that go into the value of your piano, and only a trained eye can spot them all.

The piano creates some of the most beautiful music in the world. So, it comes to no surprise that learning to play the piano is a goal shared by millions of people, nationwide. Additionally, there are a lot of people that never achieve this goal because they are intimidated and feel that it would be very difficult to learn how to play such a fine instrument. Luckily, there are steps and processes that can aid in memorizing the piano keys. Here are some proven methods that can guide any newbie.

Get to Know the Piano

Knowing how a piano is made and how it works is essential to becoming a good piano player. It is equally important to know the inside of the piano as well as the outside. Having a good education on what it takes to assemble a piano as well as what it takes for the instrument to make its unique sounds is crucial to being a good piano player. Knowing how the piano keys are made, how to identify each key and its dedicated sound for each key is highly essential to memorizing those piano keys accurately. That is why it is advisable to always get to know the instrument first versus jumping in head first.

Get to Know the Alphabet

The alphabet that is referred to here is not the A B C’s we learn in grade school; the alphabet being referred to here is called the music alphabet. Moreover, knowing the music alphabet is crucial to memorizing the piano in terms of placement and sound. The music alphabet runs almost the same as the everyday alphabet we all learn in our early years of school. The music alphabet starts with the letter A but ends at the letter G instead of the letter Z.

Additionally, it is helpful to remember that the letter A always comes after the letter G, in regards to where keys are located. The A Thru G pattern simply repeats itself so it is common to have two of every key. When the same two keys are being pressed, that will produce a sound commonly known as an octave. It is also beneficial to remember to always start with the letter D, this will provide a way to read the keys correctly.

In conclusion, learning the best way to remember piano notes starts with learning the basic operation of a piano. Getting familiarized with as many aspects of this instrument will only prove to be beneficial to the end results. Allow yourself plenty of time to get comfortable with where each piano key is and what sound each key makes, and even how two notes sound when played together.