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I think for me, that there are over 10,000 parts in it!!!
:0
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Dominic Cheli and all 10,000 are MOVING parts!
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Dominic Cheli
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How difficult it is to play with hands together.
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Find out that the key is actually a lever.
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About the piano, or about playing piano?
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Lisa Thomas Either! :)
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I remember being surprised when first learning about knee levers on early pianos, and that there were more ways to control the piano-sound with different stops then there are on modern pianos!
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The inside of the piano has been the most surprising to me! I've learned SO much from your Tonebase LiveStreams! I look forward to the Piano Technician coming on your LiveStream lessons. The anatomy and "physiology" of the piano is extremely fascinating!
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I was also surprised to learn that the depth of the keys can vary between pianos.
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What I have learned about the piano is that the type of piano directly impacts your rate of progress and the quality of your playing. As a piano teacher, I have found that Yamaha digital pianos (for example, the Asus series and Clavinovas) are better instruments than they are given credit for in pianist circles, but if you're more than an early-advanced player you'll need to graduate to something else. The Kawai Concert Artist hybrid pianos are my favorites even above acoustic uprights, and handle fairly advanced repertoire with the needed nuances. But, most of all, acoustic grand pianos are the best. I ended up choosing a Yamaha GC2/SH2 grand piano over Kawai, as I have learned I like the warmer sound of the Yamaha. The "SH2" is a moniker for their silent system, which somehow and through dark magic lets you play the acoustic piano with headphones. My playing ability has skyrocketed since I purchased the Yamaha last fall.
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Lisa Thomas I am also a piano teacher. I have a grand (Baldwin L), and upright (Schultze Polleman 126 from when they were still made in Italy 100%), and a digital - a Yamaha Clavinova CSP 150. I have the kiddos play on all of them, but lessons are always on the grand. Most of my more advanced kids have Yamaha or Kawai uprights, and they started on an acoustic piano, OR the graduated quickly to an acoustical piano. Those who stay on a digital stagnate after a while... in my experience... My tuner hooks up lost pianos that he tunes and unites with students... (pianos that people no longer want... and they are great! they just cant sell because they are older or cosmetically not stunning)... I wish I could get a few to graduate to grand pianos! My most advanced is playing on a Kawai upright at home, and he was crying the other day (he is 12) when he couldn't adjust to the action on the Baldwin... Well, we spent most of the lesson talking about adjusting, and working on touch... and he felt better about it. I had him try the Yamaha (he is playing Mozart Fantasy in D minor), and he did not the touch at all... And then the upright... Returned to the grand, and he recovered... LOL
But I fully agree, digital, even quality digitals only serve for so long.
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The first thing that came to mind was how many parts there are in a piano.
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The most surprising thing I have learned about the piano...
Many are called, few are chosen.
And I will keep practicing, in hopes of being chose...
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Maybe not the most surprising, but...
Although I love to play just for myself, I play better when I know I need to perform a piece.
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The thing that I have found most unusual about studying piano and learning to sight-read chamber music (as a total amateur!) is how much more quickly I can process mental math. When I was a kid, I noticed that I could do mental calculations more quickly than my friends who didn't do music.
I guess it has to do with processing more lines of notes "on the fly"?
It comes in handy in business meetings!
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What was surprising to me was how different the modern piano is versus the keyboards/pianos from Bach's, Beethoven's, or even Chopin's time. But also how relatively unchanged it has remained, especially when compared to recent technology which seems to change every several years now.
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It never gets any easier. The better you get, the more you realize just how challenging the “easy” pieces really are, and the more you return to them to find more of the beauty in them.
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How important the pedals are and how difficult it is to learn to use them well.
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The effects of piano playing on the brain were the biggest surprise to me. Check this out:
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How it has the ability to take over my life in a good way and make me feel that nothing else is really that important (other than my friends, family ands dogs that is). it's invaded my brain!
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Clothes moths like the baize and hammers inside the piano.
So if you notice any at home....don't forget to 'treat' the piano as well as your wardrobe!
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The piano/pianist creates its music based almost entirely on illusion. Eg, even though the sound decays once a key is struck, the performer can still create the “illusion” of a crescendo. It’s taken me years to understand this concept.
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Everything about it is so complex. The unthinkable things we have to keep track of simultaneously... both hands playing together while reading different cleffs which have the same lines and figures but mean different things, doing different things in different dynamics and pedal and so on... It amazes me and it overwhelms me... I feel like an idiot most of the times... I feel I need two brains, one focused on each hand, to maybe one day be able to play like I would like to play. The only thing that keeps me from giving up on myself (besides the beauty of the instrument and the feeling of finally doing something that felt impossible in the beggining) is knowing that many other human beings can play it well enough and that I can not be that dumb to not be able to, one day, feel like I can, at least, play at some acceptable level. I've only been learning for a bit more than 1 year now... so I know it will take long... but I really want to get there.
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The hight of key, measured from floor level, differs from piano to piano. I switched from Yamaha upright to Schimmel upright and then Grotrian-Steinweg. They are all quite different and need to adjust how I like to sit. I went to store and beg them to cut legs of bench 4 cm shorter with Schimmel upright. Grotrian is taller (meaning more space from floor to keyboard).
