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Hey Dominic. Yes lets talk piano. Perhaps you can give me some suggestions. I am thinking about what to do with my Steingraeber which I bought from Stuttgart 26 years ago. The sound has become very sharp to my ears and I am struggling to play on it. I thought older pianos are supposed to be more mellow. Most times I have to press on the soft pedal for the whole piece. My piano tuner says the felt has hardened and he needs to take the whole system away. I dont know if this will be useful. What's your take ?
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Jenny Harrison ah nice. We both have Steingraeber. Mine is also upright Model is 130k. Bought from a shop in Stuttgart in 1996.
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Carol Chua Now I see why you spent so much effort to get your hammers sounding right. Mine is a 130 TPS, very similar to yours. I heard one reviewed on youtube by James Pavel Shawcross and he declared it to be the best upright in the world. But it is very difficult to find one in the U.S. since Steingraeber makes very few and they are all sold in Germany. I set up a search flag on eBay and before long, a fairly new one came up. I had a tuner inspect it since it was across the country and bought it sight unseen. It was a great decision! Once it was voiced and regulated, it was fabulous. The bass is not quite as bold as my Steinway B, but everything else competes.
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Jenny Harrison indeed it is. For me, it was love at first sight. The seasoned pianists keeps telling me not to sell and they do love the piano tone and touch. So now it cost me 1/3 the original cost to restore. I'm patiently waiting. It's been one year as i waited for the right tuner to come. He's authorised Steinway tuner and very comforting that he will restore it nicely for me.
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Jenny Harrison by the way this is my first piano. It is meant to be for my retirement project with no piano skills.
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Carol Chua You made a great choice. Your second great choice was to join tonebase. I jumped right in with a lifetime membership as soon as I read about it. I would like to share my experience as it might help you. I was not a beginner when I started tonebase, but I might as well have been. I had only gotten to an intermediate level during ages 15-20, but it was often a struggle. I could not play anything fast, so I looked for adagio pieces. Now I realize that my teacher did a terrible job. He had me practice rhythms with a metronome for hours each day so I could play fast pieces, but with no advice about how to use my fingers, arms, wrists, or back. I did not enjoy practicing and quit at 20. (Most people at my age are retired, although I am not.) I started to learn again during the early part of the pandemic. It was very hard at first, for I really had to start over. But tonebase teachers showed me many things I had never known before. I made the decision at the beginning, with encouragement from Ben Laude in a chat discussion, to jump straight to a difficult piece and spend a few years learning to play it. So I chose the Chopin Ballade #1 in g minor! This had been a dream piece, far beyond my wildest dreams. It was absurd, yet why not try? I listened to Garrick Olson’s lesson on this piece every few months, and each time I learned more. I took my time so I could incorporate new methods, but these tended to change over time as I grew to understand more and more what to do. I especially liked the lessons on Taubman’s methods by Robert Durso. I have gone through them slowly and each one makes a difference. I never get bored playing the same piece each day. (I only have time for an hour a day at the piano.) The piece always improves every day. That may be hard to believe, but it is true because of tonebase. You know what? It is now becoming easy. I can now play it all the way through, up to tempo, without making mistakes and can focus on musical expression. I can even play the famous coda which is very fast! I have also enjoyed Seymour Bernstein’s lessons with Ben Laude for it feels like I am having the lesson. When Ben learns, I learn, too. It is all about poetic expression.
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Jenny Harrison What an amazing story! I love your commitment and dedication to your piano music. I totally agree with you that tonebase is absolutely wonderful!
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Jenny Harrison I did too. I jumped onto tonebase with lifetime membership. I'm loving it too. So much to do and so little time. I'm also taking sight reading techniques separately. To me the key is enjoy the process. And to listen to my own tonality and harmony of each piece. I still can't play a perfect piece. But I'm OK with it too. Totally agree with you. These live videos are great lessons. The latest video lesson on Raindrops by is my next target. The fine tuning it will be fun.
Enjoy the process.
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Got myself a Yamaha cdp-745 afew months back in order to reignite my love for this instrument, and it's been lovely. Now I'm saving to get an acoustic piano, most likely a yamaha baby grand(I don't have too many options where I live).
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I play my mahogany Baldwin L (6' 3") built in 1942, and recently purchased a Boston upright as a second instrument in my teaching studio. Very pleased with both of them!
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1920s Wertheim gold frame, made just a few minutes away in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia
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Mine "evolved" from Yamaha Keyboard P-45 to Yamaha digital piano 165 Arius and finaly to acoustic Kawai K200. I just regret not buying upright one in the first place.
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Elena_Ms I still have my P45 and use it to practice at night with headphones!
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Gail Starr If it wasn't for the luck of room I would be happy to keep it, alas
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Elena_Ms I used my P45. When I lived in NYC…my apartment was so tiny I kept it in the entryway…which was a bit of a problem because I had to move it to hang up my coat every evening.
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I have a beautiful Schimmel. My retirement present to myself
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Judith And what a magnificent view! I'd practice all day long if I lived there!
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After a full year's search I located a used Shigeru Kawai and it was even nearby. I thought I wa ted a 6'1" max but as soon as I saw this PERFECT 6'6" SK-5 I knew it would come one with me. Awesome piano at a great price.
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Vickie horowitz Congratulations! Do you have any suggestions for how to conduct a search for a top notch, used piano like the one you found? What was your approach?
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I'm playing on the Kawai CA99 full body digital piano. I have to fit my playing in at odd hours and the headphone option really helps out. Stops me from having to try playing quietly.
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I love my Yamaha piano.
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I have a Yamaha U1A from 1990. I love it - was a 21st B-day present.
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When I started Piano at the age of 13, my parents purchased an old upright that was in pretty good shape. After my brother and sister started lessons, about 2 years later, my parents decided to upgrade and my father located a Fuchs and Mohr which was a German piano a Service family purchased in Germany and brought to the United States. After all the children in our family grew up, our Mother gave it to me for a "birthday and Christmas present" one year as no one else wanted it. In 1976 I purchased a 5'7" Yamaha (baby?) grand G2. I have enjoyed playing it ever since.
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About a year ago I reply to this question. Now, 11 months later, I can give a more informed comment about my Kawai K800:
The tone of the piano has taken on a character of its own. It is mellow but sings. I am still waiting for the bass tones to mature.
I have however been disappointed with the materials use for the keys, particularly the white keys. Over a period of months, the keys (white) developed what looks like a dirty stain, but the texture of the surface of the keys is also breaking down to give the keys a rough, “sandpaper” type feel. At the moment this is confined to about three octaves in the middle of the keyboard. I have spoken to Kawai and they have done their own investigations. They informed me that they have reformulated the materials used for the keys and will be providing me (under warranty) a new keyboard. I believe it is coming from Japan and should be here in the next 6-8 weeks.
has anybody else had this or a similar experience with Kawai pianos? It is my understanding that the same materials are used in all their grand pianos. -
Alherne, usually the keys would be taken to the shop to replace the key tops. Either way, I’m sorry this is happening to you. I work in the piano business and can tell you this is a rare issue and it is the first I’m hearing about it happening on a Kawai product. Let us know how it gets resolved.
