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Current Tip: Piano Care
1. How often should I have my piano tuned?
Piano tuning is the adjustment of the tuning pins so that all strings are of the proper tension (pitch), to have correct sounding musical intervals. An out of tune piano can discourage even novice musicians.
It is recommended that a piano be serviced at least two to four times a year to keep it sounding good and working properly. This is especially important the first year of the piano’s life. Some tuning instability should be anticipated during the first year because of the elasticity of the piano wire, combined with the piano’s normal adjustment to humidity changes in your home.
2. How does humidity affect my piano?
Extreme swings from hot to cold or dry to wet can be harmful to your piano, resulting in sticking keys or tuning instability. Dryness causes the piano’s pitch to go flat; moisture makes it go sharp. A piano performs best under fairly consistent conditions, which are neither too wet nor too dry, optimally a temperature of 68 degrees F and 42 percent relative humidity.
Using an air conditioner in humid summer months and adding a humidifier to your central heating system in winter will reduce the extremes of high and low humidity.
Room humidifiers and dehumidifiers, as well as systems designed to be installed inside your piano will control humidity related disorders still further.
It is important to keep your piano away from a heating register in winter, an air conditioning vent in summer, a fireplace, a frequently opened window, an outside door, and direct sunlight.
3. Play your piano regularly!
You will get the most enjoyment from it and also reach your potential much faster. A disadvantage to idle pianos, assuming they also suffer a service loss, is that a detrimental condition or environment can’t be identified, and an escalating problem can result in damage that might not have occurred with regular service.
Submitted by Dave Tabachnick, Registered Piano Technician – Piano Technicians Guild who can be contacted for all your piano care needs via email at:
davetpiano@aol.com or via phone at 631-499-7913 or fax 631-499-1485
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Helping Your Child Work Through Frustration: Part 1
It’s usually unavoidable. For some reason, natured or nurtured, frustration becomes an obstacle on our path of learning. And it usually doesn’t matter what you are learning. For me, learning the new sport of golf has put me up against the obstacle of frustration. (From the explicatives I hear on the course, I believe this feeling is also shared by many other golfers-to-be!)
As an adult, I have created different options and ways to cope with, or more accurately work through/around, the obstacle of frustration. For younger learners, these coping or problem solving mechanisms are still a bit primitive; for some, they may still be non-existent! We can assist our children in learning from the experience of frustration and thus give them a valuable tool they can utilize for the rest of their lives, one that will be used both in and out of the music arena.
In my experience, I have found that people get frustrated for one of two reasons. First, they are not aware of other options. Music students, in particular, will try the same thing, the same way, over and over, expecting a different result. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?! Yet, without other options, that is exactly what I have seen students do. Instead of questioning and exploring their reasons for their lack of success, they just assume that more of the same will eventually be better!
We as adults, may be able to spread some light on some different options. Perhaps the student is trying to accomplish too much, too soon. Our maybe they are trying to play the piece too quickly. Maybe they just need to take a break and come back to it later. Regardless of the actual solution, it is best to first ask you child if they want some assistance. Some children will tell you to let them continue to try it on their own. (My 2 year old has a will of iron! “I do it!” she exclaims whenever I ask her if she wants my help. The amazing thing is, that for her learning pattern, she usually accomplishes her goal! You can’t argue with success!) If my student tells me to let them continue trying, I then simply let them know that the invitation for my assistance is open if they need it. It usually sounds like this, “O.k. If you want my help, just let me know. I think I have some ideas that might make it easier for you.”
Remember, your child is trying to figure out her way. With respect for this idea we, as teachers and parents, can only extend the invitation for help, we can’t force them to take it.
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Helping Your Child Through Frustration: Part 2
Our last issue of Tips for Parents explored the first reason for frustration during learning; lack of other educational options. By assisting our children/students in finding different options to challenges that arise during their education we assist them in learning how to work through the feeling of frustration.
A second reason a student gets frustrated during learning, is simply because he has unrealistic expectations about how much or how quickly he can achieve a goal.
There are two parts to setting a reasonable goal. The first is the quantity. How much or how many? How many pounds do you want to lose? How much money do you want to save? How much of the song do you want to learn? The second is the time frame. By when? By when do you plan on losing 5 pounds? By when do you plan on saving $1000? By when do you plan on finishing this song? So, I call accurately set goals "how many- by whens?"
Many people, set goals that are not accurate or reasonable. I will loose 15 pounds by the end of this week. I will save a million dollars by tomorrow morning! I will learn the entire 4 page piece in 2 days. By setting inappropriate goals we are setting ourselves up for frustration. The pressure to achieve is too great. It actually becomes a type of pressure that is counterproductive to our achievement.
Many people see setting smaller goals as a weakness in their own ability. Yet isn't the bricklayers goal simply to place one more brick in place, that will eventually lead to the 100 foot wall?
By assisting our children and students in setting more appropriate goals, we are assisting in setting them up for success. And what better gift can we give our children then the constant feeling of success, or more importantly, the tools for creating this feeling on their own?!
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Sharing Music With Your Child
One of the ways to keep your child excited about his piano lessons is to spend time listening to the language of music with him. Yes, I said the “language of music.” All of the activities you did to help support your child’s learning of his native tongue are similar to the activities you could do to encourage the mastery of music.
The most important skill a developing musician can learn is the art of listening. Music is the art of listening in a highly specific way. Before a person can listen in a very fine-tuned manner, he must first learn to listen in a much broader sense. When you are in the car and you are listening to your child’s favorite tape (be it Disney, Debussy or Back Street Boys!), point out the different instruments in the songs. See if he can hear the drum part or the guitar part or the different voices. This will build his musical discernment muscles and…it’s fun!
Take you musical prodigy to a concert or a musical show or a poetry reading! (Poetry has a very specific rhythm, called meter, that is also shared by the lyrics to a song) Allow your child to pick the concert. (So, you end up at a Spice Girls concert; next time you get to pick!)
Remember, the key is to enjoy the experience of music with your child. Your love will rub off on your child. So if you don’t like classical music, don’t go to a classical concert! Attend a concert you will enjoy, something about which you will be excited! Eventually, you will naturally expand your own horizons as well as your child’s. Just let the process be fun!
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How Much Should My Child Be Practicing?
One of the most frequent questions I am asked by parents of Music Simply Music students, is, “How often/much should my child be practicing?” For me, the question has several issues.
First, for many parents is the idea of return on investment (ROI). The fact is, you are spending your hard-earned money to add value to the life of you child and many parents measure this value by the amount of time the child spends at the piano in between lessons, or, by how self-motivated the child is to practice.
Many children will be very enthusiastic at the beginning of their relationship with their new teacher. They will practice without being asked and they may even share their progress with you. “Mommy, listen to what I can play!” or “Dad, look what I can do!” are common exclamations at the beginning of a child’s music education. The biggest error I see parents make at this point is to not celebrate in the success (no matter how small) of the child. From a purely emotional point of view, students who feel successful tend to continue their piano lessons, students who don’t, usually stop. So the goal of the teacher/parent/student team is to create an environment in which the student feels successful.
The way you can support your child in her growth, and thus have the greatest ROI, is to get excited with her! Make a statement like, “I’m really proud of how well you play that song.” Or “When you play the song that quickly, I feel excited. Thanks for sharing it with me!” The tendency for many parents is to critique when they should be celebrating. Comments like, “Imagine how good you would sound if you practiced everyday.” Or, “It sounds good except for the second line; I think I hear a wrong note.” are initially made in an effort to encourage the child to greater levels of achievement, but instead have the opposite effect. Let the teacher be the critic, the parent can be the cheerleader. It’s much more fun and your child will want to play the piano more so she can celebrate with you more!
Have fun with your child and her music!
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