Played by the piano.

[keithjarrett]

So I'm back home at my parents' house for the summer. I have this piano there which we bought used from a music shop. It's a Sauter.

Every period when I come home from school and play on this piano, I have a real hard time. The action is very hard (actually, I just tested it again and concluded that it's not hard at all, but still  you have to really push to get a decent sound out of it). It's as if the tones sound muddy, and I can't seem to get a consistent volume throughout my playing without pushing extra hard, especially in the higher register. Naturally this develops physical injuries, especially since I've had them before for a long time. I've since changed my technique and no longer have any major problems with injuries, but when I come home to play on this piano, they arise again. And the problems of course started with this piano in the first place. It's as if it magnetically draws you into bad technique.

I really feel like I'm being played by the piano, and not the other way around. It has control over me, and sends me bad messages and gives me bad habits. I've been here four days or so, and now my hand really hurts when I play.

Have you experienced anything like this? What should I do to switch the tables, so that I can master this piano? I don't see buying a new piano as an option because I really can't afford it, don't want to hurt my parents feelings who paid for it, and I only live here two to three months a year.

[keithjarrett]

I just found out what it was that caused the action to feel this way.

About a year ago, I asked my piano tuner to fix the clicking sound some of the keys did. He screwed some screws real tight and they stopped clicking. I found out now that if I loosened the screws, the action became much lighter, and the keys sounded louder and clearer when I pressed them. There's a real fine line between the clicking sound and the right action without clicking in how hard you tighten these screws. I've now reworked the whole piano, and I must say, it feels like a whole new piano now. I play it with relative ease and relaxation.

I am so happy that I found what was wrong. However, I suspect that this might actually be the cause of my injuries in my hands, and my development of the wrong technique, because they happened right after that tune up. I am completely stomped at what I found.

[gyzzzmo]

Problem solved itself :p

(btw..... OMG ARE YOU THE REAL KEITH!!??? I knew we had some celebrities around here.... Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninovs, but mr Jarett himself?)

[keithjarrett]

^^

[slobone]

Problem solved itself :p

(btw..... OMG ARE YOU THE REAL KEITH!!??? I knew we had some celebrities around here.... Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninovs, but mr Jarett himself?)

If you are, you have a lot to answer for. Seems like every bad amateur pianist plays "Keith Jarrett style" these days. The worst was Holly Hunter in the movie The Piano, where it was totally anachronistic.

[Bob]

Where are those screws you turned?  Could you take a pic and post it?  I'm curious.

You have to load pics up somewhere else, like photobucket, and do the [img[[ /img] thing to show them on here.  A bit of work.

[keithjarrett]

behind the yellow ones in the middle, there lies the horrid screws.

[thierry13]

Seems like every bad amateur pianist plays "Keith Jarrett style" these days.

I'd say more something along the lines of : Seems like Keith Jarrett plays "bad amateur pianist style" these days ... he allways did, in fact.

[slobone]

I'd say more something along the lines of : Seems like Keith Jarrett plays "bad amateur pianist style" these days ... he allways did, in fact.

Well, you're our resident expert on jazz, so I'll defer to you...

[keithjarrett]

I'd say more something along the lines of : Seems like Keith Jarrett plays "bad amateur pianist style" these days ... he allways did, in fact.

I'd say you're way off.

[thierry13]

Well, you're our resident expert on jazz, so I'll defer to you...

Haha, he didn't only play jazz, sadly.

[slobone]

Haha, he didn't only play jazz, sadly.

That's true. And actually, one day I heard an unfamiliar piece on the classical station that sounded a lot like something by Keith Jarrett. At the end they announced that it was a Shostakovich Prelude & Fugue performed by -- Keith Jarrett. Isn't that strange?

[keithjarrett]

That's true. And actually, one day I heard an unfamiliar piece on the classical station that sounded a lot like something by Keith Jarrett. At the end they announced that it was a Shostakovich Prelude & Fugue performed by -- Keith Jarrett. Isn't that strange?

Even in classical music, you can hear his personal expression. Isn't that what music is all about?

[thierry13]

Even in classical music, you can hear his personal expression. Isn't that what music is all about?

I could hit random notes with my fists on the piano and say it's my personal expression and that I am as valid a pianist as Richter. Of course that would be wrong. You see my point.

[keithjarrett]

.