Breaking Bass Strings

[phil13]

I have talked with other pianists who say that breaking bass strings is not uncommon. However, I am beginning to wonder at my own upright.

In the past 3 months, I have broken 6 bass strings, the most recent one being about 20 minutes ago- the lowest D, key #6. Is this common, to break strings this frequently?

As further comment, I have been playing 2 rather loud works- Scriabin's Etude Op.8 No.12 (to which I owe this most recent break), and Grieg's Sonata in E minor Op.7. However, I began playing them in June of last year, having worked on the Grieg off and on and having learned the Scriabin earlier. I was bringing it back for a recital. So these pieces are not new. Yet they account for all but 1 of the 6 broken bass strings, and only since December.

Is  this a problem with how I am playing, or could this be a fault of the piano? Or is it just something not to worry about? Also, do upright strings break more easily than grands?

Phil

[quantum]

When I used to own a Kawai upright I probably broke 2 or 3 bass strings.  Seems that uprights have less tolerances for rigorous practice routines and heavy repertoire.  But this may depend on particular piano you have.  It may be that your piano wasn't designed for advanced level practicing.  My upright sure wasn't designed for such practice but it held up well for the 15 or so years in my home. 

The downside is that bass strings are custom made to the piano model, thus costing more money plus longer wait time to repair.     

[iumonito]

The old Danneman upright I practiced on as a teen sounds like a John Cage prepared piano from the tenor down.

Oxidation of the metal parts, coupled with unvoiced (hard) hammers and an unfortunate tuning did away with them in a short 6 month period.  The tuner should not have raised the pitch to 440 and should have voiced the hammers down, but did the opposite.

A crime, really.

[phil13]

I'm not sure, but I think my piano was, in fact, designed for this kind of playing.

It's a Yamaha T121 Professional Upright, and I practice on it 6 hours per day M-F, 4 hours per day on weekends.

Phil

[keithe]

Funny, the very first string I ever broke was on the Scriabin D# minor Etude.

[arensky]

I'm not sure, but I think my piano was, in fact, designed for this kind of playing.

It's a Yamaha T121 Professional Upright, and I practice on it 6 hours per day M-F, 4 hours per day on weekends.

Phil

It was, those are excellent workhorse uprights.

All this about broken bass strings makes me wonder about the quality of bass string manufacture nowadays; I put a Baldwin Hamilton upright through a practice regimen like yours in grad school and for many improvs a la quantum at that time and my dropout period. Never broke a string on that piano ( 30 years old now). I still use it for arranging/composing and late night practicing, I made a mute out of a cashmere scarf and that softens the blow. I don't think it's the blow that breaks the string though, it's the constant vibration that builds up when you play Scriabin Etudes and such for hours on end, day after day.

Which is what happened today on my Steinway "A". I've been practicing the Op.8 #12 for two months, and today was running through Pictures at an Exhibition and at the downward scale in Great Gate of Kiev was playing the last five notes FFFF when the low Eb exploded. That was scary ( but very cool    ).

The Steinway's strings are 26 years old. When I first got that piano the strings were 78 years old, I used it intensively, about 6 hours a day 7 days a week for almost two years and the strings never broke. It was rebuilt while I was in college, I've had it for 10 years and it's seen constant use from me and my students ever since. This is the first string I've ever broken on one of my pianos.

Which makes me wonder what they're using for piano wire nowadays, scrap metal? Most of the worlds scrap steel ends up in Asia, and the pianos in question here are Japanese...

Have been surfing the net, looking for the right string to buy to replace the missing one and contacted the rebuilder, hopefully they still know what manufacturer made that set of strings. There's something called "Universal Replacement Bass Strings", which are evidently a one-size-fits-all/dougnut spare tire quick replacement option that tuner/techs can easily obtain, but are not good over long periods of time.

[arensky]

Funny, the very first string I ever broke was on the Scriabin D# minor Etude.

This piece seems to be a recurring theme in this thread...

In college I often practiced on a Mason & Hamlin from the 50's or 60's, one night I was playing Ginastera's "Danza del Gaucho Matrero" FFF for a couple hours, took a break, came back and resumed playing and on that run through broke three strings in the middle register. I broke a fourth string after that. The next day I was sternly asked by the tuner and the DC what I had done to the piano, they thought I had vandalized it and (I guess I did  ). Fortunately some friends had witnessed the fourth string breaking (a small crowd had gathered outside, wondering who was playing FFFF in the dark) and I was admonished to be less forceful  .

[jeremyjchilds]

The smaller the piano, the more drastic the angle that the string creates over it's bearing point. (Since small pianos require the most length possible.)

99% of the time. these bass strings break over thier bearing point, (in my experience)

Of the hundreds of T121's I have tuned (They are the school district pianos) i have always been thoroughly nervous about tightening the bass strings, because T121 models have a drastic angle.

You could voice down your hammers, and ask the tuner to be gentle with drastic pitch raises (Although if you've let it fall that underpitch, you deserve the expense of a new set of bass strings)

As a general rule, don't ask more from your piano than it can give. Your piano is a workhorse, and not a racehorse and You can tell when it has reached it's maximum output. (pounding louder will not give anymore output than pushing the gas down harder in a toyota echo)

I'm not trashing your piano, (I have advised many of my students to buy it) but  I am advising you to be realistic with the velocity you expect to achieve.