Different pianos

[Antnee]

Today during my lesson, While playing on my teacher's piano, I found that there were times that I needed to be extremely soft with the touch (and loud) and I couldn't coax the sounds out as fast and nicely as I could on my piano mailny beacuse they have extremely different touches. My piano has a very heavy touch which I prefer, while my teachers small (and old) Steinway is much lighter. Is there any way to practice being prepared to play different (or bad) instruments? Just curious if you guys experience the same thing...

-Tony-

[donjuan]

I had the same situation... originally, I had an old yamaha upright, and when I switched teachers my new teacher had a 6'3'' Yamaha Grand.  Of course, the touch is way different, and I couldn't play anything the same as at home.  I ended up buying a piano similar to my teachers, a 5'8'' yamaha grand.  Now, I can play much better at my lesson.

now, for your situation,,,you have a piano with heavy touch,,,your teacher has a piano with light touch...hmmm it would probably be better the other way around, that way you could practice on a piano with poor control and come to the lesson and play extraordinarily.
but..
YOU have the piano with heavy touch..

hmmm.
could it be nerves of playing a piano you aren't used to, in front of a teacher?  I hope it is, because if it truly is a problem associated with playing very different pianos at home and at lessons, well, I feel sorry for you.  

Maybe you could schedule time to practice at the lesson before the lesson to familiarize yourself with everything.

I feel so sorry for you, really.  I know what it is like to practice hard every week, and come to the lesson looking like you haven't done anything.  the teacher is angry, blames you for everything..
donjuan

[faulty_damper]

My piano is a Yammie baby grand, the same as my teacher's.  Even though it is the same model, my teacher's piano has a lighter touch.  The action is the same, though.  I prefer the touch of her piano because the touch is slightly lighter.  I play better on her piano than I do mine but this is now, not a year ago.  Why is this?  Because my hands aren't strong enough to play my piano and since hers is lighter, it's easier to play after working out with my piano; and practicing ultra softly.  Her touch isn't that much lighter though; I didn't even realize it was lighter until recently.


Your problem is probably that you have two different pianos that you must play on.  This is not a problem if you know what to do.  I can think of two ways to alleviate your problem.

1.  Before the lesson begins, you play on your teacher's piano for a short time.  This will accustom yourself to the different touch.  Don't just play scales but chords and actual pieces that are primarily soft in dynamics.

2.  This concerns you with your piano.  Because playing soft on your piano is more like playing mezzo-piano on your teacher's, you use more effort to play on yours.  This means, compared to a student with a light touch piano, your hands are less delicate than his because playing softly is much more difficult than playing loudly.  (Anyone can play loudly; even a baby can play forte!)  But playing softly requires so much more fine motor control.  This control must be developed and is much more difficult on a heavy-touch keyboard.

So what can you do?  You must condition your hands to be just as delicate.  Play piano and note the effort required.  Now play pianissimo and note that effort required.  Continue playing pianissimo until you are comfortable - this may take some time.  Now play pianississimo until you are comfortable - this should take even more time.  The first thing you will probably notice is that the softer you play the less control you have of your fingers.  They will not want to play very softly or very very softly evenly.  This is because you have yet to develop that fine motor control.  Continue to play but this time, play as softly as possible.  The felt of the hammers should just carress the strings.  Continue practicing this way everyday and keep it even - there should be no increase in volume.  Gradually, as you become better at it, you can start to vary the softness of your playing.

The end result of this should be that you can play your piano as softly as possible as easily as you can play forte.  This is more about you than the different pianos but this problem would never have occured if all pianos were the same.  But now you will have developed a more sensitive and controlled touch and when you play on a lighter action piano, you will have more control.

3.  Now see number 1 again.

---
I was ignorant, once.  I assumed that all pianos played the same as mine - graded and heavy touch.  I was in for a surprise and a shock when I first played the keys on a Steinway concert grand, on stage in front of an audience and thinking "..." - I was thoughtless.  The touch was so light that I was completely surprised by it and had to pause for a moment to get my bearings straight.  During my "performance", I repeatedly struck the same notes because my fingers just sank into the keys and I didn't even feel it.  (I also couldn't hear what I was playing, which was another problem that compounded with this problem.)  This was worse than your current situation, right?  But I now practice softly and to the point where it barely strikes the strings and it has helped me develop a delicate touch even though my keyboard has a heavy touch.

One question:  have you told your teacher about this problem?

[Shagdac]

Yes Rondo...I have experience the same thing. It can be terribly frustrating. I too had a similiar experience as above when playing a grand piano for a competition. I was not able to practice on the piano before hand and had no idea about it's touch. When I started to play I immediately noticed how much harder I had to push on the keys to make them go down and when it came time for my runs and trills, man what a disaster, hardley anything came out, and when it did it was followed by skips of silence, absolutely terrible! By the end of the piece my hands ached and were very tired. I had never played on a piano with such a heavy touch, where it was actually effort to push down the keys.

Since then I still play on different piano's but have practiced different Techniques as Faulty states. My piano at home has a very light touch which I prefer, and then I have a Yamaha Clavinova in the bedroom where I practice when I can't disturb others....that of course has a pretty easy touch, however I can set it to make it easy, med or hard.  The piano I have my lessons on alternates between a Bosendorfer grand and some old upright that has such a light touch.

When I go for lesson, I always get there somewhat early and play for a good 15min or so to get the feel of the piano again. This has helped considerably. Also as faulty stated, practicing playing as softly as possible on different piano is helpful. Go to your music store and go around and practicing playing something softly on every piano they have there. They won't mind, and customers get a free concert!

The action of different pianos is extremely individual. I'd love to hear how others have compensated for this diffence as well.

S

[Antnee]

Thaks guys...

I think the main reason I was playing so lousy yesterday was due to me feeling tired. Turns out today I am experiencing a full blown cold, I was run down and couldn't put as much energy into my music.  

But the touch was still an issue. Thanks for all of your suggestions by the way. I think I 'm going to try and warm up on my piano before going to my lesson (which I didn't do yesterday) and maybe try and mess around on her piano before we get down to business. I also have a light actioned (very light) keyboard that maybe I should start practicing on. I'll let you know how the next lesson goes.  

-Tony-

[Antnee]

Oh yeah...

and I'm going to try Faulty's method as well.  

-Tony-

[Alp635]

Dear Tony,

I feel your pain...

That is what all pianists need to learn how to do...adjust ot different pianos.  I am a DM piano major and I must say it doesn't really get that much easier.  Your bodies and fingers will learn to adjust intuitively to the feel of a piano the longer you play.  However, I would practicing things ppp to find the minimum pressure required to make a sound.  Take note of where the double escapement is on the piano and how shallow you can go while still making a sound.  

Before a big concert, I try out my pieces on every piano in the music school.  At one point I played the same piece on 30 different pianos.  If you have a piano store in the area, try this...

You will see that adjusting is less important than not being totally thrown off...

[donjuan]

Whenever I go to piano stores to play on many pianos, the smooth talking sales people come over and try to brainwash me into buying a new piano.  Damn bastards, why cant they leave me alone and stop caring so much?? hehe
donjuan

[Clare]

Yeah - last week I was trying out pianos at a shop for the exact same reason, and I ended up with a bunch of glossy leaflets all about the pianos there. The shop guy also offered me a grand for ten thousand bucks less than advertised. I was like, "Man. If only he knew I'm so not here to buy."

But, yeah, I usually try out all sorts of pianos. If I know I'm going to be playing on a piano that requires a lot of pressing down, I practice at home a lot louder. After a while, you kind of know what each brand of piano is going to feel like before you play it. Like, "Oh, man. I have to play on a Schimmel? It's going to sound all blobby..."

I'm by no means an expert but, yeah. It happens to everyone, I think.

[jr11]

I've learned that for many things in life we must be adaptable, and prepared for anomalies. Pianos are different, practice, lesson, and performance settings are different. So we must deal with it, because if we screw up, nobody is interested in our whiny excuses for putting on a substandard performance. The true pros can make magic in any setting.

As pianists, we have a unique problem in that it is not practical for us to bring our own instrument with us. About all we can do is try to practice on as many instruments, in as varied settings as possible. It is just as important to be adept on an old clunker with malfunctioning keys as the concert Steinway. Doesn't hurt to know a few pieces by memory, or be savvy on the organ or cheap electronic keyboard too, because if a non-musician asks you to play and you refuse, they'll just think you're incompetent or scared. Sad, but true.

[donjuan]

But, yeah, I usually try out all sorts of pianos. If I know I'm going to be playing on a piano that requires a lot of pressing down, I practice at home a lot louder. After a while, you kind of know what each brand of piano is going to feel like before you play it. Like, "Oh, man. I have to play on a Schimmel? It's going to sound all blobby..."

I'm by no means an expert but, yeah. It happens to everyone, I think.

Well, it happens to me, anyway.  I hate playing on Kawai grands..there is just no room for my legs under the keyboard.  Who designed the keybed to be so thick and low?  I'd like to give them a piece of my mind..
donjuan  

[faulty_damper]

Kawai's were designed for short and small people not giants like you!

[donjuan]

Kawai's were designed for short and small people not giants like you!

my legs are in proportion to my body, thank you very much...what I want to know is why other companies have sufficient leg room but not Kawais.  And why would they be designed for short people?  Everyone needs..  
oh, hehe, I wasjust reminded of the simpsons episode when the really tall guy gets out of his little tiny car and tells off Nelson for "HaHa"ing him.  He was like, "everyone needs to drive a ve-hicle, -even the very tall..would you like it if someone laughed at your mis fortune, HHUUHH?? dooo you?"
has anyone else seen that episode?hahaha!hehe
donjuan

[Antnee]

Well, my lesson is tomorrow and I've spent about ten or twenty minutes each day practicing as softly as I could and really focusing on how my hands could make jsust the lightest sounds. I'll let you know if it's any easier tomorrow.  

-Tony-

[Clare]

donjuan - yes, I've seen that Simpsons episode! Funny.

And I'm not into Kawais either, but I'm quite tall and I don't think I've had a problem with squishing my legs underneath. I'll have to check next time. I just think their sound is kind of, well, boring.

I tried a Petrof at the piano shop the other day. I didn't mind it. Has anyone else played on a Petrof?

[donjuan]

donjuan - yes, I've seen that Simpsons episode! Funny.

And I'm not into Kawais either, but I'm quite tall and I don't think I've had a problem with squishing my legs underneath. I'll have to check next time. I just think their sound is kind of, well, boring.

I tried a Petrof at the piano shop the other day. I didn't mind it. Has anyone else played on a Petrof?

I have played on some EXCELLENT petrofs.  I love the bell-like sound of the higher notes.  Only on petrofs will you find such pure, pristene, transparent notes.  I also agree with Kawais sound being boring.  I thought the tone is muffled and bright at the same time, making it even more aggravating.

[m_dronti]

my former teacher had a real torture-instrument as a piano. i can't remember it's name, but it was extremely heavy, the keyboard was so unsensitive to your touch that you had to pay 100% attention all the time and focus on your technique (just the first tripple-octave in Mozarts c-minor Fantasy required severe attention, or it would sound ugly). in the beginning i thought it was horrible, but when i was going to play the appassionata on a concert, i found out that i had developed a sensitivity to the keyboard that was more than i actually needed to play the sonata properly. this helped a lot, since i didn't have to be nervous at how different pianos reacted. simply practicing on that torture-instrument made me overqualified towards other keyboards.

now, since i don't have access to that piano anymore, if i would get a new piano for myself (since my current one starts to get to old), i would certainly choose the most unsensitive piano i could find, since it makes your technique much better.