Piano Forum

First of all, if your teacher tells you they do not like your sound, they should be giving you solutions on how to improve your sound.  What has your teacher suggested to you to remedy the situation?

At a very basic level, dynamic intensity on the piano is related to key velocity, the faster a key moves the more sound produced.  Many schools of piano teaching do not address this directly, rather they use mnemonics or ideas such as various degrees of weight, like arm weight, body weight, etc.  Terminology can get confusing because the piano is not a weight sensitive keyboard, more specifically it is a velocity sensitive keyboard.  On a piano, applying weight after the initial press of a key, does nothing to change sound.  Examples of weight sensitive keyboards include: theatre organs with second touch, or synthesizers with aftertouch. 

In terms of actual music, the overall perception of forte has many more elements than key velocity alone, so it is a lot more than just playing louder or playing softer to address the concern.  How one voices chords, balances melody and accompaniment, shapes phrases, uses pedal, selects articulation, shapes music accordingly to the performance space, all of these things contribute as a sum to the listeners perception of forte.  The concept of forte is more than just a dynamic indication, it is how musical intensity is perceived by the listener. 

Maybe you could post a clip of your playing in the audition room, so we could have more insight as to what you teacher might be referring to.