Problem: Playing on other pianos

[beethovenfan]

Hi,

may you can help me.

I have the big problem, that it's very hard for me to perform on other pianos, because they are so different.

When I have to play a romantic piece like Tschaikowsky (I had to play October from the Seasons) sometimes it sounds like fff and sometimes I played so soft, that there was no sound.

[SDL]

I find that my piano teacher's piano (early 20thc steinway) is one of the hardest Ive played.  To add to your question (if I may) - how does relaxation vs more stamina work.  I know theres a concesus of needing relaxation and not muscle - I agree.  But when I play Op10.2 on my teacher's piano I begin to ache because Im not used to having the extra weight of the action.  How do you combat this?

[nicko124]

Tell me about it! I am constantly switching from different pianos to play on. At home i  have a Grand that is 100 years old, out of tune and has a broken sound board so i try to avoid that As Much As Possible.
I have to use my keyboard to practice things on which is frustrating.

However i go to boarding school which means i have an entire music department available to me while i am there, i can use a wide variety of good uprights till 10pm at night. I can also practice on the Yamaha baby grand if i want.
It is hard to switch constantly between them because i do a lot of practice when i am home.
Don't know what to suggest, get used to all the ones you have to play on regularly, that way you will be more versatile.

[keys]

I have a small upright piano at home, and it drives me crazy! The double escapement action is too slow, and my "bigger" pieces like the Chopin polonaise op53 and the Tchaikovsky Concerto can sound so dead, there's just not enough room in the poor little twerp for all that sound! Whenever I go to perform on a grand everything is so much easier to play. I practice on my church grand, which is very stiff, and my piano has quite a light touch, and my teacher's piano is in-between. I also perform at least once a month, so I'm constantly on different pianos. I used to have problems adjusting, but now I'm used to it. Bench height is another thing that used to throw me, I'm little with long legs, so I like to sit nice and high so I have lots of foot room and can get my weight over the piano. I performed Chopin Etude op.10/8 in a venue that I knew had a low bench, so I practiced the week before on a kitchen chair. Eventually you just learn to adjust, just perform whenever and wherever you get the chance!

[pseudopianist]

I have the same problem. My teacher has this really Yahama grand and the keys weight ton so when I try to play on it, it comes out like a mess. The other pianos at my school are wonderfull but nooooo, I just had to have the teacher who has the piano which is the spawn of Satan.

[nicko124]

I have the same problem. My teacher has this really Yahama grand and the keys weight ton so when I try to play on it, it comes out like a mess. The other pianos at my school are wonderfull but nooooo, I just had to have the teacher who has the piano which is the spawn of Satan.

Yes the problem i have with heavy keys is that they seem to require more effort for arpeggio sections. For example Reverie by Debussy which involves a lot of sweeping Arpeggios with the left hand seems to tire me out on the Yamaha Grand at school with the heavy keys. The fact that it sounds much nicer makes up for it though.

[keys]

for my Gr. 10 RCM exam I played 'the cat and the mouse' and the piano would not gliss! It was terrible. Good thing I had a chance to try the piano first, so I was prepared for it. It still sounded  weird though

[anda]

i think the piano i had to play on tonight is the most impossible one i've ever seen. not only very hard mechanism (i felt my hands dropping from my shoulders on fast passages - passages i have played without any problem on many different pianos). but that's not the worst: the sound had just about no harmonics! talk about colours... 

[lagin]

Hey Keys,
What were your other pieces?  I'm starting to pick my Gr. 10 rep. now.  I was thinking of doing that eerie little Prelude in the knewest RCM book for late 20th cent.  Beethoven E major 1st, 2nd, mov., and Ballade in d minor, Brahms.

[dinosaurtales]

I think this is something you get better at by playing on different pianos frequently.  I certainly have trouble with this one!  My piano is 7 foot, action is medium weight, well-balanced Fazioli.  My teacher has a 5 foot, "old" uneven action Petrof. needless to say I get used to just touching a key nad having a nice large sound come out, till I go to my lesson!  egad!  I can adjust to her piano if I remember to MAKE the adjustment before I start playing.  If I don't, I will tend to "pound" out any bass notes or any notes that should be mf or louder, because it seems NOTHING comes out of that piano!  I play on other pianos ocassionally, and I have to fight the adjustment everytime.  I suspect that performing artists just get used to dealing with whatever is in front of them, and they are good enough that it always sounds great. 

[keys]

Hey Keys,
What were your other pieces? I'm starting to pick my Gr. 10 rep. now. I was thinking of doing that eerie little Prelude in the knewest RCM book for late 20th cent. Beethoven E major 1st, 2nd, mov., and Ballade in d minor, Brahms.

In addition to The Cat and The Mouse; I  played Bach's  Prelude and Fugue XVII in A flat major, Beethoven's Sonata Op. 13 Pathetique first and second movement, Chopin's Valse KK IVa No.15 e minor, Debussy's First Arabesque, Rachmaninoff's  Etude Tableau Op.33 No. 8 And a Berens Study in a minor, Op 61  No 32.

I really enjoyed the songs a chose to study, the valse was allot of fun. It sounds like you have a good start on your program. Good luck with your exam!

[nikodr]

Listen ...If the piano is dead i mean completely bad (and i MEAN the word bad dont play),if it is just a medium to bad it is ok.As long as the keys are pressed ok,you have no problem.I understand that a bad piano can produce bad sound.Just relax and try not to play to strong on pianos that are not capable of producing the sound,you will do more harm than good.Also try to play slowly on pianos with very bad mechanism,slow is better,because when you move on a better piano you will have no problem

[Kassaa]

On a concert I had to play Chopin Walz opus 18, the piano sounded extremely good, but the piano played so heavy   All those repeating notes sounded rubbish and my whole piece was ruined. My teacher told me that pianists like Paderewski took their own piano's with them to concerts. That would be perfect, pity that it is impossible.

[BoliverAllmon]

On a concert I had to play Chopin Walz opus 18, the piano sounded extremely good, but the piano played so heavy   All those repeating notes sounded rubbish and my whole piece was ruined. My teacher told me that pianists like Paderewski took their own piano's with them to concerts. That would be perfect, pity that it is impossible.

lack of strength is what that is. You need to play on heavy pianos to get use to them. I personally find the heaviest piano to practice on. when you go to a lighter key piano, you will be able to play faster and cleaner than anyone around.

boliver

[galonia]

Yeah, playing on heaps of different pianos will help you get used to it.  If possible, before a performance, organise a day to try out the piano you'll play on.  Although I have to admit I'm always too lazy to do that and just live with whatever I get.

I try to program as my first piece something which allows me to get used to the piano.  Right now, it's Peter Sculthorpe's "Mountains", which starts with a large heavy chord, then the introduction is nice and slow and lets me feel around and get my voicing right.  There's almost no way I can stuff that up.

My piano at home has a very bright tone, and quite a heavy action.  My teacher's piano is much duller, and even more so now that she's living temporarily in an apartment and always has the una corda down, plus a rug inside!  I sometimes practise at a friend's place, who has this horrid piano where the keys feel all uneven and it's near impossible to control the action.  And up until a few years ago, I would annually play in a church hall which had the most terribly maintained pianos.  After all that, I can face almost any piano, I think!

[DarkWind]

I used to have this old upright with the heaviest action in the entire world. It was terrible. Luckily I just got a good grand piano. Needless to say, I am now prepared for any pianos with hard action.

[Awakening]

I used to find differences in piano actions very frustrating and crippling to a performance, but I now realize that it's mainly the quality of a piano that makes my performance better or worse. 

At home, I have an upright Baldwin that's about ten years old and is in reasonably good condition.  There are four different pianos at my high school I have played on, two being noticeably better than my piano, and two being noticeably worse.  I also play on my piano teacher's, which is a restored Grotrian baby grand, that sounds great and also has a pretty nice action.  However, my home piano basically sets the standard for how I judge other pianos.  This basically means that if you get used to something, it becomes ok.  Other people might hate my home piano, because it has an incredibly bright, even harsh sound (I think the pads on the hammers may be worn down significantly) and the pedal is very muddy and doesn't offer all that much control.  The higher tones are also quite piercing, and it's difficult to get a resonant sound out of it.

I know that when I go off to college next year, I will become quite spoiled, because there are four very nice, well maintained small grand pianos to practice on, including a Steinway.  An upright is sufficient until you get used to something better.  One of the very few material goals in my life is to own a very nice concert grand piano (probably a Steinway), but there's a very good chance that will never happen.  I'll probably end up having to settle for something less, because I doubt I will end up being wealthy enough to afford such a thing.  Then again, if I decide to not buy a car and live in a small house, there could always be a chance.  Heh.

Anyway, I digress.  I think that if a piano is of lower quality than your regular piano, both in terms of feel and sound, you will perform worse on it.  If it is higher in quality, your performance will be better.  Some pianos simply can't accomodate for an extremely skilled pianist who requires complete control over the keys and pedal, or can't supply the depth or greatness of sound needed for a certain piece.  All you can really do is get a feel for a piano as quickly as possible once you start playing, and then try to compensate for any shortcomings it may have.  Similarly, look for its strong points and use them to your advantage.