The new Steinway Spirio player piano

The concept of the player piano has reached a new level with the Steinway Spirio. Not only have they recorded numerous performances by Steinway artists into the piano, but for a number of them you can even watch their performance at the same time! Oh, and the iPad comes with the piano… Glenn Gould performing […]

Steinway Hall, NYC

Visited the new Steinway Hall showroom in Manhattan today. Well worth the visit for any pianist – you’ll never look at pianos the same way again! More pics and a video to come…

Soundboard cleaning – easy with the right tools!

Grand piano soundboards tend to collect dust, and unfortunately they are pretty difficult to clean with any standard household equipment. However, there are some specialized tools, both commercial and handmade, that can do the trick! Pictured here is a soundboard cleaning set that I carry everywhere with me (3 pieces). They’re not too expensive, if […]

Regulation – more important than you realize

For every single key in a piano, there are dozens of parts working behind the scenes to produce the sound. Translate that to several thousand parts in a piano action, and you have a good reminder that tuning is not the only maintenance pianos need! The adjustment of the mechanical workings of the action is […]

Differences between spinet and other upright pianos

Many people are not aware that there are actually major differences between “spinet” pianos and other upright pianos. Spinets are the shortest of upright pianos (generally less than 40″ tall), and the small size has other compromises built in, but by far the most significant is what’s known as the drop action. In all other […]

Hard-to-find serial numbers

Virtually all pianos have a serial number, which can be used to determine the age of the instrument and often the location of its manufacture. Sometimes, however, serial numbers are hard to find, particularly in older pianos and those that have been rebuilt. This 1960’s Steinway had been rebuilt, and the rebuilder not only painted […]

Piano plate – the heaviest part of the piano!

This metal frame inside the piano is known as the “plate.” Many people erroneously refer to it as the soundboard. The soundboard is in fact just that – a thin board behind the plate that resonates with the strings and amplifies the sound. The soundboard is less than half an inch thick, weighs only a […]

What’s the most out-of-tune piano I’ve seen?

Pianos do not naturally go out of tune this badly! For a single note on a piano to be this wild, it is highly likely that a previous owner tampered with the tuning pins in some way, perhaps in a less-than-successful tuning attempt. It would not be the first time I’ve run across that… I […]

Spinet “drop” action

This is what’s known as a “drop” action. This type of action is found in spinet style pianos, the smallest of upright pianos. Frankly, it’s a pain to remove due to the lifter rods (which “drop” down to the action inside the piano), and since spinets are generally not valuable instruments, it’s often not worth […]