This is a great article for people looking to buy an older piano. I believe as long as the individual is armed with the right knowledge, they will be able to make an educated decision. In the instance of older pianos, the knowledge of the risk associated with buying an older piano will help ensure one is not unfortunately surprised. In most instances with pianos, one gets what one pays for.

“Pianos age the way houses or people do. When they are 80, 90 or 100 years old they always need a great deal of work, the cost of which will exceed the price of many new or newer entry level pianos: if a piano is going to be enjoyed inexpensively, then a newer instrument is a better candidate.”

For the rest of the article go to the Robert Lowery piano page here.

I often do my best to accomodate school’s busy schedules.  If you are a teacher or administrator at one of our fine schools do consider these few points.

Try and book your appointment at least one week in advance of the time you wish your piano to be tuned.  Often times the piano needs to be tuned for an important concert or assembly.  In this way we can ensure the piano is ready for such an event.  I have in the past been called the day before and regretfully had to decline my services because of prior bookings.

The piano in your institution may need to be assessed for playability and viability as an instrument.  Assessments are quick and painless.  A piano often does not need much repairs to ensure it is playable. On the other hand for your sanity, a regulation of the working parts may be recommended. It will make the piano play infinitely better.

Another reason for an assessment may be that there are multiple pianos at the school.  You may wish to pair down the number of pianos and focus more attention on one.  I can decide which piano would be better suited for your situation and bring that piano to it’s fullest potential.

Look forward to seeing you and have a great school year!

Joshua

I have had a few cases of unfortunate piano buys in the last few weeks so I wanted to address this distressing topic. Firstly I would like to say outright that it is strongly recommended that you have a potential piano assessed by a qualified piano technician. I charge $35 for such a service if the piano is within city limits. This is on the low side but I would really rather a family or person buying a piano use my inexpensive piano surveying skills then not, due to the prohibitive cost. The other side of it is that a customer has already bought a piano and then books me for a piano tuning. I arrive and find the piano a complete disaster, unplayable in most respects OR simply untuneable. It is therefore my task to inform the piano buyer of the wretched news and everyone has a gloomy day. (Including me. It’s certainly not my favourite role to be the messenger for a condemned piano.)

Here is the cost break down on someone who has NOT called for a qualified piano technicians professional opinion on a piano.

$250 for the piano. (Buying inexpensive, thinking one is getting a DEAL.)

$200 For the piano mover.

$35 for me to tell the owner that the piano needs a thousand dollars in work and that it really isn’t worth doing.

$200 for movers to take piano to the dump

$50 to deposit the piano in a local landfill.

Total: $735 AND you don’t have a piano. depressing.

This would be the price break down of someone who had me (or any other qualified technician) come out and assess the piano.

$35 assessment fee. Joshua, “Piano’s in rough shape. Don’t buy it”

$35 2nd assessment fee. Joshua, “This one’s actually worse than the last.”

$35 3rd assessment fee. Joshua, “We have a winner. Excellent piano. Should last you 5 to 10 years.”

Piano cost $500. The good ones sometimes cost more. But still an excellent deal.

$200 Moving cost.

and $85 + PST to have it tuned.

Total: $890. Still under a $1000 and you have something that should give you years of playability and enjoyment.

Conclusion: Save everyone the long faces and heartache, ask for the professional opinion of a qualified piano technician when buying a used piano.

It is an interesting case for a piano tuner to ponder. A pitch raise is usually a quick preliminary tuning in which the piano is brought up to pitch A=440 hz in a rough fashion. The tuning is done quickly so that the tension the strings exert on the sound board is evened out. After the pitch raise, the tuner must then do a proper tuning and he is able to do that because the strings are closer to where he wants them to be. It is certainly not the best scenario. The fact that the piano is in need of a pitch raise means that the piano has not been maintained. The piano is essentially used to being out of tune. That has become it’s natural state. Suddenly the owner now wants the piano in tune and so the tuner is fighting an uphill battle. He is trying to change the natural state of the piano. The tuner is trying to change the pianos habit of being out of tune.

The other difficulty with pitch raises is that strings may break. A tuner can usually tell before he exerts too much pressure on the tuning pin that the string is on the verge of breaking. If this happens the tuner has no choice but to leave that string well enough alone.

The other option to a pitch raise and the one I usually suggest is that the piano be brought up to pitch slowly over the course of 3 or 4 tunings. The piano will still be in tune with itself but may be unable to be played with other instruments. In this way the piano has time to adjust to it’s new tension. The tuning never comes as a shock and so it tends to stay in tune longer.

Conclusion: A rapid pitch raise can be done but the piano will have the tendency to want to go back to it’s natural state of “out-of -tunedness”. On the other hand, a piano can be slowly brought up over the course of 3 or 4 tunings and will maintain its tunings throughout until it reaches A=440.

I’ve had a couple interesting discussions regarding piano moving with some of my clients. The topic has been moving a piano yourself in a pickup truck with a couple strong guys or letting the pros do it. If you are considering moving a piano yourself here is a couple of things to consider.

Insurance. A professional mover has moving insurance. If the piano is damaged in an accident the piano will be covered.

Proper equipment. Some pianos weigh upwards of 900 lbs. The pros have techniques for sharp corners and stairs. Stairs is the big one. I’ve seen many a mangled piano that has been the result of naivety regarding stairs.

And lastly in most cases the movers have some comprehension of the workings of the piano therefore if anything comes apart, they will be able to fix it. Just recently after someone had self moved a baby grand the dampers wouldn’t work. During the move a toy had gotten lodged in the damper mechanism. I was there for a tuning anyway so I was able to dislodge the toy and put the piano back together in a proper fashion.

If you are considering moving your own piano please consider these points. If you are looking for an experienced piano technician in London, Ontario or surrounding area who moves pianos, call D&S Pianos.

Feb. 15 12:30
Von Kuster Hall
Mostly Messiaen, to commemorate the centenary of the composer’s birth. The Yanchus-Hibbard Piano Duo, joined by their daughter Laura Hibbard play two, four or six hands on one or two pianos!

I’ve seen them perform in the past and it is extremely exhilarating to watch them pound their keyboards. As well, they are perfectly charming people. For James Hibbards’ bio and for Tina Yanchus bio.

If a bass string on a piano is broken be sure to save the string. Store it in a safe place like the piano bench or simply inside the piano at it’s base. This broken string will be used in the fabrication of the new one and to ensure the new string is precisely the same measurements as the old one. This will limit false beating and scaling issues. The piano technician in most cases will pick up the string and have it shipped or dropped off at the bass string makers. When the string is complete, (usually allow two weeks) the technician will come back and put the new string on. The difficulty in replacing broken strings is that it requires several visits before the string will maintain it’s pitch. In my experience if the string has been well stretched it takes at least one other visit and perhaps a second a couple months later.

Conclusion: The unfortunate thing about broken piano strings is that it requires several, often short visits (3 to 4) on the part of the piano tuner and it is these many visits that make it a costly, yet necessary procedure.

Allison Wiebe has a Master’s of Music in Piano Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario and also holds a Solo Piano Performer’s ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music.  She specializes in the study and performance of 20^th- century music.  She will be performing Friday February 1st at 12:30 in Von Kuster Hall in the Music Faculty.

For her complete bio visit UWO’s page.

It is now possible to hook up a Yamaha Disklavier Piano to your computer and listen to the specified radio station on your piano.  You will never have a dull moment because you  won’t be limited to listening to music you own.  To see this feature in use visit D&S Pianos in London, Ontario on Hyde Park Road.  Visit the Yamaha webpage to see the list of features that the new Disklaviers have.

A good friend of mine Quillan Quarrington’s father Joel Quarrington will be touting his virtuoso double bass solo skills at Von Kuster Hall here in London, Friday January 25 as part of the University of Western Ontario’s noon time concert series. The event is free and open to everyone, though 248 seats fill up in a hurry.