Pianos come in all shapes and sizes from vertical upright pianos to horizontal grand pianos, and each size produces a unique tonal quality.
OUR GUIDE TO THE PERFECT PIANO
Pianos come in all shapes and sizes from vertical upright pianos to horizontal grand pianos, and each size produces a unique tonal quality.
UPRIGHT
Upright pianos are constructed with the strings vertical and the hammers strike the string in a horizontal movement and return to their position via a spring. Upright piano are more compact, so they are a popular choice for the home and where space is at a premium.
UPRIGHT
Upright pianos are constructed with the strings vertical and the hammers strike the string in a horizontal movement and return to their position via a spring. Upright piano are more compact, so they are a popular choice for the home and where space is at a premium.
Grand Piano
Grand pianos are constructed with the strings horizontal and extending away from the keyboard and the pianist. The hammers strike the strings from underneath and return to their position via gravity. This gives the pianist better control, a more responsive feel and consistent tonal quality. Because of this they are the preferred choice of the professional pianist and piano conservatoires. Grand pianos offer a more rich and full sound sound which is unmatched by upright pianos.
Grand Piano
Grand pianos are constructed with the strings horizontal and extending away from the keyboard and the pianist. The hammers strike the strings from underneath and return to their position via gravity. This gives the pianist better control, a more responsive feel and consistent tonal quality. Because of this they are the preferred choice of the professional pianist and piano conservatoires. Grand pianos offer a more rich and full sound sound which is unmatched by upright pianos.
PIANO SIZES
Piano manufacturers make pianos in various different sizes and they all have there own categorisation of baby grand and grand pianos. Here at Piano Restorations we like to keep it simple and we place pianos into the following styles
Concert Grand
8′ 11″ to 9′
Classic Grand or Semi-Concert
6′ 11″ to 7′ 8″
Salon Grand or Palour Grand
6′ 3″ to 6′ 10″
Living Room Grand or Professional Grand
5′ 9″ to 6′ 2″
Medium Grand
5′ 6″ to 5′ 8″
Baby Grand
5′ to 5′ 5″
Petit Grand
4′ 5″ to 4′ 11″
PIANO SIZES
Piano manufacturers make pianos in various different sizes and they all have there own categorisation of baby grand and grand pianos. Here at Piano Restorations we like to keep it simple and we place pianos into the following styles
Concert Grand
8′ 11″ to 9′
Classic Grand or Semi-Concert
6′ 11″ to 7′ 8″
Salon Grand or Palour Grand
6′ 3″ to 6′ 10″
Living Room Grand or Professional Grand
5′ 9″ to 6′ 2″
Medium Grand
5′ 6″ to 5′ 8″
Baby Grand
5′ to 5′ 5″
Petit Grand
4′ 5″ to 4′ 11″
GLOSSARY
ACTION
The mechanism of the piano that causes hammers to strike the strings when a key is pressed is called the “action.”
AGRAFFE
The agraffe is the brass stud at the front of the frame that has either 1, 2 or 3 holes which the strings pass through.
ALIQUOT
Only found on Blüthner pianos. It is a forth string from note 47 to 88 that sits above the 3 main strings, it is not struck but resonates in harmony.
BRIDGES
A piano bridge is a thin section made of wood that runs perpendicular to the strings. Pianos generally have 2 bridges; the short bridge for the lower bass section and the long bridge for the tenor and treble sections.
CASEWORK
Sometimes called the ‘rim’ is the wooden case that houses the internal parts of the piano and is often made from luxury woods and highly polished.
CAST IRON PLATE
See FRAME.
DAMPERS
When a finger is taken away from a key, a “damper” pad stops the note from ringing out. The sustain pedal removes the dampers from the strings, allowing notes to ring out for longer, even when the keys are not held down anymore. That’s why it is also called the “damper” pedal. Strings and dampers in a grand piano.
DESK
The music desk allows you to place your sheet music at an angle for you to read while playing.
FALL BOARD
The wooden cover that covers the keys whilst not in use.
FRAME
The iron frame which sits inside the piano to hold the strings.
HAMMERS
The felt hammers that strike the strings.
KEYBOARD
Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, Depressing a key on the keyboard makes the instrument produce sounds.
LEVER ACTION
The double escapement action was developed by Sébastien Erard in the 1800’s. Double escapement occurs when the jack is reset beneath the hammer as the key is partially released. This allows the note to be repeated quickly without the action parts returning to their original at-rest positions.
LID PROP
The stick which props open the piano lid.
LYRE
The complete pedal assembly.
MUFFLER FELT
This acts like a soft pedal on uprights, i piece of cloth falls between the strings and the hammer thus muffling the sound. The pedal action also reduces the hammer blow distance, this is the distance the hammer travels to the string and reducing the volume the struck key can produce.
PATENT ACTION
The action is simpler in design than the normal roller action found in nearly all other pianos. It has the advantage of being smoother. It is often said it does not repeat as fast as a normal double escape action but if restored and regulated correctly it would be hard to tell the difference.
PIN BLOCK
See TUNING PLANK.
RIM
Today’s topic is the rim of the piano. The rim is the outer wooden frame surrounding the soundboard. Generally, it is thought of as a rigid, reflective surface to bounce the sound waves back again into the soundboard, similar to that of the sea wall.
ROLLERS
The roller or knuckle is attached to the hammer shanks, it sits above the jack and allows a pianos hammer to set off before hitting the string.
SHANKS
The thin piece of wood that the hammer head is glued to, the other end pivots to allow the hammers once the key is struck to begin its movement to strike the strings.
SHIMMING or SHIMS
Shimming is when a crack appears in the soundboard and a triangulate sliver of wood is forced into the split. This is not a practice we carry out as it does not enhance the piano.
SOFT PEDAL or UNA CORDA
The una corda primarily modifies the timbre, not just the volume of the piano. It was called the una corda as when the pedal was pressed it shifted the keyboard to the right (the odd make has gone to the left) thus moving the hammers across to strike one string instead of two. Modern pianos have 3 strings and the hammer then strikes 2 not 3 but the name has stuck.
SOSTENUTO
On a modern grand piano with three pedals, the middle pedal is usually a sostenuto pedal. It sustains only those notes that are being held down when the pedal is depressed, allowing future notes played to be unaffected.
SOUNDBOARD
The soundboard is a large, thin wooden plate which acts as an amplifier of the sound produced by the vibrating strings – its purpose is to radiate a large volume of sound over a wide frequency range.
SUSTAINING PEDAL or DAMPER PEDAL
The sustain pedal removes the dampers from the strings, allowing notes to ring out for longer, even when the keys are not held down anymore. That’s why it is also called the “damper” pedal. It is rare to find any piece of music or song that doesn’t use the sustain pedal.
TUNING PIN
The metal pin or peg that the piano wire is coiled around and manipulated to tune the piano.
WREST PLANK
Once made of 3 to 4 parts of large beech wood but now usually multi-laminated planks that hold up to modern central heating and atmospheric changes. The wood is fitted under the front of the frame and houses the tuning pins, a correctly sized hole is essential.
GLOSSARY
ACTION
The mechanism of the piano that causes hammers to strike the strings when a key is pressed is called the “action.”
AGRAFFE
The agraffe is the brass stud at the front of the frame that has either 1, 2 or 3 holes which the strings pass through.
ALIQUOT
Only found on Blüthner pianos. It is a forth string from note 47 to 88 that sits above the 3 main strings, it is not struck but resonates in harmony.
BRIDGES
A piano bridge is a thin section made of wood that runs perpendicular to the strings. Pianos generally have 2 bridges; the short bridge for the lower bass section and the long bridge for the tenor and treble sections.
CASEWORK
Sometimes called the ‘rim’ is the wooden case that houses the internal parts of the piano and is often made from luxury woods and highly polished.
CAST IRON PLATE
See FRAME.
DAMPERS
When a finger is taken away from a key, a “damper” pad stops the note from ringing out. The sustain pedal removes the dampers from the strings, allowing notes to ring out for longer, even when the keys are not held down anymore. That’s why it is also called the “damper” pedal. Strings and dampers in a grand piano.
DESK
The music desk allows you to place your sheet music at an angle for you to read while playing.
FALL BOARD
The wooden cover that covers the keys whilst not in use.
FRAME
The iron frame which sits inside the piano to hold the strings.
HAMMERS
The felt hammers that strike the strings.
KEYBOARD
Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, Depressing a key on the keyboard makes the instrument produce sounds.
LEVER ACTION
The double escapement action was developed by Sébastien Erard in the 1800’s. Double escapement occurs when the jack is reset beneath the hammer as the key is partially released. This allows the note to be repeated quickly without the action parts returning to their original at-rest positions.
LID PROP
The stick which props open the piano lid.
LYRE
The complete pedal assembly.
MUFFLER FELT
This acts like a soft pedal on uprights, i piece of cloth falls between the strings and the hammer thus muffling the sound. The pedal action also reduces the hammer blow distance, this is the distance the hammer travels to the string and reducing the volume the struck key can produce.
PATENT ACTION
The action is simpler in design than the normal roller action found in nearly all other pianos. It has the advantage of being smoother. It is often said it does not repeat as fast as a normal double escape action but if restored and regulated correctly it would be hard to tell the difference.
PIN BLOCK
See TUNING PLANK.
RIM
Today’s topic is the rim of the piano. The rim is the outer wooden frame surrounding the soundboard. Generally, it is thought of as a rigid, reflective surface to bounce the sound waves back again into the soundboard, similar to that of the sea wall.
ROLLERS
The roller or knuckle is attached to the hammer shanks, it sits above the jack and allows a pianos hammer to set off before hitting the string.
SHANKS
The thin piece of wood that the hammer head is glued to, the other end pivots to allow the hammers once the key is struck to begin its movement to strike the strings.
SHIMMING or SHIMS
Shimming is when a crack appears in the soundboard and a triangulate sliver of wood is forced into the split. This is not a practice we carry out as it does not enhance the piano.
SOFT PEDAL or UNA CORDA
The una corda primarily modifies the timbre, not just the volume of the piano. It was called the una corda as when the pedal was pressed it shifted the keyboard to the right (the odd make has gone to the left) thus moving the hammers across to strike one string instead of two. Modern pianos have 3 strings and the hammer then strikes 2 not 3 but the name has stuck.
SOSTENUTO
On a modern grand piano with three pedals, the middle pedal is usually a sostenuto pedal. It sustains only those notes that are being held down when the pedal is depressed, allowing future notes played to be unaffected.
SOUNDBOARD
The soundboard is a large, thin wooden plate which acts as an amplifier of the sound produced by the vibrating strings – its purpose is to radiate a large volume of sound over a wide frequency range.
SUSTAINING PEDAL or DAMPER PEDAL
The sustain pedal removes the dampers from the strings, allowing notes to ring out for longer, even when the keys are not held down anymore. That’s why it is also called the “damper” pedal. It is rare to find any piece of music or song that doesn’t use the sustain pedal.
TUNING PIN
The metal pin or peg that the piano wire is coiled around and manipulated to tune the piano.
WREST PLANK
Once made of 3 to 4 parts of large beech wood but now usually multi-laminated planks that hold up to modern central heating and atmospheric changes. The wood is fitted under the front of the frame and houses the tuning pins, a correctly sized hole is essential.
