playing softly - full grand piano

Question

I know there is no comparison to playing on a full grand, so I have been seeking out practice locations. I finally found a Yamaha full grand that is available on a free schedule, but my first few sessions were not quite what I had expected, especially when playing softly. (my last few years have been on a yamaha upright). I am having some difficulty balancing the volume of the upper register (it always seems overbearing, and I dont seem to have this problem in the mid-range)

In my previous experience with baby grands, each note had a very noticeable stop when depressed very slowly, and I was able to use the stop to make the piano nearly whisper on command. On this current grand, the stops are much less noticeable, and even when depressed very firmly from the stopped position (less than half a stroke), the hammer is not striking the strings at all. (note: failing to strike the strings, when depressing gently yet firmly, seems to happen more than I remember, from previous concerts/practice sessions from years ago)

Is this a feature that varies on some grand pianos? How about effects of tuning or maintenance?

I am just curious if this is feature I had been taking advantage of, that doesnt normally exist (I have been cheating effectively) or if this piano is somehow different for whatever reason.

This piano has actually had minimal usage and often sits in storage. From appearance, it looks well kept, and from playing, all the keys seem mostly uniform and consistent.

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I am trying to address a very literal physical observation about the instrument with this question.

I know I have some bad mental habits that could also be to blame, that come from years on upright, so I know I lack healthy technique. For example, on my upright, I often play full una-corde because it gives the keys a better feel, especially when striving for volume balance.

Answer 1

There is an adjustment called the "let-off" that sets the stop you noticed. Your baby grand was adjusted correctly but the Yamaha full grand probably needs some service.

If it is adjusted too far in one direction, the hammer will not let off at all but instead will just push against the string and the piano won't be playable. For this reason, most technicians adjust it too far in the other direction if they know the piano is not going to be serviced very often. Then if you try to play softly the notes won't sound.

Concert pianos (in real concert halls, not churches and schools) are serviced frequently, with proper let-off. If you're ever lucky enough to get to play at Carnegie Hall, you'll probably like the piano.

Answer 2

I've only played a few Yamaha grands, but they all felt like I had to work hard at pressing the keys, and because of this, it all came out loud. Pressing gently seemed not to trigger the hammers as easily as other pianos. My Yamaha studio, though, is a delight to play, both loudly and quietly. It's obviously not the same mechanism in an upright to a grand.The 'soft pedal' is probably your best solution. You're extremely lucky to have a great instrument to use as your own. Well done !

Answer 3

I think that stop is caused by the double escapement mechanism which is used, afaik, in practically all grand pianos nowadays. You can see the action in this video. It should be possible to get a sound the way you describe but also, as you can see, if you depress the key just a little bit too far then it might not produce any sound. I personally would not rely on this technique in a performance with an unfamiliar instrument.

Instead, I think you should try and heal your technique. Practice quiet playing without any pedals. Playing softly is in my opinion one of the most difficult things in piano playing, and unfortunately in my experience also relatively many Yamaha grands do indeed make it even more difficult; many of them feel as if there is some extra, somehow uneven, friction. In most cases you will eventually learn how to control them anyway.

Answer 4

My experience of Yamaha uprights is that they are very good pianos for beginners (and especially young beginners) to learn on, because the touch is light and even and you can get a useful range of dynamics and tone colors without much physical effort. But to give an analogy with driving a small car, the acceleration is very good up to say 40 mph but after that nothing much happens.

On the other hand, big Yamahas tend to be naturally loud and shrill compared with other makes. The basic problem might be that your notion of "mf" corresponds to the big Yamaha's idea of "pp", and if you really give it a good workout, "fff" is much louder than you thought was possible or desirable, especially if the full size piano is in a small room.

Remember that a full size grand piano can make itself heard on the back row of a 2000 seat concert hall without any amplification, and re-calibrate your idea of "whispering" accordingly. If you have mostly played an upright in a small room, you might not have the physical stamina and control to play a full size grand at full volume.

Answer 5

@Nonpop is correct. This is called the double-escapement and was invented by Erard in the early 1810s. It helps with the repetition of notes. Instead of the hammer returning to its full-stopped (bottom) position, it's held part way down to allow for a quick, easy repetition of the same note. Imagine all pianos before that had none and you couldn't repeat notes without lifting your fingers completely off the keys!

I've actually experienced this at the Frederick Collection www.frederickcollection.org

It's quite interesting and an awesome experience to play both modern and early pianos and compare the difference between them.

Playing softly on a grand piano, just like playing softly on an upright requires both good ear training and relaxation. If you are tense when you play, you'll tend to play louder. Try to play with relaxed arms, wrists, and fingers. Using your ears, see if you can have the music melt into the piano instead of being cold and loud like ice. It takes practice and concentration, but it can be done. What you don't want to do is plunk down the "soft" pedal and play the passage. This is not the same as playing softly as the una chorda pedal actually changes the character of the music while true soft playing is just that with the full piano still playing all the strings.