• Work with Gretchen
  • Bio
  • E-book
    • Goal-oriented Practice
      • Book intro
      • Book review
      • Book T of C, p. 1
      • Book T of C, p. 2
  • Review
  • Pictures
  • About me
  • Contact form
  • My career path
  • What they’re saying

Gretchen Saathoff

~ Collaborative Pianist/Vocal Coach ~ forging partnerships, making memorable music together

Tag Archives: care of instrument

How to maintain your piano

11 Thursday Nov 2010

Posted by GretchensPianos in music, piano, piano maintenance, the unexpected

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

care of instrument, Music, piano, piano maintenance

Congratulations

on your new

investment!

With regular maintenance, your piano will last through your lifetime and more.

What do I need to do?

Think of your piano as an instrument, not furniture.  Inside the case there are delicate wood, felt and leather pieces and the strings.  The pedal mechanism is mostly inside as well.  You may be surprised to open the top and discover hundreds of moving parts.

Your piano is not a table.  Nothing goes on top!  No family photos, party food or drinks, orange juice, or even water while you’re practicing.  Do you really want rings from cocktail glasses on the lid?  Even with coasters, it doesn’t work.

Fred’s story, a cautionary tale

My piano technician is a musician.  In his years of experience, he has returned many pianos to playing condition after a variety of mishaps.

When he tuned my piano about a month ago, he told me the following story:

A long-term client of his was in the habit of having a glass of water around while practicing.  She routinely placed the glass on the left end of her upright’s keyboard.  You know the wood piece on the left?  Just the right size for a glass or a coffee cup.

She was always very careful.  Never spilled any water.

And then one day she wanted orange juice.  She set the glass in the same spot.  And… she accidentally knocked it over.

Orange juice ended up on the strings.

Fred’s comment:  “That stuff is really hard to get off!”

And I was thinking that I wouldn’t want to pay somebody to do that.

How do I clean my piano?

“Can’t I just use Pledge?”

I’ve heard that question so many times!

The short answer is an emphatic “NO!”

Put down the cleaning products and the cloth you’ve used to dust other furniture.  That cloth has oily and waxy substances on it.  Remember, your new investment needs to be protected.  It’s an instrument, not a coffee table.

Avoiding the use of cleaning products assures that they won’t get onto the strings and small parts inside.  That stuff builds up.  After that, the parts begin to stick together and some of the keys stop working.

All you need is a clean, soft cloth.

To clean the keyboard, most of the time a clean, soft cloth will do the job.  If there are fingerprints or other residue on the keys, then you can use a slightly damp (not oozing water) soft cloth.  Make sure no water gets onto the wood on the sides.

Everyone who plays the piano should wash their hands first.  Any handcream should be non-greasy.

Visitors

If you have a cleaning person or a house sitter, you will want to let her/him know how to clean your piano.

Humidifier/dehumidifier

Most people don’t have the luxury of a climate-controlled environment.  So you will want to use a humidifier in winter and a dehumidifier in summer.

Your piano technician has experience with this.  The type and capacity of the unit you need depends on the size of your space and the local climate.

Keep your piano away from a/c and direct heat and sunlight.  Each of these affects the finish of the case and/or the tuning.

Have your piano tuned every 6 months ~ more often when new.  Again, follow your technician’s recommendations.

Moving your piano

Never roll piano on its wheels!

Don’t move your piano yourself.

Hire a professional piano moving company.  They will need at least three guys.

Make sure the movers use a dolly.

Secure the top and fall board (the piece that covers the keys).

Remove the knobs on an upright’s fall board ~ they can be attached on the inside.

Ensure that the movers wrap your piano with quilted furniture blankets to protect the case.

The piano should be secured to the side wall of the moving truck.

Your piano will need to be tuned more often following a move.

Common sense

All you really need to do is think!  Keeping your piano in optimal condition is neither difficult nor time consuming.

My instrument, a Baldwin “Hamilton” upright, was purchased new 28 years ago.  Although it’s hard to believe it has been that long, the action and the sound are as good as the day I bought it.

So take care of your instrument!  A reputable piano technician is your ally.  If you have any questions, ask.  Your technician would rather be asked than exercise damage control.

Please share your thoughts experience in the comment section below!

Be sure to catch the book sale!  Both versions of “Goal-oriented Practice” are available at special sale rates through Thursday, November 18 at midnight!

Related post:  When you buy a piano

Back to top

Share

  • Print
  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Would you like to save practice time and learn more music faster? Subscribe for free!

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

RSS Feed RSS - Comments

Gretchen Saathoff

Collaborative Pianist/Vocal Coach

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive FREE notifications of new posts by email.

Search this blog

http://www.wikio.com
Follow @GretchensPianos

NEW! LOWER PRICE!

Pages

  • Work with Gretchen
  • Bio
  • E-book
    • Goal-oriented Practice
      • Book intro
      • Book review
      • Book T of C, p. 1
      • Book T of C, p. 2
  • Review
  • Pictures
  • About me
  • Contact form
  • My career path
  • What they’re saying

Contact Me

Please use the Contact Form above.

Top Posts

  • From the archives: Creative Hymn Playing
  • Piano Shoes
  • Chance: of trial and error and "Aha!" moments
  • Piano Glasses
  • Our little choir's 1st success of the new season
  • Remembering Jean Ritchie, 12/8/22-6/1/15
  • Q&A: Playing organ pedals in stocking feet

Blogroll

  • All Piano
  • All Things Strings
  • Arts Journal
  • Carolyn Donnell
  • Chamber Music Today
  • Chamber Musician Today
  • Christopher O'Riley
  • Clef Notes
  • Crosseyed Pianist
  • Divergence Vocal Theater
  • Everything Opera
  • Geraldine in a Bottle
  • Get Classical
  • Global Mysteries
  • Good Company
  • Hell Mouth
  • Horn Matters
  • If it Ain't Baroque
  • Interchanging Idioms
  • Katerina Stamatelos
  • Marion Harrington
  • Metaphysics and Whimsy
  • Music Matters
  • Music Teach ,n. Tech
  • Musical Assumptions
  • My Life at the Piano
  • Noble Viola
  • Oboe Insight
  • Once More With Feeling
  • Operagasm
  • Pedal Points
  • Pianists from the Inside
  • Piano Addict
  • Pianorama
  • Practising the Piano
  • Rachel Velarde
  • Speaking of Pianists
  • Spirit Lights the Way
  • Stephen Hough
  • Susan Tomes
  • The Buzzing Reed
  • The Collaborative Piano Blog
  • The Glass
  • The Mahatma Candy Project
  • The Musician's Way
  • The Orchestra Pit — Musical Theater Piano Central
  • The Piano Files
  • The Rest is Noise
  • The Teaching Studio
  • Think Denk
  • Tubahead
  • Under the Piano Stool

Resources

  • "Rational Principles of Pianoforte Technique" by Alfred Cortot FREE DOWNLOAD!
  • The Whole-Hearted Musician

web site

  • Digital Piano Review Guide
  • El Sistema USA
  • Ergo LCD Corp, Ergonomic Specialists
  • J.S. Bach Foundation
  • Jason Coffey, baritone
  • Piano Buddies
  • The Human Solution
  • Website Marketing

article career collaboration concert directed practice distractions focus goals health learning listening music new approach new experience performing piano practice practicing preparation priorities process progress rehearsal singing teaching the unexpected tools Uncategorized variety work
NetworkedBlogs
Blog:
Gretchens Pianos
Topics:
piano, music, collaboration
 
Follow my blog

Archives

  • September 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (1)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (4)
  • June 2015 (7)
  • May 2015 (9)
  • March 2015 (5)
  • February 2015 (1)
  • January 2015 (3)
  • December 2014 (1)
  • November 2014 (1)
  • October 2014 (5)
  • August 2014 (4)
  • July 2014 (3)
  • June 2014 (6)
  • May 2014 (17)
  • April 2014 (1)
  • March 2014 (1)
  • January 2014 (4)
  • December 2013 (4)
  • November 2013 (2)
  • October 2013 (2)
  • September 2013 (7)
  • August 2013 (5)
  • June 2013 (3)
  • May 2013 (6)
  • April 2013 (3)
  • March 2013 (6)
  • February 2013 (2)
  • January 2013 (2)
  • December 2012 (2)
  • November 2012 (5)
  • October 2012 (8)
  • September 2012 (5)
  • August 2012 (6)
  • July 2012 (6)
  • June 2012 (4)
  • May 2012 (10)
  • April 2012 (9)
  • March 2012 (9)
  • February 2012 (8)
  • January 2012 (9)
  • December 2011 (8)
  • November 2011 (24)
  • October 2011 (14)
  • September 2011 (10)
  • August 2011 (10)
  • July 2011 (8)
  • June 2011 (7)
  • May 2011 (11)
  • April 2011 (13)
  • March 2011 (15)
  • February 2011 (13)
  • January 2011 (16)
  • December 2010 (10)
  • November 2010 (15)
  • October 2010 (16)
  • September 2010 (6)
  • August 2010 (8)
  • July 2010 (14)
  • June 2010 (16)
  • May 2010 (25)
  • April 2010 (11)
  • March 2010 (25)
  • February 2010 (4)
  • January 2010 (4)
  • December 2009 (3)
  • November 2009 (4)
  • October 2009 (9)
  • September 2009 (5)
  • August 2009 (5)
  • July 2009 (29)
  • June 2009 (40)
  • May 2009 (23)
  • April 2009 (20)

Copyright Notice

All posts are copyrighted by Gretchen Saathoff and may be used only by permission of the author.

Search Engine Optimization and SEO Tools
Submit Your Site To The Web's Top 50 Search Engines for Free!

Free SEO Meta Tags Generator

Blog Catalog Blog Directory
Active Search Results
Quickregister.net Link And Article Directory

Would you like to save practice time and learn more music faster? Subscribe for free!

RSS Feed RSS - Posts

RSS Feed RSS - Comments

Official PayPal Seal

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: