String breakage

[Susan Kline]

>   And just why is it they won't practice
>with the lid up and learn how to play a real pianissimo.

Because they already are hard of hearing, from stereo, other
noisy environments, and practicing loud on bright pianos in
small rooms? Also because their worn out/poorly regulated/loudly
voiced practice pianos are so hard to control at low dynamic
levels?


>I also think a lot of performers don't realize that the piano is much
>louder out in front, than at the keyboard.

I think that they don't, either. And they don't realize that some of
the noises fade out, either. Not that I don't try to fix the noises
anyway. After all, if they distract the pianist, I want them gone or
greatly softened, whether the audience notices them or not.

I once told a pianist bothered about volume that one can hear something
a little closer to what the audience is getting if one stands up and
tries a few notes and chords that way. It is a lot louder and clearer
standing up, especially if the music desk is in the way sitting down.

I'd like to be able to reassure them of how the piano sounds out in
the hall by having them go out there and playing loudly and clearly
for them. But I need to play better to achieve that.

Susan