Four New Yamaha Keyboard Apps = Music to Musicians’ EarsFour New Yamaha Keyboard Apps = Music to Musicians’ Ears
Technology. What can’t it do? For Yamaha, the answer apparently is: nothing.
Consider the latest Yamaha tech roll out: four amazing new apps for the iPhone or iPad to help musicians extract more beauty and resonance out of their instruments. Here they are:
1. NoteStar
Ever wanted to jam out with your favorite band? If so, this iPad app will deliver the goods in the form of easy to read sheet music that flows smoothly (no need to stop and scroll while you’re inthe middle of a song) – backed by real vocals and bands. You can get the download free at the App Store and purchase any song for just $3.99.
On Yamaha.com: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/apps/notestar/?mode=model
2. Page Turner
Here’s another digital sheet music app for the iPad. You can wirelessly turn the pages of your music, if you own a Yamaha EZ-220 keyboard. The app is amazing – it’s essentially a mind reader. It knows when you need to turn the page. You don’t need any extra accessories or setup. Just download the app at the App Store, launch it, and start playing. The app also has an audio recorder so you can get instant feedback. It’s due out at end of May.
On iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/page-turner/id399359552?mt=8
3. Song Chords
This app for the iPhone (available in February 2012) is also a dynamo. It features a built-in chord dictionary, chord charts, music store, and lead sheet. You can practice, supplement a live performance, or use the chords to vamp for a missing band member.
4. Scale Tuner
Scale Tuner lets you tune your digital piano or Yamaha keyboard and more. Preset scales include pure temperament, Arabic, etc. The Scale Tuner is compatible with lots of Yamaha models, including CVP501, 503, 505, 509 and CGP1000.
On Yamaha.com: http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/apps/scale_tuner/?mode=model
Do you want more information about Yamaha keyboards, pianos, or other products? To make your playing, recording, and performance experience that much more stellar, connect with the most respected Yamaha piano dealer in the Bay Area: Pianos Plus.
We have been serving the East Bay Area for over four decades; our staff is hugely knowledgeable; and we offer amazing value and quality.
Call us at 510-581-1660, or learn more at www.pianosplus.com.
Live Your Artistic Dream this Year by Learning How to Play an Instrument or Sing
Admit it: You’re a sucker for shows like Glee.
You love a good musical extravaganza. On the other hand, you also love to sing in the shower, indulge in a bit of a heavy metal and rap now and again, and blast some Top 40 radio in the car when no one is watching. You might also appreciate a more cultured aesthetic – you like artful jazz and classical music concertos, sonatas, symphonies, and rhapsodies from the great composers. You enjoy alternative rock, humming, whistling, country, and basically every other music in the musical rainbow (including, sometimes, blessed silence!).
But you have yet to join in on all the fun. It’s time to change all that.
It’s time to make 2012 the year that you finally learn how to play an instrument and/or sing. To find your musical inner voice and begin to express the lyricism you know is deep inside you.
Learning to sing or play an instrument is an exciting, long-term undertaking. The right tools go a long way to making your journey pleasurable and fulfilling. Just like you need good coaching to master the musical arts, you can also benefit profoundly from the right instruments for your level, needs, and space. Learning to sing or play an instrument is an exciting, long-term undertaking. The right tools go a long way to making your journey pleasurable an
The team here at Pianos Plus will help you find the affordable tools for learning music. For 40 years, we’ve served the SF Bay Area’s piano needs. Our teachers are extremely experienced and knowledgeable. We can help with piano, vocal, guitar, harmonica, and bass lessons, rentals, new & used pianos and more.
Meet the music teachers.
Learn more about our services and what sets us apart at www.pianosplus.com, or call us for help now at 510-581-1660.
image sources: graysonstunetown.com kellertmusicstudios.comSiri Can Play Your Yamaha Disklavier {Video}
Siri (only on the iPhone 4s) can give you directions, time weather, tell you where the closet dry cleaner is, recommend a hotel, but did you know Siri can play the piano too? Check out the video below.
Defending Your Piano from the Perils of Too Much Moisture
You’ve invested a lot of time, energy and love into your piano.
Perhaps you diligently practice two or three hours a day. Perhaps you record or compose gorgeous music. In any event, you want to extract the maximum usefulness from the piano and protect it against damage and abuse.
One of the most insidious threats to pianos is excess moisture and humidity.
Consider how much effort you spend on protecting the piano against “brute force” hazards: how many times have you warned your five-year old “no playing in the piano room” out of fear that he will smash the keys with a toy or worse? Unfortunately, most owners do not spend enough time guarding against subtle but potentially lethal (for the piano, that is) threats like moisture.
Here are some tips:
- When it rains, or when it’s excessively humid, close the windows of the piano room.
- If the piano gets damp or spilled on, wipe the area clean and dry as quickly as possible.
- To protect the keys, close the top board when you finish practicing, recording or playing.
- Make use of the cloth cover to absorb moisture.
- Take extra precautions if your piano is especially “moisture vulnerable” – that is, if you live in a humid region, if you live by the coast, if you don’t have a good ventilation in your room, if the piano is in a concrete building, if there is poor drainage in your area, or if your piano room has a history of leaky roofs.
- Vigilance is also key. If you notice that piano smells strange (e.g. like mildew or rotting material), or if something “just seems off” about the quality of the tonality, act sooner than later to identify the problem and solve it.
If you catch water or moisture damage early enough, you may be able to protect, repair or salvage the instrument at a relatively minimal cost. If you wait for the problem to get “so bad that you just can’t take it anymore,” you might have to pay a pretty penny to restore the instrument, or you may even have to buy an entirely new piano.
For help with your piano care, maintenance, and buying needs, trust the experts at Pianos Plus.
We’re the Bay Area’s most respected authorized Yamaha piano dealer, and we’ve been serving clients like you for almost four decades. Find out more about how we can help you at www.pianosplus.com or give us a call now at 510-581-1660.
What is a Piano Sale? Don’t Be Fooled.
What is a Piano Sale?
When you hear or see ‘Piano Sale’ does this mean that the only time to get the best price on a piano would be when this sale is in progress?
Not hardly!
Dont be fooled! Piano sales events cost dealers tremendous amounts of money in promotional costs, these costs are passed on to you, the consumer. These ‘fantastic deals’ offered for a short time have these cost in the special sale price of the piano. In today’s retail marketing, there’s always a reason to sell because there is always the consumer looking for a reason to buy, this reason to buy is achieved throughdeceptive sales strategies designed to create a buying frenzy. These buying frenzies are with the promise of special short time prices never to be seen again.
At Pianos Plus we do not use these deceptive sales tactics, we continue offering the lowest prices every-day on every piano and always with a guarantee that our selling price on new Yamaha pianos will belower than any competitor’s pricing during one of their highly publicized (and costly) piano sale events. Don’t be fooled by misleading special sale events.
How to Connect Your Disklavier to the Internet (video #tips)
One common question Yamaha Disklavier owners have is, “How do I connect my Yamaha Disklavier piano to the Internet?” Fortunately Yamaha has provided this step-by-step video on their YouTube channel. Hope this helps!
The Yamaha Disklavier Piano
Imagine the possibility of having a world-class Yamaha piano that can play any time, day or night, by a ‘live’ performer or by itself. This wish has become a reality with the creation of the Yamaha Disklavier player piano. Factory-installed, each Disklavier is made with the same quality and craftsmanship of a Yamaha acoustic piano without affecting the piano’s performance, tone or touch.
The original Yamaha Disklavier, which made its debut back in 1986, introduced the world to the wonder of traditional pianos equipped with integrated digital electronics for recording, auto playback and more. Since that time, these computer-age ‘player’ pianos have evolved into instruments of truly remarkable capabilities. They can reproduce not only ‘live’ acoustic piano concerts, but ensemble music with instrumental and vocal tracks as well. They allow you to record and play back your own performance, create complex multi-track arrangements, and connect to the world of musical opportunities offered by MIDI devices, personal computers and the Internet. Their unique combination of acoustic excellence and digital versatility has made them an increasingly popular choice of pianists, educators and music-lovers worldwide.
Today’s Disklavier is available in nearly every model of acoustic piano that Yamaha makes and in a variety of finishes.
If you are in the market for buying a new or perhaps even a used Yamaha piano please come and visit our friendly staff at Pianos Plus. The Bay Area’s largest private Yamaha piano dealer.
Referral links:
The Yamaha Silent Piano {Video}
Silent piano. The shift of a lever keeps hammers from striking the strings, while a small control unit activates digital piano tones.
Many Yamaha piano models are also available in versatile digital/acoustic versions. Pioneered by Yamaha, these innovative hybrids offer the uncompromising enjoyment of an acoustic grand with a wide range of digital music capabilities.
The silent piano from Yamaha gives you the ability to not only play a beautiful acoustic piano but gives you the benefits of a digital piano as well. With just a few seconds you can go from playing acoustic piano to slipping on your head phones and play digitally while maintaining the feel of acoustic pianos keys. You can even change sounds, record & play back, hook up a USB thumb drive, and/or connect to your computer.
If you would like to learn more about Yamaha silent pianos or more about the different pianos Yamaha offers please connect with our friendly professional team at Pianos Plus. The Bay Area’s largest non-chain Yamaha Piano dealer.
1558 A Street
Castro Valley, California
Mon. thru Sat. -
10AM to 5:30PM
Sun. Noon to 4PM
Phone: 510-581-1660
Fax: 510-581-1760
Email: pianospls@aol.com
Benefits of Buying a Used Piano
Maybe your darling daughter (and budding prodigy) has finally pushed you hard enough, and you want to buy her the piano of her dreams, so she can light up your home with beautiful music. Or maybe you’re looking for an instrument to sharpen your concert skills in preparation for a recital or recording effort.
Irrespective of your purpose, you face an urgent decision: Should you buy a new or used piano.
There are lots of good reasons to buy new. And we will delve into those in separate blog posts.
But reasons to consider the “oldie but goodie” option also abound. Consider:
1. Aesthetic Appeal.
Some “old school” pianos – particularly those engineered and built by master craftsmen – look absolutely gorgeous. If you plan to practice in a private studio – where no one typically visits – this design factor might not mean as much. But if you’re buying a piano for your living room (e.g. to use entertain guests), aesthetics matter.
2. Affordable.
In today’s strapped economy, musicians (in particular) are desperate to save where they can. If you are a sharp bargain hunter, you can find a very solid, extremely reasonably priced used piano – provided you do due diligence.
3. Easy.
You need not go to piano tuner school to learn how to choose the best instrument for your needs.
By following a few, easy to remember heuristics (rules of thumb), you can make your piano shopping far easier. For instance, memorize this one: “bigger is better.” Bigger pianos last longer and yield up more depth of sound. Small pianos can create a tinny sound, due to the high harmonics created when the shorter strings get hit.
Testing the Piano
To test a used piano, start with the bass section, since the bass is the first to wear out in old pianos. But just because a piano is three decades older (or even older) doesn’t mean that the bass sections will disappoint.
You should also examine: hammers (to make sure they are not too worn) tuning pins overall condition of the piano.
Getting Help
Perhaps the most important element is a good guide. At Pianos Plus, we sell both used pianos and new pianos – so we have no intrinsic bias either way.
We can help you find the right instrument for your needs, budget, and other values you hold.
We’ve been an East Bay Area piano leader for nearly four decades, and our knowledgeable and professional staff can walk you through your questions and concerns – call us now at 510-581-1660 or visit www.pianosplus.com.
Best Piano Tuning Practices
Best Piano Tuning Practices
Perhaps you have “perfect pitch” and you relish the challenge of tuning your own piano to make sure it sounds “just right” for a recording session or concert performance. Or maybe you have just simply noticed that your old baby grand is not sounding quite right when your daughter plays her scales, and you crave a solution that’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg.
Piano tuning best practices depend on the kind of piano you own, the quality of sound and intonation you expect from the instrument, the amount of use and abuse you subject the piano to, the quality and craftsmanship of the instrument, environmental factors that impact the sound, and how often you tune and retune.
Some do-it-yourself piano tuners can get the job done using electronic tuners, tuning levers, and mutes. One expert at www.piano.detwiler.us suggests a three step process:
1. “Tune a single string from a single note in the middle octave.”
2. “Match the remaining strings and the note to the one first tuned.”
3. “Tune remaining notes by octaves.”
You can follow that link to read more about what this simple online guide suggests. It’s not the only guide out there. If you’re really diligent and excited about learning piano tuning, you can enroll in the American School of Piano Tuning. Find out more about them at www.piano-tuning.com. The school claims to have trained piano tuners since 1958, and it offers a course that costs $1,290 (as of September 2011).
No doubt you can find other powerful resources on the web and elsewhere to help you understand the tools, supplies, and practices and procedures to keep your piano sounding perfect. But for most piano owners, teachers, and even instrument enthusiasts, the whole do-it-yourself route is impractical, expensive and time consuming.
So What Are Some Alternatives?
For more information about what you might be able to do, get help by connecting with the experts here at Pianos Plus. Call us at 510-581-1660, or visit us on the web at www.pianosplus.com.
We have been an Bay Area piano leader for 40 years, and we are the most respected authorized Yamaha piano dealer in the Bay area.
The Piano Placement Dilemma:
The Piano Placement Dilemma:
Where on Earth Are You Supposed to Put This Thing?
Pianos can weigh upwards of 1,200 pounds. Whether you just purchased a new baby grand for your daughter to practice her scales, or you’re setting up a serious home music studio, you are overwhelmed by the prospect of finding the “perfect spot” for the instrument. Here are some factors to consider:
Relative heat and humidity.
Radiating heat from a fireplace or humidity from an air-conditioning vent may warp the instrument, damage the sound, and even cause yucky problems like mold and mildew;
Direct sunlight can be a problem.
Sunlight on the sound board can actually change your piano’s tuning. This might not be that important if you’re just practicing basic scales. But if you’re looking to practice concert-ready performances, small alterations caused by sunlight may hurt.
Aim for a level surface.
Most homes are pretty level – it would be hard to live in a living room with a 20-degree slope, for instance. But almost all floors in our homes have slight warps, woofs and other structural inconsistencies. These might be minor or irrelevant to your piano playing. Or they might have long-term, sustained impact.
Other factors include:
Whether the piano is against an exterior wall or interior wall; the floor in the room where the piano will be (whether it’s carpeted or hardwood); the room acoustics; whether the space around the piano will be ergonomically fit for you (or not); and whether the piano can be subjected to any changes in temperature, humidity, light, excessive vibration (e.g. is there a drum set nearby that your little brother will be playing constantly?).
Which of these factors matter; which can be ignored? The answer always depends on context.
If you are just getting a piano to bang out some scales and abuse while you and your high school friends practice your punk rock fusion band, then who cares if the piano gets dinged up, warped, or degraded? If, on the other hand, you want to prepare for a recital or record, then all these little factors – the humidity, the sunlight, variations in temperature, variations in the level of the piano, ergonomics, etc. – can all come into play.
Your best bet is to connect with a team that has the resources, experience and knowledge to help you maximize your piano playing. Call Pianos Plus at 510-581-1660 to explore solutions that meet your needs, budget, and aesthetic and musical preferences.