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.comDefending 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:
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.
Tips on Moving Your Piano
Obvious (And Not So Obvious!) Tips on Moving Your Piano
Whether you are moving across the Bay to a new loft apartment, or you are relocating your music studio, you may confront a serious and annoying challenge: How on Earth can you move your valuable, extremely heavy piano?
This article will help you do the job right – without hurting yourself, destroying your instrument, or just abandoning the quest all together and leaving your piano for the next tenant or owner because you simply cannot deal anymore.
The Do It Yourself Approach
Obviously, unless you are a hulking superhero, you cannot lift the instrument by yourself. You will need helpers. Lock down your lid and plan the moving route. Have a rolling dolly ready. Ideally, the piano should be rolling on the dolly almost the whole time. If you don’t have a dolly, avoid making major herky-jerky movements. Avoid going sideways; instead, move it end ways.
Wrap the piano in protective material before you move it – especially if you are going outside in bad weather. It goes without saying that you should look for shortcuts before you get into the nitty-gritty lifting and heaving of the instrument. If you have an elevator in your building,
reserve the elevator for the piano move. If you have to take the piano downstairs, you can jerry rig the stairs with body boards and other protective materials. Talk to your landlord to make sure that the stairs can support the weight of the piano.
The sensitive internal parts of the piano may need to be secured, and you may need special tools, like a heavy-duty hand cart and other tools to prevent nicks, abrasions, scuffs and other damage.
Anyone who helps should have a healthy back; everyone should wear gloves. Even a standard piano is very heavy, and if you get a piano caster square on your foot, it can break your bones. Also, pay attention to any special instructions from the piano’s manufacturer.
A Better Way?
Rather than put yourself through all this hassle and potentially ruin or warp the instrument that provides such wonderful music to you and your family, hire a professional piano moving service.
Bay Area Yamaha Pianos
When and What to Look for in a Grand Piano?
When and What to Look for in a Grand Piano?
Whether you are the proud parent of an eight-year-old future (or even current) piano prodigy; or you are a professional musician setting up a recording studio, you may be gearing up to make your first major purchase of a grand piano. When is it time to “pull the trigger” and actually purchase an instrument, and what should you look for in the piano.
First, let’s address the “when” question.
The answer is always a matter of choice. Literally hundreds of factors can influence your buying decision, including: your budget, your musical needs, whether you can use another piano temporarily to practice (e.g. at a school or at a piano teacher’s house), the seriousness with which you want to pursue piano studies, the amount of space available for the piano, your need for a “grand” piano versus a smaller instrument, such as a studio piano or other vertical, and so forth.
Bringing all of those factors in mind, if you still decide that a grand is the right way to go, here are some
rules of thumb to consider when shopping for your ideal instrument:
- The bigger the piano (in general), the more rich and nuanced the tone will be;
- Well-maintained pianos can have a lot of staying power. A used grand from the 1960s that has been properly maintained and tuned can be considered awesome and state-of-the-art. It’s not like you’re buying a couch or a car – items that do significantly depreciate over time and fall “out of style.” A great grand is a great grand, even if it’s older than you are;
- Get an instrument that you can “grow into” – your proficiency (or your students’ proficiency) will undoubtedly improve over the years;
- The instrument should look right in your home or studio. If you purchase an Elton John like bright red modern piano, and your home has a stately, classical aesthetic, the furniture will clash. So bear in mind that the instrument will exist as part of your overall interior décor.
To simplify and streamline your search, connect with the Yamaha Piano experts at Pianos Plus.
We’ve been serving East Bay Area piano customers for almost four decades. Our sales staff is professional, enthusiastic, and deeply knowledgeable about grand pianos. We provide significant value over our competitors because we own our buildings (and thus we don’t have nearly as much overhead).
We carry a diverse and exciting array of quality grand pianos, digital pianos, hybrid pianos, and other instruments. Learn more about our services at www.pianosplus.com, or give us a call to discuss your needs and musical goals at 510-581-1660.
True or False? You are Way, Way Too Old to Learn to Play the Piano.
True or False? You are Way, Way Too Old to Learn to Play the Piano.
Completely false of course!
Perhaps you had a few years of piano lessons as a kid, but then you gave up the instrument because you wanted to play sports and pal around with friends. Or maybe you always desperately wanted to play the piano, but you never had the opportunity, the encouragement, or the proper instruction. Now you are a “grown up” – a young professional, parent of young children, or retiree – and you are reflecting wistfully on your lost opportunity to cultivate musicianship.
Know this: it is never – repeat never – too late to learn to play the piano.
In fact, adults have many advantages over children when it comes to learning instruments. First of all, adults who are truly intrinsically motivated will find the time, energy, and resources to practice diligently. Children – particularly those who are forced to practice and play – are at a disadvantage here.
Adults can leverage their critical-thinking skills, planning acumen, and sense of “logic” to learn music quickly, develop a harmonic vocabulary, and communicate their needs, frustrations, and discoveries with their teachers more specifically and accurately than children.
You may already have developed and cultivated musicianship. Perhaps it’s dormant. Perhaps you have mastered another instrument (or your voice). In any case, you can plumb the depths of your musical experience to enrich and enlighten your time learning the piano.
Adults – at least adults who haven’t had their attention spans decimated by the internet or by watching too much television – also have an attention span advantage over children. Mastering any musical instrument – the piano, violin, ukulele, whatever – requires discipline and concentration. If you have developed any concentration skills, you can deploy them to maximize your time at the piano. In a nice feedback leap, practicing piano will also help cultivate your overall ability to concentrate. So it’s a classic “win win.”
Adults also have a physical advantage because they have the muscular strength, coordination, flexibility, and stamina to practice longer and make complete use of the whole instrument.
Lastly, adults have far more brain plasticity than they realize. Contrary to the old adage, it is possible to teach old dogs new tricks. New advanced neurological research suggests that our brains are highly plastic – even as we age into our 50s, 60s and beyond. Indeed, some researchers believe that just pushing ourselves to learn new skills – or by honing old, dormant ones – can lead to emotional growth and perhaps even physical and neurological benefits.
If you would like to boot up (or reboot) your piano career, the professionals at Pianos Plus will be more than happy to help you.
We are the San Francisco Bay Area’s most respected authorized Yamaha piano dealer, and our staff is knowledgeable and passionate about the piano.
Learn more about our services at www.pianosplus.com, or connect with us at 510-581-1660.