Piano playing on different instrument

raagamuffin

You may recall, previously I purchased a piano for my daughter to play on. I decided to also take some lessons over the last couple of months and things have progressed well. At the studio, every couple of months some of the adult students get together to play. My first one was this past weekend, and I had a piece well rehearsed, and I was quite confident.
Unfortunately, I'd never played on the particular (Petrof) piano at the studio and if I said it was an unmitigated disaster, it would be understating it. The keybed was stiffer (and it felt shallower?), I couldn't hit any of my arpeggios. I threw in the towel and I may have apologized to everyone for wasting their 2 minutes. Everyone was gracious and encouraging, including the teachers who were there, but it was a complete embarrassment.

Of course, I want to make it right. What strategies are there, if any, for avoiding a repeat? One is to play on the actual piano that will be used for the session, which is somewhat feasible.
Maybe I'm not playing my current instrument hard enough? any other tips?

Simonb

Hi raagamuffin

I'm afraid that's the nature of Pianos, they do vary a lot. I don't have any real advice, aside from playing the actual instrument itself.

I currently have a Yamaha B3 upright, but have lessons on my Teachers Yamaha C3X grand. It takes me a while to adapt to the grand Piano at every lesson (once a fortnight).

Experience will count for a lot, I don't recall whether you are a beginner or a returning adult. Regardless one thing you don't need to do is apologise if you don't play well. That happens to all of us!

I'm sure others may have better advice, but don't be discouraged - just keep practising.

Cheers

pianoloverus

raagamuffin One is to play on the actual piano that will be used for the session, which is somewhat feasible.

That's the best approach. Also, try to play on as many different pianos as you can so you get more experience adjusting to pianos. One other idea is to play a short but simpler piece before your main piece if that's a possibility.

HeartKeys

pianoloverus try to play on as many different pianos as you can so you get more experience adjusting to pianos

+1 to this. Being able to adjust to different pianos is a skill in itself.

lilypad

pianoloverus That's the best approach. Also, try to play on as many different pianos as you can so you get more experience adjusting to pianos. One other idea is to play a short but simpler piece before your main piece if that's a possibility.

I like that idea. The piano group I'm in meets once a month and mostly at piano stores. In the past, I've warmed up on just one or two pianos that will be used for performance at the meeting. But there is often ample opportunity before the meeting to try out any piano in a room or even many rooms full of them. In the past I've just played a few keys before moving on to another piano instead of sitting down and playing a whole piece to really get a feel for a different piano.

thepianoplayer416

I agree with everybody who say practice on different pianos. To be practical, many people have only 1 piano at home. Where would you find another piano to play? You often find old pianos in churches. You can make arrangements to go there for practice on certain days of the week. There are local music studios with a piano you can practice.

The only way to get used to the feel of the Petrof piano at the studio you mentioned is to actually spend time on it. Not sure if that particular piano is available during the week for at least an hour. My teacher uses a digital Yamaha Clavinova for teaching. The conservatory where my lessons are held also has upright & grand pianos including Yamaha, Kawai, Steinway, Boston available to students when practice rooms are not used for lessons.

A few years ago I practiced music with a strings ensemble at a community center. There are Yamaha upright pianos for lessons during the week. I use a digital at home with weighted keys. I found the keys of the upright rather heavy at first. I could play my pieces but the volume out of the strong fingers came out more. Then I realized hitting the keys properly you should use no finger effort but the weight of the arm to press the keys. Keep your hands loose and let your hand drop into the keys with the weight of the arm. Using a lot of finger effort is something many beginners have trouble with.

Practice dropping your hand into the keys with the weight of the arm doing all the pushing. Keep your hands totally loose and relaxed. After a while, you'd find pianos with heavy keys easier to play.

raagamuffin

A quick epilogue.

I took all of your advice and I played on a couple of different pianos at the studio, including a Kawai and the Petrof. What a difference it is, between the weight of the keys etc. @HeartKeys @pianoloverus , you guys were not kidding when you said adjusting is a skill in itself. I had so many missed notes on the Petrof (stiffer keys) for a faster (what I consider fast, it's probably a stroll for most folks), piece.
I am trying a new technique also, that my teacher suggested, so that I can lean into the stiffness of the keys, similar to what @thepianoplayer416 mentioned.

thepianoplayer416 Practice dropping your hand into the keys with the weight of the arm doing all the pushing. Keep your hands totally loose and relaxed. After a while, you'd find pianos with heavy keys easier to play.

player

Oftentimes, you can ask to arrive early for a recital and try out the piano before the rest show up. That way you have a better chance of adjusting to the piano.

thepianoplayer416

player
Doing a warm-up on a piano is a good tip. Once I was at a gathering. There was a 4 min piece I was about to play. Taking 10 min to get used to the feel of the piano keys made a big difference. When I was ready, I played the piece through once without "noticeable" mistakes. No matter how good your playing is, you get nervous and miss a note or 2 in between. Practice recovering from a mistake is also important. When you missing a note somewhere, just continue than starting from the beginning or the beginning of a section.

I used to practice on a 61 keyboard with light touch keys. I found playing the same pieces on a piano challenging. Besides the feel of the keys, I got my playing positions messed up with the extra keys on the left.

raagamuffin

I like the ideas from the group . I was a bit naive , I sort of assumed (wrongly) that most pianos would be in a general ball park.

I will plan to get there ahead of time to practice next time. I’ll probably also practice on a couple of different pianos in general.

thepianoplayer416

Pianos have different action definitely.
Yesterday I was in a senior home performing with a music group. In the back room behind the auditorium is a baby grand with the name "Howard". Not a familiar brand so looked it up online and found that it's a subsidiary of Baldwin manufactured in the US. High quality but a cheaper alternative to Baldwin pianos. Compared to the Yamaha grand at the conservatory where my lessons are held, the action felt similar. I sat down and played the pieces I worked on as if I was playing the same piano from 2 weeks ago. The upright pianos at a community center in the city that offers music lessons have a rather heavy action. The last time I used the pianos there took me a few minutes playing scales to get comfortable with the action.