What are pianos made of?

How often do we think about all the materials that pianos are made of? Here is a quick reminder in this list of materials:

Wood

Spruce: 
Used for the soundboard, which is crucial for amplifying vibrations, and sometimes for key and action parts. 
Maple and Beech: 
Hardwoods that are strong and rigid, making them ideal for the rim, action components, and bridges. 
Mahogany, Walnut, and Birch: 
Often used for the outer case and rim, with veneers providing the visible finish. 

Metal

Cast Iron: Forms the heavy internal plate that supports the tremendous tension of the strings. 
High-Tensile Steel: Used to make the piano's strings, which vibrate to create sound. 

Other materials

Felt: 
Used to cover the hammers and other parts of the action mechanism to cushion and control the strike. 
Plastic: 
Many modern pianos use plastic for keytops (in place of ivory) and for some action components to ensure durability and consistency, especially in humid conditions. 
MDF: 
Medium-density fiberboard, an engineered wood product, is used in some modern pianos to make them more affordable and durable. 

The Light and Shadow of Nightshade

 You may have heard of the term “nightshade.” It is often associated with poison. But did you know that one of the four types of vegetables belong to the nightshade family? Learn to tell the difference by “eating up” these online activities.

 

CONNECT:

• See the various types of nightshade at https://kids.kiddle.co/Nightshade
• Watch what eatable foods belong to the nightshade family at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdFSi2csCag
• Hogwarts students learned to plant mandrake, which is a member of the nightshade family. Get the real facts about mandrakes at https://kids.kiddle.co/Mandrake
• Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Explore the controversy at https://youtu.be/9m81GlfA1BE

 

CREATE:

• Play with your nightshade food: potatoes; get the details at https://tinybeans.com/play-with-your-food-10-games-that-use-potatoes/
• Try fun things to make with potatoes at https://stpeterfood.coop/crafts-with-potatoes/
• Get active with tomatoes at https://seedstosuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/HfHK_Tomatoes_Activity_Plan.pdf

 

CARE:

• Deadly nightshade is just that: highly poisonous. Learn how to recognize it at https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/deadly-nightshade
• For centuries, people thought tomatoes were poisonous; find out why at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBXwTVlwvQ8&t=86s
• Learn how to grow potatoes from a potato at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzcXXuYBDqg

 

CAREERS:

Not scared about nightshade? Want to follow the light to a career with nightshade? You could be a scientist, a chemist, a doctor, a farmer, a gardener, a cook, a nutritionist, a grocer. Check out some possibilities:

• Vegetable grower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2mJHn_I-T0
• A day in the life of a vegetable packing factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5sRBzIqeLc
• The ketchup industry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKVGzKoQ8X4
• Jobs in vegetables for the future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boaZLAful3I

Autumn Leaves of Notes

Autumn offers a subtle mix of weather and somberness. Here are some composers and their works related to autumn:

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: 

  His "October, Autumn Song" is a programmatic piano piece from The Seasons, a set of twelve character pieces representing each month of the year. 
• Fanny Mendelssohn: 

  Her piano cycle Das Jahr ("The Year") features pieces for each month; "September," "October," and "November" specifically evoke autumnal moods. 
• Antonio Vivaldi: 

  While primarily for violin and orchestra, his famous "Autumn" from The Four Seasons (1723) is the quintessential programmatic piece capturing the season. 
• Joseph Haydn: 

  His oratorio The Seasons includes a section on "Autumn," reflecting the composer's musical portrayal of the season and its joys. 
• Jules Massenet: 

  He wrote songs, including the piece "Pensée d'automne" ("Thoughts in Autumn"), which conveys the passing of time and fading memories. 
• Edvard Grieg: 

  Composed an overture In Autumn, which features many elements found in his orchestral and piano works. 

Where did classical piano composers get their training?

 

Classical piano composers received training through private instruction from experienced musicians, formal education at music conservatories and universities, mentorship from senior composers, and extensive self-study and practice, including analyzing and copying the works of other composers. The specific method varied, but a strong foundation in music theory, harmony, and composition, often through pattern-based exercises, was a common element across different training paths. Many composers attended formal institutions, such as the Paris Conservatoire or the Mozarteum in Salzburg, which offered structured programs in music theory, composition, and performance. In contrast, some composers initially trained by private tutors, often family members or established musicians. In many cases, these composers were child prodigies who began their musical education at a very young age. Here is a sampling of individuals’ instruction and apprenticeship.

Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, Leopold, who was a composer and violinist. It should be noted, though, while guided by his father, Mozart was a musical genius from a very young age and largely developed his own unique style. Furthermore, starting a performance career as a child (under his father’s management), Mozart’s early education involved traveling throughout Europe, where he observed and absorbed the different musical styles of the time.

Beethoven began piano lessons with his father, who was his first teacher. He then studied with other musicians in his hometown of Bonn before moving to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn, who famously invited Beethoven to become his student. Beethoven also took composition lessons from the court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe. 

Chopin started learning the piano from his mother before the age of six. He was then trained by private tutors, such as Wojciech Zywny, who recognized and nurtured his unique talent. Next, Chopin studied at the Warsaw Conservatory, which refined his compositional skills. 

Liszt was taught piano by his father from the age of five. After his family moved to Vienna, he studied with renowned teachers like Carl Czerny, a former student of Beethoven, and the court composer Antonio Salieri. While touring as a piano virtuoso, Liszt was influenced by other composers and musicians such as Niccolò Paganini and Hector Berlioz. 

Of course, these and other piano composers only achieved greatness and renown because they understood, practiced and honed the training they received. Teachers can only teach; students have to do the learning.  

 

 

Teaching What You Compose and Play

 Tomoko is known for both her piano performance and her piano teaching ability. Those same skills and careers apply to several outstanding classical piano composers. Here is a sampling.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a prolific teacher who instructed both his family members and university students. His famous collections of keyboard music, such as the Inventions and The Well-Tempered Clavier, were expressly written for instructional purposes. His pedagogy focused on attentive listening, finger independence, clear articulation, and a strong understanding of harmony. 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) earned a significant income from teaching piano to members of the nobility to supplement his income from concerts and commissions. His lessons combined performance practice, compositional theory, and technique training, sometimes even during informal settings like billiards. However, Mozart thought he could teach more by simply playing a piece for a student than through verbal instruction alone.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) taught piano lessons throughout his career to supplement his income, especially when he started out and before his hearing loss became severe. His most famous pupil was Carl Czerny, who documented and passed on Beethoven's methods for interpreting his piano works. Czerny's pedagogical approach is considered the foundation of modern piano technique. 

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) earned a significant portion of his income by teaching piano to aristocratic students in Paris. He was a meticulous and passionate teacher who focused on beautiful, expressive tone and fluidity, which he often demonstrated on a second piano. His method emphasized relaxation and natural hand movement, rather than the rigid, mechanical exercises common at the time. Students were taught using works by Bach, Mozart, Hummel, and Chopin himself.

Franz Liszt (1811–1886) was a legendary piano teacher who instructed hundreds of students in his masterclasses. He never charged for his lessons, which was a source of frustration for rival teachers. Rather than drilling technique, he focused on musical interpretation, and he used his lessons to discuss a piece's form, proportion, and emotional character.

Clara Schumann (1819–1896) was a highly regarded pianist and composer – and piano teacher – of the Romantic era.  Her disciplined and traditionalist style of playing, which emphasized a singing tone and clarity, influenced many students.

Dogged Music

 Dogs are sometimes called human’s best friend, and they can inspire music composers as well. The following pieces reflect that connection between “man and beast” in several cultures.

Composer Emil Sjögren is known mainly in his home country Sweden. His piano composition “Portrait of Donnie” is a sweet homage to his favorite pet dog.

Vietnamese composer Chiayu Hsu create a musical zodiac cycle 12 Signs. Movement number 11 is “Dog,” which captures the animal’s impulsive nature.

Similarly, Chinee composer Bright Sheng wrote the orchestra concerto Zodiac Tales. His fifth movement echoes the style of a Buddhist chant to tell the story of a dog who sacrificed himself by putting out enemy fire to save Emperor Liu Bang’s army.

George Gershwin’s composition “Promenade” is sometimes called “Walking the Dog.” That’s because the piece was written for his and his brother’s first score for RKO: the 1937 movie “Shall We Dance?” The scene depicts Fred Astaire trying to woo Ginger Rogers by telling hoer how many dogs he walks. Later, Ira Gershwin scored “Promenade” as a piano solo.

Contemporary Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch was commissioned to write a work imagining 24 hours in the life of a dog. That piece became Mad Dog.  The music imagines a dog’s lively activity, its dreams, and its emotions.

And remember Elvis Presley’s rendition of “You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog?” Composer Peter Breinder reconceptualized that song as a Baroque piece in his Concerto Grosso No. 4; V. Hound Dog.

Perhaps your dog will hound you for these pieces: their own pet sounds.

Clowning Around on the Piano

Clowns have been a mainstay of entertainment – and sometimes insight – for centuries.  And those clowns might delight, amuse, or even sadden you.  Several piano pieces evoke the image of clowns. Here is a sampling, particularly of classical compositions.

Kabalevsky's "Clowns" is a lively and playful composition, capturing the lighthearted and sometimes mischievous nature of clowns. It's often used in educational settings due to its accessibility and engaging melody. 

Fučík's "Entry of the Gladiators" reflects a classic circus march, although it was not original written about clowns. Nevertheless, it is instantly recognizable and often used as a theme for clown acts. Its energetic and dramatic nature perfectly captures the excitement and spectacle of a circus performance. 

Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Clowns" appears in Act II of The Nutcracker. It features a lively and whimsical melody that is often interpreted as representing the playful and sometimes clumsy movements of clowns. 

Mendelssohn's "A Dance of Clowns" is part of his larger work for Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It is characterized by its playful and lighthearted melody, often used to represent the mischievous and energetic nature of the clowns in the play. 

Sondheim's "Send In the Clowns" is a ballad from Act II of his modern take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the original context is a sad and introspective song, the piano arrangement can be interpreted in various ways, highlighting both the humor and pathos associated with clowns. It's a beautiful and expressive piece. 

Whether you are playing for laughs or performing a homage to classical clown interpretations, hopefully the music will bring a smile to the audience.

Flitting Pianos

 

Several well-known piano pieces capture the essence of butterflies. 

Schumann’s Papillons, Op. 2 was inspired by a masquerade ball and the dancing figures. It evokes the whimsical nature of butterflies with its light and joyful character.

Chopin’s Butterfly Etude” is characterized by its fast, light, and intricate melody, creating a sense of the butterfly's delicate movement. 

Grieg’s “Butterfly” is a short and beautiful piece that captures the essence of a butterfly's flight as it moves from flower to flower. 

Debussy’s” Les Papillons” was written to be sung by a soprano, inspired by Théophile Gautier's poem of the same name. 

Saariaho’s Sept Papillons, a set of seven short pieces, is a more contemporary take on the theme, with each piece representing a different butterfly and its unique characteristics. 

May your fingers and your heart flutter as you play these delightful piano pieces.

The Flowering Piano

It's summertime: the prime time to see flowers in gardens and fields. Piano composers have been inspired by flowers, as these examples demonstrate. 

• Debussy's "Bruyères":

  .

  This piece from Debussy's "Préludes, Book II" is a tone painting of the French word for heather, capturing the flower's delicate beauty and subtle fragrance, according to Interlude.hk.
• MacDowell's "To a Wild Rose":

  .

  A quintessential example of a piece inspired by a single flower, this work is cherished for its simple, elegant melody and its evocation of the wild rose's natural charm. 
• Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers":

  .

  Originally part of the ballet The Nutcracker, this piece is a grand and celebratory waltz, often arranged for piano and admired for its lively and joyous character. 
• Schumann's "Blumenstück":

  .

  This "Flower Piece" for piano is a collection of short, contrasting sections, each suggesting a different aspect or mood of flowers. 
• Rachmaninoff's "Lilacs":

  .

  Op. 21, No. 5, is a lyrical and expressive piece for piano, capturing the delicate beauty and romanticism associated with the flower. 
• Debussy's "Jardins sous la pluie" (Gardens under the rain):

  .

  This piece from the "Estampes" suite is a depiction of gardens buffeted by a downpour, showcasing Debussy's mastery of creating evocative soundscapes, according to Musicnotes.com. 

May the piano pedals make the musical petals to help your summer blossom!

Sounding the Piano

 Not all pianos are created equal, and they certainly vary in the sounds they produce. What are some of the physical properties of pianos that affect their sound?

Starting with steel strings, the same string twice as long as its original length vibrates one octave lower, but creating a piano with the same thickness of string would be unwieldly, but a wider and heavier string vibrates more slowly. That is why a piano’s bass strings are thicker than the higher notes.

The string’s tension also plays a role in the velocity of the string’s pulse as it is hit by the piano’s hammer. The highest strings need to have the highest tension/

Furthermore, the longer the string, the longer the wavelengths and the better tonality. With increased reverberation and power, the better the harmony, so the larger the piano, the better, all other variables held constant.

Even then, the property of the strings as they have to create 88 notes can result in uneven quality of tone. Therefore, most pianos use multiple stringing so that the vibrations travel more efficiently, making a louder sound, which can also be sustained longer, depending on how the strings are hit.

But strings by themselves don’t make much sound, so that is why a soundboard (make of lightweight wood) is needed to vibrate with the strings and amplify the sound through the surrounding air. The strings run across a wooden bar bridge, which is glued to the soundboard.

Moreover, the room in which the piano is placed, also impacts the piano’s acoustics. For instance, a rug under the piano and irregular shaped objects along the wall can absorb excess reflected sound. However, adsorptive objects such as upholstered furniture and heavy drapes can deaden the sound. In that respect, having exposed flooring at the room’s edges makes the resonance more “live.” Opening the doors of a room can clarify a piano’s bass tones.  Upright pianos work fine in small rooms, but grand pianos need lots of space to resonate properly. Acoustics professional can fine-tune the room for optimum sound quality.

Take Note

 

As a music teacher, Tomoko taught student how to read musical notation, but how many students realize the history of that notation and how much it has helped musicians to perform the music? 

Nearly two thousand years, Greeks wrote down a way to remember music using letters, with special symbols above the letters.

Not until 800 AD did another notation method was invented. To help monks sing plainchant, a system called neumes was created. Symbols above the words how when the pitch is rising or falling, but not the degree of pitch. This system was not standardized, which limited its usefulness.

About 1000 AD Benedictine monk Guido d’Arezzo drew a red line and labeled the first note as either F or C (which became the clef) with neumes above or below the line to indicate fixed pitch. Over time, this monk added lines and different colors, and the neumes symbols became square-shaped symbols.

The next couple of centuries featured 5-line staves and the beginning of key signatures, starting with one flat (but not sharp key signatures yet).

By the 14^th century, notes represented both pitch and rhythm, and clef symbols indicated 4/4 and 2/2 time. Europeans also created names for note duration: from minima to maxima.

The concept of measures and bar lines didn’t arrive until the 17^th century, which greatly facilitated composition writing. Note were oval-shaped by then, and both quarter and eighth notes were symbolized. Fraction style time signatures and sharp key signatures were also introduced. However, as was the case 800 years earlier, practices were not standardized.

As music became more expressive and dynamic by the 18^th century, notations started include symbols such as staccatos, slurs and letters – the letters p and f now indicating the relative loudness of the music. Additionally, as music began to be printed more frequently, standardization also emerged.

Composers continue to explore different ways to notate music, and their practices can be shared and adapted more easily than ever before.

Out of This World Music

 

Some music is out of this world! Or maybe it sounds spacy. Many composers have written about outer space. Here is a sampling, all of which have been composed or arranged for piano.

Gustav Holst’s The Planets is the most obvious example. While it was composed as an orchestral suite with seven movements (one for each planet), piano arrangements for one and two pianos have be written.

Three centuries early, in 1648, Heinrich Schutz wrote a motet based on the Psalm 19, which begins “The heavens declare the glory of God.”

Over a century later, Joseph Haydn used the same Psalms in his 1798 oratorio The Creation. This piece too has been arranged for the piano.

On to the next century. In 1868 Josef Strauss (Johann’s younger brother) wrote the waltz  Music of the Spheres.

Back to the 20^th century. One of Hector Villa-Lobo’s most popular piano compositions is a set of three piano miniatures called “The Three Marys,” which refers to the three stars in the constellation Orion’s belt.

More recently, Bela Bartok (one of Tomoko's favorite composers) created a series of 153 piano pieces called Microkosmos. This six-volume set starts with simple etudes and progresses to advanced technical works. This “little world” of music is its own cosmology.

Music to Mothers’ Ears

 

Tomoko celebrated Mothers’ Day celebrated recently, and music composers have celebrated mothers throughout the year for centuries. Here is a sampling of pieces that are These pieces are mother-approved.

Robert Schumann’s cycle of eight songs, “Frauen-Liebe und Leben” (“A Woman’s Life and Love”), follows a woman’s life of falling in love, marrying, and, becoming a mother. It has a very happy tone, but Schumann’s wife did not like the distraction of motherhood from her own musical career.

Richard Strauss’s piece “Muttertändelei” (“Mother-chatter”) recounts a mother’s praise of her child. It was written two years after Strauss’s wife gave birth to their son Franz.

Among Dvorak’s collection of gypsy songs is “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” One of his most famous melodies, this piece tells of a mother teaching her children the songs she herself learned from her mother.

Dvorak’s daughter was composer Josef Suk’s mother – and the inspiration for Suk’s piece pieces “About Mother, which were written for his children.

Ravel was another composer who wrote for children. Ma Mere l’Oye (or Mother Goose) His piano duet suite is a piano duet composed for his friend’s children.

Speaking of Mother Goose, Christina Rossetti penned nursery rhymes that were put to music in 1918 by John Ireland to become Mother and Child.  

The 1910 piano piece “Empress of Night” was a husband and wife effort; Amy Beach composed the music and her husband wrote the text. The piece was dedicated to Amy’s mother.

May (Birth) Day for Piano Composers

 Several of Tomoko’s favorite composers were Romantics and were born in May. Here is a sampling of them.

Wagner was born on May 22, 1813, in Leipzig and died in 1883 in Venice. He was particularly known for his Romantic operas.  His lieder that were often performed in the original piano version.

Brahms was born on May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, and died in 1987in Vienna.  His Romantic approach was exhibited in his professional piano composing, performing and conducting. When he toured, he met with several famous peers: Liszt, Wagner, Berlioz, and the Schumans. Most of his music was written for vocal performance, but he also wrote two piano concertos.

Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia and died in 1893 in St. Petersburg. A Romantic composer, he was the first internationally renown composers. His piano music was often targeted to the home market, which increased its popularity. Tchaikovsky started piano lessons at age five, and was quite proficient by age ten, but then he was forced to be trained to become a civil servant. As an adult, he received Western musical theory training, which he merged with his Russian musical upbringing.

Massenet was born on May 12, 1842, in Montaud, France and died on 1912 in Paris. Similarly to Wagner, Massenet is most known for his 30+ Romanic operas, altjough he also wrote piano pieces. To earn a living Massenet started as a private piano teacher and a piano accompanist. His first published composition was a substantial piano work in nine sections.

Fauré was born on May 12, 1845, in Pamiers, France, and died in 1924 in Paris. Fauré’s compositions bridged Romanticism and Modernism.  Although not born into a musical family, he showed promise before the age of ten, and he was trained to be a church organist. However, he preferred the piano to the organ. It was only in middle age that he had enough time to compose, escaping from Paris to focus in the countryside.

Classical Jewish Piano Composers

 

Now is the time for Passover, remembering when God redeemed the Jewish people who were enslaved by the Egyptians. For hundreds of years, Jewish people have been known for their rich culture and their creative efforts, including in composing for the piano. Here is a sampling of classical European piano composers.

One of the earlier known Jewish composers is Giacomo Meyerbeer (né Jakob Liebmann Mayer Beer), who was born in 1971 near Berlin and died in 1864. Although known mainly for his grand opera style, he also wrote pieces for the piano, mainly early in his career.

Probably the most famous of the group is Felix Mendelssohn, who was born in 1809 in Hamburg and died at the age of 38. Both a composer and performer, Mendelssohn is known, in terms of his early Romantic piano composition, for his collection Songs Without Words.

Parisian composer Charles-Valentin Alken was born in 1813 and died in 1888. He was friends with Chopin and Liszt, and like them, he was as virtuoso pianist as well as a keyboard composer. He is known as the first composer to incorporate Jewish melodies in art music.

British composer Frederick Hymen Cowen was born in 1852 in Jamaica, moved to England at age four, and died in 1935. His father was Her Majesty’s Opera treasurer. Cowen wrote his first piano piece at age six, and gave his first public piano recital at age thirteen. He won a Mendelssohn scholarship to study at the Leipzig Conservatorium. He wrote over 300 songs as well as piano works for piano solos, chamber music, choral music, cantatas and oratorios.

Another renown composer is Gustav Mahler, an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, born in 1860 and died in 1911. Tol get is job as the director of the Vienna Court Opera, he had to convert to Catholicism; yet he still experienced significant anti-Semitism. Most of his works were written for large orchestras, but he did compose for the piano early in his career.

Arnold Schoenberg is also associated with Vienna, where he was born in 1874. One of the early modernists, he is known for his transformation of harmony and twelve-tone technique. Some of his best piano works were written during his final period and showcase both twelve-tone and tonal approaches.

Ernest Bloch, born in 1880 in Geneva and died in 1959 in Portland (Oregon), is celebrated as one of Switzerland’s greatest composers. Several of his compositions draw upon his Jewish heritage. He was also a noted music professor.

Another 19^th century German composer is Otto Klemperer, born in 1885 and died in 1973. At age five he started piano lessons with his mother. He was a student of Mahler, and started conducting for the opera when he was 22 years old. As a composer, Klemperer wrote almost a hundred songs for the piano and for orchestras.

Ukrainian composer Leo Ornstein was born in 1985 and died in 2002. His father was a Jewish cantor. Leo was a protégé piano performer, but stopped performing at age 40 to focus on his experimental composing, mainly for the piano.

Excellent Jewish piano composers continue to exist in modern society, many of whom are Americans, such as George and Ira Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Irvin Berlin, Jerry Goldstein, and Philip Glass.

These examples reveal that the world has greatly benefitted from Jewish piano composers.