Anatomy of a Piano Action

[@ralphedelbach]

I am helping my 8 year old grandson learn about how different instruments make music. In school they have been studying energy and sound and I thought seeing how a piano makes music by striking strings with a little hammer would interest him. Although I started playing a trumpet at 12, I never learned anything about music theory and now, at 84, find it a fascinating subject. Thanks to you and others who take the time to make and post videos, sharing knowledge is much easier that it would otherwise be. Happy holidays!

[@MrWhiteKeys1]

What makes the piano action interesting and complex is the fact that in order to strike the string and make a sound, you have to swing the hammer in a motion that imitates what you would do with a marimba mallet, if you have ever played that. You have to "whip" the mallet and pull away quickly from the string in order to let it ring. If you don't, the mallet will stop the string from vibrating. So the mechanical problem of swinging the hammer towards the string, then getting out of the way in the last millimeter or so, while at the same time positioning the hammer in such a way that you can repeat the motion without starting all over, is a non-trivial one. In addition, there are over a dozen adjustments in the piano action, each of which need to be adjusted to within a thousandth of a millimeter! I have another video called Inside the Yamaha AvantGrande N2 Hybrid Piano, where my technician explains this, as well as every aspect of how a hybrid piano works. I think you and your grandson might find this fascinating, as my technician literally breaks my piano down to the bare cabinet, explaining how each piece works as he goes.

[@ralphedelbach]

I would find an intro to each piece of a simplified mechanism at the beginning of the video most helpful before showing how the parts of a more complicated system work together. Slo-mo would be better also IMO.

[@MrWhiteKeys1]

I think these are all great suggestions. Thank you! I hope I will be able to find the time to implement them.