I Stacked Pennies On My Piano To Teach You About Finger Technique

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[@DefektiveEnvy]

This is an incredible demonstration. Thank you

[@jumperstartful]

i still can't read music so don't care how many pennies it takes to ????????????

[@thecrypticgamer1100]

Thank god other people know about this. My piano teacher is the only person (to my knowledge) in my area that teaches proper technique and this is one of the things he taught me. Thank you for spreading the knowledge

[@Hello-cy9er]

the power of static and kinetic friction

[@Hello-cy9er]

and the movement of the hammer and the way the action works

[@WiggyWamWam]

@@Hello-cy9eryeah, this is the real part. it isn’t friction at all 😅

[@arc8588]

Bro is blabbering

[@blazecraze3652]

​@@arc8588 Bro doesnt know about mu(s) and mu(k)

[@and3154]

Wait isn’t it mg not just m

[@mikechad27]

Holy crap!!! Straight to the point! You're one of the only very few ones that explains so simply.

[@gokulhemanthkumar4556]

Makes so much sense! Thank you

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

Every action has an opposite reaction. I love how I can use the weight of the keys to help me express what I play.

[@Joemakatozi1776]

And then there is the letoff near the bottom of the key. Very useful for controlling repeated notes.

[@pundoorasbox7485]

GREAT TIP!! 🙏🏻 ❤

[@_sonicfive]

I tried with dollar bills. My piano is now worth a $100

[@shyamkrissh]

Amazing demonstration and lesson! 😍

[@jumperstartful]

what about your fourth finger?

[@mrquick6775]

Great point, you got a new sub!

[@fr4nz51]

Thank you

[@winterbeat13]

As someone who's trying to learn how to play piano, this was very informative to hear. Thank you.

[@yoyogie69]

That was intuitive

[@VictorIgboatuegwu]

Thanks so much

[@jeremytorres1715]

Great way of explaining this.

[@calebprovencher7727]

Thank you. This has never been brought up in my Masterclass or lesson I've been a part of.

[@raffaelesantabarbara1449]

I did not know this, thank you!

[@user-xi7fe6vi8z]

Друг, твои видео о пианино одни из самых полезных на ютубе. Не останавливайся

[@elisabethscott20]

I love your videos! Thank you 🙏

[@TorisTimeline]

Oh, woow! Thank you for explaining that

[@asher3491]

This is super helpful! I only have access to a keyboard to practice so it's not something I'd have in mind. That said, my keyboard does have actuation points and it does need more force to push the key to that point than to keep it there. Cheap tech for the win I guess lol.

[@liesje.sadonius]

Very helpful!

[@crissvolo6047]

Incredible info!

[@roxitube2]

❤ great experiment and advise 😅 I learnt something.... Many thx 😊

[@lucidviolin1298]

Never knew that and what a great demonstration 🎉😊

[@caterinaml]

Thank you! 💕🎹💕

[@Atomic_pavarotti]

Genius

[@zeyadhejazi4358]

thank you 😇 that was actually very clever and informative 😎 although i knew that I've never figured out how fix it 😌

[@fasola183]

Thank you for this! I think my piano playing is being redefined now

[@michaelrowan3851]

Top tip

[@joshua_daniels]

That is crazy!!!!

[@xthatghomiex2939]

Sane idea with trumpet, guitar etc. a lot of issues can be resolved by not fighting the instrument or trying too hard

[@coltonshanley1921]

Same thing on guitar I’ve learned. Softer touch equals faster and less tension in the tone etc

[@ajcatman]

Pressure release. A tech I learnt in my younger years to do exactly what you are talking about 👍🏼

[@PIANO_LAB]

That's great! 👍

[@voskresenie-]

It's not just about the difference in force to make the key fall vs not - that difference in force is negligible. It's the difference in force between playing the key at volume vs to hold it. So it might only take 75g of force to make the key fall and 60g to hold it down, but the resulting note will be very quiet, possibly even inaudible, and exerting 15g more force than necessary to hold it won't affect your fluidity significantly. But to play the note loudly might require 400g of force, but still only 60g to hold it down, and that extra 340g /will/ impede freedom.

[@ebbenielsen7]

Great demonstration. It gives itself when it is tones slowly one after the other. But what if it goes just a little faster; can you let go of the key a little or what? And how do you use it in practice at all?

[@russcarlmoret]

Interesting

[@bogeyholetroll]

What are these disks of metal?

[@NN-rn1oz]

Your videos on technique are so insightful, some of the best I've seen. I hope one day you will post a video of your playing. You must be quite a virtuoso!

[@jakefeingold1126]

The point of teaching is not to show off

[@NN-rn1oz]

@@jakefeingold1126 Shut up. Who said anything about showing off. He can share his music. And you can shut your yap.

[@solary4448]

How could I fix and practice this?

[@red_rassmueller1716]

Just start with chords and try to Limit the amount of pressure

[@kuznetskiibassein3840]

Спасибо!

[@PIANO_LAB]

Thank you SO much!

[@rupe82]

I think a lot of digital pianos simulate this, usually the more expensive ones. It's called let-off, you feel a "notch" when pressing the key down which basically tells you to stop exerting pressure.

[@KevinB-pd3me]

Woulda been nice if you had compared using the same unit of measurement. 75 grams to hold down, 6 pennies removed to start rising. If you had counted pennies or grams in both cases we could have compared the forces.

[@sonja_rademacher]

Looks like 33 pennies in total.

[@Hammondbrass]

You might have a piano tech come check out your piano. Most standard down weight (like Steinway) is 50g and up weight is 20g. 75g is really high! Could be excessive friction in the keys or another touchweight related issue. Check out David Stanwood and his Precision Touch Design.

[@PIANO_LAB]

The action on my piano was fine-tuned by my technician who is professionally trained. It is very well regulated. I believe your information on touch weight is based on older stats or certain brands that tend to have lighter actions. Yamahas are known for having much heavier actions. And more recently Steinways tend to have heavier actions too. I also have students who have purchased high-end Kawai digital pianos that have virtually identical touch weight.

[@Hammondbrass]

@@PIANO_LAB Ultimately as long as you’re happy with the piano, that’s what counts! I am also a professional piano technician and have given masterclasses on friction and touchweight. The stats I gave of average 50g downweight (DW) and 20g upweight (UW) are the current specs from Steinway, Yamaha, Kawai where I’ve also received some training and it’s in their regulation manuals. For example, in the current Steinway manual for a model D, the DW is: Bass 51g, tenor 50-49g, mid 48g, treble 47g, high 46g and the UW is listed at 20g+. In his book “Pianos Inside Out” Mario Igrec, RPT writes on p. 276, “The ideal downweight ranges from about 50g in the bass to 46-47g in the treble, with 48g being a good target for the middle section. A downweight over 55g will be perceived as heavy, especially when combined with high front weight (inertia). A downweight of 45g or less will feel light…” He goes on to explain that light isn’t always better or doesn’t mean it will repeat faster. I highly recommend that book. How and where on the key you are measuring the downweight also makes a difference and could be a factor in your penny method. Generally the technique with measuring requires depressing the sustain pedal, putting the weights 13mm in from the front edge, push the key down 4mm, and the least amount of weight that it takes to drop is the downweight. I recommend Chris Brown’s weight sets at Grandwork piano (check out his KZbin channel for some great videos on regulation and changing touchweight - I use his regulation station in my shop and have spent many hours on the phone with him learning, lol) and the Bolduc key weight tool. Perhaps you might be working too hard and adjusting your DW/UW could contribute to the techniques your channel is trying to address!

[@PIANO_LAB]

Huh interesting. It must be an issue with how I'm measuring the weight with the pennies. I didn't lift the damper pedal, maybe that affected it somewhat. It could also be that my scale has a low accuracy. In any case, that's very interesting. The action on my piano has been fine-tuned using a system called CALD - Custom Action Leverage Design. And the control I get from the keyboard has only been matched by high-end European pianos that I've played. The responsiveness and smoothness of the action is also very notable to me. I think the CALD process is similar to the Precision Touch Design that you mentioned. I looked it up and it seems like it's a similar process. I'm not a technician myself so I'm not super familiar with these things.

[@Hammondbrass]

@@PIANO_LAB yeah that’s what I was thinking. And, of course, the point of the video was about technique and demonstrating weight. That wasn’t lost in me! The pennies and weighing in grams caught my eye/ears. I’ve learned that pianists typically know the least about their instrument so you’re doing great work! 😄 Keep it up!

[@acetaminophetus]

I’m going to stack pennies on organ manuals to perform The Entrance by Robert Ashley

[@drew6524]

As my teacher said: “Staccato & Hold! Staccato & Hold!”

[@fabianvanderelst9643]

Same goes for guitar basically. You really don't have to press hard to get those strings down

[@vrowniediamond6202]

Computer keyboard enthusiasts: ah yes, a tactile switch 😂

[@cactusowo1835]

Something similar happens when you hold down the strings on the guitar fretboard with unecesary strength

[@DavidMiller-bp7et]

This seems like a finer point but piano playing is a coordinated effort of smaller, seemingly finer, elements. A good issue demonstration; too much weight at the key bed obviously retards smoothness as the keys go down constantly, the finer points add up to the totality of playing, more or less efficient. You expanded, I think, on your previous penny demo, to make it more relevant. Nice work. Gravity and arm weight, vital to playing the best. Adding some new subs and followers. What you offer is attractive.

[@Alfie_sel]

What if I got semi weight keys

[@OmnivorousOtter101]

Does this apply to an electric keyborad as well?

[@kade7xx]

I don't think so. Unless you have one that's more sensitive to pressure. Mine is supposed to have a pedal for dynamics, but it doesn't. I can only play one volume by pressing the keys, but your keyboard may be different.

[@1nfius948]

Reminds me of squeezing the hell out of a guitar neck. Don't overdo it, press lightly and keep adding more pressure till u hear a sound

[@JoshuaRennig]

it's good practice to relax while playing music , but a lot of music careers in the 21st century have given the new generation of musicians a hard time, very fast paced the demand was so fresh most of the new people In the music community, have been dragged into something, which causes them to be stressed out and putting their life on the line when they play, but good music playing comes when the producer is calm, and the old heads are starting to get tired

[@stuntdouble777]

I learnt something

[@nicholaswerner8170]

I'm very guilty of wasting energy holding keys down - but I'm a church organist by trade so I guess it's natural technique for me lol. (Connecting notes and playing any sort of legato on pipe organ requires holding onto keys longer than if you had a sustain pedal...!)

[@jackroberts1733]

...and what is the weight required to hold down an organ key? 15 grams? 20 grams? Organs basically feel like NON-WEIGHTED little toy keyboards you buy at Wal-Mart. Nothing even remotely in the same realm as a grand piano action. 😮

[@andrewmcdonald8479]

@@jackroberts1733This is not totally true. Tracker action organs are very weighted-The organ I play on has no coupler assist either so it becomes almost impossible to play with speed other than chunky chord passages (think like 3-4 times heavier than a heavy Steinway action)

[@jackroberts1733]

@@andrewmcdonald8479 An organ that has an action "THREE TO FOUR TIMES" heavier than a grand piano with one of the HEAVIEST ACTIONS I have ever played? I'm sorry, but I totally don't believe you. That sounds absolutely absurd. And even if there is this one anomaly out there that still doesn't change the fact that organs have much lighter actions and grand pianos have heavy actions...generally speaking.

[@andrewmcdonald8479]

@@jackroberts1733 So that you don’t sound ignorant, please read the Wikipedia article on tracker action. In disadvantages, you can read about coupler weight and barker lever. The organ only gets that heavy when you couple the manuals (again if you don’t know what this means, please do your research before you come across as unknowing). Tracker organs is what organ action should be-so when you say “most organs are not” you are only talking about a subset of organs that are not in line with historical organ playing. Until the 1800s, this would’ve been the only key action organists had known.

[@jackroberts1733]

@@andrewmcdonald8479 Whoopdie doo...so some tiny subset of ancient organs no longer in use had heavy action. Thanks for the history lesson. Gee whiz. I have never heard of one or played one so sure I am ignorant on that topic (ancient organs in museums nobody is allowed to play) But your impractical diamond in the rough one in a million example of organs no longer in use does not really disprove my point: Organs generally have light weight action compared to a grand piano. So organs way back when were weird...there are weird examples of old pianos too. Nice job having to reach back into complete obscurity just to prove me .001% wrong. Keep up the good work! Organs have light action. That is STILL a true statement.

[@summereellsmusic]

Before ya'll rip on me, I am a piano technician by profession. The gram weight required to put a key down should be 40-50 at the most. 75 is just wild...I can't believe that's right!

[@rupe82]

I thought the average was 50-60 grams. The weight at middle C on a Yamaha P515 digital piano is usually 90-100 grams which is insane.

[@summereellsmusic]

@@rupe82 A lot of factory standards are higher, but half of the complaints I hear about pianos are "it's a bit tedious to play." Sure, perhaps 40 is a little low in some cases, but there's no reason to make it more than 50 in my opinion. Some pianists/techs may vary in their opinion on that matter. Regardless of the weight, this is a pretty good way to explain this concept to students!

[@Gavinbrady-Pianist]

When you do this experiment you need to depress the sustain pedal to take the dampers out of the equation.

[@user-fu1dz5ri3k]

my teacher never talks about finger technique and she’s the best the music store had to offer god my place has no musical talent

[@MetaView7]

Pearl River (y) (y)

[@LisztAddict]

Ikr

[@RajaSir21]

How do we practice this technique

[@jackroberts1733]

Play a chord and hold it. Practice relaxing after you have played the chord but while you are still holding the notes down. That is the entire point of the video. You do not need to keep pushing down...you only need that force to play the note not to hold it. This does not apply so much to fast passages but more to slow, long notes or chords.

[@1nfius948]

Reminds me of squeezing the hell out of your guitar neck

[@TakiAngh]

The same applies with the Guitar 🗿

[@dkant4511]

Tobias Matthay and Isidor Philipp for a contemporary audience

[@doublevision5465]

What if your fingers are just stronger? The keys will feel lighter and you won't try as hard to hold the keys down.

[@LukeWalstead]

Love the Xero shoes!

[@kofiLjunggren]

What’s the piece you had in front of you?🙃

[@PIANO_LAB]

Prokofiev Sonata no.3 in a minor 😎

[@electronicsandmusic2077]

Is that a PEARL RIVER?

[@PIANO_LAB]

Yes

[@adhisip]

Just like mechanical keyboard

[@abettername2268]

missed opportunity to say correct fingering

[@shop970]

And you're wondering how many people actually own a piano? So important. Essential. " Nonsense at work.

[@kurty6v9]

people who have keyboard :

[@TheBoondoggler]

If only Beethoven had a digital scale he could've been somebody

[@davidgleba3832]

He coulda been a contender!

[@nickybritain3661]

But all pianos are a little different maybe? How many pennies on a Bluthner, or a Steinway? How about a Yamaha? What about the cheaper varieties? Are they all within a penny or two of each other? I think not, but I’m no expert.

[@Manzplained]

Teaching on a Pearl River eh? 😂

[@mehmetunal9731]

Wasnt it clear for all people that plays piano?

[@twickersruss]

It’s called hysteresis.

[@thechillmicrowave714]

lol he should have a disclaimer…first have a grand piano or a keyboard with weighted keys 😐

[@red_rassmueller1716]

Why does nobody know this😂😂😂

[@luc5901]

This was explainable in literally less than 15 seconds.

[@paulcarey3009]

Too bad that's a Pearl River. Ugh.

[@johndoremi3872]

Thats why you have to have TALENT, so dont waste the time in nonsence like that

[@rahozzongo7850]

I think people are not struggling to play the piano because of that😀

[@KaidenMusic84]

You hold keys down? I thought thats what the pedal was for!!!

[@jackroberts1733]

The pedal is not a "catch-all" for holding all of your notes for you...i shudder to think how muddy and unclear your playing must be...and what do you do when when you have notes that need to hold but there are chord changes? You just drop the held notes...or just pedal through it all making a blurry mess? Yikes.

[@rupe82]

Tell me you overuse the pedal without telling me you overuse the pedal 😆

[@andreiiorga7700]

heard in one of Allan Watt's lectures you get 4 fortes on a piano by letting uour hand drop on it by its own weight🤭

[@jackroberts1733]

Interesting. I was taught that FFF was "as loud as you can possibly play." But you are saying that with absolutely ZERO effort I can play LOUDER than I can possibly play??? LMAO 😅😂

[@andreiiorga7700]

@@jackroberts1733 you are absolutely right! However subtle philosophical notes are either understood and enjoyed, or corrected🤪

[@Phildiculous]

fff might be as loud as you can play, or ff could... or ffffff, it depends on the context of the music and composers intent. There's no universal rule that fff always means, "as loud as you can play".

[@jackroberts1733]

@@Phildiculous And yet according to the Mirriam-Webster dictionary it says (and I quote) "AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE." You got owned by the dictionary. Composers may make up stupid stuff and give a piece 14 f's but it doesn't matter after 3. Because 3 f's is literally defined as "as loud as possible." It is like turning your stereo that only goes up to 10 and "claiming" you turned it up to 11. We all know you didn't. It only goes up to 10. Oh. I see. You wrote an 11 in Sharpie. Its still really only 10 though...you know that, right?

[@Phildiculous]

@@jackroberts1733 Hey, no one is consulting an English dictionary when the conductor tells the orchestra to not play as loudly on a part marked fff. Also, if you google "fff music notation" or anything similar, you know what comes up again and again? Variations of people saying "very, very loud". Fact is I only see your, "as loud as possible" when the context is explaining notation to people who aren't musicians. You got owned by the OVERWHELMING majority of musicians who understand notation. lol

[@outdoorcoaching]

Sain nobody ever. Jeez, come on, this doesn't matter whatsoever 😂🤣

[@jackroberts1733]

If ignorance is bliss, then YOU must be ECSTATIC. 😂

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

I think everyone who has played piano for a bit gets a feel for how hard it is to hold down keys and chords without putting down and measuring pennies. - Just play the damn thing and dont overthink every little thing.

[@jackroberts1733]

So you put ZERO thought into your technique and how your instrument functions? I bet you are awesome at the piano (I said oozing sarcasm)😅

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

@@jackroberts1733 Thats not what I said, I said everyone naturally develops a feel for the force difference between pressing and holding a key and its nothing that you need to raise awareness about with measuring it. And I do think people overthink playing the instruments and technique when really people should spend more time just llistening to their music and immersing themselfs into it. Thats how you get alot of stiff performances with overly stressed and robotic pianists merely immitating emotion by following their prepared script for the piece instead of expressing what they actually feel in that moment. If you actually played an instrument let alone piano you wouldnt have written your comment.

[@jackroberts1733]

@@jeffreylebowski4927 Oh look! Yet ANOTHER topic you are ignorant of! (The topic of ME and what i know) I have been playing 30 years and teaching for more than 10. I feel that most pianists put ZERO thought into how the Piano functions so I argue the exact opposite of your point and see great value in knowing how a piano works. I agree that robotic performances are bad and critical listening is very important and people should just practice more in general though. But being intentionally ignorant about how a piano works (as a pianist) is a stupid and very common mistake. One I see you have fallen prey to as well...and advice I hope others ignore. It all boils down to the concept of Economy of Motion, which CLEARLY you know nothing about with the sad argument you are making. You are basically saying to ignore this video and *just use 100% extra effort and strain and tension all the time EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T NEED TO.* That is what you are saying because you are too dense to connect the dots on the point being made in this video. Keep talking and I will keep explaining why no-one should listen to you.

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

@@jackroberts1733 Haha just because you type something in bold and all CAPS and agrily doesnt make it true. Again I never said people should use "100% extra effort and strain and tension" etc. You are just arguing against a strawman you are putting up and i just keep telling you that that isnt what I said. Ill repeat it one last time - people who play piano naturally will learn that they dont need to press down on keys super hard to keep them sustained. How do I know this? Because i play piano since 23 years and no teacher was ever talking about this bullshit and i never needed them to. Once a person has pressed and released keys 1000 times they will know that the resistance drops - you can even press down on the key super slowly and the hammer will release without hitting the string and its load on the key goes away. Everybody who plays piano knows this.

[@jeffreylebowski4927]

@@jackroberts1733 Another small correction the video never talks about how the piano functions which would indeed be an interesting video, but there is loads of other videos that do that out there - all the video says is you need less force to hold a key than to press one.

[@jrodriguezpiano]

goo goo gaga?

[@Akriskal]

Pearl River 🫤🥲🤢🤮.