Sorry to bombard you with topics. I wish I could delete the old dead ones once I get an answer. Thanks for being so readily helpful.

I have an upright piano at home, a Chickering, to be exact. Actually, technically it's a "console."

Anyway, it's not nearly as heavy, if you will, as a grand. The keys, like on most non-grands, are easier to play.

So, when I go to lessons, where I play on a Yamaha grand, which has very heavy action, I can't play my stuff very well because it's hard to press the keys down. I tried to play her about half of Chopin 10-12 but it came out awfully and makes me look like an idiot, especially after telling her that I'd been practicing about 5hrs a day.

Is there anyway I can simulate heavier keys on my home piano? On my home full-88 keyboard at home, a yamaha, it has weighted keys. Think I could alter their weight or summat?

And no, I don't really want to ask to play on her upright at lessons.

Thanks

Nick

You're probably not going all the way down on the keys. Most people I know who practice on uprights get used to not having to depress the keys completely. They skate over them easily because they are so light.

You need to relax into the keys and make sure they go all the way down. Don't hold them down once they're there of course (no keybedding!), just make sure you feel the bottom of the key on each note.

Ask your question over the Piano Tuner-Tech forum also. Those guy/gals know a lot of technical stuff and they are very inventive. See if they can conjure up something for you.

The nice thing about forums is that 'everyone' gets to benefit from the discussion.

Does anyone else find that yamahas have heavier actions than other grands? I haven't played enough different pianos to get much of a sample size, but this is what I have found

Perhaps occasionally, but not all of them.

Lento: Actually, I think Yamahas tend to have a lighter action than most. I've played several and never thought the action was heavy. I used to have a Sammick 5'8 and now a Petrof 9'2, both of which have heavier action than my Yamaha 6' (the Sammick was super heavy).

Age: The best recommendation I can give you is to upgrade to a decent grand. Aside from that, which I know many do not have the money or space to do so, practice as much as you can on grands. There is just no substitute, and at this level of playing, practicing exclusively on an upright may hold you back.

Morodeiene: How would you compare Yamahas to Steinways? The only other grand I've played is a Steinway and it was lighter than my Yamaha. I have noticed that yamaha uprights seem very light, perhaps there's just something funny about my yamaha grand (well, baby grand). I'm sure every instrument is slightly different anyway, and these are all just generalizations

Age of anxiety: You could try practicing everything excesively fortissimo when you are at home, which might somewhat simulate the extra effort needed to play the grand at your lessons. It might also just make you tense though, which wouldn't be good

What's a decent affordable grand? I guess a baby would be better, as long as it would be more grand-like.

Thanks

My teacher reccomended me Petrof as I will be returning to singapore somewher this year.

She said that even the uprights are good pianos.

Thanks but I don't know why I even bothered to ask. There's no way I can afford that.