Ben's Piano Service - Palmer, Alaska

02/03/2025

Basic Rules of Piano Care

Keep your piano in tune. It was specifically designed to be tuned to the international pitch standard of A-440 cycles per second. Your piano will sound its best and give you and your family the most pleasure when it is tuned regularly and kept in proper playing condition.

02/02/2025

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/01/24/piano-tuner-chicago-airport-jackson/

“It was in very rough shape – dust was everywhere, and there was a gluey substance under the keys that prevented them from working,” said passenger Josiah Jackson.

24/01/2025

Basic Rules of Piano Care

Keep your piano in tune. It was specifically designed to be tuned to the international pitch standard of A-440 cycles per second. Your piano will sound its best and give you and your family the most pleasure when it is tuned regularly and kept in proper playing condition.

Send a message to learn more

02/12/2024

With the holidays coming up is your piano in tune for your events and gatherings? Give us a call at: 907-745-8863 to schedule Ben

Send a message to learn more

23/10/2024

It’s the time of year when the weather changes from wet to mostly dry. Pianos stay more stable and in tune once this happens. So, now is a good time to schedule your fall appointment.
Looking forward to hearing from you! Ben
Give us a call at: 907-745-8863

Send a message to learn more

18/10/2024

The Tuscan Royal Family, Medici, funded the Invention of Piano
Prince Ferdinando de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (then an independent state), was passing through Venice when he met Bartolomeo Cristofori. The duke was a collector of art and patron of musical instruments.

Historians claim that the duke had an enormous collection of musical instruments. He hired the innovator Cristofori to take care of his instruments. Under Medici’s orders, Cristofori invented the piano in 1700 and presented it to the court.

14/09/2024

Originating during the Roman empire, the organ came a long way. Earlier it was played during the games and races; then, it became a religious instrument. Even though it was a secular instrument during the Byzantine period, it became a church instrument eventually.

If you dive into the history of piano, you’ll realize the piano’s immediate ancestors–such as the harpsichord and clavichord–originated from the organ.

In other words, it was the organ-makers who experimented and managed to invent new musical instruments from it. In fact, Bartolomeo Christofori, the piano inventor, was also an organ maker.

12/08/2024

There are 13 Different Types of Pianos

At present, there are 13 different types of piano that are manufactured in the market. Let me tell you how.

There are 7 types of grand pianos. They are-

Petite grand
Baby grand
Medium grand
Professional grand
Parlor grand
Semi-concert grand
Concert grand
Next, we have 3 types of upright pianos.

Spinet upright
Console upright
Studio upright
After that, last but not least, we have electronic/digital piano. And, there are 3 types of digital pianos manufactured in the market. They are:

Standard digital
Upright digital
Stage digital
Please note that these divisions are created on a broader scale.

Send a message to learn more

01/08/2024

The Piano Inventor, Cristofori, also Invented Spinettone
Cristofori was an instrument innovator. While serving the house of Medici, he also developed the spinet into a Spinettone.

The spinettone, a harpsichord-like instrument, comprised multiple choirs of strings. It has a disposition of 1 × 8′, 1 × 4′, and worked using the old mechanism for changing stops that Cristofori had earlier used for his oval spinet.

18/07/2024

Most Great Piano Makers are German

Yes, it’s a weird fact. If you name the best piano makers/brands in the market, 90% of them are Germans. Even if they’re not operating in Germany currently, you will trace their roots back to the country. For example, Steinway & Sons. Earlier, they were Steinweg & Sons.

However, this is a more contemporary fact. In the 1700s and 1800s, the best pianos were either made in Italy or Vienna.

Send a message to learn more

07/07/2024

Piano Tuning Changes with the Weather

Yep, the music a piano creates greatly depends on the temperature and humidity of its surroundings. Moreover, if there’s a sudden change in the physical surroundings, the tuning of the piano changes dramatically.

Send a message to learn more

26/06/2024

Beethoven Played Fortepianos

When the piano was invented, the word “piano” didn’t mean the musical instrument we refer to. In fact, there was no word called the piano. This musical instrument was called the “fortepiano.”

When Beethoven was active, he played fortepiano. In the 18th century, music lovers used fortepiano and pianoforte interchangeably.

12/06/2024

The Word “Piano” meant Soft Volume/Music

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the word piano didn’t mean a musical instrument. Instead, it meant soft music or soft volume.

Send a message to learn more

03/06/2024

The first electronic piano was manufactured in the late 1920s by Oskar Vierling. It was a grand piano.

Later in the 1930s, it was improvised by Walter Nernst and marketed as a Neo-Bechstein in the 1930s.

Send a message to learn more

28/05/2024

Elisha Gray created the first electronic keyboard in 1874.

He named it “The Musical Telegraph.” It featured a two-octave keyboard and transmitted the music through telegraph wires.

Send a message to learn more

17/04/2024

What is unique about pianos?
Pianos are considered excellent first instruments. Piano players, including kids, can learn to play piano easily. It provides easy gratification.

On top of that, the piano is the best instrument to play solo. Besides being capable of accompanying itself, it is one of the few instruments in which you can play two music pieces/parts at the same time.