Your
piano is your soul mate. Once you start playing it,
you two are hopelessly entwined, enjoying a world
of your own, mindless of what goes on outside your
world. It is therefore absolutely important that you
take care of your piano properly.
Taking
care of your piano does not only entail having it
tuned up every two to five years. It would also appreciate
a daily maintenance from the owner himself. What good
would it do to a piano if it would just be left at
one corner of the house, untouched for sometime? Absolutely
nothing, and it would just gather dust and rust.
One
of the best ways to maintain its good condition is
to play it often. Just like a human being, this piece
of entertainment equipment needs exercise so as not
to expire soon. Through regular playing, you are not
only practicing to become a better pianist, you can
also play and check if your piano is still in perfect
tune.
It feels
great to let your fingers glide over smooth and shiny
ivory keyboards. It can’t be helped though,
especially when you have little kids at home, to have
little sticky hands pounding on the keys from time
to time, unless you have strict off-limits rule on
your piano. So, to keep your keyboard clean, shiny
and non-sticky, try wiping a lemon or lemon-salt paste
over the keys and then rinse with clean, wet cloth
then polish with dry cloth.
Check
out some of the things you must do in cleaning and
taking care of your piano:
The
Keys:
It is recommended to clean the keys with a light soap
solution preferably that of Ivory brand
The
Cabinet:
Some pianos, especially those with high-gloss finish
should be handled with utmost care. Use a new soft
cloth to wipe the cabinet. Do not use old towel converted
into rags as the rough fabric can scratch the finishing.
And the small particles, even dust can leave permanent
graze over the glossy cover. To clean, wipe a damp
rag over a small portion and then immediately wipe
the area with dry cloth. The wet portion must not
be left wet for more than a minute. Repeat process
until the entire cabinet is cleaned.
To
polish the cabinet it is best to use piano polish.
Furniture paste wax will do as well. An old upright
piano with an old wood finish may be cleaned with
one of those new orange spray cleaner/polisher. Do
not use the usual aerosol cleaner on a piano as it
contains alcohol that will react with the finishing
or tarnish the varnish or lacquer paint on your piano
surface. You can buy specially designed piano polisher
and polishing cloth as well in most piano stores.
The
piano should be positioned by the wall of the home
and not along a concrete block or floor as they can
cause unstable temperature due to dampness. Constant
changing of temperature can cause your piano to go
out of tune. But the foremost cause of the change
in tune is the change in humidity.
Having
a piano at home is achieving a lot of goals. Other
than it being an attraction, most of the time, visitors
tend to assume that when a homeowner has a piano in
his home he is not only musically inclined but also
knows how to belong in the elite society. It is because
a piano is still seen as a classical and very important
musical instrument.
The writer, Ismael D. Tabije, runs
the website
http://www.pianos.e-mart4all.com that markets
a wide choice of high-quality digital pianos and
electronic keyboards at the lowest prices in the
online market. Brands sold include Casio, Yamaha,
Korg, Kurzweil and Roland. The website also features
interesting piano articles about piano humor, trivia,
myths and facts and even piano lessons and instructions.
Do you have
a related piano article you want to post here?
Email it to us
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