Action

The moving parts of the piano, from the key sticks and key frame to the hammers. Action parts wear out with use, but generally can be replaced, even in pianos out of production.

  Console Piano

Consoles are usually 40" to 43" tall, and generally the choice for home use. Varied cabinet styles and finishes allow the buyer leeway in matching the room decor.

  Equal Temperament

Tuning scheme whereby the octave is divided into 12 equal parts, allowing transposition among keys.

  Grand and Baby Grand Piano

Pianos in which the strings run horizontally. They come in varying sizes from 4' 10" (apartment size) to 9' (Concert Grand size)

  Microgrand

A category of inexpensive, petite grand pianos usually less that 4'10" long. These are more to look at than to play. Some have recently been discontinued by domestic manufacturers.

  Regulating

Adjusting the Action to make everything work properly. If it is to continue to play and feel the same way it did when it was new, the pianos Action must be "timed" accurately - and not in just one key but in all eighty-eight. Your piano technician will let you know when this is necessary.

  Repetition

Ability of a piano or keyboard to play successive notes rapidly, without the key actually returning to rest between strokes.

  Sound Board

A large wooden diaphragm which is forced to vibrate by the strings, increasing their loudness.

  Spinet Piano

35" TO 40" tall, spinets are the shortest style of piano made today. To achieve the low height, compromises in design are necessary which impair their tone and touch. For these reasons, spinets have mostly fallen out of favor with the public, however they are still being made by a few manufacturers. Spinets feature the "drop action", not a favorite among technicians.

  Steinway

Steinway and Sons of New York and Hamburg, a widely used brand of concert pianos. It has always been considered a premier instrument.

  Touchweight

Force required to depress a piano key to the point of let-off, with the damper pedal depressed.

  Upright Piano

Uprights are 48" to 60" tall, and passed their heyday around 1925. They have always been popular because of their depth and richness of tone. They are still made today, and while somewhat expensive, most are excellent instruments.

  Vertical

A piano in which the strings and soundboard are vertical as opposed to grand pianos where the strings run horizontally.

  Voicing or Tone Regulating

The delicate art of altering and leveling up tonal response by adjusting the compression of the hammer head felts. This procedure will restore the proper power and quality of the tone to the piano.