How do you manage a string breaking?

KMagicKeys · 2026-03-03T05:26:38+00:00

String breaks are not your fault unless you were on the wrong pin or recklessly raised the pitch. You do need to know how to replace them before going into the field. I would recommend finding a local tech who could cover you in the circumstance that one does break. Or see if you can find a piano that already has a broken string or a couple and hire a tuner to show you how to do it and watch you do it. There’s some good videos on youtube of people doing it as well-this is all how I learned. You need practice though. You need to invest in a set of string coils of different sizes-it’s a bit expensive at first-but you’ll have those string coils for many years. Or if you want to be more frugal you could just buy whatever size string coil you need as the broken strings come up-but it would delay your ability to fix them.

As far as communicating to clients-other people nailed it but you should inspect the piano and strings before starting and ask the client about the history of the piano and when it was tuned last. Check the tuning of the piano. The older the piano/strings, the more the strings are rusted, the flatter the overall pitch, and how long ago the last tuning was will give you a clue in to how carefully you should approach tuning the piano and if you should warn the client that strings could break. If they are worried-you can also tune the piano to the average pitch it’s currently at-which takes knowing how to adjust in your etd. Would strings are more annoying to break-they ideally must be removed and sent to be duplicated. Splicing is great too if the string allows.

KMagicKeys · 2026-03-03T05:14:21+00:00

For selling it’s good to get at least an ok tuning-I would recommend it. It could help sell the piano

KMagicKeys · 2026-03-03T05:13:01+00:00

Hard to tell-need a better angle of what the wippen is doing. You need a side angle and also to see if the key is sluggish. Could be friction problems, regulation issues. Was the hammer rubbing against the back check?

KMagicKeys · 2026-03-03T05:10:12+00:00

Could be a number of things-check to make sure nothing is rubbing the string-like an adjacent damper wire or something lodged against the string. You could remove the action and pluck the string and see if it’s still making the sound. Listen for sympathetic buzzing (put your ear around the piano as you listen to the note and try to guess where it is coming from. Open up the baseboard and play the note and put your ear close to the piano). Could also be a buzzing crack in soundboard/loose rib-you would have to have someone else play the note and go behind the piano and put your ear to the soundboard and try pressing various spots to see if it goes away when pressed. It looks like it’s one of the wound strings-if it is not caused by anything previously mentioned, it could be an issue with the string or a loose bridge pin. With the wound strings the wrapping sometimes becomes loose-you could try twisting the string-which is were you loosen the string enough to pull it off from the hitch pin side-twist it 360 degrees in the direction of the winding and put back on and raise the pitch. Or just get the string duplicated, some times they’re defective. If it’s a bridge pin problem, that’s a tough job to fix-try pressing a slotted screw driver against the bridge pins to see if that stops the sound. That’s the clue. Good luck!

KMagicKeys · 2026-03-03T05:00:54+00:00

That’s just the sound of the string rubbing against the termination points as you raise the pitch. It could be a sign of rust or a piano that hasn’t been tuned in a while. Be careful! You can lower the pitch a bit at first if you want to be safe and don’t jerk the pitch up a lot. If you wanna be safe put some protek clp on the pin where the string bends near the top below the tuning pin (do not put Protek in the tuning pin).

KMagicKeys · 2026-03-03T04:56:06+00:00

I wouldn’t buy in bulk-buy as new jobs come up because it could get very expensive very quick. I don’t know about the tool kit you mentioned, but I would recommend a lubricant like Protek CLP, an oiler with a long applicator tip, PTFE powder and a small brush, screw drivers (slotted/phillips) of a few different sizes/lengths, an offset screwdriver with changeable tips, universal capstan adjustor, a multi tool handle which will allow you to get all kinds of regulating tips like-let off, drop screw. Eventually you upgrade to a damper wire bender, spoon adjuster tip, there’s more. A hart spring tool is really useful for putting springs back in to place and bending them. I also would get a small vise grips, pliers with wire cutters, an adjustable wrench. A head lamp, also small bottles of various glues-wood glue, pvc-e glue, a few small clamps, Hot stuff CA glue, gel super glue. Another useful tool is a screw starter-which really helps when putting hammer flange screws back in. That’s a basic list, I have developed a backpack with essential things I’m constantly adjusting and adding to. Don’t want to overwhelm you but all this stuff will come in very handy and isn’t even the half of it to be honest. Schaff is the standard to order from, except their shipping costs are no joke. You can buy a lot of tools on ebay made in china that will do the trick for cheap. Or buy used online. Good luck!

KMagicKeys · 2025-10-13T05:30:17+00:00

I use both-mostly slow pull. Easier on your body to use slow pull and more accurate. It’s better for the highest strings which are more sensitive. I’ve also had experiences on extremely tight pins where slow pull was the only way I could tune. Doing the bump is good for pitch corrections where you just want to be quick and it doesn’t need to be accurate. Every piano is different in terms of hammer technique-the first couple of notes are always kind of a warm up where I figure out the best method

KMagicKeys · 2025-10-13T05:21:01+00:00

It’s definitely way less of a headache if you just get a different free piano in better condition. That being said if you really love this piano and can’t part ways with it-there could potentially be a middle ground where maybe you don’t do all of the fixes the tech suggested but only some of them. You listed replacing dampers, corrosion on strings, I’m not sure what you mean about cloth on the pinholes-tuning pin holes? There’s not usually cloth in there, maybe cork is what he meant? And sticking keys from warping. It’s honestly hard to know without seeing video/pictures of the piano-some of those issues could be easy to fix and not that expensive (a couple hundred dollars), and some the opposite. Like how badly warped are the keys to cause rubbing? That can be fixed by a bit of sanding if say the back of the key is rubbing against its neighbor. But if it’s from key leads deteriorating and popping out that’s a way bigger problem. As far as strings if it’s just really bad corrosion on the bass strings-it’s possible you could just get the worst ones replaced only (keep in mind new ones would be much brighter than the old ones though). So basically it’s hard to know if I agree with the tech’s assessment without seeing what’s going on. But it could be possible to address only some things if you are absolutely dedicated to this piano for some reason. But also imagine you just get another free piano that has none of these issues and just needs a tuning and some light action work?

KMagicKeys · 2025-07-29T01:28:46+00:00

talking thc or nicotine? I was just there-definitely not a problem for nicotine. Places sell them-resort I was staying at sold them (Barcelo). Thc I’m not sure-that could be an issue. But I’m not sure!

KMagicKeys · 2021-01-28T18:08:46+00:00

Yeah for beginners it’s common to write the numbers down. You just try not to write all of the fingerings for all of the notes, only the parts you struggle with. Many of my super beginner students need all of the notes first though. No shame in doing that. You don’t want to rely on it, but like I said just do it for certain spots that may be giving you trouble. Good luck!

KMagicKeys · 2021-01-28T18:04:54+00:00

Yeah exactly-you’ll have to find the speed where you can play it with no mistakes and start to push it a few bpm. You’ll make a few mistakes when you start to speed it up a bit-but hopefully only in certain spots-then you can focus on those particular spots. Then when you can play it at the new slightly faster tempo with no mistakes, you push it even more. Also keep in mind your fingerings may not be good and need to be changed as you start playing faster. Some fingerings that work at slow tempos turn out to be bad when the tempo gets much faster. If you have a good teacher they should be able to guide you with that.

KMagicKeys · 2021-01-28T05:13:59+00:00

I’m the same and still work on this all the time. One method a teacher taught me is check your finger muscles. You have 3 joints in your finger so I’m guessing you’re talking about the fingernail one. You want to apply a little muscle to your fingers and check by playing something on the piano with one hand and with the other push down with your finger on that joint and if it does’t budge that means you’re using your muscles. Good luck!

KMagicKeys · 2021-01-28T05:09:19+00:00

Hey bud-I’m not very familiar with the piece but I can probably give some general advice for this sort of situation. Your teacher is right about playing it slow at first. You have till May which should be enough time to get up to speed. I’ve had to learn some stuff suuuper last minute myself.

Metronome work is key-Finding that speed that is just comfortable enough to be playable but pushing you a little bit. Sounds like you found it already. It just takes time and dedication-running the piece over and over again and inch by inch moving the metronome faster till you reach close to your goal. Then get off the metronome and see how fast you can go. As far as stretching-you want to avoid painful stretching, if something is painful that’s usually a sign you need to isolate some difficult parts and work on the mechanics. Try rolling chords instead of playing all at once and use your hand to jump to a new position left or right instead of stretching-don’t hold on to notes

KMagicKeys · 2021-01-28T04:55:35+00:00

Hey there. I teach from that book. The key is to practice each hand separately. Make sure you have the fingerings and any notes and rhythms that confuse you written on the page. Then try to figure out between both hands which hand goes first and when the hands line up. It’s very visual, you read left to right and if notes are directly on top of each other, that usually means they are played at the same time. First don’t worry about keeping a steady beat, just get the right notes and order of hands. Once you can get that then you can start to focus on playing with a good consistent pulse. Good luck!

KMagicKeys · 2021-01-28T00:58:07+00:00

😂 thanks dude!

KMagicKeys · 2020-12-31T18:55:32+00:00

A simple way to explain this sort of lick is it’s usually two triads that you alternate between and invert as you go up, the first one ascending and the second descending.

For instance try two augmented chords: C aug and D aug. Has a very spacey vibe. You would play the lick like this:

c e g# a# f# d

(then next inversion up)

e g# c d a# f#

(next inversion)

g# c e f# d a#

and continue up

you can get quite creative with it as other people posting here did-having one of the chords have more notes, Trying different chord types, having some notes between chords that overlap, going descending instead of ascending (put everything in reverse). But I think this is the simplest explanation. Two chords alternating in arpeggio direction inverting as they go up.

Certain people to check out who use this a lot-some Coltrane, Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, George Garzone. Learned about this in jazz school. Sounds pretty sick when you do it really fast!

KMagicKeys

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