If you’re new to playing the piano and are looking to purchase one, you might be confused about the differences between an upright and a grand, and therefore don’t know which piano would be the better suited for your lifestyle. And, aside from the pure aesthetics of the piano, there are other essential differences between a grand and an upright.

Grand Pianos

Most professional pianists play a grand piano because typically the sound quality is better. Although a grand piano is a large instrument, there’s a reason for its size that isn’t just about visual appeal. Because the frame extends horizontally, there’s room to place the strings in the same direction. The longer strings are the reason for the improved sound in a grand piano. Shorter, thicker strings (such as those in an upright or a baby grand piano) produce more inharmonicity in their sound.

When any instrument is played, the single notes created have a distinct pitch. But, these pitches can contain partial tones apart from the played note, which are known as inharmonicity. A grand piano has more elasticity in its strings (as there is more room in the piano’s frame for them), and thus has a lower degree of inharmonicity and therefore produces a purer sound.

Baby grand pianos have the same horizontal layout as a grand piano, but are smaller in scale, (they’re often shorter than they are wide). While the sound of a baby grand is not equal to a grand piano, if you have space constraints they can be a good choice.

In addition, all grand pianos (including baby grands) have repetition levers in each of their keys. The repetition levers enable pianists to play staccato, trills and repeated notes with greater control and speed. Unfortunately, upright pianos do not have these repetition levers, so you won’t be able to achieve the same playing versatility that you can on a grand piano.

Uprights

Completely opposite from the grand piano, an upright piano’s frame and strings sit vertically. For people with limited space available, an upright piano might be the better choice as it takes up a lot less room than a grand piano.

Unlike a grand piano, where the sound is produced from the top, an upright piano’s sound comes from the back of the piano. Because the strings are placed vertically, an upright piano depends on the use of springs to make the strokes when playing. Since a grand piano has the benefit of gravity, one is less likely to get irregular responses from the piano while playing, and notes can be played faster. The springs on an upright can wear out over time and thus produce a less reliable sound. However, if the piano is looked after, they keys should continue to produce the music properly that you’re playing.

It can be hard to choose between an upright and a grand piano. Although the sound is better on a grand piano, sometimes there just isn’t enough space for one in your home, and an upright is the better choice.

On October 20, Nintendo will be releasing the latest game for their hit console Wii. The leader in interactive games, Wii is following in the steps of hit games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero and releasing Wii Music, a game that simulates playing musical instruments.

Playing the game is sort of like playing a musical instrument. Users will have to move their Wiimotes and nunchuks in the same motions as they would if they were actually playing the instrument. Like all games, it will take a lot of practice to become skilled at playing, which equals a significant time investment. Of course, will all this advancement in video game technology, I’m curious as to why we don’t spend that time learning the thing we’re simulating doing. For example, learning to play an actual instrument is also an investment of time, but at the end of the process, you know how to play an instrument, and you’ll have that knowledge forever. When you’re finished playing Wii Music, you’ll know how to move your hands like you’re playing an instrument, and eventually the game will become obsolete.

Proponents of Wii Music will argue that there is more immediate satisfaction than when learning to play an instrument. In addition, when playing Wii Music, you have the option of playing several different instruments, so you get to experience many different spectrums of music playing.

While it is true that taking music lessons doesn’t lend the same sense of immediate gratification that playing Wii Music will give, the long term benefits far outweigh the short-term gain. Music lessons have developmental benefits (including cognitive and spatial-temporal reasoning) that may enhance intelligence and improve academic scores. Both self esteem and self-discipline will experience a boost as well. And, after a while, you’ll be able to play actual songs with your instrument, and you’ll have the choice of what songs you want to play. (Unlike Wii Music which picks the songs for you.)

While Wii Music lets you experience the motions of playing many different instruments, and taking music lessons usually only lets you play your chosen instrument, picking up a second or a third instrument is pretty easy once you’ve mastered the basics in your first instrument. Sure, there are different components and parts, but if you’ve already learned to read music, it’ll be an easier process to pick up a second or third instrument.

Although Wii Music is one of the latest additions to the world of advanced gaming technology, taking music lessons and learning to play an instrument has far greater rewards. No longer will you be tied to your television and going through the motions of playing music, instead you can take your instrument wherever you’d like and actually play the songs you’d like to hear.

There is a great amount of value in learning to play a musical instrument, including better performance in school and greater problem solving skills. Because of this, a lot of parents want their children to take music lessons so that they can get a better start at life. Unfortunately though, sometimes children don’t want to cooperate and don’t bother practicing their instrument. As frustrating as this is, learning to play an instrument is like anything else, so therefore it can be a natural response to taking up a new challenge. So, in order to get your kids to practice their music lesson teachings, you as a parent have to find a way to inspire your children to play. The following are a list of things that might just help your children find enthusiasm for their musical instrument.

1.) Don’t Compare

Comparing your children to the progress of how others are doing never works. It can be disheartening and will often have the opposite effect of inspiring them to practice. When your children were little, comparing the speed of when they learned to walk to other kids did not get them to walk any faster and it’s the same thing with learning to play an instrument. Instead encourage them on the progress they have made, and I’m sure you’ll see a less frustrated child.

2.) Inspire by Listening

Have music playing at your house, and choose recordings of musicians who play the same instrument as your child. Don’t compare them to the recording, but just listen to it. Hearing an instrument played very well can be an inspiring experience and it may just encourage your child to want to take more of an interest in their music lessons.

3.) Play Music as it’s Meant to be Heard

A big mistake when teaching your child to play a musical instrument is to play the bars of a song note by note. Sound penetrates the brain, so intellect doesn’t get in the way. Unlike sight, which needs to be processed by the brain (we need to process what we’re looking at) sight is a more sensory function. Babies develop their auditory functions in utero even! So, play the song as it’s meant to be play and it won’t seem so boring to your child which could motivate them to learn what you’re playing.

4.) Use Building Blocks

Just like a lot of other skills that we develop, the ability to play music is one that we need a foundation to build on. Don’t expect your child to automatically start playing songs that are at a higher level than the skill that they’ve already developed. Instead, praise the notes that they do know how to play (even if it’s just a few scales), and the encouragement from that might bolster them to want to keep playing and learning.

One of the greatest ways to get your child to practice their instrument is to make the experience a fun one. If your child considers it to be a chore, than it will be a fight every day trying to get them to practice, which, in turn will make them resent their instrument even more. Encourage them as they play and reward them for their hard work. Make games out of it and your child will soon start to practice on their own accord.

It can be difficult to make a child do something that they don’t want to do, so instead of fighting against the stream make the music playing experience something that they love to do. Forcing your child to practice will only perpetuate the cycle; finding a way to encourage them will help them develop an enthusiasm for playing.

In recent years, video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band have entered the marketplace, ensuring everyone that if they spent enough time playing; they too would know what it’s like to be a rock star. The game allows you to practice your skills and experience increasingly harder levels, which ensures that you don’t get bored too quickly. It really does feel like you’re playing the guitar and rocking out.

But, what if you were to actually learn how to play the guitar and rock out. Would taking guitar lessons still make you feel like a rock star? Below we’ll debate the pros and cons on how to spend your time: Guitar Lessons or Guitar Hero?

Guitar Hero

When you play Guitar Hero, you can start playing with bands like Pearl Jam and The Who right away. The game gives the user immediate satisfaction and that great rock star feeling. But only on the easy level. To get to each successive level requires a lot of time and practice.

Admittedly, the songs on Guitar Hero are pretty fantastic, and depending on what video game system you have, you can always download more songs to suit your taste. But, you can’t just play whatever you want; you have to wait for the song to be developed for Guitar Hero. So, if you are a big Peter Frampton fan, and want to play an entire retrospective, you might just be waiting for awhile.

When you’ve made it to the expert level, it is quite impressive. Your fingers will have to move very fast to hit all of the notes, and you will get the feeling of sliding your hand up and down the arm of the guitar and hitting the whammy bar and strumming. But at the end of the day, all you’re really doing is hitting a bunch of buttons, and the hours you’ve spend practicing aren’t really translatable into an actual skill.

Guitar Lessons

When you first start to take guitar lessons, you definitely won’t be rocking out to any of your favourite bands. You’ll have to learn things like finger placement, chord structures and how to read music. It will be a while before you even get to play a full song, and like Guitar Hero, learning to play the guitar will take a lot of time and practice.

When you take guitar lessons, you aren’t boxed in by a certain set of songs that you’re able to play. The only thing you might be hampered by is your ability to play the song in question. But, if there is a certain song you want to be able to play, and you practice hard enough, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to play that song eventually.

As you successively move through levels with your guitar lessons, your playing abilities will continually be getting better. And, after some serious schooling (admittedly, it will probably take more time to get really good than it would at Guitar Hero), you will walk away with the ability to play the guitar. Which means, that you can take a guitar anywhere, start playing, and NOT have to be hooked up to a video game console. And, if you’re good enough and lucky enough, your guitar lessons might lead you to eventually being one of the bands on the game, and all those video gamers will be rocking out to your music.