Welcome to our informational series called tech talk. I will be guiding you through a series of posts helping you better understand the piano from multiple viewpoints, as a pianist, performer and piano technician.
While studying at the Conservatory, it was always a challenge to find a piano in the basement practice rooms that was in tune, wasn't missing any strings, and that was regulated to a point that I was not frustrated for the hours of time I spent with it. It was this experience that led me to seek more knowledge about the instrument I spent so much time with.
The piano is composed of multiple systems, mechanical and structural, that work together within the laws of physics. All work together to create a whole, and the better the systems interact with each other, the better the outcome of sound and music from the musician. It is essential that each of these systems is in good working order so that their interactions are correct and efficient. Every mechanical adjustment is in some way dependent upon another. When they all work together properly, there is a most pleasant experience in playing the instrument and the piano is able to give back exactly what you ask of it, within its limits.
Let’s first consider the piano hammer when it is raised to a position in close proximity to the string. As the hammer is raised very slowly in a controlled manner, you will see that it never comes in contact with the string. If it does, there are other problems. When the hammer is raised to its highest position, the distance between the hammer and the string is referred to as let-off. This adjustment, in and of itself, creates the greatest perceived improvement in control by the pianist. But wait, its not that easy. This let-off distance must work in concert with a few other adjustments like drop, back check distance, repetition lever spring tension and others.
Check in again as we explore in depth the inner workings of your beloved instrument.
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Something is happening in piano studios across the country that teachers from a generation ago would find surprising, and perhaps gratifying: the students walking in for first lessons are increasingly not children. They are adults in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond — people who took a few lessons as kids and stopped, or who never started at all, and who have decided, in 2026, that now is the time.
Every few years, a piano competition produces a result that changes the conversation about what classical music is, who plays it, and where it is going. The Van Cliburn Competition's 2022 discovery of Yunchan Lim was that kind of moment. In 2026, the competition circuit — from New Orleans to Salt Lake City to the Pacific Northwest — has continued to surface talent that makes a compelling case for the health of the art form, even as the broader classical industry navigates a complex moment.
Every year, tens of thousands of adults decide that this is finally the year they learn piano. Some were told as children that they had no talent. Some simply never had access to an instrument. Many watched a video online — a performance so beautiful or so unexpectedly moving that the only reasonable response was to find out what it would take to do that themselves.