Piano Video Lesson: Do You Need a Weighted Action Keyboard?

Now if you're practicing all the time on an action that isn't weighted, you're not going to have the strength to play a real piano.

Hi, I'm Robert Estrin. This is LivingPianos.com. And the question today which I received from somebody is, what are the advantages to a weighted action on a keyboard or piano? And you've heard these terms of course, and you might wonder, what is it all about? Is it that you can get more expressiveness out of a weighted action, just like you do on a grand piano? All pianos have weighted actions because you're moving a lot of mass. Well, keyboards don't have to have all that mass, so why would you want to have a weighted action if you can get good control? Because you know what? You don't necessarily need a heavy action to get good control on a piano. Some pianos have heavy actions, some have lighter actions, and as long as the regulation is top notch, you can get tremendous control out of a lighter action just as much as a heavier action. So why would you want a weighted action anyway? Well, here's the fundamental reason. Piano is different from all other instruments pretty much with some notable exceptions like pipe organ, in that other instrumentalists carry their instrument wherever they go. If you're a guitar player or a flute player or a trumpeter, you just take your instrument with you. No big problem. Well, obviously we can't do that. So you must learn to adjust to any piano you come to, whether it's at lessons, school, church, recitals, friends' houses, any place you go there's a piano. You have to be able to sit down and play it. Now, if you're practicing all the time on an action that isn't weighted, you're not going to have the strength to play a real piano because it takes more effort. You have to push down about 50, sometimes as much as 60 grams of down weight just to get the key down. So if you have a feather -light action, it's not going to prepare you physiologically. You're not going to develop the muscles for it. So it's really important to have at least a weighted action. I would say an 88 key weighted action. Now, you also hear the term weighted graded action.

What does that mean? Well, if you looked inside a piano, you'll notice that the keys on the higher end are longer and the hammers are shorter and the hammers are thinner. The bass, the keys are longer, the hammers are bigger and fatter because they have to excite a much thicker, longer string.

So indeed, pianos get lighter and lighter and easier and easier to play as you get to the higher end compared to the lower end. On some pianos, a subtle difference. On other pianos, it's a dramatic difference. So is this important in your practice piano? Some people would say it is important.

To me, it's really not the most important thing in a keyboard or digital piano action. Of greater importance is the key travel. You see, when you have a keyboard that's very, very small, the keys are short behind the fallboard so that when you're playing black keys or between black keys, the key's not moving much at all, just like being close to the center on a seesaw, which I've talked about before. So to me, that's more important than whether it's graded or not. Of course, also the feel of the action, that it should have some kind of substantial feel. Now, a real piano has what's called escapement. Try pushing your key down very slowly on your piano and you notice a certain point, there's almost like a little bit of resistance and you have to push to overcome that. Well, this is normal because pianos have what's called a double escapement mechanism.

It was Christopher way back around the year 1700 who was a harpsichord builder who came up with the first harpsichord that could play soft and loud. So he called it cimbala piano forte or forte piano. It could play loud and soft and it had the essential escapement. What does that mean? Well, before then there were no keyboards where a hammer or other implement could hit a string and escape it. So like on a clavichord, for example, the string is kept in contact and with a piano, as soon as the hammer hits, it escapes. Well, modern pianos for well into the 1800s since that time have had what's called a double escapement where when you play slowly, you have the full key travel. But when you play quickly, there's a back check that catches the back of the hammer so that the hammer doesn't have to travel so far. So you're going to feel that little click with the levers and such. It's an ingenious invention that came about over many, many great piano builders, as well as composers, not the least of which is Beethoven. In his lifetime, working closely with piano builders, the piano developed more and more. So these are the important things to look for in your digital pianos or keyboards. Look for an 88 weighted action. If it's graded, great. But more importantly is the feel and the key travel. These are the things to look for. And if you're serious about playing the piano, you'll want a weighted action, even if you're not playing other pianos as much, because you'll get more exercise out of your hands. So you'll develop more in your piano playing for doing the same amount of practice. And if you're like most people, it's hard to find enough time to practice. So you might as well get as much done as you can for the time you spend. Hope this is helpful for you. Again, Robert Estrin at livingpianos .com, your online piano resource. Keep the questions coming in and thanks for subscribing and ringing the bell with a thumbs up. It helps the algorithm. So more people find these videos. See you next time.

Find the original source of this video at this link: https://livingpianos.com/do-you-need-a-weighted-action-keyboard/

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