Piano Tuner West Virginia Explains Repetition

As your piano tuner West Virginia and the surrounding areas, I am occasionally asked about the term, “repetition,” as it relates to piano playing. An additional question is often, “What type of piano has the fastest repetition?” This post will explain both issues. If you have not read the preceding post of basic information about piano actions, this is a good time to read it before proceeding with this post.

Repetition can be defined as the speed with which a pianist can repeat the same note. Some piano music requires a single note to be repeated quickly, but most often this is encountered when the music calls for a trill, or the fast repetition of two alternating notes. A well-designed piano action will allow the pianist to repeat the notes quickly, without “cheating,” which is a failure of the note to play on the second strike.

Pianos did not always repeat notes quickly and easily. Mechanically, it is difficult to design a piano action in such a way that the striking mechanism of the action returns to its proper position quickly after a note is played, so that the same note can be repeated. The big breakthrough in design came in 1821 when a French piano maker, Erard, designed what is now known as the “modern repetition lever.” The repetition lever helps to quickly reset the elements of the grand piano action, so that the same note can be repeated even before the key reaches the top of its rest position. Prior to this invention, there were several designs of grand piano actions, including the “Viennese action” used by Mozart. Once the repetition lever was invented, all other designs of grand piano actions became obsolete. Every grand piano made today uses this design.

The problem is that the design does not translate to the vertical piano. As a result, a properly regulated grand piano action will give faster repetition than a vertical piano action.

If you have other questions about pianos, or wish to schedule a tuning or piano maintenance for your piano, please give us a call. Harker Piano Service is your professional piano tuner West Virginia.