A Short Musical History

In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words “Long Live the King of France” and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, founded St. John’s, Newfoundland, as the first North

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Castors

“Castors: The wheels. Not actually designed for wheeling. In most old pianos, they are designed to chew up hardwood floors… If you are lucky enough to not have to worry about the neighbors, and live in a home where the piano can be in a relatively large room, It will sound best if the room

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Chico is the man!

Leonard “Chico” Marx (March 22, 1887 – October 11, 1961) was an inspiration to a generation of would-be piano players. Entirely self-taught, Chico thrilled audiences with his inventive interpretations and wacky off-the-wall technique. If you take a close look at his playing, you might recognize that musically speaking, it’s actually fairly simple – a two

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Piano Care… and feeding?

When I was little, I would wake up every Sunday morning to the sound of my mother dusting the piano. Of course, she was dusting everything, (being my mom), but nothing else in the house made that familiar badum, badum, badum sound of her cleaning the keys. You might say that cleaning runs in the family:

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How does a piano work?

You press a key, and a note sounds. In a nutshell, here’s how an upright works: Pressing the key down lifts the back of the key up. This raises the whippen, forcing the jack to tilt the hammer mechanism toward the string. Halfway toward the string, a spoon on the back of the whippen lifts

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Upcycled Piano Art

A bench top that had been in use at the store for over 100 years for regulating actions was finally deemed too pitted and worn to do the job we needed. It’s history actually predates Paul Hahn & Co. Before Paul Hahn Sr. opened this store in 1913, he worked as a the Head Salesman

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