Christmas is a wonderful time of year for many and usually this is true for your piano. That being said sometimes things become a little too over enthusiastic and your piano can be at risk of some common pitfalls! Keep reading to find out some of the crazy things that might happen to your piano this year and how to manage them.
What to do if someone puts a drink on top of the piano
We all know it's not a good idea to put things on top of the piano. When things are merry and people are having a good time it can be difficult to remember. A really easy way to ensure that the piano stays in good nic it to put extra placemats on top so that if anyone does go to put anything down the piano is protected. Another good way is to simply have to many Christmas decorations on top so that there is no space.
2. What not to do if someone spills red wine on the keys!
It's happened to the best of us; someone is dancing away, perhaps an enthusiastic Aunt or Uncle and whoopsie dasies slip the red wine has splashed on the keys! Don't panic, wipe the keys as quickly as you can with an absorbent cloth to soak up the excess and then wipe off any sticky residue with a damp cloth. Very importantly, don't think that it is a good idea to throw white wine over the red wine to stop it staining and definitely don't add salt to soak it up! This will drop beneath the keys and cause more harm than good. AFter the Christmas season has ended it is a good idea to book in a professional to come and check the piano as the damp beneath the keys might end up being a problem if not tended to in a timely manner.
3. Book in a professional
A really easy way to make sure that your piano is well looked after this Christmas is to book a piano tuning for just after the new year. This way if anything has happened, a professional will be there to assess the damage before it becomes more difficult and perhaps costly to fix.
4. Careful of those fingers
Children love to join in and play the piano at Christmas, very ethusiastically infact! There's nothing we can do to save your ears but we can save little fingers. It is very easy for chidren to accidentally slam their fingers in the fall board when nobody is watching. We reccomend purchasing a simple device to prevent the fall board from slamming and make it fall slowly. These are usually called a soft fall and can be purchased online. Here is a link to a simple one from Amazon.
Piano Slow Close Device, Ultra-thin Piano Slow Closing Soft Fall Device Vertical External Lid Protector : Amazon.co.uk: Books
Last but not least some simple "just dont's" that we think will ensure there are no Chrstimas Piano casualties this year...
Don't think that it's a great idea to dance on the top of the piano. It's not. You will fall off.
Don't sit on the keys, because why would you sit on the keys?
Don't try and play all of the keys at the same time, no one will appreciate it
Don't try and modulate half way through the carol, you will do it wrong and the singers will be completly lost!!
Even if you do manage to modulate correctly you will still be held responsible for the singers being unable to modulate with you!
Dont start the song in a complicated key, you'll never make it to the end.
If your Granny says, "It goes like this" - it probably does.
Save the crowd pleasers for the first song, the middle song, and the last song.
We hope you've enoyed our post on Holiday Series: The Pitfalls Of Christmas For A Piano and it will help you to avoid the worst of the piano mistakes this year.
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