Is there such a thing as a practice attachment for a grand piano to reduce the sound level?

Answer 1

I have not heard of such an attachment, but if you need additional muffling, simply place a strip of felt on top of the strings. You could use any other soft and light material--it could just be a cotton undershirt, preferably one ply. With such muffling you can leave the top up and have the same "touch" on the keys. The striking of the hammers on the strings will feel different, but not enough to affect your "touch" playing. You can get used to the difference quickly for practice. This way you can still practice your dynamic shadings without disturbing the "peace"!

Answer 2

There is actually a felt attachment that can be placed between the hammers and the strings, but it is problematic in a grand piano. These attaqchments are far more sucsesful in uprights, where they can be installed where the portemento pedal would normally be. (the portemento, or middle pedal allows you to hold down any combination of keys, which become legato, while the rest of the keyboard remains natural) In fact, in some uprights, the middle pedal can also be fitted to a felt with steel tabs at the end for a "honkeytonk" effect. The other possibility is to cover the entire top of the piano with a thick blanket, or moving blanket. This will uually absorb enough sound. Some Grand Pianos come with a locking una corda diminuendo (the left pedal, which shifts the hammers to the left so they only strike one string instead of three) If your piano will not lock, you can always just leave your foot down while you play, which will reduce the sound somewhat as well. Hoep this helps.

Answer 3

To reduce the overall sound level of a grand piano, you may want to:
1) use the sostenuto pedal [located at the far left of the pedal assembly];
2) close the top cover;
3) strike the keyboard with a soft touch; no fortissimo strokes;
4) close all room doors and windows;
5) close of all window drapery;
6) practice the grand piano during hours when the are no one is around to complain;
7) select musical scores which do not have thundering bass i.e., Mozart, Bach, Debussy, etc. Avoid Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff.

In the meantime, it sounds like you are truly enjoying your grand piano. Keep up the good work! Good luck!

Answer 4

Close the lid, and hold down the far left pedal, which either moves the hammer system slightly so fewer strings of each note are struck, or -- occasionally -- lifts the hammer system closer to the strings, so less energy is transmitted to the strings.

Answer 5

I don't know about an attachment, other than putting some felt on the strings. Close the lid. Press the soft pedal.

Answer 6

I've never heard of that. We just close the lid and instruct everyone to practice softly (no forte or mezo forte while practicing, only when the song is completed)