Guide to the piano: Day Six
You can think of a grand piano as a horizontal upright piano. Or perhaps, as the grand was invented first, it is better to think of this the other way round; the upright piano as a vertical grand.
Even the smallest grand piano takes up more space than a large upright. Grands range from around four and a half feet long to nine feet long, and often weight at least half a ton.
Unlike most uprights, the lid of a grand piano consists of two parts: the main lid, and the front lid. The music stand is usually behind the front lid, which covers the keys. The best way to hear the sound produced by a grand piano is to play it with the lid open. At performances, a grand piano is usually positioned so that the sound is reflected towards the audience off the inside of the lid. When a grand piano is open, the strings and frame are clearly visible, along with the soundboard. Grand pianos havee the same number of strings as upright pianos, and are overstrung (with the bass strings running diagonally across the other strings).
Tomorrow… More about grands!
