Yesterday, my piano teacher came over to my house for Chinese New Year visit as a friend. And of coz, I asked her to try on my Hailun. Her sight-reading very powerful. Coz she was not prepared to play any pieces, so I gave her one of the J-Pop book which I have, and impressively, she played the whole piece, just by sight-reading and very smoothly!!! Haha, I wonder how long will it take me to reach her standard!
She is more of a classical piano teacher, who seldom listens to pop songs and accordingly to her, it has been a long time since she played pop songs. But well, having said that, she played very well.
My hubby was observing her when she played, her fingers were shivering when she was playing. I guess she was very stressed, as she didn't expect it. I don't mean to test her, but rather wanted her to test my piano. She commented that she feels very warm after playing the whole piece even when the aircon was on at 26°C, so we quickly bring down the temperature to 21°C for her.
Ok, so I asked her how is my Hailun HL125 piano, she commented:
1) She can hear that the piano is dry, which is good. Maybe coz I keep it in a room where the windows are always shut other than 5 hours a week on Saturday morning to allow air ventilation and to kill germs. And I put a "Thirsty Hippo" beside my piano to test the humidity of the room.
2) The keys are too heavy and that I should ask the technician to help me lighten the action.
3) The sustain pedal is a little hard to step on. But if is pedalling by ear, it should be fine.
4) The middle pedal is a mute pedal, which does not have the same feature as a Grand Piano and is different from her Yamaha YUS5, where the function should be to sustain the notes you want to sustain and not affecting the other notes.
5) The last pedal on the left should be meant to move the range slightly to the right in the case of a Grand Piano. But due to the constraint of an upright piano, the hammers are brought forward to make it closer to the strings to give a different tone colour, and in my case, it sounds the same. So, can ask the technician to help adjust.
6) The other 2 pedals (other than the sustain pedal) will need to be used in higher grades to create different tone colour.
7) The stool which I have is a professional one. Very good. And the piano looks good.
8) The piano is good enough to get me to about ABRSM Grade 7, and for my kids to get to about ABRSM Grade 6 or 7. When you no longer feel that the piano can give you the range and the feel you need, it is an indication that you need to change a piano.
9) ABRSM Grade 8 is equivalent to 'A' levels Music. Where both the theory and practical will be very demanding in that they require you to do composition for different instruments.
So verdict is, for the price I paid for this piano, it is good enough to use until you complete your Grade 8. But if you want to pursue music professionally like a degree, then need to go get a Grand Piano. But do not get the smallest baby grand, as it would be effectively the same as an upright. Get a bigger one, but no need a concert grand at home. So, hippy!! My Hailun HL125 pass my teacher's test!
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2 comments:
My daughter's piano teacher tested it when it was just delivered and said similar. He actually impressed that the chair is such good quality one :P
But I do suppose the piano will be more impressive after it is settled.
btw, where exactly do you put the thirsty hippo? I was thinking of putting humidifier like hippo, but i don't know if it is alright.
I put it outside the piano, just beside it. But my teacher put 2 thirsty hippo inside her piano. You need to open the door below the keys. But I thought that is too troublesome, and you need to remember to change frequently. Haha, I am lazy lah!
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