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From a working pianist
Real answers about pianos, from someone who plays them for a living
Own it, tune it, move it, play it. Every guide explains ideas like arpeggioArpeggioFrom the Italian word arpeggiare (“to play on a harp”). This is when you play the notes of a chord one after another, rather than all at once.The Savvy Take: Don’t just hammer the notes separately. Aim for a fluid, “water-like” sound. Your thumb is usually the clunky culprit here—practice passing your thumb under your hand smoothly to avoid accents.View in glossary → right where you meet them — hover the dotted terms.
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What do you need to know?
The Savvy Dictionary
132 musical terms, translated into plain English
Every term gets the textbook definition andthe Savvy Take — how it actually works when you're sitting at the instrument.
Open the glossaryRubato
Literally “robbed time.” It is the practice of speeding up and slowing down the tempo for expressive effect.
Voicing
The art of balancing different layers of sound within a single hand. Usually, this means making the melody (top note) louder while keeping the accompaniment (lower notes) quiet.
Alberti Bass
A common pattern of accompaniment in the left hand, consisting of broken chords played in the order: low-high-middle-high.
Una Corda
The “Soft Pedal” (the left pedal). On a grand piano, pressing this shifts the entire action to the right so the hammers hit only one string (una corda) or two strings instead of three.
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Savvy Pianist is written by Grant Larcom — Pianist, Postmodern Jukebox — with input from the piano technicians and gigging players he works with.
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