Piano Stools, Adjustable for adults Options

[all ears]

We have a Yamaha YDP-88II digital piano (acoustic would likely be too heavy for tatami mat flooring), and use it with the non-adjustable piano stool that came with it.

The stool is too low...son (almost 180 cm, still got a bit more growing to do) ends up hunching his shoulders up in an effort to play with forearms and back of hands level, or playing with a kind of Z-angle in his arms and hands.

It seems to me that if the stool were much higher, he might have trouble getting his legs under the keyboard (do people find that a problem - i.e. are digital pianos much lower under the keyboard than acoustic pianos??).

Also, what should I be looking out for in choosing an adjustable stool? Adjustable stools seem to be aimed at young children - will they cope with roughly adult height and weight? Hope to get to try some out, but nowhere locally has more than one or two "comes with the piano" types, so will likely end up buying online.

[Solari]

I have the stool that came with my Clav and have never given it any thought really. Maybe I should seek my teacher's advice as my arms seem to be between 15 and 25* from the keyboard if I was to draw a triangle from wrists, horizontally outwards and up to my elbows.

[SueHM]

An adjustable stool is soooo important. I am always nagging my students about adjusting the height so that they are comfortable and sitting at the correct height. Adjustable stools are designed to suit adults as well (who also frequently need to make adjustments!)

I think a few people do find that they have difficulty cramming their legs in under the keyboard, but I would suggest that they might be sitting a bit too close in some cases. I think the height of a digital is pretty much the same as an acoustic. Piano stools are pretty much 'one size fits all'. Worth the expense and have a chat with your teacher about what is the right height for you.

[maggiemay]

Roland make an adjustable piano stool - mine cost just over 100 sterling. Not particularly pretty, but it does the job and has an 'adjust' of about 4 inches. I also have a clav stool and my adult (and some taller teenage pupils) tend to use that because the height is about right for them; the adjustable does for all others, but will certainly take an adult's weight.

[all ears]

Maggiemay, is there a difference between a clavinova stool and a piano stool??

SueHM, thanks for motivating me to get this sorted - Viohazard has a lot of piano to get through in the next 2 years, and I feel guilty that it took me so long to realize that it was the wrong height. Too close...you mean that being back to back me sitting at my computer, with the ironing board jammed between us, might not be a good thing??

Thanks for help! I think I will measure the height of the "underhang" and of the keyboard, and then take Viohazard to try out what's available.

He has a piano lesson tonight (petite female teacher) in the house of (somewhat ample moderately tall male) solfege teacher, so with luck could ask them both about appropriate stools...

[maggiemay]

Maggiemay, is there a difference between a clavinova stool and a piano stool??

Not really; I meant the seat that came with the clav, rather than something I had bought separately.

It is just a very plain simple bench, and seems to me to be on the low side - I suppose traditionally piano stools tend to be a bit fancier in design.

For reasons of height I swap the two around between the piano and the digital (which is now a Roland not a clav just to further complicate things (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) ) in other aspects they are interchangeable: the clav seat is slightly longer than the piano stool but not long enough to be a duet stool.

The keyboard of my digi is very slightly lower than the piano keyboard. Regarding sitting distance from the keyboard, a useful check can be for the player to stretch out both arms with fists lightly closed. The knuckles should touch the wood (or whatever material) behind the keys. The bit that on an acoustic piano generally has the maker's name. If arms can't more or less hold out straight he's possibly sitting a bit too close.

[undividedself]

I bought a cheapo Stagg KEB 30 for use with my digital piano:

http://www.imusician.co.uk/acatalog/info_0...m_term=00074574

(I didn't buy from this particular online shop, so I can't safely recommend it; mine is a pure black version)

There are 4 heights. I have mine set to 23 inches, which is higher than most (I am 181 cm). It feels more sturdy than adjustable piano stools, which have a slight tendency to creak and wiggle.

*********

Slightly OT, but I think the problem with sitting too low is that it is then harder to do a 'virtual bow' with the arm. See bottom of this page:

http://www.chopin.strefa.pl/que5.html

The arm is not actually bow shaped, of course. The player just imagines that it is, until it feels natural. This helps the shoulders to relax downwards and the hands to 'walk' on the fingers, rather than the fingers being conceived as striking downwards on the keys. The fingertips are 'sticky' to ensure a continuous gentle contact with the key surfaces (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[hello_cello]

Gear for music do a Duet bench for i think £70, its adjustable, and actually looks like quite nice.
They do a solo one also.

Here are the links to them
http://www.gear4music.com/search/piano%20stool/filters=d:,

[jm-hamilton]

I've got an adjustable stool that I bought to use with a digital piano and to take when I go on tour with the Youth choir. It's also collapsible. It was cheap, bought on ebay. Will dig it out later and see if I can give more info.