Hi all!! I am new here so a brief description of my musical background:

I am a self taught musician of the 'popular' persuasion and have played guitars in a few bands over the years. I have also experimented with other instruments, particularly the keyboards, which I have learnt on and off for the best part of a decade. My interest in classical music, in particular baroque, has increased recently and I find myself being very fond of the sound of the harpsichord.

I am currently looking to get into music teaching and realise that good keyboard skills would be a major advantage. I am currently playing pieces of around grade 3-4 standard and am very keen to continue improving. However, I am not personally inspired by either the feel or the sound the piano. Being used to the action of a semi-wieghted electronic keyboard I find the action too heavy and I don't believe the sound works in the context of baroque music. It makes more sense to me that I continue my development on a harpsichord (or viginals, spinet?). However, I know not of any harpsichord teachers (I live in Norwich).

Does anyone Know of any Harpsichord teachers in East Anglia, Preferably in Norwich or another City or large town? I am not looking for regular lessons (since I can't really afford them), but more to learn how to transfer my skills from my keyboard onto a harpsichord.

Cheers! Eddy

The modern piano is capable of many different tonal qualities. By striking each note quite fiercely, and withdrawing quickly it is possible to get an overall harpsichord-like effect, though obviously not the same basic sound. Have you listened to Glenn Gould playing 16th and 17th Century music on a piano? or Horowitz's recordings of Scarlatti sonatas?

It is true that the action of an acoustic piano tends to be quite heavy compared to other keyboard instruments, but pianos vary a lot, and any decent Grand piano is more controllable than most uprights. You can also get a piano technician to lighten the action and reduce the key travel of your own piano, making it more suitable for playing just about anything pre-Beethoven. (This is what Glenn Gould did for his Bach recordings). There is a very nice Schimmel upright at my place of work (in the restaurant for important guests) where this has been done, and the hammer travel has also been reduced, which keeps the volume down. So the guest diners can enjoy real music, but the pianist can never play loudly enough to intrude on their conversation.
It is very easy to play fast, yet quiet on this instrument.

As a pianist I am scared of playing a harpsichord! There is a beautiful harpsichord, a replica of an instrument from about 1650, at the music college where I do most of my practice, but I haven't touched it - I am sure my heavy handed technique would destroy it.

Regarding tuition, I do not know about private teachers in East Anglia - there are several web sites that list music teachers but I expect you have tried those already. I do know that Cambridge University runs Summer Schools in Early Music that include the opportunity to take harpsichord lessons - contact Sidney Sussex College for details. With all its colleges and students I would expect Cambridge to have at least a couple of resident teachers.

Hello Mad Tom, thanks for an informative reply!

I came across Glenn Gould just last week as I was searching youtube looking for someone to show me how to play Bach's 1st Invention properly. I was most impressed with his interpretation and with his guidance I am making swift progress!

I have a temporary contract working in a school's music department and so I shall try out the various pianos, experimenting with the techniques that you outlined. Not sure if they have a piano that could be described as a 'decent Grand' though!

I took a look at those summer schools but I feel I would probably be well out of my depth. Maybe next year!...I have a goal to get to grade 6 standard by them. The harpsichord sylabus looks much more attractive to me regarding the pieces. It's a bit different an'all innit?!

I here only today of a place around here that doth have a harpsichord! I'll continuo to persevere...

You can play harpsichord music on a piano, sure - and you would need to adjust how you play the piano to make the music make sense, but it still won't be anything like what you'd have to do to play it successfully on a harpsichord - the touch is just too different. Because the string is plucked, rather than struck, and because the bit of bird quill doing the plucking is mounted in a slip of wood which sits directly on the keylever, rather than there being a complex bit of mechanism in the way, the action needed has a completely different focus - on the piano, it is the way in which your fingers depress the keys which provides more of the tone you can get, on the harpsichord, the way you let go of the keys determines the sound far more. In fact, there are harpsichordists who have a very heavy touch - but apart from the instrument quaking rather, they produce no more impressive a sound than their lighter-fingered colleagues - the quill plucks the string and that's it, sound made, no particular difference in volume. All the variability in sound produced by good harpsichordists is either due to their use of different stops, or sheer technique - echo effects made by use of staccato, for instance. I've seen competent pianists make a nonsense of their music on harpsichords because they don't know this - so if you want to get a real feel for what harpsichord music does, then you need the right instrument.

A spinet or virginals would do too!
I'll try to find out from my contacts who might teach in your area - good luck.

Thanks Anacrusis, any help would be gratefully recieved!