I was just wondering if it was at all possible to do a sforzando on a piano? As far as I can see, there is no possible way but some of you might know!

Thank you!

Yes, of course. Why wouldn't it be?

Are you sure you mean sforzando?

Ah, may be I don't mean sforzando! it is a way of playing you can do on the violin (viola, cello). For example,on the violin you can play a breve with sforzand then quickly play softer for the length of the breve.
Is it possible to do on the piano?

The attack/decay profile of the piano sound does that whether you want it too or not.

Seriously, there's no way of affecting the volume of a piano sound after you strike the note (unless you close the lid or something!).

Do you mean a fortepiano fp? Loud then immediately quiet.
You can strike a chord or note with force, and give it a dab of sustain pedal for extra tone, then immediately release the pedal while holding down the note(s). This will immediately decrease the volume, but not by a huge amount and the volume will continue to die away. The effect isn't particularly pleasant and certainly doesn't equate to what you describe on a stringed instrument.

[/quote]
Do you mean a fortepiano fp?
[/quote]

Yes!

[/quote]
You can strike a chord or note with force, and give it a dab of sustain pedal for extra tone, then immediately release the pedal while holding down the note(s). This will immediately decrease the volume, but not by a huge amount and the volume will continue to die away.
[/quote]

How interesting. I will try this tomorrow.

[/quote]
The effect isn't particularly pleasant and certainly doesn't equate to what you describe on a stringed instrument.
[/quote]

Thank you all for your comments. My daughter came up with this question, and now is even more convinced that the violin is "cool" because she can on the violin do things that she cannot do on the piano. I then argue...she cannot play 5 notes chords on the violin!

You can't crescendo on a note or chord on the piano, either, but it is possible to get a bit more tone by adding in sustain pedal after the note has been struck - you get sympathetic vibrations from the other strings which add to the tone. Only useful on rare occasions, but an interesting effect.

I love the forum! It is a great source of information from the forum members, and I find fascinating to hear your replies. Thank you all. Of course, you could do interesting things, I suppose, by playing the strings inside a piano, though maybe it is not highly recommended to try at home....

1. Depress sustain pedal
2. Play note/chord
3. Release keys
4. Quickly let the pedal up (not so much as to entirely damp the strings) and immediately down again
5. Retake the notes silently with the fingers
6. Release the pedal

Robert Taub does it on the sf chords of the Grave in his recording of Beethoven's Pathetique sonata

There's no answer to that!

My teacher once showed me how to do that, in a piece for my performance diploma (I think it was Debussy). Awesome technique - not sure I managed to pull it off in the exam though!

I've only had to do it for long chords, like the pathetique above, which is nice.

And to attempt to answer the crescendo on a note: you just need to convice the audience that there is a crescendo on a single note to create an illusion. I think if one thinks there is a crescendo then that's all that is necessary. But only when there is something afterwards - not the last chord of a pieace.

Shall we try vibrato next?

It was fascinating to watch the accompanist doing just that in the brass final of BBC YMOTY. It was a piece for French horn, but I can't remember the name of it.

I was wondering how he had marked the strings so he knew which one was which!

I once heard a pianist on tele doing a master class and said that you have to imagine the crescendo!!!!