The piano is the one instrument for everybody, from picking a one-finger tune on its keyboard in your living room to a performance on a concert stage. If the reader loves the piano, plays it, studies it, teaches it, services it, buys it or sells it, this book will be your companion and guide.

This important volume has been updated to guide the reader into the new era of what now is the most universal instrument of all time.
From its historical base with deep European roots, and through the development of the piano industry, the piano now is manufactured worldwide. Reading Wonders of The Piano simplifies the complexities of the instrument for piano buffs, students and professional musicians. Additional pages of text and new photographs point to an exciting new age for the piano.

Information for The Wonders of the Piano came directly from piano manufacturers, rebuilders, suppliers of piano parts and raw materials, master technicians and the deans of the piano industry. These generous people led the author through their factories, foundries, mills and workshops, allowing her to photograph the manufacturing processes as they explained the operations step-by-step. They then critiqued the text and gave their approval. Their immeasurable spirit of cooperation assures the reader of correct, authoritative information.

To put the 300-year history of the piano into perspective, highlights of its development travel along the tracks of the piano industry. Its journey began in Italy and then moved to Germany, France, England, America, Japan, Korea, China and, most recently, to Indonesia. The universal appeal of the piano is underscored by the countries of the orient. The piano of the western world was foreign to the culture and music of these ancient countries, yet they have totally adopted it. Following the piano through its development opens a broader understanding of this most complete instrument of inexhaustible potential.

Wherever the piano is built, the materials virtually will have the same characteristics and they must be treated, seasoned, and processed to perform in specific ways. The Wonders of the Piano takes the reader on a photographic tour of piano factories and of factories that make piano parts. The tour illustrates step-by-step how the parts are made at various locations and then factory-assembled into the piano. The photos explain how raw felt is pressed into hammers and dampers; how wire is drawn into piano strings; how molten metal hardens into cast iron plates; how wood is seasoned, sawed, shaped, and more. A process can often be hidden within the machinery. The "hands-on" methods more clearly describe how a process works; therefore, they are often shown. The designs, materials and synchronized interrelationships of the piano's many parts determine its tone, touch, and overall quality. Tone and touch also depend upon the skill and precision of the technician, working for optimum performance in every detail.

Also included is a chapter on Piano Maintenance: tuning, action regulation, and hammer voicing.

Written in clear, non-technical language, the accompanying text focuses on major innovators, whose inventions produce the most satisfying pianos the world has ever known. Modern methods have brought the piano to its present state of sophistication. New technologies and traditional methods work synergistically. They do not clash. "Technology builds bridges across the limitations of tradition." The sciences of wood technology, metallurgy, acoustics, design and engineering have advanced piano building from a totally hands-on operation to a computer-accurate, high-tech industry.

Its reader-friendly format makes The Wonders of the Piano not only instructive but enjoyable reading. It answers many questions about the piano, and it discusses how manufacturers achieve rich sound and sensitive touch. The information learned can be helpful to evaluate the quality of any specific piano.

The Wonders of the Piano evolved over a lifetime spent around the piano as a student, musician, educator, piano salesperson, sales trainer, lecturer, seminar leader, and business manager. It is the culmination of more than 35 years experience in the music industry. She entered the music industry through Lyon & Healy, a venerable music company in Chicago, Illinois, whose motto was, "Everything known in Music." The company started in 1872, one year after the Chicago fire, and eventually it owned seventeen locations throughout the Chicagoland area - 106 years later, in 1978, Lyon & Healy closed.

Bielefeldt then joined Steinway & Sons of New York as field representative. A promotion made her director of Steinway Hall, the company's elaborate showroom on 57th Street, Manhattan. Then, as director of national sales training for Steinway, she was headquartered at the factory in Long Island, New York. That position presented an excellent opportunity to study piano manufacturing and the construction techniques of piano building. Currently, Bielefeldt serves as vice president of Hendricks Piano Company, Downers Grove, IL. (Chicago area).