Piano Index & Glossary

H
  • Half pedaling -- A sustain pedaling technique that artists use to manipulate the dampers in such a way that the damper felt barely touches the strings. The effect is a cloudy, atmospheric sound, not quite damped, but not ringing freely. This ability is built into the Steinway damper pedal action.
  • Hammer -- The entire mallet that is activated by the action to strike the strings.
  • Hammer felt -- The wool cloth used as the striking surface of the hammer.
  • Hammer head -- The portion of the hammer comprised of the felt and the wooden core that is attached to the hammer shank.
  • Hammer molding -- The wooden core of the hammer head.
  • Hammer rail -- The rail that the hammer and the hammer flanges are attached to with flange screws.
  • Hammer shank -- The hardwood dowel that the hammer swings on. The hammer head is attached to the hammer shank. Some pianos have maple shanks and some have mahogany shanks. The maple shanks are reported to give a more powerful sound while the mahogany shanks give a sweeter sound.
  • Hardwood inserts -- In piano repair and restoration, hardwood inserts are sometimes inserted within softer wood like pine or ash for reinforcement where screws and other metal parts can be reinserted without damaging the softer wood. Hardwood inserts are often used when screw holes in the soft wood have become stripped.
  • Harmonics -- The sounds produced by a single string that are consonant to the fundamental sound which have structure and can be used in aural tuning.
  • Harmonic series -- The sounds produced by increasingly smaller divisions of a string, called partials, that produce audible consonant overtones.
  • Harp -- An alternative name for a piano's cast-iron plate.
  • High-gloss finish -- A very hard, shiny finish popular on pianos.
  • High-tension scale -- A scale made possible by the cast-iron plate. In the past, pianos did not have high-tension scales because the frames were made of wood. The benefits of a high-tension scale are volume and brilliance of sound.
  • Hitch pin -- The small piece of metal protruding from the plate to which the back end of the piano wire is attached or secured.
  • Hoisting and rigging -- The technique of moving a piano to a upper story on the outside of a building.
  • Humidistat
  • Hygrometer
 

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