Steinway has a long legacy of innovation. The very first Steinway & Sons patent was granted in 1857, and the company has been granted more than one hundred and twenty-five additional patents since, positioning the Steinway as the piano by which all others are judged. This evolving innovation is recognized by concert halls throughout the world that cater to the most discriminating pianists. Quality, without compromise, is reflected with each new patent and design. A Steinway will last for many decades — but pianos younger than ten years old are the choice of the world’s best artists and most prestigious venues. Our latest achievements come in our “vertical” division, which is to say: the upright Steinway. 

Steinway’s new upright action

Steinway is pleased to introduce our new patented action for uprights. The action on a grand piano can easily produce staccato repetition and repeated chords, and repeated chords can be played consistently and evenly. However, on a traditional upright piano action, the articulation of repeated notes is more difficult to achieve, as action parts move at dissimilar speeds. The hammer lags behind the rest of the action when the key is released.

But with Steinway’s new patented action for uprights, staccato repetition on a Steinway upright now feels as close as possible to a Steinway grand. The patented technology reduces the gap below the hammer. The action components operate smoothly, producing a more accurate keystroke.

Steinway Dolce Soft Pedal

The soft pedal, or left pedal, on a traditional upright piano rotates the hammer assembly toward the strings — reducing their travel distance, which results in a lower volume and softer tone. Since only the hammers are raised, a gap in the action is introduced, resulting in the feeling of lost motion when a key is depressed. 

Steinway’s new patented Dolce soft pedals raise hammers closer to the strings and move the lower action components and keys in tandem, preventing lost-motion gap. When the Dolce pedals are depressed, hammers are lifted, and Steinway’s new patented lifting rail raises both the keys and lower action components. This produces a shorter key stroke with more sensitive control of the pianissimo dynamic range, resulting in a similar feeling to the una corda “shift” pedal on a Steinway grand.

The left Dolce pedal allows you to play at piano dynamics, while the middle Mezzo Dolce pedal offers the most  pianissimo dynamics, and can be locked in position for playing in environments where quiet is required.