Shopping for a Piano – Questions to ask

Shopping for a piano?  If you are wondering ‘Should I get an electronic keyboard, a digital piano, an upright piano or a grand piano?’, here are some things to think about and questions to ask yourself to help clarify your needs when it comes shopping for an instrument.

Shopping for a piano – PURPOSE:

Sounds silly, but determining the purpose of the piano is the key to deciding which type of piano to go for.

What’s the main use of the piano going to be? For concert work? Teaching? School or institution? Playing at home? Beginner’s practice? How long do you plan to keep the instrument for? Will you need it for a family of little ones to play and enjoy through several years of piano lessons? Are you dipping your toe in piano lessons to see how they feel?

Do you plan to explore electronic and digital music? Many electronic keyboards and digital pianos have capabilities of being hooked up to computers. If you are going for this, it’s not as important to have a full range of keys (88 keys) since computer software can manipulate what octave a note appears as. You can still do digital music with an acoustic piano–but then you need computer software and good recording equipment.

Shopping for a piano – LOCATION AND PLACEMENT:

Think of the room where the piano is going to be. Will it be placed in a room that has hardwood or carpet? Will the piano sound resonate, echo, or ring, or will it be quiet and more subdued. This will help you to decide what area of the tone spectrum to go for–something brilliant or something more mellow.

Will there be many stairs to negotiate for the movers? Keep in mind that prices for moving pianos goes up if there are steps involved! And rightly so! The movers earn their money when trying to move 500-1000 lbs. up stairs! Movers greatly appreciate it if you tell them exactly how many steps they have to move a piano so they can bring the right equipment and manpower to do so!

*Note: If you are buying a real piano, the basement is NOT the ideal place to put a piano. Humidity, damp, and extreme temperature changes are bad for pianos.

Do you live in an apartment and/or share space with others? Do you want the capability of practising without disturbing other people that you live with? Do you move frequently? You can use headphones with electronic keyboards and digital pianos. Some acoustic pianos come with a middle pedal called a ‘silent pedal’ (when locked into place, it mutes the strings so that you get a muffled sound but still have the normal key action).

Shopping for a piano – BUDGET:

What amount of money have you budgeted to spend on your instrument? Keep in mind if you are planning to have this instrument for a number of years, are you willing to invest money in keeping it well tuned and maintained?  You are not limited in piano choice by the amount of money budgeted.  If you keep your eyes open for classified ads, sometimes you can pick up acoustic pianos for the cost of a move!

Shopping for a piano – SOUND QUALITY AND MUSCLE TRAINING:

How important is sound quality to you? Nothing beats an acoustic piano for sound and muscle training! Many beginners that practice on electronic keyboards don’t develop the strength or proper finger dexterity to make a good, even sound on a piano. Electronic keyboards often have keys that are smaller, thinner, and “plastic-y” feeling. Higher end digital pianos are getting closer to mimicking the feel of a real piano. If your budget allows, look for weighted keys, and keys that have variation in tone (as you press lightly, the sound is softer, as you press harder, the sound is correspondingly louder).

GO SHOPPING!

The answers to these questions will help you decide between an electronic keyboard, a digital piano, an upright piano, apartment-sized piano, or even a grand piano. After you have worked some of these answers out, you should go try and hear these different options. Shopping for a piano involves trying out the pedals, playing every note loudly and softly, trying out the key action, playing a little song, or even asking someone to play it for you. The most important thing is to find one YOU will like. You are the one who will be listening to it day in and day out–hopefully for many years to come!

Return to the top of Shopping for a Piano.

Return to home page of the-piano-studio.com.