5 Basic Tips on Buying a Piano

Learn these 5 basic tips to feel confident when you shop for a piano.

Buying a piano is a big decision and may be something you purchase once
or twice in a lifetime. We want to give you some helpful tips so you feel
confident when you are shopping for a piano.

The most important things to consider when buying a piano is price, sound,
feel and the look. After reading through these simple tips, you'll know the
most important basics of how to make the right choice in buying a piano
that's right for you.

1. Price

Pianos range from just a few hundred dollars to the price you would likely
pay for a house!

Buying the cheapest used piano you can find, may actually end up costing
you more than a new digital piano or upright piano in the long run. If you
find an old used piano that someone is selling for free to around $700, you'll
want to bring a piano tuner with you to make sure it's worth it. Get a quote
on how much it will cost to tune and fix any problems and ask the tuner how
long he/she thinks the piano will last.

Old cheap pianos can have problems like loose tuning pins, broken straps or
springs and even older plastic parts that will crumble. (As a piano
technician, I've replaced sets of old plastic piano parts that have crumbled. It
costs between $200 and $400 to replace those plastic parts.)


Some of the benefits of a piano dealer is that any used pianos they sell will
be tuned, repaired and ready to play. Also, most piano dealers will allow you
to trade in your piano at the price you bought it for upgrading to another
piano. Another benefit is if you get a new piano, you'll have a warranty on
the piano plus usually a tuning and delivery is included.

If you are looking for a piano to start kids in piano lessons and you don't
have a lot to spend, a digital piano may be the right way to go. In the last
few years the technology has improved so much that digital pianos now feel
and sound like regular pianos. You don't have to tune digital pianos which
will save you a lot of money in the long run.

(The price of a regular tuning is around $90. Pianos are required to be tuned
once or twice a year or more if the piano is played a few hours a day.)
Also, kids really enjoy the extra features that digital pianos have. Kids start
looking forward to practicing the piano. Also, the headphone option is very
valuable for parents if you know what I mean.

2. Sound

Every acoustic piano (regular piano) varies in sound. You can find the sound
you like by comparing pianos side by side. Go to a piano dealer and have the
salesman play the same song on a few different pianos of your choice. Then
you can start getting a feel for the kind of sound you like.

Generally, the longer the strings in a piano, the better and louder sound it
will have. Find the pianos that are in your price range and compare the
sound. You may like a brighter sound, or you might like the softer warmer
sounds. Everyone has a different preference and different styles of music
sound better with specific tones of the piano.

Something to consider is, where the piano will be in your home. The piano
will most likely sound louder in the home than the piano store because of the
size of the room. If you have wood floors and mostly hard surfaces in the
room, the piano may echo and sound quite loud compared to carpeted rooms
and soft surfaces on furniture.

If a piano you purchase sounds different when in your home, don't worry.
You can tell the piano tuner to adjust the piano accordingly. This method is
called "voicing". A piano tuner can make the piano brighter or softer to your
liking. Most digital pianos have controls to change the sound as well and
you can do that yourself.

3. Feel

All pianos vary a little in the feel or touch of the keys. Keys on some pianos
are a little harder to push down than others. Grand pianos and some newer
digital pianos have keys that are weighted or feel slightly heavier at the
bottom or bass, and gradually get lighter and easier to push towards the top.
Try playing some scales or just play all the notes one by one on different
pianos to see if you can feel the difference in the keys.

Grand pianos can be adjusted for a lighter or slightly heavier feel. There isn't
a lot of difference in the feel of the keys for beginner players, but as a pianist
gets more experience, they will begin to have a preference.

4. Look

Almost last but definitely not least is the look of the piano. You may have this piano
forever so it's important that you enjoy looking at it. For some people who
may not play the very much, the look is the most important to them.

A piano is a beautiful piece of furniture and can compliment your home very
nicely. There is a good chance that your piano will long outlast the rest of
your furniture so you may want to think about possible future changes in the
design of your home.

Regular pianos have been in style for over 300 years now. There are certain
colors that have always been popular like the black and cherry finishes. If
you have all oak furniture than you would probably want a piano with an
oak finish.

Something to try is taking a picture of the room you'd like the piano in.
Than you can bring the picture and hold it up against different pianos. If you
are wanting a grand piano but you're worried about the size, the Piano
Gallery has a cloth pattern that shows the outline of different sizes of grand
pianos. You can borrow the pattern to place it on the ground in your home
and determine the space needed for the grand piano.

5. Helpful Resources to learn more.

We want to give you all the info you need so you are excited and ready for
your first piano purchase. A great place to learn more about pianos is our FAQ section.

Also, you can contact the Piano Gallery at 1-800-600-9710 ext. 1 or 2. Our staff has some of the
most knowledgeable experienced professionals you'll ever find. Among us
are professional musicians and piano technicians and they are very friendly.
We hope this has been helpful information to get you started on your journey
to getting a piano.