So, you want to buy a new
piano or upgrade your old
piano. There are so many
options when it comes to
purchasing one of the oldest
musical instruments, the
piano. You have the choice
of purchasing a new piano, a
2nd hand piano, or even a
digital piano. There are so
many choices and so many
brands to choose from. But,
be careful… there are also
many traps along the way.
The piano has been around
for about 300 years and over
that time the essence of the
piano has not really
changed. The cabinets have
changed over the years and
have improved but the
internal workings have not
really changed from the
first models produced in the
1700’s. The basic workings
are that you play a key then
a hammer hits a string and
it vibrates and the sound is
reflected off the soundboard
to produce the musical tone
(sound). There are approx.
10,000 parts in a piano and
many of these are very
finely tuned. The moving
parts within the piano are
called the ‘action’. Just
like a car the ‘action’ is
the engine of the piano. If
the action has problems or
is not maintained then the
piano will not perform as it
should. A piano is generally
considered to be one of the
hi-end purchases or
investments that we make in
our lifetime. It is very
important to spend time
researching various options
like new, 2nd hand, brands,
warranty, etc. before
jumping in on an impulse and
purchasing a lemon.
Does size matter?
The answer to this
question is… Yes and No.
Size/height of an upright
piano does not really
matter. The difference in
pianos in relation to size,
means that in an upright
piano the soundboard and
also string length are
greater therefore give the
piano a richer tone and an
increased resonant sound.
For instance… in an upright
piano with a height of 108cm
compared to a larger upright
of 121cm there is a height
difference of 13cm.
Therefore there is approx.
13cm more in the height of
the soundboard and also
greater length of the
strings. The soundboard of a
piano is like the speakers
in a stereo system, the
bigger the speakers the
greater the bass response
and deeper the tone. This is
exactly what happens in a
piano. You must also keep in
mind the size of the room in
which the piano is going to
live. In some rooms that
have deep pile carpet and
heavy curtains the smaller
pianos will loose their
volume because of the ‘soft
furnishings’ absorbing the
sound. If the player is just
a beginner or has only been
learning for a short amount
of time then a smaller size
piano like the 108cm or
112cm will be fine. If the
player is a serious student,
teacher or a person that has
been playing for sometime,
then a 121cm or larger would
be required, maybe a grand
piano. The reason for this
is that the player has
experience and performance
ability and would be looking
for a better tone and
resonance in the piano which
they are playing or
practicing on.
New or 2nd hand?
I guess the short answer
to the question of 2nd hand
is…
PROCEED WITH CAUTION!
This is for several
reasons. There are a lot of
people selling 2nd hand
pianos who are making a lot
of money playing upon the
ignorance of the piano
buying public. They have
found that they can take an
old piano and clean up the
instrument, make the metal
parts shine, polish the wood
and in general tidy up the
appearance of an otherwise
useless piano and then place
a high price on the
instrument. There has always
been a sense of ‘the higher
the price the better
quality’, this is not the
case. When it comes to
second-hand pianos you need
to “do your homework”. Its
like buying a second-hand
car!! You need to get the
advise of someone in the
industry like a Qualified
Piano Tuner, or a Piano
Teacher who knows what to
look out for. One of the
pianos to try and avoid is
the “over-damper” pianos.
These usually have problems
with the damper mechanism
and have been found to be a
lot of hassle to repair by
tuners and technicians.
Be aware that there are a
lot of second-hand pianos
being imported from Asia and
you really need to “proceed
with caution” on these. You
will probably be told that
they are great pianos,
excellent condition, etc.
But, consider if they are
all that they are made out
to be, why did the Music
School, University, etc. in
Asia decide to replace these
pianos??? Also, the comment
by the salesperson, “they
have not had much use!!” is
something you need to think
about. Remember that about
75% of these pianos have
come from a Music School,
University, etc. and are
from 5 years to 20 years old
and have countless students
practicing on them for maybe
up to 14 hours a day over
every day of the year for
5-20 years. That’s a lot of
work that these pianos have
been receiving and it makes
you wonder if over this time
if they have been properly
maintained and serviced.
There are some good
models coming in to
Australia as second-hand
Imported Pianos and these
are from homes and have been
used as private pianos. When
purchasing any of these
instruments from a store or
a private piano tuner
selling these types of
pianos is to make sure that
they have some type of
warranty which include the
pin block, frame,
soundboard. The person
selling these instruments
should be able to place a 5
year warranty on the above.
Also make sure that the
piano is tuned in your home
after delivery, this is
usually done about 1 week
after delivery with a new
piano and should also be
done with a piano that is
second-hand .
Why maintain a piano?
The piano is a highly
developed and complicated
piece of equipment. It
contains about 240 different
lengths of high tensioned
wire. These lengths of wire
make up to 85 to 88 notes
spread across the music
tonal range. For each note
there exists a mechanism
which in the upright piano
contains up to 14 different
moving parts and in a grand
piano up to 22 moving parts
per note. This means that
there is around 2000 moving
parts in a piano!! Since the
piano must be maintained at
a specific tension to
achieve a good musical sound
the matter of maintenance
becomes an ongoing process.
If you play the piano
several hours a day and work
to a performance standard
you may need to have your
piano tuned frequently. This
could be mean that your
piano would need to be tuned
5-6 times a year, or more!!
A finely tuned and
functioning instrument will
make practice and
performance much easier and
encourage students to
practice more because their
instrument is performing at
its best. It will also give
you peace of mind that your
investment in the piano will
last. Having the piano
maintained will ensure that
it will always be performing
at its best and will stand
the test of time. You should
realize that a piano will
never stay in tune, no
matter what brand it is or
if it is an upright or a
grand. However, a piano that
is manufactured to a high
standard and using better
materials will stay in tune
for longer periods. Also
keep in mind that a new
piano will require several
tunings throughout the first
2 years. This is usually
every 3-4 months until the
strings and pin block have
time to ‘wear in’ and settle
down.
Does the brand name make
a difference?
The answer has changed a
great deal over the years.
Brand names do not really
make a great deal of
difference when it comes to
buying a new piano. When it
comes to buying a 2nd hand
piano which has had many
birthdays (30+), the brand
name will make a HUGE
difference in the quality of
the instrument and also the
purchase price. In regard to
new pianos most brands have
a model (usually the height
is the model number, 121cm
108cm, 115cm, etc.), and you
will find that all brand
names have a model in the
same height. The price is
usually around the same or
maybe $500.00-1000.00
difference. The difference
in price does not mean that
the more expensive one is
any better or is going to
last any longer or not less
tunings each year. Warranty
varies on new pianos from
3-5 years, to 10 years to a
Lifetime Warranty. The
longer the warranty the
better off you will be
because the manufacture is
willing to provide a
warranty like this to their
instrument, which means they
are certain that the piano
will be fault free for the
warranty period. The only
advice really when it comes
to buying a new piano is to
shop around and be sure you
purchase a well known brand
name from an authorised
piano dealer. If in doubt
talk to your piano tuner or
call the importers of the
product and talk to them.
The best advice is to… get
advice!!
Acoustic or Digital?
This is really a matter
of preference. With today's
digital pianos becoming
better and better it is very
hard to make judgment
between digital and
acoustic. I guess the best
way to work out which is
best for you is to think
like this…An acoustic piano
is essentially the same
instrument that has been
around for about 300 years.
Music was and is still
composed for the piano and
for piano performance with
orchestras, concert halls,
etc. It is a pure instrument
and always will be. The
digital piano however has a
multitude of instruments and
drum samples with disk
drives, etc. It is more like
a computer with a keyboard!!
It is an excellent
composition tool with
various voices like, piano,
strings, brass & woodwind
sounds and of course the
rhythm unit and disk drive
to save your work. You can
then transfer your work to a
computer and using MIDI
software printout your
composition as a musical
score. The digital piano is
also great for the younger
student providing all these
features to help keep their
interest in learning the
piano. So, as you can see
either acoustic or digital,
you need to work out which
is best for you and what you
see to be long-term value
for yourself and your
family. Although acoustic
pianos have been around for
300 years, the digital
models change with
technology about 12-18
months. So, the digital
piano you buy today will be
out dated usually within 1-2
years.
Conclusion...
A piano purchased today
will always be a piano.
Unlike the digital piano
where the features are
increasing and becoming more
impressive each year as
technology gets better and
better. You will not see on
an Acoustic Piano a rhythm
unit (drum machine), auto
chords, display screens like
the star ship enterprise, or
a blender or even a
milkshake maker!! The piano
is a “true” instrument that
requires dedication and
determination to master. It
takes years of lessons,
practice and a belief in
oneself of achieving an
ability to be able to
perform on such a majestic
instrument.
Before purchasing any
piano keep the following
points in mind and your
purchase should then be a
happy one!!
Best advice is to… Get
Advice!
