Choosing Your Piano


After a few years of teaching, I began to notice a marked difference between my students who had good home practice instruments and those that don't. This page has some information to help you ensure that you're setting your piano kid up for success.




Some things to consider:
  • Quality/Playability
  • Size
  • Cost
  • Maintenance 
  • Student Interest
Quality:
The first, and most important consideration to your piano teacher, is the playability of your instrument. There are two essentials that MUST be present in any instrument if a student is to benefit from lessons.
  1. The instrument is in tune, and in good working order (pedals, dampers, and all the other movable bits function properly)
  2. The instrument has good action. This is the mechanism that translates what your fingers do into tone. Digital keyboards should have 88 weighted keys, or have an equivalent Graded Hammer Action feature. An acoustic piano should feel responsive under your fingers if you play louder or softer. If you're not sure and want to test the action you can do a coin test, ideally the downweight is about 50 grams, upweight is about 20 grams, these are ballpark figures for "normal" so using nickels (5 grams) and pennies (3 grams) you should be able to test the action.
After that, the rest can fall into place pretty easily.

Size:
If you have a small home, an upright or digital piano would be a good choice. If you have the space, a grand piano is always a great choice as they are beautiful additions to a home, they often have better action, and they sound wonderful.

Cost:
If cost is a consideration, consider a used instrument, or a digital piano. Online marketplaces often have pianos for cheap or free as long as you can find one in decent shape. 

Maintenance:
Is really only a consideration with acoustic pianos, as they require annual tuning. Tuners tend to charge between $120-$150. This is a necessary expense, similar to getting your oil changed in your car periodically, the instrument will serve you much better over a longer time if you care for it. Your student will also benefit from the consistent tuning. Other considerations are piano repair, which runs about $70-$90/hour, and is only necessary if something breaks. And pianos can be damaged when moved, so a piano mover should be used if you move house or purchase a piano and need it moved in. Usually another $100-$200 depending on the distance moved.

Student Interest: 
If you are not sure of your student's long term interest, in my studio it is ok to start with what you can find, and know that an upgrade may be best if they take to it. 

Happy piano hunting!