Usually, once a student has decided that playing the piano is something they want to continue doing, buying a piano is next on the to-do list. A question I get asked a lot is “what piano should I go for?” This is a tricky question as it depends on what the student’s requirements are. Read on for some help on this decision!
Digital or Acoustic?
The short answer I would give to most of my students is that if you have the space for an acoustic then go for an acoustic. Playing an acoustic piano is much better for your technique than a digital or electronic piano, the resale value is higher and they are usually more pleasing to the ear overall.
Of course there are caveats to this answer though. If a student doesn’t have space for an acoustic or it is impossible to get a piano in to where they live (an apartment with no lift and many stairs for example) then a digital may be their only option. There are also a lot of bad pianos out there which usually go for free or very cheap on second-hand sites. I would recommend going for a good digital in favour of a bad piano any day.
Bad and Good Acoustics
But what do I mean by a “bad” piano? Pianos are a little bit like cars because when you buy a piano you want to know that it’s been looked after in the past just like you’d want to know how many miles, what kind of miles and the service history of a car. Things to look out for in a piano’s history can be.
- Has it been tuned and maintained on an annual basis? Piano tuners will often leave a sticker inside the piano with the dates of when it has been tuned.
- Does it show any signs of damp on the inside?
- Is all the felt in tact on the hammers inside?
- Are all the strings in tact or showing signs of rust?
- Has it been kept in a temperate environment? Humidity, damp and fluctuating temperatures all damage a piano over time.
Often when buying second-hand, employing a piano tuner to inspect the piano before you buy it is the best way of knowing you are buying a quality instrument.
New or Second Hand?
Digital pianos’ technology often goes out of date quite quickly and parts of the inner mechanisms can be damaged over time. For this reason, unless the instrument has been released in the past 2/3 years I’d usually recommend buying a new digital from a reputable brand such as Roland, Yamaha, Korg or Kawai whilst avoiding “own brand” keyboards such as those made by Gear4Music.
With acoustics, however, you usually get better value for money by buying second-hand provided the instrument is good quality. If a piano is well looked after during its lifetime then it can last in excess of 100 years. There is no harm in buying from new but doing so is usually, in my opinion, to spend extra money for very little benefit.
Try Before You Buy!
Every acoustic piano is unique even when bought from new. When buying any kind of piano (or even a digital piano) there is a strong element of personal preference so it is important you find the right piano for you.
You can read loads of information about a piano online but nothing beats laying your fingers on the piano itself or, if you’re a total beginner, having the salesperson play you the piano in the shop so you can hear it first-hand. Buying blind online almost always leads to disappointment.
What Brand?
The golden rule of buying a piano is that if you like the sound and feel of a piano then it doesn’t matter what it sounds like. That being said here’s a far from exhaustive list of piano brands. Again, remember what we talked about in terms of a piano’s history! A premium piano may have been ruined by poor maintenance over the course of its lifetime.
It should also be considered that every brand has several different models of upright and grand pianos so this should only be used as a rough guide.
Premium Brands
- Steinway
- Bluthner
- Bechstein
- Fazioli
- Bosendorfer
Quality Brands
- Yamaha
- Kawai
- Reid-Sohn
- Boston
- Essex
Budget Brands
- Zender
- Young Chan
- Bentley
- Chappell
It should also be noted that there exist stereotypes for every piano brand but, in my experience, these should be largely ignored due to the principle that every piano is unique. For example, Yamahas are often thought to be quite bright sounding whereas Kawai are considered to make mellow pianos. I’ve found too many exceptions to this stereotype for it to really be considered a rule and personally own a Yamaha piano that has a fairly mellow sound.
Where To Buy?
For digitals I would recommend the retailer PMT who have stores in most major cities including Leeds and Manchester. I recommend them purely because they have the largest selection of digital pianos that you can actually try out on the shop floor and their prices are competitive starting from £350 to the £5000 mark.
If you’re looking for an acoustic retailer in the North then the place to go is GSG Pianos. They have the largest selection of acoustics you can try in Yorkshire including many second-hand pianos. All the staff that work there are highly experienced tuners and technicians who can tell you the history of every piano and will happily take the piano apart in front of you so you can see the condition from the inside out. Put simply, they don’t sell bad pianos and will help you find the right piano for your budget ranging in price from £500 to the tens of thousands.