How to pick your first piano?
- Fiona Zhang
- Oct 5, 2020
- 5 min read
Buying a new piano can be either be easy and exciting or frustrating and a real headache. So, I have put together this article to list a few things you need to know as you purchase your new piano.
There are a wide variety of pianos out there, and it can be confusing as to know what to look for. The first two decisions or steps you need to make is deciding whether you want an acoustic piano or a digital piano and how much you want to spend on a piano.
Acoustic pianos have two main types of pianos; an upright piano and a grand piano. The price of an upright piano can begin around $4,500 and up. A grand piano can start at around $10,000 and go up.
If an acoustic piano is too pricy, your other option would be electronic digital pianos. The price range for a good quality digital piano that can last till around late-intermediate levels would start around $800 and up.
Acoustic Pianos
When buying an acoustic piano, there are a few things to look out for.
1. The sound of the piano
All acoustic pianos have a different kind of sound texture to it. The sound preference is up to you. There are some pianos that have a brighter tone, or more of a mellow tone, if the tone doesn’t matter to you, than typically any acoustic piano will be fine. If the tone and sound does matter, pick a tone that you prefer and the tone should sound full and round.
When playing on the acoustic piano, you are looking for a consistency in the sound of every piano key. Press each key on the piano with the same weight and listen to see if there is any differences of volume between the notes.
Also, look at the keys to see if there are any damages or cracks. The surface of the keys should be smooth and have not damages. Also test the amount of strength you need to use to press the keys down. If the keys are easy to press down (as if you are typing on a computer) than the piano keys do not have enough resistance to build up finger strength and proper techniques.
2. The location of where you will be placing the piano
Make sure to get the exact dimensions of the piano and of the area that you plan to put the piano. This will help ensure that you do not overestimate or underestimate the space that you have designated for the piano. Also make sure to measure out the doorways, and hallway areas to make sure that the piano has enough room to turn in those areas if needed.
The placement of the piano is also very important as pianos are very sensitive to temperature changes. These temperature changes can affect the piano and may also cause damages to the piano. Ideally you would want to place the piano along an inner wall of the home and keep the temperature at around 20 degree Celsius with a humidity between 45%-70%.
3. Some reliable Brands:
As there are many brands of pianos to pick from, here are some of the few brands that I find are reliable and have pretty decent quality pianos.
a. Yamaha
b. Kawai
c. Steinway & Sons
d. C. Bechstein
Digital/Electronic Pianos
When buying an electronic/digital piano, here are some tips to look for.
1. The sound of the piano
When playing the keys of the digital piano, you don’t want the piano to sound like it is a digital piano. The sound that is produced should sound similar to the same type of sound an acoustic piano gives off. It should sound warm, round and full. It should mimic an acoustic piano as closely as possible. That by itself is already a good digital piano.
2. The number of keys and types of keys
There are many opinions as to how many keys a digital piano is needed to learn on, preferably look into a full-sized digital piano that has the full 88 keys. As, the student progresses and becomes more advanced, the piano also needs to match their growth and having a full 88 key digital piano will be much more beneficial.
Another thing that needs to be checked when buying a digital piano is the type of key action the piano has. You want to look for hammer action, weighted keys on the digital piano. This helps the student build finger strength and proper techniques needed to when they switch over to an acoustic piano. The weighted hammer action keys mimics the same type of resistance an acoustic piano has. So, when the student becomes more advanced and needs to switch over to an acoustic piano, they will have an easier time adjusting to the acoustic piano.
Last thing to also look for the piano keys is the touch sensitivity, which is how responsive the piano keys are. Where playing with different amount of strengths on the key will produce different amount of volume in the sound. This helps the student to develop and understanding of dynamics and allows the student to become more expressive in their music.
3. Polyphony
Polyphony is talking about the maximum number of sound the piano can produce at any time/all at once before cutting off some sounds to add new sounds that are being played. For beginners you would need a 32-note polyphony (meaning that 32 notes can be played all at once). Intermediate players would need a 64-note polyphony (meaning 64 notes can be played all at once), and an advanced player would need about 128-note polyphonic piano.
The best option would be to purchase a piano that has the 128-note polyphony or higher, that way the digital piano can last longer as the student becomes more advanced.
4. Accessories
Depending on the music store that you purchase the piano at, sometimes they will bundle the accessories with the digital piano. Often times, they will have you purchase the accessories separately. I cannot stress enough how important it is to purchase these accessories! The main accessories that you should and must purchase along with the piano are these things: piano stand (adjustable or Wooden stand), Pedal (this can be purchased later on if needed when the student becomes more advanced), Bench and Stand (music stand).
It may be a bit of an extra cost, but it will help the student to learn proper sitting and playing techniques at the piano. As well as the student will have a lesser chance of seriously injuring their wrists and hands in the long run.
5. Brands
As there are also many digital brands out there, here are some of the few that I find that are reliable and offer decent quality pianos.
a. Yamaha
b. Casio
c. Roland
d. Korg
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