Choosing A Piano
Do I have to be a certain age to learn to play the piano?
The age to start playing the piano varies, but for the most part, it's accepted around six years old is about the right age. The reason for this age is that to sit and focus on one thing for about thirty minutes at time is what a teacher would expect from their student. Usually, children of ages lower than six really can't do that. However, some children do start as early as two on the piano, and it depends on how their musical aptitude is, but some of them really excel and some of them move on to other instruments. There are classes that involve playing the piano that are targeted to children pre-six years old that don't even focus on the technique of playing the piano. They just focus on being musical, creating rhythms on the piano or just listening to individual sounds just to spur the kids' imagination just so that when it comes time to really focus on playing the piano, they're a little bit of a better candidate and a better student.
Is a new piano better than a used piano?
Whether it is better to buy a new piano or a used piano is an interesting question, because it takes into consideration a lot of variables about the buyer. If the person's budget doesn't afford what they want new, but they want a very specific brand and model, then they have no choice but to look for a used piano because you can't have the new thing for less than what the new thing will go for. However, there are advantages to buying used pianos that supersede that. For example, you can get a piano that is no longer available. A brand, or a model, or a style . New pianos, in general, are better instruments than used pianos. The newer a piano is the better it's going to sound, and the better it's going to be able to be regulated and voiced and tuned. Generally, newer pianos are thought of as better instruments than used pianos, which is contrary to what a lot of myths believe. These myths exist because of the violin and the guitar, where a lot of times older vintages of those instruments are better. The same is not true for a piano. A piano is a tension based system, where the strings exerting all the force on the plate and the sound board lose tension over time, and therefore they lose resonance and the piano loses tone. The newer the piano, the better. However, if you're going to buy a used piano there are a lot of other factors to consider as far as your budget size and the brand that you want is concerned.
Are there pianos that are less maintenance than others?
There are pianos that you can purchase that are less maintenance and those are digital pianos. In terms of acoustic pianos, all acoustic pianos are going to require, for most people, the same amount of maintenance. The typical maintenance on an acoustic piano is tuning it twice per year or, at the minimum, once a year, with the occasional action regulation which involves making sure that the action is performing efficiently and relieving any tension that might have occurred from moisture gain or loss of the system.
How would I go about purchasing a piano if I know nothing about the instrument?
If you came to me with absolutely no knowledge on how to buy a piano, I would firstly try to identify what your needs were. What's the space like that you're going to put the piano into? How often are you going to play it? Who's going to be using the piano in your home? And what do you want it to look like? Once you have those questions answered, then we can figure out what the right type of piano is for you. Whether it's an upright or a baby grand, if it's black or if it's white, and if it needs to have this particular type of sound. And from there, we can decide what the appropriate brand is, what the appropriate price range is and from that point we can decide whether you're good candidate for a used piano or a new piano.
How important is the size of the piano I purchase?
How important the size of the piano is a question of your space, how much time you want to have on the piano and what your musical tastes are for sound. The bigger the piano, the more resonant. You're going to have more projection of sound. You're going to have more tonal capabilities as far as soft to loud, but also from soft to loud you get changes in tone. A lot of music requires that you get that expressive tone. Smaller pianos are generally not going to provide as much of a satisfying playing experience as a bigger piano. Generally what you want to do is select a piano that is the biggest that you think you can fit without compromising your space or your budget.
How do I know if you I'm getting a good deal when it comes to the cost of a piano?
The way that you know you're getting a good deal on a piano is by finding out what level, first of all, does your piano identify? The way that you figure that out is researching the kind of piano you're buying. Are you buying a piano that is an entry-level piano, or a mid-level piano? Ways to research your piano include calling competing dealerships and asking them what they think about the piano, looking up the piano on the Internet, and seeing what you can find about that. There's a book called “Larry Fine's Piano Book'” which is an excellent resource for all the pianos out there that are available today, and it's an unbiased source.
