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 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.