Piano buyers guide
When buying a piano, try and avoid adverts that claims that a piano is suitable for a beginner or just needs a tune, it usually means it is past its best and worth avoiding.
If you don't know what you are looking for, then take someone with you who does, most piano tuners are willing to inspect a piano for a small charge.
The first thing to consider is whether to buy an acoustic piano or a digital piano. There are benefits to both and there are things to consider when choosing.
When making the choice between acoustic and digital, you should first look at your home and consider what is most suitable. For instance, if you live in a flat or small house you should consider the logistics of getting an acoustic piano in your home. Ask yourself, how often will you be able to practise in your home? Do you need to be sensitive to your fellow housemates and neighbours? If so, you should perhaps consider digital so you can use earphones and practise as much as you like without disturbing anyone.
Acoustic pianos
The benefits
There are many reasons for choosing an acoustic piano. Firstly, you are playing a real living, breathing instrument that sounds and responds in the way that only an acoustic piano can. There are plenty of pre owned acoustic pianos on the market to choose from. An acoustic piano is also a sound investment, providing they are maintained an acoustic piano will usually outlive the player.
The downsides
Despite the fact that there are lots of pianos on the second hand market, finding a good one amongst the rubbish is not always easy.
You should also be prepared to keep it well maintained, ideally a piano should be tuned every 6 months.
Digital pianos
The benefits
Whilst a digital piano is unlikely to be as good as a real acoustic piano in our lifetime, they do have some benefits that we can't ignore.
Digital pianos are considerably lighter than an acoustic piano and much easier to transport. A digital piano requires very little in the way of maintenance and do not require tuning. Because a digital piano has a volume control as well as an earphone socket, you can play whenever you like for as long as you like without disturbing anyone.
The downsides
Digital pianos are very realistic these days both in the way that they sound and feel. However, they are still have along way to go before you could consider owning a digital piano long term over an acoustic piano. An experienced pianist should be able to cope with a digital piano without any problems because they will have learnt what limitations a digital piano has, but a student won't be able to appreciate this unless they have trained on a real acoustic piano.
Acoustic pianos, things to look out for.
One of the first things to check is how the piano is strung. If it is overstrung then it is worth taking a close look at. If it is Straight strung and over damped you should just walk away. Straight strung pianos generally don't have a good tone, they are difficult to keep in tune and the action of the keys is heavy and relatively unresponsive.
Below are two pictures that show the differences between over strung and straight strung pianos.
If you don't know what you are looking for, then take someone with you who does, most piano tuners are willing to inspect a piano for a small charge.
The first thing to consider is whether to buy an acoustic piano or a digital piano. There are benefits to both and there are things to consider when choosing.
When making the choice between acoustic and digital, you should first look at your home and consider what is most suitable. For instance, if you live in a flat or small house you should consider the logistics of getting an acoustic piano in your home. Ask yourself, how often will you be able to practise in your home? Do you need to be sensitive to your fellow housemates and neighbours? If so, you should perhaps consider digital so you can use earphones and practise as much as you like without disturbing anyone.
Acoustic pianos
The benefits
There are many reasons for choosing an acoustic piano. Firstly, you are playing a real living, breathing instrument that sounds and responds in the way that only an acoustic piano can. There are plenty of pre owned acoustic pianos on the market to choose from. An acoustic piano is also a sound investment, providing they are maintained an acoustic piano will usually outlive the player.
The downsides
Despite the fact that there are lots of pianos on the second hand market, finding a good one amongst the rubbish is not always easy.
You should also be prepared to keep it well maintained, ideally a piano should be tuned every 6 months.
Digital pianos
The benefits
Whilst a digital piano is unlikely to be as good as a real acoustic piano in our lifetime, they do have some benefits that we can't ignore.
Digital pianos are considerably lighter than an acoustic piano and much easier to transport. A digital piano requires very little in the way of maintenance and do not require tuning. Because a digital piano has a volume control as well as an earphone socket, you can play whenever you like for as long as you like without disturbing anyone.
The downsides
Digital pianos are very realistic these days both in the way that they sound and feel. However, they are still have along way to go before you could consider owning a digital piano long term over an acoustic piano. An experienced pianist should be able to cope with a digital piano without any problems because they will have learnt what limitations a digital piano has, but a student won't be able to appreciate this unless they have trained on a real acoustic piano.
Acoustic pianos, things to look out for.
One of the first things to check is how the piano is strung. If it is overstrung then it is worth taking a close look at. If it is Straight strung and over damped you should just walk away. Straight strung pianos generally don't have a good tone, they are difficult to keep in tune and the action of the keys is heavy and relatively unresponsive.
Below are two pictures that show the differences between over strung and straight strung pianos.
Overstrung
As its name suggests, an over strung piano has some strings overlapping others. The bass strings are at a different angle to the rest. The other difference is that the hammers that strike the strings are lined up above the dampers.
Straightstrung
A straight strung piano has all the strings in line with one another. They typically have dampers operated by pushrods which cause the action to be heavy and inefficient.
Sound Board
The soundboard is a very important part of the piano, it is this that allows a piano to project its sound. The sound board can be found on the back of the piano and you should inspect it and make sure it is free from cracks or damage.
Dampers
The dampers are responsible for muting the sound of a note when the key is released. These dampers can become worn and hardened, when this happens notes can continue to sound or ring after the keys are released.
Worn Pins
Make sure that you play every note to check that the tuning is consistent. If a note or group of notes are further out of tune than the others, check the tightness of the pins. If they are not as tight as the rest this might suggest the board is cracked and this can be very expensive to repair. WIthout a repair these notes will be impossible to tune and therefore the piano is beyond economical repair.