The trusty old piano has graced many a living room in this world.
But if you're looking to play the piano what instrument should you buy? Piano Prices Pianos come in a few different shapes and sizes.
The two most common sizes are the Upright Piano and the Grand Piano.
- Upright Pianos start around $3000 (£1500) and go up to $20,000 (£10,000) - Mini-Grand Pianos start at around $10,000 (£5,000) and go up to $30,000 (£15,000) - Grand Pianos start around $50,000 (£25,000) and go up to $150,000 (£75,000) But don't worry you don't have to be a millionaire to own a piano.
Because pianos are made of wood with an iron frame they last for a long time, so there's a healthy supply of secondhand pianos on the market.
They start from around $1000 (£500) for a good example up into the thousands for bigger and better makes.
Click Here for a Comprehensive List of Pianos Digital Pianos How do you get the sound of a grand piano when you only have a small space in which to put one?...
Get a digital piano! Now I'm a professional musician and although I'm not the world's greatest pianist I do enjoy playing the piano.
I bought a Technics digital piano eight years ago and I've been really happy with it.
The great points about a digital piano are: 1.
It never goes out of tune (One of the MAJOR considerations for me as I'm very sensitive to incorrect pitch).
2.
It doesn't take up as much space.
3.
You can plug in headphones and play all night if you want.
4.
You often get other sounds as well, making the piano even more versatile.
(my favourite is the organ sound so you can pretend you're in a big church playing at full volume!) 5.
You don't have to worry about humidity or temperature changes.
6.
Because the piano is smaller and weighs less you can actually transport it to another house without having to hire professional piano movers.
7.
The cost of a good digital piano is around £1000: considerably cheaper than a good upright piano.
Now the piano purists out there would say that: 1.
The feel of a digital piano is not the same as a real piano.
I agree but the digital piano manufacturers are improving this all the time and it's really pretty good.
2.
The sound isn't as good as a real piano.
Again this is being improved all the time.
Go try one today and you will see what I mean.
If you have the money then you should try the Yamaha AvantGrand (http://www.
avant-grand.
com) Personally I think the pluses out weigh the minuses.
But like most things in life it's a subjective decision that you need to make, based on your budget, the space you have available and how much you like having a Beautiful piece of furniture in the room.
Maintenance Obviously if you have a digital piano then no maintenance is needed apart from the odd clean with a duster and a damp cloth (to remove those sticky finger marks!) But a traditional piano will need TUNING! How often should you tune your piano? Actually you shouldn't wait until it is painful to listen to.
Regular tuning will keep the piano in better condition and will be more pleasurable to the ear! Every six months to a year is advisable.
Any longer than that and it will need more work to get the piano back up to pitch.
If your home varies in heat and humidity throughout the year(whose doesn't?) then you may need to tune the piano more often.
If you move the piano then let it settle before tuning.
How much will it cost? A qualified tuner will probably charge around $100-$150 for a basic tuning of your piano.