Buying A Piano...

For most people, buying a piano is a difficult process, mainly because relatively little information is available to consumers. Add to that, the visceral emotional appeal of pianos sometimes trumps good judgement when buying one. When someone requests advice about buying a piano I first make two recommendations:

1. Don't be in a hurry. 2. Buy THE PIANO BOOK by Larry Fine.

I have absolutely no interest in promoting this book other than the interest of my customers. Larry has produced the most comprehensive and independent advice available for the piano buyer. His book clearly shows, in a non-technical way, how pianos work. He explains what to look for, what to walk away from and when to call in a technician to do a professional evaluation. Also, on the website for the PIANO TECHNICIANS GUILD, you will find good consumer information. In the middle of the home page, click on "Piano Infor & Resources" That will provide a link for "Buying a Piano" and other useful information. For the PTG site, just click on the link on the right side of this page.

With that said, I'll add the following recommendations:

1. Consider the needs of the pianist. Is this for a beginner, intermediate or advanced player? An advanced pianist will be held back by a spinet or other piano that cannot respond to nuance. A five year old beginner lacking nuance won't necessarily benefit from a finely regulated Steinway concert grand. And yet, even the five year old deserves an instrument capable of being musical so as to not discourage whatever potential may exist in the young musician. 2. Determine your budget. You may rethink this as your search progresses. Available pianos may range from "free" to tens of thousands of dollars, but your financial constraints will practically influence what type of piano you buy. A console in good condition and a grand piano in need of rebuilding may cost the same up front. But if you're not able to afford the cost of rebuilding the grand, you're much better off with the console. When considering your budget, remember to consider the cost of moving and of any repairs that the piano may need. A "free" piano is rarely free. Pianos are expensive to move professionally and most free pianos require repairs as well as tuning, so resist the temptation to accept such an offer until you've had the piano professionally evaluated and know what your real costs are. 3. Be aware that grands are not always "grand". Many people romanticize grand pianos. But please remember that the shape of a piano doesn't determine its quality. Acoustically, many uprights are equal to or even superior to many grands. Scale design is at the heart of a piano's acoustic quality. Scale design is the pattern of strings that determines their lengths and thicknesses as constrained by the size of the cabinet. Everything else being equal, the larger the piano, the longer the strings in the bass and tenor sections, the better the scale design, the better the quality of sound. In an upright, the full height of the instrument accommodates the acoustics. In a grand, the first 16 inches or so at the front of the piano are occupied by the action mechanism. Consequently, a five foot grand, in many cases, may only be the acoustic equivalent of a small upright. The real advantage of a grand piano over an upright exists in its action and only if the grand is well designed and in good regulation. A grand action contains a "repetition lever" which allows a pianist to repeat a note with subtler finger movements and produce a more nuanced touch than is possible with most upright actions. This is where the real benefit of a grand piano lies. Grands have more complicated mechanisms than uprights and are more expensive to build, so if your needs are more modest than that of a highly advanced player and you don't have unlimited finances, you would do well to purchase a good quality upright rather than a grand of mediocre quality or in poor condition. 4. Look at as many available pianos as you can and be patient. The more time that you allow yourself to shop, the more likely that you will make a good decision in the end. When you have found a piano that you think has real potential, call upon a professional technician for an evaluation. Don't rely solely upon the opinion of a pianist or piano teacher. A musician's opinion is certainly valuable in some regards, but only a technician is trained to evaluate a piano's condition and potential. I've seen many unfortunate purchases made upon the well intentioned recommendations of pianists. When I do an evaluation, I provide you with a printed estimate of any work that the piano needs, so you're unlikely to have any unhappy surprises once you buy the piano. And if the piano requires significant repairs but has real potential to be good, the estimate can give you some leverage in negotiating your purchase price. For information on the cost of evaluations, see "My Rates" page.