Looking for some assistance. My youngest daughter is on level 6 piano and her tutor has said the piano we have is not suitable for her any longer. I bought it about 20 years ago for £250 and it has served us well. I know absolutely nothing about pianos. My questions and any other advice welcomed please: - Roughly how much should I pay for new or second hand? - What is better bet, new or second hand? - What are the best makes to go for? - What do I need to ask when viewing? - Can I PX mine - I got a bargain I was told, think it should have been closer to £1500 - Any recommended dealers in south east? - I assume that you can haggle with dealers? What sort of discount should I start at? - Whta have I missed? Obviously I will take my daughter along to play / test drive any instrument. Thanks for any help. Richard PS - I dont mind a Yamaha but would have to paint it red!
Steinway grand is your only option We have a Yamaha Clavinova but my daughter is just a beginner so not really sure that helps
Thanks Harry, might need to extend to fit the grand in......do you want to buy my old piano - £500 to you Cheers - I see they have just sold an upright Steinway. I only know Steinway and Yamaha brands!! Are they helpful at this shop? I need advice rather than where to buy.....
I thought I might be able to help but bit too specialist for me, a bit of a minefield. What was the reason that tutor gave for needing piano replaced and did they have any suggestions? If it's piano action too heavy etc then that could be on the tick list when trying out new ones.
Her reason was that the current piano is more of a beginners one. It does go out of tune fairly quickly (apparently, I'm tone deaf) and a couple of keys stick on occasion. the tuner has fixed the keys and we have been told to piut a bowl of water in the case to ensure it does not dry out? Re advice, she was not very helpful - shop around type of advice and also she is very good at spending my money - I was thinking a few grand by the tutor is talking double that and some...... So, I feel totally lost and don't want to spend that kind of money when i know nothing about the subject. Fear fo getting ripped off I suspect...... Thanks, Richard
as above, i'd be asking the tutor what he/she advisers, then look for something suitable in that budget.
Pianists differ from the other guys in the band/orchestra insomuch as they don’t usually take their own instrument to the concert hall. What type of piano are the better and OK concert halls using? https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/concert-promoter-information/resident-piano-and-instrument-hire https://www.royalalberthall.com/abo...he-big-red-has-come-to-the-royal-albert-hall/
https://www.jhs.co.uk/hands-music-centre/ or https://www.yamahamusiclondon.com/Digital-Pianos/Clavinova-Digital-Pianos/ This is our recommendation. Many years ago when I was dating my first (current) wife I made a promise and said if she passes her Masters in Music analysis I'd buy her a piano. Well she passed top of her class (she's played first violin, Cello and Piano in a few orchestras) so a trip to Hands Music was required..... we ended up with a beautiful Yamaha, based on a Steinway. 20 years have passed and she plays at least 2 hours a day and used to play a lot more. It's never failed and is in perfect tune and balance. From memory it was about £6K, but they seemed to have dropped in price. Either store will sort you out. We've also a Young Chang Baby Grand Piano..... ... taking up valuable motorcycle space.
This nearly stopped me from posting. .. it made me spit out my limoncello dessert into my cappuccino mousse
The weight, feedback and feel of the keys and the pedals is instrumental for good practice, especially when learning...... so I've been told.... I can't even play the spoons. . Fin, I've heard a good few spanner monkeys are good on the fiddle
not to be ruled out, more and more manufacturers are producing dual-function instruments that accommodate the weight and action of piano keys. I can understand a pupil intent on serious piano advancement would just stick purely to pianos though.
yip, horses for courses i guess. its a lot easier to fling the keyboard in the car to the gigs she does rather than hiring a van and expecting her old man to cart it about.
Likes, thanks and love to all, especially the Waitrose contingent (we're more F & M personally ) for your advice and suggestions. Certainly getting some food for thought and I think its probably time to engage in a few visits to piano emporiums to ask some daft questions. I will do this with out the current wife. I now have somewhere to start at least. Cheers, Richard
I am not a piano expert, but I am a professional sound engineer and musician. Level 6 piano? Do you mean grade 6 piano? That is a reasonable level, but nothing special, unless your daughter is under 10. Grade 8 is really the starting point from where you would then go to college/university and study music. I have had similar discussions with parents and tutors about numerous other instruments. The general consensus tends to be that a player really ought to have a good semi professional instrument set up by the time they reach grade 8 and are thinking of going to college/university to study music. At that time it is usually a worthwhile investment. If your daughter is going to college/university to study music then she will have access to good real pianos for a lot of practice, but I would suggest that she has an 88 key fully weighted keyboard of her own for practice and composition work. The in-built sounds may not be the most realistic, but are good enough for practice. Connected to a computer and with decent software you can get a piano that sounds far better than anything you are ever likely to play and you can tweak the sounds to perfectly suit the piece you are playing. Pianoteq is my favourite synthesised piano and Native Instruments Grandeur my favourite sampled piano. A good £600-£800 digital piano should have a similar feel from the keys as a real piano. Exactly how you want them to feel is a matter of personal preference and each of the manufacturers tends to have a particular feel to their keys. As for the pedals various manufacturers make very realistic feeling and sounding triple pedals for digital pianos. Again personal preference will play a big part in choosing the most suitable. If you really must have a real piano then I would suggest that you would need to spend at least £5000 on a baby grand to get something that sounds good. That is not based on my personal experience, but is the opinion that I have seen voiced by several professional pianists whose opinions I trust in forum discussions about pianos.
Modern electric piano's (not keyboards) simulate the size and weighting of a normal piano keys and peddles, old piano's are like motorbike flat tankers - we have been advised to go for an Electric Yamaha by the daughters tutor at Základní umělecká škola Kroměříž much cheaper than that old outdated crap too
