Investing in a Piano? How to Choose and Not Make a Mistake
In the galaxy of popular musical instruments, the piano occupies a special place. Its classiness is considered the main indicator of the quality of the instrument. But the very concept of a grand piano class is quite complicated, and largely depends not so much on the quality of the components, but on the general professionalism during assembly.
It is the class that directly affects the sound quality of the instrument. But, no less important, when you are going to buy a piano, the value of the piano depends on the class. The higher it is, the more expensive it is. Check upright piano cost to match your budget.
How to determine the class of a piano
Whether you’re looking for a handcrafted instrument for active concerts or choosing a grand piano for home practice, you need to understand the nuances of its playing and sonic qualities. Let’s see what determines the quality of the piano.
The class of the piano is determined, depending on:
- the technology of its manufacture – the thoroughness and degree of compliance with all production rules is important;
- the design of a particular tool – how perfect, including the assembly;
- the playing characteristics of the piano – how subtle the nuance of the sound and the sensitivity of the keys are in the piano;
- piano sound – depends on the level of work carried out after assembly with acoustics.
How to choose a piano for home
If you are not looking for an instrument for work, but want to play it at home, you should pay attention to the physical characteristics of the instrument. First of all, remember that the piano must be installed in a sufficiently spacious room. Even if you choose a small instrument, its sound should fill the room without deafening the audience, while if you want your kids to also take on the piano, you could totally use kids piano lessons to help you with this goal.
Decide on the room in advance, and choose the size of the piano, based on the characteristics of the room.
- The cabinet grand piano, whose length does not exceed 160 cm, is an excellent choice for a small room.
- Grand pianos from 160 cm to 180 cm long sound good in rooms of about 40 sq.m.
- Grand pianos longer than 180 cm are suitable for larger rooms.
In addition, there are large and small concert grand pianos, from 230 cm to 230 cm long, respectively. They are not particularly suitable for playing at home, and are more commonly used in concert halls.
A few tips for choosing a piano
If you are purchasing your instrument for the first time, and you do not have the relevant experience, use a few of the tips below.
- Piano design. This is a stylish and bright instrument, so many masters create real masterpieces – not only from a musical point of view. But the truth is that the appearance, and even the details of the finish, have almost no effect on the sound of your instrument. Moreover, it is good, if they do not influence, it means that the basis is taken correctly. After all, everything, even the most luxurious instruments, are still created on one of the selected basic models.
- Hull size. Here it just affects not only where your instrument will fit or better reveal itself in all its glory of sound. The longer the body of the piano, the greater the range of its timbre, expressiveness and depth of sound will be.
- Tool class. This characteristic, with which we began our analysis, really speaks not only about the price segment of the tool, but first of all about its quality. Conventionally, all modern grand pianos can be divided into 5 main classes: low-budget, consumer, medium, high, as well as premium – it is also elite.
Finally, we should note that not only the instrument plays – the musician plays. On the one hand, if you want to achieve great sounding, you should not rely too much on a low-budget instrument, on the other hand, an elite grand piano requires an elite skill from the musician. This means: always choose an instrument not only according to your financial, but also musical abilities.
Once you have purchased your piano, it is advisable to get professional piano tuning services to keep it in its perfect tune. You may also sign up for piano lessons to further develop your piano skills.