What piano to choose?

Acoustic Pianos

Acoustic pianos have a long history (the first piano was invented in Italy by around 1700).

Advantages of acoustic pianos

• Best sound. If you can afford the price, acoustic pianos are the best choice. They produce a better sound than digital pianos.
• Touch sensitivity. A player has better control of musical tones and expressions and can produce different shades of sound on the same key.
• You do not need electricity. If you lost power in your house, you could still play on your acoustic piano. In my Academy of Performing Arts in Florida, we had 10 digital pianos. Couple times we lost power, but luckily it was just for a few minutes. Otherwise, we would have to stop all piano lessons.

Disadvantages of acoustic pianos

• Acoustic pianos are expensive. The price for the new, good quality acoustic piano is quite high – $4,000 to $8,000 for the upright and $6,000 to $10,000 (and much more) for the grand piano.
• Cost of maintenance. Tuning is expensive too – at least $150 for each visit by a professional piano tuner. The piano needs to be tuned two times a year. Besides, acoustic pianos go out of tune after you move them from one room to another or to a new house.

It is essential to keep the piano in tune all the time, especially if you buy it for your child. Child’s ears are sensitive to sound and to develop the good pitch, it is necessary that the child has a piano with correct sounds.

• Humidity and temperature levels. The ideal temperature for the acoustic piano is 72-73 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity in the piano room should be between 50% and 70%. If you want to take good care of your acoustic piano, you should use air conditioner year-round in order not to change the temperature and humidity level in the room. In Florida, the humidity in summer is a serious issue.
• Another expense – installation of the dehumidifier. I love fresh air. When it gets cooler, I keep all windows and doors open. In our house in Boca Raton, I kept my baby grand next to the big sliding doors. To protect my precious instrument from the humidity, the professional piano technician installed the dehumidifier (a long metal rod attached to the soundboard underneath the piano and connected to the power outlet by a cord). It turned on automatically when the humidity would get higher.

For installation of the dehumidifier, I paid a discounted fee of $300. It can be much more for people who are not piano teachers (piano tuners always give a discount to professional pianists in hope to get the referrals).

• Acoustic pianos are heavy. If you are moving, you have to hire 2-3 people to load your instrument on the truck. The professional piano movers know how to do it right, which means they will be more expensive. Moving a grand piano long distance could cost up to $1,000.
• Acoustic pianos are loud. Even if you use the soft pedal (the pedal on the left), the sound is loud enough to disturb the rest of your family or neighbors. It means that you have to schedule your piano practice more carefully.
• Problems with used acoustic pianos.  If you decide to buy a used acoustic piano, I strongly recommend hiring a professional piano tuner to check it out. Very often, used pianos have some serious problems which your untrained eye will not notice (for example, a tiny crack in the soundboard).

As the piano gets older, sound quality might deteriorate. The felt on hammers gets harder with time and changing felt on the hammers is an expensive job. The humid or dry air makes the wooden soundboard expand or shrink. It affects the quality of sound.

The problem with the soundboard can happen in any climate. In cold parts of the country, pianos suffer from the dry air in the winter, when the heater is turned on.

When I lived in Moscow, Russia, my piano tuner recommended putting a jar of water inside the piano. He explained that it will keep the air inside the piano moister and will protect the soundboard. I had to check the level of water every other week. I did the same when we lived in Los Angeles where we had to turn on the heater during the cold winter days. At least this kind of maintenance is free.

Top acoustic pianos to consider for buying

• Yamaha
• Kawai
• Boston
• Essex
• Schimmel
• Steinway

Digital Pianos

There was a lot of progress made in digital technology. Even 15-20 years ago digital pianos were not as advanced as today. These days the majority of digital pianos are excellent. They have weighted keys, which simulate the hammer action of the acoustic piano.

Because of this, the student builds finger strength right from the beginning. When you listen to the sound of these pianos, you can barely tell the difference.

Advantages of digital pianos

• Less expensive. Digital pianos are less costly than acoustic pianos. You can buy a good digital piano for $600 to $3,000. Some of them do cost much more, though. My digital piano had a whopping $15,000 tag. The store manager gave me a huge discount on this excellent piano because on the same day I was buying 10 digital pianos for my second location.
• No maintenance required. The digital pianos are automatically in tune, while the acoustic pianos have to be tuned every 6 months.
• Many choices. You have so many models and variations that you can find a piano which fits your taste and budget.
• Ability to produce the sound of other instruments. With the digital piano, you can create the sound of almost any musical instrument, ranging from a violin to a choir.
• Volume control. The digital piano comes with a volume knob allowing you to practice anywhere without disturbing others.
• Headphones. You can practice at any time of day or night using the headphones without disturbing your family or neighbors. One cannot do it with the acoustic piano.

When I was giving my concert-lectures at the country clubs in Palm Beach County, sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweat: I have to perform at Mar a Lago this week, and I need to practice more! (Mar a Lago is Donald Trump’s estate in Palm Beach). I could get up and practice without bothering my husband.

• Connection to a computer. A digital piano can be connected to a computer with the help of MIDI. This allows a computer to record your playing. Also, you are able to use software for composing your own music.
• Digital pianos need less space and easy to move. When we had my piano students’ recitals at my house, we moved my digital piano across the living room and put it next to the baby grand, so that we could perform music written for two pianos.

I appreciated my digital piano, even more, when we decided to move from Boca Raton to Sarasota area. I sold my baby grand before relocating to West Florida. Since my digital piano was not very heavy and easy to move, I did not pay anything extra to the moving company.

Disadvantages of digital pianos

• Sound. Digital pianos mimic the sound of acoustic pianos. The quality of sound is very close to the acoustic pianos, but still not exactly the same.
• Pedals. Not all models of digital pianos come with pedals. You have to make sure that you buy only the one that has pedals.

Top digital pianos to consider for buying

• Yamaha Arius
• Casio Privia  

Hybrid Pianos

The hybrid pianos were created just recently. They are a combination of the acoustic and digital piano. The prices are $4,500 and up.

Hybrid pianos to consider for buying

• NU1 Piano by Yamaha
• AnyTime Piano by Kawai.

Keyboards

Sometimes I get these questions from parents:

• What if my child will drop out very soon?
• Why should I spend so much money on the expensive piano?
• Can I just buy a cheap keyboard?

My usual answer: Yes, you can buy a cheap keyboard for about $150, but how good it will be for your child? If your child wants to start tennis lessons, would you use your old badminton racket to see if he likes tennis?

Problems with keyboards

• They don’t have weighted keys, which means that a student cannot develop finger strength. The keyboard will make the same sound, doesn’t matter how hard or how gently you strike the keys. You can change the volume from soft to loud only by turning a volume knob.

  Most electronic keyboards do not have the required 88 keys.

  Keyboards do not come with a stand and a bench. You will have to buy them separately.

Top electronic keyboards to consider for buying

• Yamaha PSR Series ($80-$250)
• Casio CTK Series ($80-$250

Renting a piano

If for whatever reasons you are not sure what piano to choose, you can rent it from a piano store.