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Hi All! I'm 53, took piano lessons for a couple years as a kid, got sick of it, took up the guitar and wish I had stuck with piano lessons . . .

My big question is, how do I choose a piano when I don't yet play (again) and I'm not terribly knowledgeable about pianos, especially used pianos, which is the sort I expect to be shopping among? It'll need to be an upright, and won't be a Steinway. Could be a Yamaha, but might be a Young Chang, Kawai, etc., etc, etc . . . I don't even know how much I'd be giving up going with a spinet or console in terms of learning and playability.

I had an easier time buying a cello for my wife's 50th birthday starting with no knowledge! (That has turned out extraordinarily well! I hope to be able to play alongside her sooner or later. She began last May.)

Any suggestions, experiences you'd care to share?

Thanks!

you might want to post this in 'Piano Forum', where piano experts, salesmen and owners alway go.

But never agree...:lol:

Hi Dave,

My first piece of advice is to come up with something, anything that you can play, no matter how badly, preferably something that extends into the lower bass and higher treble range. I had an elementary piece called The Toccatina Twister when I went piano shopping. It was mostly HS, but I had it memorized and could play it reasonably accurately, and it gave me something I could play on every piano I sat down at so that I could contrast and compare. You can also use scales, of course.

My second piece of advice is, by all means ask for advice and read The Piano Book, but always remember that at the end of the day this piano is for you, not anyone else. What matters is whether you like its tone and touch.

And my final piece of advice is, forget about whether people are listening to you and have a ball at all those piano stores. Don't overlook places like Steinway dealers - they often have used uprights that people have traded in to buy their grands.

As far as giving up playability is concerned, I refer you to this thread I posted a while back: Dream piano?

Have fun, and let us know what you choose.

Dave:

Welcome to the group. A number of people here seem to go between piano and guitar (me included), and I think that is a very good thing.

Anyway, I don't own an acoustic myself, but I know enough people who do, to advise that it would be really helpful to take somebody knowledgeable about pianos along. A person can play well but not really know about pianos in terms of finding hidden problems.

As an example, there used to be a large liquidator store near where I live. At one time, they had their entire upper floor stocked with "new" pianos that had been stored in a warehouse that they must have gotten a bulk deal on, because the prices were quite good. These were all manner of name brand uprights. I was thinking that maybe this would be a good thing to look into. I had looked at and played some of these and they seemed fine to me.

But then I asked a friend who teaches piano and for whom the piano has been at the center of her life since she was a little kid. She said these pianos had warped and cracked soundboards and she listed off a whole list of other problems. That was when I realized that I knew nothing about acoustic pianos at all.

In another case, a co-worker decided to buy the Yamaha grand piano for his daughter who was doing quite well with her piano lessons. A family down the street was moving and did not want to take it with them, so they offered it to him at an unbelievable price. He asked me about it, and I suggested Larry Fine's "Piano Book". He read it and then asked his piano tuner to look over the piano. The guy gave it the "thumbs up", and the co-worker bought it. He still has it and has never had any problems with it. Reading Fine's book gave the co-worker the sense of what an acoustic piano is and some sense of what the piano tuner was talking about, so he had some confidence that comes with at least understanding what is going on.

Tony

Thanks, all. I've moved the question over to the piano forum, will be getting Larry Fine's book tomorrow and expect to start auditioning pianos this coming weekend.

Wish me luck!