Thanks, Chris, you're obviously all over this stuff.

-Tom (wondering what liquid mercury strings might sound like)

I totally agree with you that the people on PW are are great bunch and ever helpful. I have nothing but praise for them.

However, I suspect that many people contributing to this thread are basing their views on their own experience of the instrument they know best, i.e. either a DP or an acoustic, rather than having an overview of how each affects the development of someone learning the piano. Therefore I'm not sure how far those views, though well meaning, are of help. [Edited]

One of the teachers who regularly posts here, and seems very good, once said that those of his students who had grand pianos progressed quicker than those who had uprights and that those who had DPs progressed slowest of all. Now, I feel that there are probably socio-economic factors that come into play (i.e. those whose parents have grand pianos are more likely play themselves and the pupils will be in an environment conducive to learning an instrument). However, it is still a very interesting observation from someone who is knowledgeable.

Interesting indeed. My anthropologist wife is always reminding me of the fact that environmental factors can be a huge contributor to many traits that are often assumed to be innate. More individually, I think there can be the feeling of wanting to spend more time playing an instrument one has more respect for, or even wanting to spend more time playing an instrument ones friends have more respect for, as in the OP's case. I don't see anything wrong with that (assuming they really are friends and not just the Joneses). In fact, I think it's on the plus side. I don't want this to sound like advice (my playing career is 11 hours long), but his question seemed like a no-brainer to me. He wants something, his finances are in order, why not?

-Tom

John, I agree wholeheartedly. I’d like to point out still though, with any question, we look for helpful information.

Some of us, myself included, aren’t suited to provide insights on the acoustic end. Others, like the OP friends, are probably not well versed in DPs and so their views are strictly acoustic. These views are one sided but not necessarily unhelpful.

If we are not talking 20-30 years down the road but rather now, today, then there’s no digital out there that can rival a grand.

Hence any teacher will want us to train on a grand. It’s good for me, you, everyone. This doesn’t mean we can’t progress on a good digital though. All it means is, with the same effort, a perfectly tuned grand will do you better than a digital. No arguments here.

Then there’s this but… but this, but that etc… The “but” indicates that the OP likes a grand, can afford a grand, but wonder if it’s absolutely necessary now and if he will hinder his/her progress? I doubt it.

Then again, if the OP, me, you, any of us wants to go beyond self-enjoyment, beyond family & friend entertainments into the professional arena, then he/she has no choice but the best grand plus the best digital and the best school with the best teachers out there. If one can’t afford and not that serious, then one asks for suggestions, take notes of what’s best, and compromise.

To the OP, take a tour at one of our teachers, RachelJ’s website,

http://fundamentalkeys.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2

Here's a quote from her site in case you don't have time to take a visit. It's the Yamaha P-85 she's talking about. "This keyboard is so good that I feel it can do as a primary instrument for at least 5 years of piano study and as a secondary instrument indefinitely."

I think your Clavinova is way better than a decent digital. Again, have fun researching. It’s an endless endeavor.

There are considerable issues relating to owning an acoustic piano.
It weighs a ton, and you'll need movers just to get it into, or out of, your
house--if you ever want to sell it, try selling something that
the buyer has to hire a mover, at ~$300, just to get it home.
It is loud, capable of being heard a block away, and more than
capable of driving everyone in the house, including the player
himself, nuts, if you're pounding on it for several hours every
day--there are uprights with a practice pedal that silences the
instrument, and so-called silent uprights with a digital piano
incorporated into the acoustic mechanism, but these make
no sense, in my view, because you're paying for an instrument
that you can't play normally.

It needs to be tuned at least twice a yr., at ~$90-$150 per tuning.
Repairs for sticking keys and buzzing strings are common, at
~$100 per service call.

I grew up with yrs. of classical lessons and acoustic pianos only.
I have an expensive acoustic upright in storage that I bought
for ~$6000 in the early 1980's--a similar model today would be
in the ~$20,000 price range. It remains in storage, and I play
a budget $600 digital that I bought sight-unseen online in 2009,
because it serves just as well and is much more practical. I
can play anything on this budget digital, from jazz improvisation
to big-time concertos.

I would advise you to stay with your digital. If you can't play
something on it, you won't be able to play it on a $100,000 concert
grand either.

One thing I would strongly advise against getting is a grand
piano. These are notorious for being bought on impulse and
eventually ending up as little-played pieces of living room
furniture. Look at the thousands of grand pianos for sale online
and elsewhere. These were mostly bought by people who wanted
what the pros play. But after the novelty wears off, they realize they
have something not all that different from an upright, or any
weighted-key digital piano, and that it hasn't improved their
playing one bit. This can be psychologically detrimental, because
they expected to improve by playing what the pros use, and
this eventually leads to a gradual loss of interest in playing,
with the grand becoming an unusable, and space-consuming,
piece of furniture.

Lots of strong feelings on this issue. I play a Clavinova, and for the price (I got it for $250 from a sheep farmer up here in Vermont. It was in his barn.) it's a nice instrument. When I go to the school for my lessons I try to get there early to practice on the Kawi grand because it's different to play. It doesn't take long to adjust. A real delight for me is the way the music I've been practicing all week sounds on the grand. It's wonderful! So much more sound; chords just hang in the air. I love it. I've never tried one of the top of the line digitals...they may sound just as good. So I hope to get a nice grand some day. But I'll keep the digital for silent practice with earphones. Not for neighbors (we don't have any) but for my wife who gets annoyed the 900th time I work on a passage of Bach. I won't tell you what to do (no agenda here!) but I hope to find one of those thousands of grands Gyro says are floating around out there. Sounds like a buyers market.

I'm another ex-intermediate classical guitar player. I played a Kawai keyboard for about 8 months, just bought a 'real' piano. There is no comparison. I've played the Avant Garde and it's nice. If I were rich and really short on space I'd consider it. But I don't think it feels or sounds as good as my $4000 'real' Kawai K2.

It's really your preference, so just go to your local piano store, and try out all the digitals and acoustics, and see if you can hear/feel a significant difference in the instruments. Then you can make a decision on whether to switch.

If you use good headphones with the DP you won't notice much of a difference.
If you don't, you should raise the volume to the maximum because the speakers are usually hidden and if the volume is low it won't resonate in the room of course.
If you do this, a digital actually has many advantages that an acoustic doesn't have, particularly if you are computer-savvy. And you can play other instruments with it too, like the harpsichord and the organ.