If you could only play one piece to test drive hundreds of new pianos before you buy one, what piece would you choose? (Intermediate to early advanced only please! No crazy Liszt!!)

not to sure about an exact piece.. but i like to bring my music and play songs i know (either from memory or book/notes).. that way you can compare/contrast the each piano..honestly, i dont think there is one piece that can fully test a piano.. it all depends on musical style.. id try a few baroque/classical/romantic/possibly modern pieces.. hope that helps.

oh.. and ive tested TONS of pianos in my day and i played 4-5 pieces on each piano.. fortunate to have the chance here in socal.

I do have such a piece -- and I use it.
And it's in the range that you said.

Schubert Impromptu in A-flat major, Op. 142 #2.

The main theme lets you get a feel for the keys, the sound, the pedals, and the full dynamic range. The middle section gives you a feel for the action, because the notes go pretty fast but not extremely, and aren't that hard to play.

There's no need and it's probably not a good idea to have one piece. You're not giving a recital when you go to a piano store. People often play small sections of many pieces.

It's also important IMO to play individual notes at varying volumes. Things like treble sustain, how bad the tenor/bass break is, or unwanted sounds when bass notess are played ff can be tested that way and it may be hard to hear these type of things when playing through a piece.

When you have narrowed down your choices, you may want to bring a friend who plays a lot better than you do. This lets you hear things that you will eventually play but maybe aren't up do doing right now plus you get to sit back and hear the piano as an observer.

When I got mine I was fortunate that both my teacher and another good pianist friend came along. They have radically different styles, so they were really great at helping hear the voice of my piano.

I would not suggest learning a new piece to test. Play parts of pieces that you are really really comfortable with so that you can concentrate on listening to the piano, not worrying about the notes you are playing.

And one piece may not cover the range of the keyboard.

Just playing a scale high middle and lower will help. Or an arpeggio. Play with the damper pedal and without. With the soft pedal and without. Play loudly. Play softly. Play very very softly and see if the keys still play easily.

Play around the 'breaks' of the piano and see if you notice them dramatically.

Having someone play for you would be nice, but a piano 'sounds' differently when you are not on the bench.

What pianos are you interested in?

There are lots of suggestions of pieces (including what I played) here in the SEARCH feature.

Normally I accommodate myself on a for-me-new piano with some pieces written in G major combined into a medley. If everything else pleases, then a test follows: repetition & sound. Done with “Recuerdos de la Alhambra”, a piece of music written by Francisco Tarrega for the classical spanish guitar, a "tremolo etude". I do not use the original Tarrega piano transcription which is "quite special" but a slightly simplified version transcribed by Heumann.

The piece uses tremolo, fast repetitions on same keys. I am not the world master in tremolo - I until now only use one finger on one key. Masters in this procedure “roll” their right hand with 4-3-2-1 or 5-4-3-2. But sometimes I found out limitations in the tested pianos' actions also with one finger only. No square will pass the test, no upright. Only well-regulated grand mechanisms will do this type of job.

I wouldn't worry much about how the piano sounds when standing some distance away from it unless you're planning on giving recitals in your home. It's sometimes a good idea to have others play it for you, but I would stand as close to them as possible so you can hear how it sounds if you were on the bench.

I recently picked out my new Steinway B at the factory selection room where I chose among 5 pianos. The Schubert piece above was indeed one that I played because exactly the point made by Mark. Lots of dynamic changes, slow, soft parts, and quick movement too.

I also had a Beethoven piano sonata, a couple of Chopin pieces, two popular/jazz pieces, and a nice, slow ballad.

The point is to play the same thing on each piano as you try them. At some point, you will narrow it down to two. Take a short section of something you are very familiar with and try that part ONLY between the instruments. Then try the same thing with a different short selection. The differences between the pianos will become more apparent to you if they haven't already. Good luck!

Doug

I agree with the advice to play something you know well, for the reason stated, but also because it's what you're going to be playing a lot when you get it home, you'd better like the way it sounds.

+1
Even though I was glad to give the example of my chosen piece.


Cool!


I think so too.


Not necessarily, I don't think. In fact usually it's just one that winds up standing out, and it's like "this is it," although I might then go and try some other pianos just to make sure there isn't another one I love even more.

And then indeed I might go back and forth between the two, so maybe you're right.

The Schubert piece helps a lot because it lets me eliminate almost every piano right away.

Wow, I really like the Schubert Impromptu and can see it's merits in giving a piano a trial run - nice cords for sustain, and some arpeggios etc. I also agree to take pieces that you love and are part of your 'regular' playlist. Thanks!

I play scales in every key, and a chromatic scale up and down the keyboard. Then ii-V7-I progressions in every key.

You want to test the piano, not give a recital!

Cool too!

BTW, just as a side note: The piece seems so simple, and it sort of is, but I had a heil of a time finding a youtube recording that I thought was even half-good enough to post here!! (Including by well-known people.) Yeah, maybe I was being too picky but, sometimes the simplest pieces can be sort of the hardest. It seemed like some of the players were trying to do too much with it, and others were doing nothing.




Good point.
But what you said wouldn't really let you judge how music sounds and feels, which I think means you wouldn't really know how the piano sounds and feels. And also BTW it wouldn't tell you anything about the pedaling, either mechanically or how the sound is with it.

The best way to test sustain is not by playing chords or using the pedal. Better just to listen to the individual notes for two octaves starting at about the G above middle C. Or play a piece with a single melody note above accompaniment like the Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No.2(although the pedal in that piece or similar ones may give a somewhat false impression of the quality of sustain).

What worked great for me is a very simple version of the hungarian dance (brahms) that is staccato and uses the crucual middle registers just above the bass break and crosses the bass break a few times.

Any nasality or problems around the break immediately show up with that combination.

As it is so simple you can carefully listen while playing.

I also used it for my microphone setup tests

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1721193/Re:%20new%20gear!%20mic%20placement%20fe.html#Post1721193

I completely agree about playing individual notes of course! This past week when I heard, for the first time, a fatal deadness around the treble break of a used grand piano I was checking out. I'd heard of this situation from this forum and from Perri's book Grand Obsession, but I'd never heard it for myself. I had to demonstrate it several times to the sales person, whose smile turned into more of a frozen rictus as I waxed enthusiastic about my luck in finding such an obvious flaw. I hesitate to name the brand due to a fact that it was used (1997 I believe) and may have been a one-off problem, not really indicative of the overall quality of the current product.

....just goes to show about "diff'rent strokes"....I've never thought of playing individual notes, never felt anything lacking for not doing it, and still don't.

The notion of playing individual notes probably works well with a brand-new piano, but when auditioning a used instrument, there might be issues with the state of the hammers that obscure the situation. I have heard of a test technicians use wherein the strings of individual notes are plucked by the fingers to test the true sustain, whereas the hammers may give a false impression.

The notion of playing individual notes probably works well with a brand-new piano, but when auditioning a used instrument, there might be issues with the state of the hammers that obscure the situation. I have heard of a test technicians use wherein the strings of individual notes are plucked by the fingers to test the true sustain, whereas the hammers may give a false impression.

If a individual note has good sustain when played on the keyboard then there is no problem. If a note has poor sustain, then plucking the strings can determine the "true sustain", i.e. whether the poor sustain was caused by the hammer or something else.

When testing a piano -- new or used -- I think you need to do a combination of:
-- Playing individual notes, scales, using the pedals. This can flush out basic problems with the piano, or specific keys that need work.
-- Playing pieces that you know, in as wide a range as possible.

When I was piano shopping a few years ago, I did both techniques. I was looking at both new and new pianos. Some pianos were ruled out by the scales or individual notes. Things just didn't sound right and when I questioned the seller about the problems, they sloughed them off "That's how brand xyz is supposed to sound." I also played a wide range of repertoire, from Joplin to Chopin to Bach to Beethoven.Pianos showed their strengths in some pieces, and their weaknesses in others. A very interesting experience.

I wish I'd known the Shubert Impromptu at the time; I play it now and agree that it would display a wide range of a piano's characteristics.

If you can, listen to someone else play the piano, too, but be sure to play it yourself. There was one piano that I *loved* when I heard other people playing it, but when I played Beethoven on it, it didn't give me the bass oomph that I needed. I very sadly had to knock that one off the list :-(

Yes, definitely try out individual keys as well as scales and the pedals. After that, I'd suggest playing fragments of many pieces, especially music styles you enjoy playing. This way you'll be able to hear the unique tone of the piano, and different tones are better suited to different styles of music -- jazz, classical, pop, etc.