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I usually use Cage's 4'33" to check the bench.

Confession: I cannot remember more than 2 lines of any piece

I play 4-5 bars of this Bach prelude that was an examination piece 16 years ago, which has for some reason, stuck.

Another Bach prelude that is marked leggerio/leggierissimo (spelling?) one octave higher to listen to the sweetness of the treble.

Beethoven's Pathetique 1st movement (where the left-hand tremolo begins) one octave lower for some bars to test the power of the bass.

Scales up and down to check for evenness of tone. Trills to test the action (doesn't work too well if nails need cutting/filing!).

Out of curiosity, does anyone bring in sheet music to try out pianos? Would the dealers mind if one does?

Roxane,

I brought a scary amount of music -- like "he's moving in." It's kinda like dating While there may be a big flash of excitement when you first slide your fingers on the keys, sometimes the enthusiasm wains with familiarity. I bring a lot of music to get a sense of the piano. Something may not be obvious in the pieces used to screen which pianos you are interested in. Playing a piano over a couple of hours gives one a much better sense of where the relationship is going. I think shops are happy to see folks bring music, suggests you're in the final stages of "selection" as they say in Steinway-speak.

Ken

Roxanne,

My daughter is not one to memorize either. She can sight-read just about anything with accuracy and fluency the first time through--not polish, but a pretty good play at first attempt. I think this is one of the reasons she does not want to major in piano in college--she really doesn't like the idea of memorizing many long pieces.

She can memorize if she has to. All recitals and competitions have been played from memory, but it is not her preference. My other daughter memorizes easily, but is not as adept at sight reading pieces. Are these two separate abilities? Maybe someone else here can answer that question.

It isn't a memory problem either. She is a straight-A student who can memorize facts easily.
On our piano shopping journeys, she usually takes music with her. If she doesn't have it, she can only play parts of pieces.

One nice advantage of being a strong sight-reader is that she is in demand as an accompanist, audition pianist, and play/choir rehearsal pianist.

I usually start out with a Bach prelude and fugue, to test the piano for tone quality and volume without the pedal. Then I progress to some Mozart/Beethoven to test the passage work and other tonal qualities. Then a scattering of Chopin etudes, and Liszt. Debussy is essential for me, since you can really tell if the piano's pedal and touch are good.