Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum is it weird to bring music score to the the dealership to test out piano?

hehe i now know I am going to feel very self conscious playing Fur Elise when I go to try new pianos.... it's one of the few pieces I can remember how to play! Likewise the first 2 movements of Moonlight Sonata - another favourite? I can hear the collective teeth grinding and groaning already!

Kinda reminds me of a sign that used to hang in a local guitar shop "if you play Stairway to Heaven or Sweet Child of Mine we WILL throw you out!"

Time for some new repertoire I think!

If you are seriously considering a purchase then, by all means, play as long as it takes to add or eliminate a piano from your short list.

However, be considerate of the dealership. Not only consider other shoppers, but keep in mind that in some store layouts it is difficult to conduct business on the phone when someone is playing fff. It can also be difficult to do bookkeeping and other necessary business tasks with someone playing.

The bottom line: Be aware of the effects of your playing.

It surprises me how some shoppers can start playing a piano even though someone else is playing in the same room. To me this is very rude. I certainly can't listen closely to the piano I'm playing, and I don't really know how they could listen to the piano they were trying out very well either.

Either I stop playing or sometimes I start playing the loudest piece I know - The Great Gate at Kiev etc.

By all means bring your music. When I was looking for my piano, I was totally intimidated by the idea of having anyone hear me play. What made it worse is that it seemed that everyone who was trying out a piano, just rippled off their music flawlessly played. My playing was below intermediate level. These people were all playing advanced compositions.

I timidly put my music on the rack, and played so softly that even I could barely hear it. Not a good idea.

I tried a number of pianos, gaining a little more confidence with each try. Then I realized that no one was listening, or cared about what I was doing, so I just played--mistakes and all. What I concentrated on, in addition to the sound, was the action. I played trills, and was really surprised at the different response of the various pianos.
Monica's suggestion of playing snippets is excellent. Play chords, scales. Play softly, and then fff. I was surprised that it was harder to play softly on some pianos than on others. Given the same amount of pressure, some pianos did not respond--just silence--keys sort of stuck. And these were new pianos. Also, be sure to play trills, as that will show how responsive the action is.
Gaby Tu