Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Beginner looking for an acoustic Piano -- confused.

My fiancee and I went 'window shopping' for an acoustic piano. I'm a rank beginner, 3 months worth of lessons. She has her RCM Grade 8. She also is somewhat hard of hearing.

I have been learning on a Yamaha Digital -- P60. It's okay, but it is not an acoustic.

She played several pianos at the store, 3 Pearl River's (48" & 52"? upright and a 5'0 grand) Several Yamaha's (U1, used U1, GB1, GC1, C2, Used C3) and a McPhail Grand from the 1940's.

She liked the Pearl River Pianos -- all of them and disliked the all the Yamaha except the used U1 which was acceptable. The McPhail Grand she liked the best.

For me, the Pearl River Pianos were unacceptable, they sounded like noise, not music.

The used U1, McPhail Grand were acceptable to me.

The new U1 sounded amazing to me, music from it almost moved me to tears (something I've not had happen before)

I cannot describe what I heard in that U1. To her, it was just another bright Yamaha.

I find it perplexing that my fiancee and I have such different views on pianos.

My budget is most under CAN$10,000 so the GB1, GC1, C2 and used C3 were well outside the range.

I have no problem buying used. The McPhail is probably the best compromise. It's alright but it doesn't evoke the emotional response that the U1 did.

Does any one have any advice? Alternative pianos?

lnical

You should be able to buy a GB1 for that price.
They can be sold for $7900 or even less in the US.

A 5'3" Pearl River can be an option as well if you can get past the "noise" thing.

Sounds like the McPhail should be your choice though.

I don't find it perplexing at all. Piano preference is as subjective as any other kind of preference.

So where does that leave you? You're too early in your search to compromise now on the McPhail, a choice you deem "acceptable" but clearly are not enthusiastic about. You have only visited one store. Keep looking. Take a few day- or weekend-trips and combine piano shopping with romantic get-aways.

Another option is to flip a coin and let one of you pick their most favored piano now, with the understanding that the other partner gets to buy his/her dream piano later.

I think that you and your girlfriend need to work on communicating about exactly what it is each of you like about pianos. You can probably come to an understanding of this as you try more pianos together. For example, you both may find that certain pianos have a touch that you both like. You may find pianos that you both think are acceptable in terms of sound.

Keep in mind that the pianos you try out must be very well tuned for you to be able to make an assessment of their tone quality. When you next visit a store, play the highest-quality, best and most-recently tuned grand piano that you can find. Let this piano be the standard for a piano whose sound you both enjoy and begin your compromise from there. You don't need to buy this piano, just to establish it as a standard from which you can work towards an affordable piano agreeable to both of you.

One important thing to keep in mind is that someone with a hearing impairment is likely not to hear things in the same way as a person with normal hearing. Often people with hearing damage find pianos with bright treble sections displeasing. This is unfortunate because some of the best pianos in the world are European pianos with very bright upper octaves. You might both find a piano with a darker treble acceptable and you should ask the dealer to point you to such pianos.

Lots and lots of communication on that one, and maybe some more shopping with a sales rep who understands what you're looking for, and what the challenge is.

Two things come to mind, too - she might be getting some interference going on if she's wearing a hearing appliance. My father in law has trouble with some types of musical sounds with his and has to pop them out. The combination of the music and the appliance causes an uncomfortable ringing in his head.

If she's not using those, then you might want to look for a piano that's easy to open up to get more regulation on the sound, based on the different needs of two different players.

Of course you have a lot of different opening options on a grand, from closed to lid-up. Some vertical pianos have sound vents on the front, blowing sound right at the player, while others only open on top (short of removng the front face of the piano.)

Neither one of you should settle for a "compromise" piano, though - the lesser of two evils. Bleech!

Keep shopping with a well informed sales rep until you find the one piano that sings for you both!

(And then post pics of it here!)

All the best...

Inical--

Please reflect that this quote is not related to what I was trying to say to you. This is, I think, a uncomprehending distortion of what I intended as helpful advice.

I was suggesting to you that you find a piano of a higher quality than you can afford as a means to identify a sound that appeals to both of you. Then you can look further for an affordable piano which has a similarly appealing sound quality, based on an identifiable reference point.

The compromise I spoke of was the agreement between you and your friend. This is an entirely different meaning of the word "compromise" than the notion of a piano with compromised or lessened performance. I mentioned nothing of, nor do I think it appropriate to think in terms of, "the lesser of two evils."

I think that with a little more looking you can find an excellent piano that both of you like, especially if you are willing to look for used instruments.

acutally I was agreeing with you


A compromise piano would be no fun at all to either person. Everybody ends up with the proverbial glass-half-empty.