Have you decided to enroll your kids in piano lessons? Congratulations! It’s one of the best gifts you can give your child.
Yet finding a quality used piano can be a difficult task when you have no idea what you’re looking for. It’s easy to fall for “free” – you’ll find lots of ads giving away a piano for free.
How do you know what to look for? How do you know what to choose?
Before you start looking, educate yourself a little on the most important aspects of a piano. It’ll help you make a better choice.
What is a piano?
A piano is an instrument that makes beautiful music. It’s a conglomeration of 10,000 parts in which every one of them is used to create sound.
You have wood and metal, strings and keys. The standard piano uses 88 keys to provide a full range of music.
Every piece on a piano goes through changes as it sits, as it’s played, and as it ages. When constructed well, they can last for a very long time.
But the strings used to move the keys and create the sounds will slowly move out of place. That’s where a tuner comes in, and ensures they are brought back into position. They adjust the tension to ensure it’s accurate again.
How do I choose a piano?
Start researching piano brands and you can quickly get overwhelmed. How do you choose? Which one is best? Good news – it’s easier than you think.
Very quickly, you’ll start to notice that some brands move to the top. When handmade pianos come out of Vienna, Germany, or Italy, they tend to get the highest prices. These are the pianos you’ll see on display when visiting your local symphony. It’s because of the sound they create.
Yet as a beginner, you can start with something lower. What matters most is what sounds good to you.
Sitting down and playing it will help you get a feel for the sound it creates. Is it chirpy? Is it tinny? Is it out of tune? This is where you’ll immediately hear the difference with a used piano that’s been sitting in the basement for years, unplayed and unconditioned. You can quite literally hear the difference.
Watch for the biggest concerns
You don’t have to be a piano inspector to tell if you’re getting a good used piano. Instead, pay attention to what you’re looking at.
Examine the exterior. Is there any visible damage to the outside?
Open the lid and peer inside. Is there evidence it was well cared for?
Inspect the keys. Ensure they are all even, not chipped, and movable.
Ask questions like: when was the last time it was tuned?
You’ll get a feeling about the quality even after a few minutes.
Bypass the problems and move straight to quality
Instead of playing a guessing game with online shopping, or visiting garage sales in your local community, stopping by our location will provide you with a full range of high quality used pianos.
We know the quality because we’ve inspected them ourselves.
We can help you find the right used piano to suit your needs.
