As a piano dealer in business for many years, we’ve helped a lot of families purchase a piano and bring music into their lives. We can usually tell within the first few minutes of talking with a buyer how successful their music journey will be.
It’s in their approach. It’s in the questions they ask.
If you’ve been thinking of purchasing a piano, whether for yourself or your child, starting with better questions will give you an edge towards success.
Here are the biggest mistakes we see when a buyer comes in looking to purchase a piano:
What’s the cheapest way I can get a piano to see if my child sticks with it before investing more?
This seems logical; why spend a lot of money on an instrument if your child hates it from the very first lesson? Yet by taking this approach, you’re setting your child up for failure before they ever touch a key on the piano. You’re telling them from the start you don’t believe they’ll stick with the process. Most buyers with this approach wind up leaving the store and finding a cheap keyboard from a big box store that is little more than a toy. When their child quits in a few weeks, their point is proven, and they move on to the next hobby.
Can’t I just rely on the internet to learn?
Yes, there are a wide variety of tools and resources online. Head to YouTube and you’ll find a plethora of videos that show you how to play the piano. Search using a keyword like “play the piano” and you’ll find a wealth of information:
- Play the piano for beginners
- Play the piano with your computer keyboard
- Play the piano like a pro
- Play the piano easy songs
- Play the piano by ear
Yep, the number of results goes on and on. Now try to pick a video and learn. We bet you’ll spend a lot of time even trying to find a video that’s high quality at best. You’ll spend far more time hunting for videos than you’ll actually spend learning. Learning from the internet is difficult at best. If you want true dedication to the craft of learning the piano, it’s much better to find quality resources from the beginning.
What about Grandma’s piano? Isn’t that good enough?
This isn’t a bad choice at all. If you have a family heirloom, one you remember sitting down and playing when you were a kid, it can bring happy memories into your home. But understand what it might take to make Grandma’s piano worth playing. You’ll have to move it – try and move it yourself, and you might damage the inner workings of the piano. And if Grandma’s piano hasn’t been tuned in decades, it may take extensive renovation to bring it back to playing condition. Still, the memories may warrant the repair work. And if that’s something you’re interested in, we can talk more about that.
Do you see yourself in any of this? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Whether you or your child wishes to bring music into your world, the best way to go about it is with a plan.
With an open mind, stop by today. We’ll show you a variety of pianos, and give you a better idea of how to make your music plans successful.
