Buying a piano-advice needed!!

Itismehonest

You can pick old uprights up quite cheaply but there's a reason for this.

Pianists will always prefer the real thing but, for a child learning, a keyboard is really the most practical.
Believe me a piano is murder to move. It's a two burly men job & requires proper piano wheels (not just the castors that may be on it) to even get into or out of the house.
A keyboard can be taken around easily - say, if you go away on holiday in this country.

If your DD is still interested in playing as she gets older she can take a keyboard around with her but may then want the real thing, too.
If she decides playing the piano isn't for her then there are more people who will buy a keyboard than a piano.

onlyroz

I got my piano from the local charity shop for £170, and for the money it's great. I wouldn't, however, knock the electric pianos - if you do go this route make sure you get one with full-sized weighted keys and a full length keyboard, like the Clavinova or some of the Rolands. For your budget you'd have to go second-hand. Ebay is fine as long as you go and collect it yourself, and don't pay until you've seen that it works.

claire16c

I have a Clavinova which my Grandad bought me. I started on a cheap keyboard when I was 7, then started doing lessons so he bought me a much bigger one, and then I think after Id been doing that for a couple of years he bought me the Clavinova and I kept up the lessons til I was 16. Its at my parents house,which like Person One, I will reclaim once I can buy a house!

I loved it, no need for tuning! It made no difference to me compared to the 'real' pianos I played in my lessons.

skea56

I learned to play the piano when I was 7 and did so on a real piano. However, I have got back to it in later years and bought a stage piano - a Casio Previa, it was £650 about 2 years ago and I love it!! It has a great sound and is so handy to throw into the car if we're going to the caravan for a few days. I did try the Yamahas and the Rolands but they were a bit more than I was prepared to pay at that time.

Definitely take your DD into a piano shop and let her play the different types - you'll find stage pianos are now "almost" as good as the real thing! You should be able to get a decent stage piano for £500-600, whereas you would have to spend double that on a real piano. Definitely make sure you get touch sensitive keys if you decide on an electric model, not just an ordinary keyboard which are much less expensive.

sk56

Gigglepig

If you get a keyboard it should have an output for earphones... just saying.

CL

If you do get a real piano second hand beware of wood worm. When my granny died, my uncle got her upright piano and put in his house, then realised it had wood worm. Luckily I don't think it had got into his own wood work.

Margaret52129

Not much help I know, but it's a pity you're in Kent - our church are selling one for £500. It's worth quite a bit more and is only being replaced because we hold music exams at the church and they requested a newer one. I'm not musical so don't know any difference between them TBH!

As I said, it's not much help, but perhaps you might have a church or similar that may be doing something like this around your area?

sophief333

Hello,

I'm a piano teacher so might be able to help!

I'm a true believer in the sound quality and feel of real acoustic pianos, however money and space sometimes just wont allow for that.

For a beginner, digital pianos are fantastic. Have a look at this page...
http://www.gear4music.com/Digital_Pianos/All_Digital_Pianos.html

This one in particular is fantastic for the price http://www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/DP10-Digital-Piano-by-Gear4music-Gloss-Black/G6Q.

Whatever you pick, it's best to make sure you have a full size (88 keys) keyboard with weighted, hammer-action keys. Even the most basic keyboard are touch sensitive nowadays, but the weighted keys makes all the difference for when/if a student makes the change to an acoustic piano (if taking exams the student will probably have to play an acoustic piano also).

Any questions, please ask

tyllwyd

We recently bought a second hand piano with a similar budget - plus £100 to get it delivered and £50 for a first tuning a few weeks later. And a piano stool, as well. We were lucky because there was one on Ebay quite nearby so we were able to go and look at it, and check the keys all work etc.

Overall, we are happy with it, although the piano tuner has pointed out that although the case has been nicely restored at some point, they haven't done as good a job inside, and although it holds its tune now, the tuning pegs are worn so he said to wait and see, get it tuned every six months, but it might need work in the future.

It's scary to make such a big purchase when you don't play yourself! I think if I was doing it again, I'd try to find a couple of piano shops locally and go in and have a chat with the salesperson, to get a better feeling for what to look for and the things to look out for. I don't think I would buy from Ebay without seeing the piano first.

GlynD

My professional advice would be to take an experienced piano tuner/technician with you if you intend buying any second hand "real" piano for that kind of money. There are fabulous buys out there, especially if they're coming from private houses but there are some real duffers too. The casework may look magnificent on a piano but it's what's inside which really matter and you have to remember it's constructed of mostly wood, felt and leather. Central heating, damp, cold, all wrecks these things. The worst thing which can happen is if pins come loose on the plank and that will mean it'll never hold a tuning but trust me when I say that internal repairs can cost an absolute fortune.

As for tuning. It's down to you. Every piano starts going out of tune the moment it's tuned. Don't move it or put in it a place where it can be bumped or jogged. All movement causes the structure to flex and that puts it out of tune too. The rule of thumb is: when it sounds really jangly - get it tuned. You'll find that most people do that once a year, although afficianadoes will do it four times a year. Pianos that are used professionally are tuned before every concert, for rehearsals and then for the performance itself. The tuner may actually stay on hand to tweak the piano to the player's ear or weight the keys to the players liking. Obviously you don't have to go that far but I hope I've dispelled some of the myths for you. If you have any questions I'm happy to answer them professionally for you.

BTW: if you're really handy you can buy a Reblitz and that will save you fortunes of money. Don't worry about doing any damage inside because all parts can be replaced from Heckshers and other firms. Believe me when I say that piano tuners treat most pianos at £500 as money spinning junk.