If you intend to buy your piano, take your time to research the market and shop around for the best option that suits you. The first decision you have to make is whether to buy an acoustic piano or an electronic piano. The difference is that acoustic piano contains strings that vibrate to produce sound whereas an electronic piano stores the precorded sound samples on memory chips to simulate the sounds of acoustic pianos.

So the first tip in buying a piano is determining your budget you can afford to spend. Generally speaking acoustic pianos are more expensive than electronic ones. If you are tight on budget you could consider second-hand piano. It is imperative to check that the instrument is in tune or capable of being tuned to “concert pitch” when A above middle C is tuned to a frequency of 440 Hertz. It may be best to hire a technician to help you test that the soundboard is in good condition and the tuning is alright. Also look out for woodworm in second-hand piano. When you are shopping around for a piano, you must already set a maximum target you are willing to spend and bear in mind that the price can be negotiated just like buying a car. You can for example ask for incentives such as free delivery or free tuning or free bench as part of the package price.

The second tip to consider is the size and weight of the piano. If you are buying an acoustic piano, think about where you would place it, next to the living room fireplace. If you ever relocate , you will have to pay movers to move the piano for you because it is heavy and difficult to move. Electronic pianos are easy to move and require less space than acoustic pianos.

The third tip is to be aware that it is essential for acoustic pianos to be tuned regularly and annual tuning costs around US$50 to US$75 per hour which isn’t cheap. Electronic pianos does not need tuning and you just need to keep it dusted monthly and it will be reliable for many years.

The fourth tip is that plenty of music stores offer a rental option on larger electronic pianos. You could also go for the option which is to rent a piano. Normally you would rent for a month or two but it is usually not worthwhile from a cost perspective to rent for long periods from say your local music stores. Normally renting a piano is like having a trial period before you invest into buying the piano.

The last tip is that there is also a possibility that the stores may sell demo models. They could have loan their pianos to local universities or concert halls for use by students and guest artists. Even if it is used only once, it can’t be sold as new. Perhaps you can get a demo price for those types of piano.

With these tips in mind, research the market and you are set to have an enriching experience of buying a piano and enjoying playing beautiful music with the piano for many years to come.

buying-a-piano

buying a piano