Does The Quality Of Piano Matter? Options

[luming_jenny]

I have got a question of the quality of piano.

When I bought my piano, the seller says to me "this piano certainly carries you to grade 6." I don't quite understand that. I have just taken grade 5 exam, and am preparing for the grade 8 now and hope to take the exam next December. The piano still functions when I am practicing the grade 8 pieces.

They say there's a difference of the "touch" but when I "touch" a good piano, it feels the same as touching a cheaper one. Also, I cannot tell which piano sounds better, which worse.

I really want to do well in my grade 8 exams. Practicing on a high quality piano probably helps. Is it a good idea to upgrade now or wait until I can tell the differences?

Another question is that someone told me that a digital one is also very good, especially if it's from a well known brand. There's no difference between a digital one and a acustic one apart from being a bit unnatural. Do you think it is true?

I am quite attracted to the idea of getting a digital one because I would be able to practice in the quite mid-night. My current neighbour is quite unhappy with my practicing the piano after 7 pm. Also, I don't need to have it tuned regularly. What do you think? If I am going to replace a piano, is a digital one a good idea?

[Tortellini]

If I am going to replace a piano, is a digital one a good idea?

In a nutshell, no. I have a digital piano which is great but it is no where near as good as an acoustic in my opinion. You could always get a digital as well as the acoustic and use one for the nighttime practise sessions. Or you could get an acoustic with a silencer - don't really know what they are like though.

[sbhoa]

I'd think that if you can't yet notice how different pianos are then you aren't really going to be able to decide on which new piano you like. My teacher's piano is the same make and model as mine but it's different to play.
I'd tend to be a bit wary of a piano being described as good up to grade X. An instrument described in that way may not be actually suitable for much at all and with second hand pianos I'd get the opinion of a piano technician.
A digital is good for practising if you really need to be quiet at times but personally I'd only have one in addition to an acoustic, not instead of if there was a choice. It depends on your circumstances to a certain extent. Digitals are not bad these days but I wouldn't want to play even a good one more than necessary. Other people are quite satisfied.
And if you like to play pieces that make use of harmonics by holding down the pedal and letting the strings continue to vibrate a digital can't do that as far as I'm aware....

[maggiemay]

I agree about digitals. I have both. Some are very good nowadays, but never quite the real thing.

I recommend them to my beginners and lower grade pupils where space or access is limited but I wouldn't recommend one to someone at your level.

Sbhoa - as far as I know they have not yet made a digital that can do the sympathetic vibration thing.

ps welcome to the forums, by the way !

[mel2]

I have never come across an acoustic piano with a silencer/volume control, but if they are available and funds run to it, it might be a good idea.

I hear a lot of people saying that a digital is no good beyond grade 5,6.....whatever. A rude word springs to mind.
If your neighbours object to your playing beyond 7p.m then the best Bechstein grand is not going to help you progress unless you can put in the work before that time, and even then, they would probably grumble at the number of hours of playing.

At least with a digital you can clap on the headphones and work whenever you please - but I will admit that the sound is different without the phones.

I have had an Akai professional PG2 since about 1996 and may have to keep it for some considerable time to come since I have no wealthy elderly relatives likely to bestow largesse on me, and the NHS is strangely indifferent to my outstanding contribution to the nation's wellbeing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Despite this I have managed to gain a diploma and am currently hard at work on the next one, all on my Old Faithful. Whenever possible it is a good idea to flex your fingers on an acoustic instrument just to remind yourself what they sound and feel like, but times are hard and needs must when the devil drives.

[eirlys]

I'm only just restarting playing piano again, playing around grade 6ish level, and we only have a digital. It's a pretty good one but it's not the same as an acoustic. I really, really, really want an acoustic piano but it's not even on the horizon. So I just look wistfully at my mum's when I visit (she doesn't play, she bought it so I could learn when I was little.........but she likes how it looks in her dining room!)

The digital is great for playing at night though, I can practice at 2am with the headphones on and noones bothered (except my dog, who happily lies next to me for hours if she can hear the music but pesters me every 5 minutes if I have the headphones on!!!!). I like the sound better with headphones on, although my boyfriend is trying to sort out hooking up better quality speakers to improve the sound, because I don't like playing with headphones on and not being able to hear around me. Call me paranoid!

I'd also agree that if you can't tell that a piano isn't 'good enough' then maybe it doesn't matter to you??? When I play my mum's piano, I think it's lovely, but when I play my parents-out-law's (we're not married!) I prefer the digital because theirs just isn't right, I can't explain exactly why it's not as good but it's just not as nice to play. I mean they both 'function' in that they play the notes you press, but one is lovely to play and sounds good, the other doesn't feel as nice to play and sounds nowhere near as good. I'd say go more on how you feel your piano is, if you find it fine to play, then there's no problem.

[Mad Tom]

It is true that a piano can be "good enough" for lower grades but not for higher grades. Most obviously a slow response may not permit rapidly repeated notes - but this is irrelevant if the player's fingers can't go very fast, and the piano is good in other respects

It can also be argued that the action at the lower grades does not have to be so even and precise, as any differences between notes is swamped by the player's own irregularity of touch. This is a bit more contentious because it is harder to learn precise control when there is some unevenness in the instrument, but there is still some point to it.

But in other ways a beginner's piano has to be every bit as good as, if not better than, the piano used by a more advanced student. Correctly functioning dampers, ability to hold accurate tune, a good range of controllable volume from pianissimo to fortissimo, an attractive basic sound ... all these and more matter as much or more at the lower grades

And it is astonishing how good a really poor piano, badly out of tune, with notes sticking or even missing, dysfunctional dampers, cracked sound board, rattling fittings, semi-detached bridge ... can sound under the hands of an outstanding pianist.

As for digital pianos, they are not just imitations of acoustic pianos, but are excellent instruments in their own right. However, for a classical pianist the main point of having one is that it lets you do a lot more practice than would otherwise be possible, as you can play without disturbing neighbours or other members of the household. A digital piano neither sounds nor feels the same as an acoustic, and to date none properly emulates the effects of the pedal or the subtlety of acoustic amplification and harmony, but they are sufficiently similar that most of what is learned and practiced on one type of piano carries over to the other.

You don't have to own a Steinway, Bosendorfer or Fazioli to become outstandingly good. Much more important then the piano (type, make, condition) is the determination and dedication of the aspiring pianist. If you really really want to play you'll do useful work on whatever instrument you can find.

Lower down the pecking order, excellent pianos are not hugely expensive when you consider the amount of work and material that goes into one. For example a new Yamaha U1 upright at about £5,000 is a wonderful instrument, and in the second hand market beautiful grands and uprights are to be had for just a few hundred pounds if you know what you are looking for (or have a friend that does).

(IMG:http://www.trose.net/pimage/gpiano2.gif)

[dolce@piano]

Yamaha sell a 'silent' acoustic piano - a true acoustic which also has a digital mode. There's no speakers and volume control. Either the dampers hit the string and it's an acoustic or the dampers stop a fraction short of the string (so the action feels the same) and the microchip generates the sound which is heard through headphones.

I've also heard that one of the major London schools of music has changed all their practise pianos for Yamaha Clavinovas (a true digital piano).

Don't underestimate the usefulness of being able to practise whenever you want. The sound of an acoustic piano filsl the whole house (and often the neighbour's house as well). Even if people claim not to mind, it can be very off-putting and inhibiting for the player.