I have been to a student this evening who currently has a keyboard standing on a beautiful stone tiled floor. Mum says now he's proved himself with Grade 1 and plenty of practice (good lad!!), she is now prepared to buy him a piano.

All the pianos my other students play stand on carpet, or on laminated floors on a rug. Mum asked me if the piano standing directly on to the stone flooring would make a difference to the sound or effect it's vibration in any way.... I had to say I hadn't the faintest idea!! But I know some very wise people who could put me straight on this!

So..does the flooring a piano stands on make any difference?

Thank you! xx

I'm afraid this is not much of an answer but as no one else has come up with anything yet...
The music teacher in the secondary school I used to teach in had her piano standing on a tiled floor. I played it a couple of times and can't say I noticed anything particular about it at the time. However, this is going back eight or nine years and I wasn't specifically listening to see if a piano would sound different standing on tiles. She was a pianist (not just a music teacher who happened to play the piano) and so was her husband and I am inclined to think that had it made the piano sound too awful they would have done something about it. Unfortunately I have lost touch and so can't check up and find out.

If there are lots of hard surfaces in a music room the sounds are less likely to get dampened down and will sound crisper and clearer. I have a tiled floor in my studio and it is great for both playing and singing. Given a choice I would opt for a hard surface every time, perhaps with underfloor heating.

In general acoustics, a carpeted (double t?) room will have less reverberation than a tiled floor as it absorbs more sound than it reflects. I doubt it would alter the tonal characteristics of the individual instrument but - depending on the sound of the room - it may sound more sustained, for example. It very much depends on the individual circumstances.

As others have said it can affect the sound as to whether it's crisp or more muffled. When you do your technology course with OU you'll learn all about it!!!

That's alright then!! Only thing is, I said I would come back with an answer next week!! The room is large with very good accoustics I should imagine. Mum is considering getting a White Baby Grand!! Poor boy will be sitting twiddling his thumbs every week while I play on it!!! Just to test aforementioned accoustics of course!!

Hard surfaces, such as a wooden floor, stone/quarry tiles, bare walls,etc will cause the sound to "bounce" around, and more so if the ceiling is a low one. Carpeted floors, curtains, tapestries etc will dampen the sound down. My piano stands on an oak floor, in a room with a few pictures on the wall and a curtained window. If the piano lid is up (at an angle) the sounds are bright and clear, if the lid is down less so and if it is completely closed quite mellow.

Exactly what my tuner told me when I asked him.


Oooh! A White Baby Grand !