i know this probably seems a stupid question, but is it ok to take books to play from when trying out new pianos in a showroom?

Do you mean take your own books in, or help yourself to the selection on sale for piano sampling purposes?

If it's the former, yes, but it might be an idea to write your name and address inside (or address sticker if you have one) in case they try to get you to pay for them again!

In the latter case, in my experience salespeople don't mind, but ask.

Happy piano buying!

ah yeh, id take my own (full of various scribbles)
Thanks

Took mine when I went to try out the pianos, I figured how would I know if it was the right piano without playing the pieces that I was working on. I made sure that I tried fast slow, legato and staccato so I could see how everything felt.

The man in the shop didn't mind at all and he kept out of my way unless I asked for his help.

ET

I took books when I went to try pianos, and violins,violas, and clarinet mouthpieces for that matter. Take something you're comfortable playing so you can concentrate on the piano rather than the notes.

x

Totally agreed... I did the same. I brought my Sonatina album and my exam pieces. And I played so many times that people started to stand around listening, or rather, waiting. But can't be helped, I had to test!

Definitely choose a piece that you are good at playing, so that you won't suffer from stage-fright, or stumble over notes. I think a Sonatina is a good idea, because:
- there are usually 2 fast movements and 1 slow one, so you can test some staccato, fast running passages, and some legato, even some pedalling
- there are ornaments, so you can test how responsive the keys are
- there are ff and pp dynamics, so you can figure out how loud and bright, and how clear the piano sounds

If you have exam pieces, you could test:
- how suitable the piano is for bright jazzy pieces
- how suitable the piano is for milder classical pieces
- whether the bass is clear or muffled when you play some counterpoint music
- ornaments

With pieces, you can easy identify a piano that is off-tune. If you notice one that is obviously out of tune, ask the salesman. You can also test the integrity of the dealer. Some salesmen refuse to admit that there are problems with the test sets. "Buzzing sound? No, that is just the lamp over there!"

Also look for some passages to test the pedals, both left and right.

I took mine. They approved.

I took mine, played lots of different stuff on my few favourite pianos there after I'd played a bit on quite a lot of them, they didn't mind at all and the woman on duty even came to listen because we were the only people there and she was bored!

I'm really glad I did now, because initially I preferred one in particular playing Haydn, then I tried to play Chopin (possibly what I play the most) and it sounded lumpy because the balance was all wrong so I went off that, tried another and the Chopin sounded amazing...Mozart just didn't work, the keys didn't recover quickly enough...you get the picture!

Eventually I found the piano which we eventually bought and I wouldn't change it for the world, plus all the time trying all the different pianos helped me enormously as a player simply because I got to feel lots of different instruments.

So yes, it's fine to take your own music, in fact I would say it's imperative, you need to be concentrating on how the piano sounds and feels to play, not on remembering the notes.

Another piece of advice (although they may mind this, you'd have to check) is, if you have an mp3 recorder which does instant playback, to play the same piece on different pianos and record it, so you can then compare on the pianos when you're not playing (easier to be objective and concentrate on the sound).

Hope this helps!

ChopinNocturne

Not only did we take books, I took my flute, music stand and some pieces that we were working on. We explained that the piano would be used for chamber music as well as playing alone and the sales people were perfectly happy.