I teach one of my pupils in his home and his piano is just the pits. The D below middle C hasn't worked for a while and last week the whole of the bottom half of the piano was playing up. The lowest octave was making a harpsichord-like sound and the rest of the notes were being sustained even though the pedal wasn't being depressed. The mum had the tuner in twice before lessons started to get the piano in tune and is not keen on forking out yet more money to get it fixed.

Personally I think this piano may well cost lots in maintenance and it would be much better to invest some money in a decent piano. I don't expect they have a lot of spare cash but she has 3 children and there's a sporting chance that at least one of them may carry on with the piano for some time, so investing in a decent piano, rather than just trying to maintain this grotty one, might be well worth it but...

...how much should I suggest she should consider paying (if she's willing) and would a digital piano be more economical given you don't need to tune them. I also know nothing about the reliability of digital pianos nor how much any maintenance would cost.

Their piano was (of course) free from a relative. Another pupil's parents got theirs from ebay for nothing or next to nothing and (surprise, surprise), that one's awful too. So if you get a piano free, chances are it's going to be awful. If I can get them to agree to buy a new one, then I'll probably offer to go and try it out if it's reasonably local and give them my opinion, but I'd just like to give them a realistic idea of how much they should expect to pay. Any suggestions?

A decent reconditioned acoustic piano suitable for up to grade 5 should start from 600 - 700 quid depending where you live and if you care what it looks like.

I left a family to go away over half-term to look at digital pianos - they e-mailed me a Yamaha one which looked more than suitable for about ?600. It seems to have excellent reviews, and I should think will be more than enough.

I have a Kawai CA51 which is a midrange model; I got it for about GBP1600. To me it's better than most acoustic pianos that I could have got for that price. I play it with headphones mostly and I think the sound is more than adequate. I could have paid another 1000GBP for the next model up which supposedly would have sounded very good without headphones, but I wasn't really bothered about that.

I have had it for 2 years - tuning would have cost GBP100 a year (twice a year at GBP50 per pop). It has required no maintenance apart from sticking a piece of felt back under the pedal.

It feels remarkably realistic and I do not feel that my playing has suffered when I play an acoustic piano. I am a post-grade 8 student (as in, taken grade 8 years ago and now learning stuff that is harder than grade 8, but not taking lessons and doing things very much at my own pace).

I know that you can get digital pianos for a lot less than I paid, but I cannot say what models are good in that price range.

My pupils who don't have a 'family' piano tend to buy digitals and are very happy with them.

You don't say what standard your pupil is but I'm assuming it's not that advanced.

Two of my pupils have a Yamah Arius which sells for about 600-700 pounds and, I'm told, has the same keyboard and electronics as their higher models but a cheaper case. I've tried it and think it's very good for the price.

I also like Yamahas - I have an ancient Clavinova - about 25 years old and not a penny spent in upkeep! - which has been shipped to the US, shipped to the UK, then to France, had a LOT of use and is still perfectly playable - the keyboard is excellent but the speakers are finally packing up.

One pupil has a Casio but that was more like 1200 pounds. One pupil has the Korg stage piano keyboard (which I also have) - excellent value for 600 pounds (and completely transportable) but more a keyboard look than a full digital piano (although the same quality).

I would definitely tell her to ditch the piano - my sister got one for free - it's only fit for firewood. (That's not to say all pianos that are free are worthless, just that a piano in a very poor state costs way more to restore than it's worth, even assuming you can restore it decently, which is unlikely).

Digital or acoustic, it's worth buying a new one and a budget of 700 pounds or so should get something fine. (If she's patient and can be bothered to follow offers on ebay or the papers, she might find something for a fair bit less).

I bought a Kawai CN23 at Christmas which has the latest keyboard technology and I think its fab. Abut ?900 but feels like the real thing to me and has a good dynamic range. Also solid pedals.

I have a Korg stage piano keyboard (as mentioned above). It only cost me ?500 about 3 years ago, and it's much better than the probably more expensive digital pianos I have played at Pro Corda and Leeds College.

For parents who claim they can't afford it I recommend the Yamah Arius (costs around 700 pounds). The technology in them is the same as the cheaper clavinovas (which is the same as the older top of the range clavis): sampling from a Yamaha grand, decent weighting in the keys, good dynamic response. Obviously it's never going to sound like a good acoustic, but yo me a digital, for all its limitations, is much better than a bad acoustic piano: there is nothing more frustrating for a learner (and I've had a few) than a cheap second-hand piano which is constantly out of tune and where half of the key mechanism doesn't work properly!

Personally I wouldnt entertain a digital if you can find an acoustic at the same price level. Yes I know you have to pay about ?3000 min for a decent new one, but there always seems to be a second hand market from a very modest price.

These days, digital pianos are very well made, reliable, cheap to run, and have good weighted keys. I think the advantage of being able to put on headphones for nervous beginners, or for antisocial practise times can be an absolute godsend. My electronic piano cost me about ?800, it's a Robertson, and I've been really pleased with it. What is very useful is a short record function, which has proved very useful for my own practise and also for students. You never really hear yourself when you play, and it can be very educational!

Thanks for all the answers so far. The child in question is an 8-yr old beginner with 2 younger siblings who I think will also have lessons eventually - so I think it will be quite a while before any of them are at a level where having an acoustic piano would be essential.

I really don't think they'll be willing or able to spend a thousand pounds or more, but it's just possible that they might be persuaded to spend around the ?500 mark. Obviously digitals make a saving on tuning, so after 5 years or so, the money you've saved on tuning will cover the cost of the instrument so I think it could be an attractive option for them. Mind you, my only experience of a digital piano is one I have to use sometimes at the school where I teach. What I don't like about that one is that the keys make a clicking noise when you play. Is that something they all do or is it just cheap ones that do that?

My Yamaha Clavinova doesn't make any clicking sound when I play. Neither does the Yamaha Arius of a couple of my pupils.

My Korg stage piano has a marked clicking sound (and a bit of lateral movement in the key which is obviously linked) but my husband plays about two hours a day on it, at diploma level, so lots of notes, lots of volume etc. etc. My pupil (grade 3) who has the same keyboard has no clicking on hers.

Also, remember, what is a major problem for you (clicking or whatever) will not necessarily be a problem for your 8 year-old because they'll never have known any different.

And. if we're talking about a 500 pound budget, it may well be a question of the lesser of two evils . . .