How to buy a Piano

Before starting piano lessons, there are several important decisions to be made: who is going to teach you or your child, and what piano are you going to get. Both of these decisions are extremely important, and are going to affect how much you or your child enjoys learning piano.

When buying a piano, it is extremely important to get expert advice. That advice, can come from the piano teacher you have selected, or someone you trust who is a serious pianist, or a piano technician. These people likely have the resources to help you find an instrument, along with giving you advice about whether or not a particular instrument would be a good buy.

Before you start searching for a piano, it would be good to talk to your expert about what you want a piano for and what your goals are as a musician. They can then help you decide what type of piano you need and give you an estimate of cost. Once you have found a few instruments you are interested in, be sure to have your teacher (or other advisor) examine them. They can then give you an opinion on whether the instrument would be a good fit for you. (As a side note, be sure to reimburse them for their time, it is a worthwhile investment.) Before buying a used instrument, if you haven't already, you should have it looked at by a piano technician as well as your teacher or piano friend. The technician will check the instrument out looking for breakages, some of which while almost imperceptible, could end up being really expensive fixes. For the older used instruments, most big repair jobs would cost more than the piano is worth. However, the technician's professional opinion will help you make a decision about the purchase of the instrument.