Mikes Music Room – Music Articles

Tags: best quality, models, piano dealer, piano restoration, pianos

Purchasing a top of the line piano is a completely different proposition than buying a standard inexpensive instrument.

Steinway is the Mercedes of pianos, largely for good reasons. It is the only piano that holds its value, except for a few rather obscure German brands. Even poorly rebuilt, they can command huge sums.

It is not atypical for an absolutely pristine concert grand, called the Model D, to cost $100,000. Smaller, living room size pianos are selling for $60-80,000.

Steinways are still built to a standard unrivaled by even a few of the great German companies such as Bechstein and Bosendorfer.

But once again, pianos have personalities. There are Steinways, and there are Steinways. I’ve actually played in Steinway’s famed private basement rooms, where dozens of top of the line pianos are lined up, one after the other, millions upon millions of dollars worth of pianos sitting in front of you. I tried them all, and some were utterly delightful, and some were unresponsive and dull. That’s not to denigrate the Steinway Company, far from it.

It points up the fact that all pianos are really quite individual, even at the very top end.

What you might pay $75,000 for, I might not ever wish to pay, for that particular piano.

As always, decide what the piano will be really be used for if you want a premium piano. If it is for an investment, be aware that you will need to care for it and maintain it in absolutely perfect condition to sell it and make a profit.

And there is profit. For example, a Steinway 6’10″ grand I bought in 1968 for $1800 is now worth $58,000. Steinway is almost the only brand that will show that kind of appreciation. A fine Bechstein or Busendorfer can expect the same appreciation.

If you want the piano for home use, once again be sure that you will be able to maintain it and protect it to allow the possibility of appreciation.

One mistake that people make is to leave the piano near a window and leave the blinds open. I’ve seen very valuable pianos diminished greatly in value by the beating of the sun, resulting in a crackled and ruined finish. Let me say this clearly: if you buy a piano with a perfect case, you will need to keep it that way if you wish to make a profit someday.

You must also maintain the humidity at a good level, at least 40%, in order for the thousands of wooden and leather parts to stay in working order, and it must be tuned twice a year at $100 a tuning. Not tuning a piano is like not changing the oil in your car: the results are disastrous.

Prices for Steinways and other premium pianos easily increase by 5 to 10% a year. There is a finite supply of them, and there are becoming fewer of them as the market becomes dominated by cheaper Oriental brands.

And don’t be fooled by a salesman telling you, “This one is just as good as a Steinway.” It may well be as good as a Steinway, for a while, but will it last? And in any case, a knock-off cheaper brand will have a resale value of less than half what you paid for it; but this is not true of a premium piano. Premium pianos keep their value, and in fact increase in value.

The issue of longevity is important. You can find Korean grand pianos that look wonderful, sound wonderful, but after 10 years of use, may well be starting to fall apart. In that case, you’ll need to find a buyer who is willing to take a piano in that condition. And it won’t be easy to do that, because there is always another brand new knock off Oriental piano competing with you for the sale.

Take an independent professional to look at the prospective piano. The best method is to hire a professional pianist for an hour, ask them to play it, and see if they like it. If you’re not a player, then a professional pianist is the only one who would know if the instrument is worth the price or not.

There are many subtle factors that a pianist looks for:

1. Is the action (the keys) easy and pleasurable to play? You’d be surprised how many $50,000 pianos are not in good shape, or not broken in if they’re new.
2. Is the case perfect?
3. Is the sounding board cracked or damaged?
4. Are there any funny buzzing or extraneous noises coming from the piano when you play it? That’s a sign of bad adjustment or even damage.
5. Is it clean? Is it dusty inside? You want a piano that has been kept in immaculate condition.
6. Where has it been kept? A living room or a damp basement? This affects the probable condition. You’d be surprised how many people who own these instruments have no idea how to care for them.

You can also use a piano repairman to examine the instrument. Many are at least decent amateur players so you will get a good opinion from them, too.

Never trust a piano dealer to tell you the truth about an instrument they are selling. They are there to make sales, not educate you about pianos. If they examine a piano they are not selling, there is always the danger that they will denigrate the piano in order to get you to buy one of theirs.

One more warning: be very careful of “rebuilt” premium pianos. Unless they are rebuilt by an acknowledged master, you run the risk of buying a very bad piano. I have seen Steinways and Chickering and Knabe pianos rebuilt horribly and sold for huge sums that were in no way deserved.

Rebuilding is no guarantee of anything, unless it is done by a qualified, dedicated and talented master rebuilder. There are many people who have set themselves up as rebuilders who know very little about fine instruments. They use the brand name to sell whatever damaged instrument they can pass off under the famous name. Research the rebuilder and find one that has tradition, history and reputation.

Look carefully, and go slowly. Premium pianos do not generally sell quickly unless they are a terrific bargain.

Educate yourself, look around, and you may well be able to find a bargain, an investment and a fine instrument for you to play.

By John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2000 Walden Pond Press. Visit http://www.pianoiseasy.com to see the fun PIANO BY NUMBER method for kids.

John Aschenbrenner is a leading children’s music educator and book publisher, and the author of numerous piano method books in the series PIANO BY NUMBER.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Aschenbrenner

Tags: bechstein, bosendorfer, german brands, instrument, Music, pianos, steinway company, steinways

The most important factor to decide is whether you want an electronic keyboard or a real acoustic piano.

Here are several things to keep in mind as you make this first decision:

1. Before you buy a great big acoustic piano, think about why you are buying it: if you are buying it for a child, and they have never played piano before, you might consider buying an inexpensive electronic keyboard first to determine the level of interest the child has. If your child demonstrates interest, then consider upgrading to a real piano. Why? Pianos are big and expensive, and once you buy it, it will cost $200-300 to move it, every time. And if you want to sell, it is not quite so easy. And if you CANNOT sell it, they are hard and expensive to dispose of (unless you have bought a very top of the line model such as Steinway.)

2. Do you have room for an acoustic piano? An average piano requires at least five feet in width, plus room to get around it. And if it’s a grand, it can be 5 to 6 feet long. The average acoustic piano weighs at least 500 pounds.

3. Are you planning on moving? As mentioned above, piano moving is not cheap unless you have some strong friends and a truck. Count on $200-300 for a simple move. Then add more to the cost if you have steps. Piano movers have been known to charge as much as $100 per step if it is a difficult move. You can shop around for movers and save a bit, but choose a reputable company that has experience moving the specialty of pianos. The point is that if you have an acoustic piano, do not plan on moving it around easily or inexpensively.

ELECTRONIC MUSICAL KEYBOARDS

Let’s assume you have decided to buy an electronic keyboard for reasons of cost, convenience or portability. Here are points to consider before you buy:

1. You must know why you are buying the instrument, once again. For example, if you are buying a small electronic keyboard for a small child who has never played, my advice is to get the simplest, least expensive keyboard. The reason is that you do not know what your child’s interest will be until the child actually tries the keyboard. The may love the keyboard or they may not. Your safest bet is to purchase an inexpensive model until your child shows interest. Then you can upgrade inexpensively rather than paying a lot initially for an electronic musical keyboard.

2. Do not let a sales person sell you a fancy model with a lot of features. There are dozens of models made by companies like Casio that cost perhaps $99 and will do everything you need to do and more. I’ve seen and taught people who were sold horribly complex keyboard setups for $7500, and they would have derived exactly the same education and enjoyment from the $99 model. The truth is, and I’ve owned recording studios so I have some idea of it, that there are no features on an expensive electronic keyboard of which a beginner can make fruitful use. Get the simple model first.

3. What are the requirements of a keyboard? Good question. A basic electronic keyboard for piano lesson or recreational use should have around 48 keys (a few more or less) counting both the black and white keys. This is what most basic electronic music keyboards (Casio) have. The keys should be

Tags: acoustic piano, electronic keyboard, musical keyboards, pianos

Many parents are presented with the idea of music lessons by their children. That’s because children have a natural love of the sweet and happy sound of music.

At around six years, many kids will want to start an instrument because they see their friends doing so, and because most school instrumental programs do not begin until the 4th grade.

The two most common choices are the guitar or the piano.

The correct choice actually, is up to your child. In fact, if they said they wanted to play the bassoon because they saw it in a movie, I’d let them have a shot at it. Seriously, you want the child to be happy that they were allowed to make the choice. They will have more fun with it if you let them have their way with this choice at first. Later, when they are wildly bored with the bassoon, suggest the piano or the guitar.

But most kids will want piano or the guitar, anyway. Which might be the better choice for a six-year-old?

Here are a few things to consider:

1. The guitar is rather the more glamorous choice, perhaps because of the “Elvis Syndrome” that entertainment for kid’s drums into them. But the guitar is deceptively difficult to get started with for most kids. First and foremost, a guitar must be tuned by the player or it will sound very bad, and the child will not want to play a bad, discordant sound. Tuning is not easy to learn or to maintain, especially for a child beginner. So unless you are prepared and qualified to tune the guitar, I’d stay away from it unless the child insists. If the child insists, learn to tune a guitar, quickly.
2. The piano, on the other hand, needs to be tuned twice a year at very most, and is always ready to play a tune if you want to. Pianos tend to be more rugged than the guitar, which is really quite fragile because of the thin neck and the tendency for six year olds to drop and generally abuse things. It’s fairly hard for a child to abuse a 500 pound piano.
3. The guitar is arranged such that the two hands perform two different tasks, the left hand stopping the strings, and the right hand strumming. The piano is arranged such that the two hands perform largely identical and interchangeable tasks. Thus, in terms of the usage of the two sides of the brain, the piano might seem easier for a child, still building the neuron path between the two hemispheres. And frankly, it is easier for kids. The piano has the added advantage that it can be played fairly well with an index finger alone, which is easily within the comfortable motor skills of the average child of this age. That’s a big plus for kids who are by this age refining the coordination of their arms and legs, and fingers.

Ultimately, the guitar will win out as the child gets older and there are more and more images of cool guitarists. Many kids, boys especially, who are faithful piano students when younger, drop it when they approach puberty because they begin to see guitar as cooler.

But as far as musical education goes, the piano is a far easier instrument on which to gain a deep knowledge of musical theory, perhaps because on the piano there is only one unique piano key for each note, whereas on the guitar the entirety of notes must be divided onto only six strings, making calculations and motions sometimes beyond the reach of most kids. There is a knack to the guitar that some people have and some don’t. You have to try it to find out which type you are.

Remember also that almost every great composer has been at least a competent pianist, if not in many cases a great one. This is perhaps because it is easier to play quickly a huge variety of notes and sounds on the piano that the guitar cannot hope to match.

Nonetheless, the guitar is an endless favorite, a noble instrument that historically predates the keyboards and has been a favorite for hundreds of years. Almost all popular music nowadays and for the past fifty years has been designed around the sound of a guitar.

Whichever instrument your child chooses, music lessons and indeed all musical activities have demonstrable benefits for children. Here are but a few I have witnessed from piano lessons:

1. Better math skills
2. Better handwriting
3. Higher self esteem
4. Better handling of tasks

Let your child try the instrument they wish, and see the results. Then, move on to another if the child wishes. It’s important that the child feel part of the choice and is excited at the prospect of learning the instrument, rather than having a choice forced upon them.

By John Aschenbrenner Copyright 2000 Walden Pond Press. Visit http://www.pianoiseasy.com to see the fun PIANO BY NUMBER method for kids.

John Aschenbrenner is a leading children’s music educator and book publisher, and the author of numerous piano method books in the series PIANO BY NUMBER.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Aschenbrenner

Tags: drums, elvis, guitar piano, music lessons, parents, pianos, six year olds, sound of music