Pianos

I highly recommend looking at http://www.rickjonespiano.com online. They are in D.C., but ship all over the country. We purchased our piano from them last year and besides great  price, service and help, they allow you to trade up w/ full trade-in value anytime. I had narrowed our search to 2 of their pianos – a low end Kawai and the Samick we purchased. When I phoned to discuss my options, Rick steered me to the less expensive model assuring me it would be fine for our needs for years to come. We spent about $2400, but they have less expensive models all the way up to Steinways and such. 

BTW – We are in Florida and their shippers were terrific too.

HTH,

Christie

Also check locally.  Many people will sell their older pianos on their own when they upgrade or when they move to a smaller home (that’s how we got both our piano and our organ).  You can often find listings in local papers, Craigslist, etc.  or some music stores maintain classified listings.

We bought a used electric piano from a church. We love the fact we don’t have to tune it, it has weighted keys, and sounds like the real thing! I can get you the model name (I am thinking Yamaha?) My sister in law who has a degree in music and plays classical says it is better than her electric piano (she teaches in her home).

Tara

Definitely check craigslist! Also just put the word out that you are looking for one.  We did and have had a couple of friends tell us they would sell us theirs for a great price.  Then, another friend insisted that we take hers.  She said she’d been wanting to get rid of it for years, but hadn’t done so.  We will be moving it here next weekend.  Our piano teacher went and looked at it (she insisted that we make sure it was worth moving it) and said it’s in great shape but recommended that we have it professionally tuned once it’s moved.  We were in no way looking for someone to give us one, but it’s a huge blessing.  Had that not happened, I would’ve bought one of the other friends’ who were interested in selling. I also have seen several on craigslist at great prices.

I would only upgrade if one of my children showed great promise of going somewhere beyond simply the ability to accompany in church. Otherwise, ours will be totally fine forever. Now, should I win the lottery, buy a house that simply begs for a grand piano or something – nah, how could that happen when I don’t even play the lottery.

Joking aside, if you choose to buy local, you need to know what you’re getting. You may consider taking a piano tuner or someone who knows pianos well with you. 

Being a piano teacher myself, I wanted to second the idea of purchasing a digital piano, specifically a Clavinova like the one that Tara mentioned. Digital pianos are not really keyboards. They have the feel of a real piano with weighted keys and high-quality realistic piano sound (I believe it is recorded from a Yamaha full-size grand). 

A few of the benefits of a digital piano are 1) You never have to tune it (which runs about $75.00 per year where I live) and 2) Digital pianos usually come with headphones so that the student can practice without disturbing the other students in your home. 🙂

Of course, if you have played for many years or have had musical training in college, a digital piano will not quite compare to a full-size grand in feel. However, I would definitely choose a digital over an old upright with mechanical problems that people are always trying to give away.

People usually upgrade their pianos because they either want a nicer looking piece of furniture (pianos are just furniture to lots of people) or because their child has progressed beyond the point of wanting to deal with sticky keys or problems with the pedals on older models.

You can usually find many used Clavinovas on sites like Craigslist, because like computers, Yamaha is always updating the technology in them. Besides having a realistic piano sound, many Clavinovas come with sophisticated recording equipment built in.

If you’re seriously considering one, I’d visit a music store or a piano store in person and ask the salesperson to explain the differences in the different models that are available. Then you can take the model # with you when you’re searching for a used one.

Wow, that was much more than 2 cents, but I hope some part of it might have been helpful! 🙂

~Anna

Anna,

Since you are a piano teacher, what age is best to start lessons?  We have a keyboard that I am going to use for their lessons.  My ds are 2 and 5.  My main goal with lessons is that they at least learn to read music(how long would that take?).  If they want to go further with lessons fine and we can look into a piano at that time.  Thanks for your input

Carolyn