Your piano guide

1) Our child is learning piano since this school year, but we don’t know whether she or will be successful in it. Is it okay to buy a cheap keyboard instead of a „real“ piano during this period?

In general, we always recommend to buy a „real“ piano. A keyboard has less weighted and has less keys than a piano. For this reason we highly recommend an upright piano or at least a good digital piano which has similar features to the upright piano / grand piano (e.g. Yamaha Clavinova series). Nevertheless, the sound and the key touch of a digital piano should be very similar to a “real” piano.

Alternatively, you can also rent any instrument in our piano house with a minimum period of rental of only 6 months. All paid rental fees are taken into account if you later decide to buy the instrument (buyer’s option). Click here for more information regarding renting and leasing!

If you already have a piano teacher, it is highly recommended to talk to him/her and listen to their advice.

2) What is the difference between the various brands and why do they have so many different models?

We would like to answer this question with a simple counter question: What is the difference between a BMW and a Mercedes car? Each brand stands for its own ideals in terms of production and processing. This is noticeable in the individual sounds, design and touch sensitivity. In our piano house you can try instruments with a very clear and brilliant sound as well as more soft and gently sounded instruments.

Additionally, there are huge differences in the keys itself (sharp or smooth edges, surface coating, ivory look, matt or shiny) and in the weighting of the keys (heavy or light touch sensitivity).

Various brand manufacturers offer instruments in different qualities: On the one hand, the instruments are available in numerous colours and heights (general rule: the higher the instrument, the better the tone colour and the sound).

On the other hand, most of the producers offer beginner, middle-class and high professional instruments, which especially vary in the detailed processing thus can be distinguished in sound and touch.

It is advisable to take your time to think about and to try out the different brands and instruments. If you can’t play piano yet, you are very welcome to come to our piano house and our staff can explain all the important differences to you.

3) Does the country of origin influence the quality of an instrument?

No, in general it does not. However, if the instrument is manufactured in a factory of a well-established brand like Yamaha, you can be sure, that high quality and ethical standards are met in Indonesia exactly like in Japan, whereas very cheap instruments are mostly produced by any contractors (so-called no-name-products). No-name-pianos are most likely produced from substandard material under highly questionable ethical conditions.

4) Should I choose a well-known brand or is it also okay to take a no-name-instrument for the beginning?

Numerous no-name-brands usually have European sounding „fantasy names”, so customers often believe an instrument was produced in Austria, Germany or in another European country. But in reality they are not. As already mentioned, these are so-called no-name-products. It may be, that at the beginning no-name-products sound good and the piano mechanic is well playable. However, after some years or even months the quality of the inside materials and of the instrument itself declines.

Furthermore, spare parts are available for well-known brands even after many years! So, the lifespan of a brand product is very long.

Do you have more questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us or just come by to try out all the pianos and digital pianos we have on stock and our staff can explain all the important differences to you.

 If everything is clear, click here to get to the shop!