 |
Insider Tips for the First Time Piano Buyer
My friend Eben Goresko is a real artist - he both beautifully tunes and restores pianos and also is an accomplished musician - he plays a very mean "stride" style jazz piano.
I've been encouraging him for awhile now to put together a website to share all his knowledge and help people learn the ins and outs of buying pianos, finding good piano instruction, etc. And now he's done it - and to kick it off I asked him to write an article on "Tips for the First Time Piano Buyer". I hope you enjoy it and then check out is site focusing on piano resources in Colorado at
Anything Piano Colorado.
David
______________________________________
| |
|
Insider
Tips for first time Piano
Buyer
Anything Piano Colorado
is a new online Colorado Piano Site
offering guidance, free information, advice, support and
resources for piano owners, music lovers and consumers
in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Colorado
West and the Rocky Mountain Region.My name is Eben
Goresko and I have been spent much of my life either playing pianos or
working on them as a piano tuner technician. My music education
began at the age of six where I studied piano and music theory
as a child, at the Settlement Music School
in Philadelphia, PA. After four
years, my piano teacher notified my parents that I
needed a better home practice piano than the Cunningham, Console
that I had used since the on set of my music studies. She
suggested I would do best if were to practice at home on a
grand piano. I was very fortunate that my parents were able to
get a hold of a used Steinway M, Ebony Grand (5’ 7”) for me for
$1200. That was 42 years ago. Now a day,
a new Steinway M runs
anywhere from 45 to $52,000. Back in those days, when I was a
music student and didn’t know anything about pianos outside of
playing them. After playing the Steinway hard for about seven
years, I did know that it did not feel the same as the when we
first purchased the instrument. Years later, when I learned more
about piano technology, I understood why my piano felt different
after seven years of hard playing.
Moving piano parts and components
in a piano, wear just like moving parts in any machine. In this case, the hammers were severely worn and the action mechanism was in need of regulation. Despite that, I was very fortunate that my folks purchased a quality instrument that was structurally sound. To this day, I have that piano and it is still in fine shape for a 77 year old instrument.
Many piano owners are not so fortunate. Over the 30 plus
years that I have serviced pianos, I have seen so very many
first time piano owners make about every mistake in the book,
not just when it comes to finding and purchasing a used piano,
but in many other aspects of piano ownership also.
Here is a brief inventory on how first time piano buyers go
wrong.
1. Buying a new piano
First time piano buyers need to know not just how to purchase a
used piano, but how to purchase a new instrument as well.
2. Proper piano maintenance
Whether you buy a house, car, boat or a piano, in the long term,
your maintenance provider is the only person you can count on to
guide you in the right direction in terms of ensuring your
satisfaction with and protecting the value of your possession.
In the case of your piano, your piano tuner is the only person
who you will rely on to guide you in the right direction and to
tell the truth. You need to make sure that your piano tuner is
qualified!
3. Parents helping their children succeed and benefit from
piano lessons
So many parents tell me horror stories about how their child
gave up piano lessons in a short period of time. Unfortunately,
kids quit more often than necessary for any number of reasons
such as poor choice in picking a teacher, lack of support from
parents, unrealistic expectations of commitment from parents and
child, etc.
4. How to properly evaluate your piano
Evaluate condition and value or appraise it correctly.
5. Selling your piano
To know various options in selling your piano, i.e. privately,
consignment, online
So it is the fact that first time owners have such an acute need
to know about any number of things related to piano ownership
that inspired me to build
www.AnythingPianoCO.com. where we can assist you further
with piano buyers guides, piano , articles, videos and
piano people and experts interviews. You can also take advantage
of our free classified advertising when you need to sell your
piano.
The hub of the site are the resource directories of what I call
the Colorado Piano Community. This community as defined,
consists of Piano Dealers, Piano Tuners, Technicians, Piano
Rebuilders, Refinishers, Piano Movers, Piano Teachers, Piano
Teacher Organizations, Music Schools, Pianists and Piano Bars.
We are also currently working on a piano valuation and age
determination service. I hope you find the following tips
helpful!
Eight Insider Tips for the first time Piano Buyer1. Whether buying new or used, take time to research your options.
2. Get connected to one or more reliable and experienced piano tuner-technicians in order to evaluate and advise you regarding your options.
3. You should always have an independent, experienced and
qualified technician evaluate the piano that you are considering as a purchase. This applies to a piano that you are picking up for little or no money, a purchase from a private owner, or a purchase from a respected dealer.
4. It is always to your advantage to get an expert technical appraisal of your instrument.
5. It is ok to get a non-technical opinion from a friend or teacher who can play the piano well. Understand that you
still need to get a technical assessment regardless of what your musician friend says.
6. Never get a piano simply because it is cheap or free. This can lead to an inexpensive front end acquisition, and a rear end headache. Many people give up on playing the piano just because they made a poor decision. And what you are giving up is simply one of the most rewarding activities bar none. That is the greatest loss.
7.
Like a house or a car, understand that you are going to have to spend a certain amount of money on an ongoing basis to tune, regulate, clean and take care of your piano. This is called routine piano maintenance. Without this care, the best piano will be sub par and potentially at risk to being damaged.
8. This one is important and I see people doing this all the time. Looking for the cheapest rate from a piano tuner-technician is pennywise and pound foolish. Your technician is your only safeguard against potential damage and wear and tear of your instrument! If you tell a tuner that you want a certain cheap rate
and use that as the primary criteria as a basis of hiring, all you are really doing is shortchanging yourself and fooling yourself into thinking that you are getting more for less. The chances are you are getting less for less.
Back to top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
