The most unmusical question of all when purchasing a musical instrument, is “how much?” It has been comically rumored that an additional “person” tags along with every buyer of pianos. With all the musical desires and the technical information, there is a “fellow” that cares for none of the things we want to know. His name is “Bud Get.” He is not interested in touch, sound, appearance, materials, or workmanship.
However, this “partner” in picking out a piano is very important to the overall process. We must all accept the facts and figures that a piano is not a necessary part of life. Although the gift of music in the home cannot be overestimated, a number of things call for piano enthusiasts to reign in the budget.
Piano Costs
Knowing what pianos cost and why they cost as much as they do are two important answers to getting the right piano at the right price. It’s also useful to understand why some places are better than others for finding a piano that fits your budget. Counting the cost of an investment that can last a lifetime is also valuable to process.
The price of a piano varies depending on its age [new versus preowned], manufacturing [handmade versus manufactured], and company standards [musical instrument versus toy]. A brief description can help the budget be limited, adhered to, or expanded. Since most reputable makers of pianos are creating instruments to last a lifetime, the budget might change.
Amount of Time Played
If the average piano player plays one hour a day, we might expect that they would play five to six days a week. We might expect the piano to be played for 48 months in a year. If this activity at the piano occurred for only 20 years, we are looking at 5,760 hours. Suddenly, a $1 per hour cost justifies a $6,000 budget for a piano.
Piano Components
We should then know why pianos cost as much as they do. In a new piano, there may be as many as 12,000 parts. Each component has been precisely crafted and fitted together to be effective and long-lasting. Although pianos do need regular tuning and some basic maintenance, most are designed to last a lifetime. This design ranges from artisans painstakingly handcrafting each component to sophisticated computer-aided designs ensuring an exact fit.
Piano Budget
What you might expect to budget for a piano will also vary depending on where you shop. The nature of acoustic pianos is subject to their environment and maintenance. This is more important as older pianos are considered. One season in a basement or garage while “the floors were being refinished” can ruin a piano permanently. Piano companies that inspect the condition, reject problematic pianos, and stand behind their products will charge slightly more than private sellers, but you don’t want to inherit someone else’s service problems.
So, realistically, you should inform Mr. “Bud Get” that the average price for a trouble-free entry-level upright acoustic piano is from $3,000 and up. An entry-level professional upright piano is $5000 and up. Baby grands start at around $9,500 and go up from there. Premium grand pianos start around $14,000 and go up from there. Obviously, these are estimates, and many variables will affect the budget.
As mentioned before, pianos vary in cost depending on age, manufacturing, and company standards. “You get what you pay for,” as the adage goes, and the John Ruskin quote, “It’s unwise to pay too much…but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, and that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing what it was bought to do.” This also applies to long-term piano investment budgets.
So if you want a piano, but keep asking yourself the most unmusical question of all, contact England Piano, and we will help you figure out what Mr. Bud Get can actually afford.