How Old Is Too Old?

Nothing beats a new piano and Piano Price Point is dedicated to delivering the news about the makers of new pianos. But sometimes they are simply unaffordable, inaccessible or possibly even discontinued and so it necessitates buying used. But that begs the question, how old is too old? At what point do pianos no longer… Read More

Researching Pianos – Hammer Felt Matters

I’ve heard this statement many times before: “I’m just doing my research on what piano to buy”. But what does this actually mean? What do people research when they say that they’re examining a piano? Isn’t a piano just a piano? They’re shiny, they have 88 keys with 3 pedals, right? While that is a… Read More

Yamaha SX Grand Pianos with ARE

Yamaha works at a molecular level implementing ARE, Acoustic Resonance Enhancement in their new SX line of pianos. Yamaha quietly introduced something this year at the NAMM show that caught my eye. It’s not a new process. In fact, it’s been going on since the 8th century with the Vikings in their ship building. Since the 1930’s, Scandinavian countries have also been experimenting with it.… Read More

The Sostenuto Pedal

In 1874, William Steinway wrote in his diary (pictured above) that the sostenuto pedal was splendid. But there has never been said any words in the piano industry that are more divisive than “But does it have a middle pedal?” Why are these words divisive? Because the middle pedal on the piano is the least used and yet most focused on in the piano industry. I’ve often told the story about one of the greatest jazz pianists in my city…… Read More

The Una Corda Pedal – The Soft Pedal

Cristofori, credited with the invention of the earliest pianos in the 1700’s also installed the “una corda” pedal into his pianos. Being Italian, the phrase “una corda” can be translated “one string”. How does “one string” translate into a pedal we also know as the soft pedal? … Read More

Why Upgrade from a Digital Piano?

Just 2 years ago you bought this brand new 88 key weighted digital piano and now you’re being told that it will not suffice. They both have the same amount of keys and it has the same touch as a piano. Why do we need to upgrade? … Read More

Laoureux Dampers

When your finger depresses a key on the piano, the string vibrates allowing us to hear the wonderful tone of the piano. But what happens when we lift that same key? The key returns to its upright position and the tone stops resonating. Why?… Read More