Musical Instrument Guide

If you are learning how to play piano, it is very important that you have a piano at home for you to practice. Without it, you will not be able to practice constantly and it will hinder your progress.

And considering the fact that the cost of piano is not cheap, you will need to be very careful in selecting and buying a piano; you will want to ensure that your investment is going to last for a long time.

Below are some tips for you to consider when you plan to buy a piano:

1. Decide on your budget

The price of piano can vary wildly, depending on its make and quality. It can cost between a few hundreds dollars to several thousand dollars. So, you need to determine the maximum amount of money that you will pay for the piano and stick to it.

2. Decide on the type of piano

You are basically looking at two options: electric piano or acoustic piano? Acoustic piano will take up more space than an electric piano, but, the sound will be better. Besides that, you need to make sure that you have room in your home for the piano.

3. Check out the market

Never buy something that you don’t know the price range. Find out about the pricing of new and used piano advertised daily in the newspaper or you can go online and search for prices as well as reviews from several piano website. Have a feel of the cost of the piano will be helpful.

4. Decide on new or used piano

New piano will be more expensive than a used or second hand piano. If you have budget constraint or new to piano and don’t know if your interest will last long, why not consider getting a used or second hand piano. Before you buy any used piano, make sure that you get someone to check it out for any possible defect or problem.

5. Seek advice

It is good to ask someone who has experience in piano on which piano to buy. They can be your piano teacher, piano tuner, music teacher, friends or relative. Seek their advice before making any decision, especially if you are getting a used piano.

6. Visit showroom

Go to the musical instrument showroom and ask the sales persons for help. Find out which piano is the most popular within your budget and which is the most suitable for beginners.

7. Play and listen

Most important before buying piano, you need to try playing it. If you don’t know how to play the piano, ask someone to go along and play for you to listen. Make sure that you feel extremely comfortable with the sound and piano as ultimately, you will be the one playing it.

Buying guitar is not an easy task like picking guitar songs, especially if you are not yet a well-trained player. There are many different types of guitars and they can easily run into hundreds of different shapes, sizes, brands and prices. So, do you know what to look out for when you want to buy a classical guitar?

Here are some tips for your reference.

1. Classical guitars has many different sizes and shape, so you should sit and hold it and make sure that are comfortable with it.

2. Play every note on every string and listen for any fret that don’t play properly. They will give a rattling sound and if that occurs, try out another guitar. Every string should play cleanly on every single fret.

3. Check how much pressure is needed to play notes and chords. You should play bar chords all the way down the frets and if it is too hard to press the strings in order to make a clear chord, then that guitar might not be of good quality.

4. Play harmonics. Harmonics is the technique of plucking the note with your right hand and only lightly touching the string with your left hand.

5. Check and test the tuning pegs. Are they clean and sharp? Wind and unwind them and watch out if the tuning motion is smooth.

6. Tap on the front of the guitar (The sound board) in different spots. Is the echoing sound good?

7. Check the entire guitar. Look carefully from front to back and top to bottom for any cracks, glue exposed around the bridge, and whether the frets are firmly installed into the fret board? Look inside the guitar sound hole and make sure that the wooden braces in there are straight and well placed.

Using the above guidelines when you are purchasing a classical guitar will help to ensure that you are comfortable with the guitar; you would have like the look of the guitar, the sound produce by the guitar and the feel when you hold the guitar.

And when you are very sure that the guitar meet these three criteria, you have found the musical instrument that will bring you great enjoyment playing it.