Buying a piano - grand or upright?

If you’re in the market to buy a piano one of the first choices you’ll have to make is choosing between a grand piano or an upright piano. Another decision to make is that of choosing a new or used instrument, but that subject will have to wait for a later article. Grand pianos enjoy many advantages over the upright pianos. The most important of these are better actions, longer string lengths, larger soundboards, and a generally more sophisticated or elegant look. But, you must decide if these advantages are worth the extra cost, which is often 4-5 times greater than an upright.

Before learning the differences between an upright and grand in detail it is best that you first decide what your budget and space constraints are. When choosing a place to put your piano remember that it isn’t a good idea to put a piano near exterior walls, doors, windows, fireplaces, etc.

Any area that undergoes frequent humidity or temperature changes is a bad place for a piano. You’ll find that after you’ve determined how much space is available and what your budget will allow you to spend, your choices will have narrowed considerably. Now you can more easily choose what type of piano you should buy.

The primary differences between an upright and grand (other than looks) are with the action and sound quality. A piano’s action consists of all the mechanical parts between the keys and the hammers. How this action is designed greatly affects the dynamics of playing the keyboard. The design of the action in a grand piano is more responsive, allowing quicker repetition and better expressive control of the keys.

When the hammer hits the strings they vibrate and produce the various pitches of the instrument. The longer string length of the grand piano gives it a more powerful and resonating sound than you will get with an upright piano. The vibration of these strings is then carried through the bridge and into the soundboard, which is large wooden membrane. It is the vibration of this soundboard that excites the surrounding air and causes the final sound that you hear. Again, a bigger soundboard means a bigger sound and all grands above 6 ft. have larger soundboards than all upright models.

So, the longer string lengths and larger soundboards of the grand make it an acoustically superior instrument.  The last point, concerning the more sophisticated look of a grand, doesn’t affect the acoustical quality of course. I do agree that grands look better, but don’t choose a poorly made grand piano over a better quality upright piano just for the looks. If you're buying a piano just to have a nice piece of furniture, then I suggest that you buy a Queen Anne desk instead.

Now, with that said, there is something important to note. Although most grand pianos are usually superior to uprights for the above stated reasons, this doesn’t mean that ALL grands are. Specifically, I am talking about baby grands. All other factors being equal (such as craftmanship, styling, and brand) full-size uprights (4-5 ft.) are generally better than baby grands (under 5 ½ ft.). Don’t let the greater length of the baby grand piano fool you. Grand piano measurements include the keyboard, upright measurements don’t.

So, although the action of a baby grand is better than that of all uprights, the string length and soundboard area of full-size uprights is usually superior to baby grands. Remember, strings and soundboards are the aspects that affect the sound quality the most. Furthermore, the better action performance of grands usually isn’t a consideration until your piano playing becomes fairly advanced. So, depending on your level of experience, you must decide which is more important: sound quality or expressive control of the keys.

After the full-sized uprights we come to the studio uprights (43-47 in.), which I consider to be comparable to most baby grands. After that, there are the console (40-43 in.) and spinet (36-39 in.) upright pianos. These last two pianos should be avoided at all costs unless they are your only option due to space and budget constraints. They have complicated and poorly designed actions, tiny soundboards, and generally poor craftsmanship and assembly. Often, manufacturers attempt to cover up these deficiencies by making them look pretty with an ornately designed cabinet.

My general belief is that you should buy the largest and highest quality piano that you can afford. Good quality pianos hold their value very well and the highest quality pianos sometimes appreciate in value. In the future, if you decide that you don’t want it any longer, it will still probably fetch a decent price. If you have serious intentions about following through with your playing then don’t shortchange yourself by purchasing a poorly made piano just to save a buck. You’ll be disappointed in the long run and as your playing progresses its limitations will become an obstacle to your success.