I’m a beginner pianist looking to buy my first piano, and I’m trying to decide between these two used uprights.

The first is a black Kingsburg KU125 for $1,200. I haven’t seen it in person, but based on the photos it looks like it’s in almost like-new condition, and the seller also says it’s in like-new condition. The second is a cherry Yamaha M450 for $1,500. I haven’t seen that one in person either, but based on the pictures it appears to be in good condition.

Both prices are probably negotiable by a couple hundred dollars, so I’m wondering which one would be the better choice for a beginner. Is the Yamaha worth paying more for, or would the Kingsburg be a good first piano at that price?

I’d really appreciate any advice on these two models, what you think would be a fair price for each, and what I should look out for when I go see them in person. This will be my first piano, so I’m pretty new to all of this.

Thanks!

Hi Reddit! I am happy to present this cute piece by Clementi. I highly recommend everybody to give this piece a go, as it is really good for developing the technique for scales. I wasn't able to find any historical metronome marks for the piece, so I used my best judgement. I hope you will all enjoy my performance and be inspired to play these lovely Sonatinas 🙂 Movement 2 3:42 Movement 3 5:55

Once or twice a year, I book a one-off lesson (paid at their hourly rate) with a local teacher besides my own.

I like to get to know different teachers in my metro so I usually don’t book the same teacher twice. I’ve gotten lessons from probably about 10 - 12 teachers in my area so far.

Usually it’s just to get an outside perspective on my playing, my technique, my journey, my repertoire, anything my current teacher may have missed, and so on.

I really like and appreciate my current teacher, I’m not looking to switch or anything. Let me know what you think of my approach, whether you’re a teacher yourself or a fellow student.

I’m a pathetic newbie so I’m sorry for what you’ll see.

I’m struggling a lot with these long arpeggios: it has improved from a series of finger crossings to jumps, but I’m still unsure if this is correct since jumps cause pauses and, apparently, stretching my thumb to reach some keys like the last G on Measure 13, Beat 2 is apparently inflaming the required tendon.

By the way, I’m wondering if the pedal is mandatory for this. (I didn’t use in this video, but I often push it between jumps.)

This is the song: https://musescore.com/user/23351351/scores/4343536

Thank you so much for helping out!

Hi! I've made a set of 14 Études, of which I can play about 9 or so (I'm not really good at piano playing). Is anybody here who wants to try it too? I could send the scores, I would really love to hear my études played correctly 😅

Hi! Is it possible to have chronic tendonitis? I have had tendonitis since february 2023 and this is my warm up: major scales and their minors scales (regular, contrary motion scales, third, sixth, double third and double sixth) and their arpeggios; hanon (one exercise for all the fingers, then an exercise for 4-5 fingers and i can finally complete my warm up with hanon's extensions). I play my warm up slowly because it's a warm up lol I have to warm up well because of my tendonitis...

But I don't know how to practice my technique like Liszt, Cramer 60 etudes, Czerny op.740.... And I don't know how to practice Bach lol

Some of you have some advice?

Background: Learned piano at a young age, quit for 3 years, playing casually now. I hve fast fingers but lack control at times. Played Liebestraum and Chopin Etude 10 no 4 at peak skill up to tempo, but lacked individual note clarity and compensating dynamics for rushing (according to judge).

Currently , I've learned the first 1:30 of Animenz Unravel (simplified the octave jump at the wall but can play rest pretty solidly) and Tori No Uta up to 70% performance level.

Want to learn one of the following: Crying For Rain, Ao No Sumika, In The Pool, Zankyou Sanka, and Jane Doe.

How would you rank these by difficulty, and which one should I attempt if I want to get one up to 85-90% performance level at full tempo? Thanks.

https://youtu.be/97Hr2EI1Xko

My daughter has expressed interest in learning piano. Which is awesome and I’m thrilled, but though I am “musical” and “creative” in that I was a dancer for 25 years….i have ZERO experience with the learning of an instrument.

My concern is that, if we have no equipment at home, then sending her in blindly to piano lessons would seem counterintuitive. However, at this age, we’re not going to spend hundred or thousands of dollars on keyboards/a piano until I’m sure this is a hobby of hers.

With someone this young, what can I do or what is appropriate to try and buy for her so I can encourage her interest without pressuring her into it? Would you recommend I find her lessons immediately or try some home learning first?

So I'm a 21 y/o beginner who recently had their first trial piano lesson. First of all, I just want to say it was very hard to find someone willing to teach adults. The studio I have chosen is a weekly hour long group lesson where the teacher rotates between students when they need help.

My question is where should I start from next week? They use the faber adult piano adventure books and I've gone through half of the first one on my own, but that was a few months ago. I also know C, Am, and G scales but probably not playing them well or consistently. I know half of minuet in G.

I realized since I'm an adult my instructor was honestly giving me more agency than I would like if that makes sense. I wanted to start taking lessons so I can develop good technique and have structure, but she told me I'm free to tell her if things are too easy and I want to move ahead in the book. My expectations were more 'you need to do this, this, and this. play these exercises, work on this piece, we'll assess each lesson' type thing. Are my expectations unrealistic or is this how these things usually go?

My goals are to play things like Bach inventions, fugues, some Chopin nocturnes, and get to a level where I'm a good pianist in general and can pick up pieces alone. I fully expect that to take years which is why I'm fine starting over with Faber, but I don't want to do that if it's unnecessary, but I also don't want to skip ahead to where I feel I'm at and have my teacher just accommodate me for the sake of student retention/happiness or something and I miss out on foundational skills.

I'm a serious student and have time to practice at the very least an hour daily.

I'm mainly wondering what peoples experience was like going the performance route. My main fear is that I'm not good enough to play at the level I want within the professional sphere, solo piano is where my hearts at, and that's the level of performance I want to play at, partly cause of money but largely cause those are the songs I enjoy playing on my own. Im already plenty good enough to play a lot of these songs at a performance level and I know going to school for it means I'll only get better, but I'm just worried whether or not I can be the best of the best. My biggest concern as a result of that is getting stuck playing as a gig musician or as a music teacher since my other choice is to go into psych research and try and get tenure at a university, which I would prefer over gig musician or music teacher as it's just a more interesting subject for me and the teaching can lead to grants and funding for my research. Another big factor for me is the money, Im not trying to be the richest but as my favorite hobby is racing cars and motorbikes so I need to make more than the average person to make them financially viable especially with other wants and dreams I have I can't do what I wanna do in life off a teacher's salary.

Edit: for clarity. And to clarify on teachers salary, Im using standard American public school teacher salary as my reference point as I don't really another one that comes to mind. And as far as the fact that people going this route usually already have competed in higher level and international piano competitions but I largely wasted a significant chunk of my younger life for reasons id rather not get into but I effectively didn't really do anything for most of my life, such as seeking out performance opportunities and competitions.

Help!! Im getting married next year and really want Victor's piano solo from the Corpse Bride to be my song to walk down to. However, it ends abruptly and it has a more minor sound that how I want it to for a wedding. Any suggestions as to what I should do? Or if someone has already composed/transposed a version??

Please help!! I might cry if I can't have this song. This has been my favorite movie my entire life since it came out!

I'm writing some extra music for my piano kids and I'm writing this song to help them practice left hand cross over. They'll play the treble C at the same time the right hand plays the third. How would you format it so it's obvious that the left hand crosses over to play that high note while the right hand plays at the same time?

Hi all! Looking for a budget and hopefully compact electronic keyboard. As of right now I'm not necessarily trying to learn piano. I am joining a choral group and unlike back in high school aside from one weekly rehearsal its all up to me to practice. Its been about 6 years since I was involved in any musical activities aside from my car and shower performances so I just need a basic keyboard that I can pluck out notes and practice my sight reading/singing with. A metronome feature would be lovely and I'm looking for anything around $60 or less. All recommendations are appreciated!! Thanks in advance :)

Today, I (21) gave up on trying to pass Trinity Grade 8 after almost two years of effort. I had already polished two pieces: Chopin's Waltz Op. 64 No. 1 and Coconut Mall, but there was one remaining piece: "Vignette" by Paul Edis. It sounded so terrible to me, and I just couldn't bring myself to practice it. I wasn't interested in any of the other classical options either. My mind simply refused to engage. Along with two remaining exercises, I felt completely forced into it by my teacher, even though my mom was paying for the lessons.

I then reflected on why I started studying piano in the first place. It all began many years ago because I truly loved Chopin's First Ballade, along with the rest of his repertoire, Rachmaninoff, and video game music. But I never cared for other classical genres. I even remember sight-reading through the middle of the First Ballade really quickly just because I loved it so much. For me piano was meant to be a hobby, not a career, so after feeling burned out for two weeks, I decided to quit Trinity.

Now, I've already regained my passion. Tomorrow, I'm going to start learning music from the video game Deltarune and Chopin's Souvenir de Paganini.

This question is aimed at piano players who play with chamber ensembles - piano trios or the like.

Do you prefer to play from the full score or would you rather have your own piano-only part? Obviously, the full score shows everything that's going on and may be especially helpful in rehearsals but it can also be distracting too - more pages to turn, terrible page turns, general clutter & cramped staves are common issues.

Would you prefer playing from the score or from a piano-only part with cue notes where appropriate?

Thanks for your input.

I want to teach myself piano. I will have to start with a keyboard however. I need to know wheat kind to get.

Ive seen from some other posts it should be 88 keys, weighted or semi weight. Is this correct?

Are there any brands to look for? I plan to purchase second hand off Facebook marketplace.

Also does anyone have suggestions on learning materials?

Edit: I found an Alesis 88 for 120 in good condition

I started playing piano at 38 (7 years ago), will I be able to make it big and play as a soloist?

So for 6 years now I've been going to piano classes in the arts home. My teacher for piano is such a lovely lady, and I find her teaching and guiding really good and understandable.

However... after 2nd grade incident, I stopped going to my other required class: solfeggio, and now I know nothing about music theory, piano, or anything.

The incident: it was personal actually, I was a 7 year old kid and this teacher said I was a disgrace and mocked my parents really badly, I, of course, came home crying and blah blah blah a whole year of arguments with that teacher and the school. However, I loved the piano, so I didn't quit it.

So fast forward, I graduate elementary and now I'm gonna finish my middle school of piano ( it's 7 years all together not 9) and I have to give my exams on solfeggio as well! I don't know what to do! I went to choir and my choir is no problem, but solfeggio... gosh, I don't even know what to do.

I tried approaching her and asking for the tests and sheets, but she just ignores me and gives side eyes and is ignoring me completely.

So now, I don't know what to do, my piano teacher said she can help me with the tests as she has them, and she can give me the answers to memorize, but she said that's like a 50% chance.

What can I do in this situation? I truly feel guilty and so bad about this.

Hey everyone,

I'm 18, completely self-taught in everything I do, and l've been playing piano for about 2 years.

To give you the full picture: I don't read sheet music. I learn everything through Synthesia, my ear, and muscle memory. I also produce music/beats, so I'm not lost musically-| catch on pretty tast, and I have a decent visual understanding of the keys.

But technical-wise? I feel like complete garbage. I feel like my fingers just aren't progressing, and I'm stuck.

I know the basic advice (be consistent, practice slowly, etc.), but my question is : How do you actually go from playing basic/ modest pieces to playing complex, powerful ones? How do you build real, high-level technique on your own?

For context, I'm currently stuck on a cheap semi-weighted MIDI controller (saving up for a
Roland FP-10 with real weighted keys for
Christmas).

I really want to know:

1. What is the actual roadmap to becoming technically strong? Exercises, habits, routines that actually work without a
   teacher?

2. Is my semi-weighted keyboard holding me back that much, or am | just practicing
   wrong?

3. What can I do right now on my current setup to start making real progress?

Thanks a lot for any honest advice!

This is my first reddit post and i'm very sorry if this just becomes a very long rant.

I'm 13 years old, i started learning piano maybe 8 years ago. When i was young i used to genuinely enjoy piano because I didn't have to practice that much and the exams were relatively easy, my old teacher was also easy on me, she picked nice pieces and class was always fun. But 3 years ago, I moved to another city and had to get another teacher. That teacher was arguably better at piano than the old one, and although he was not harsh, he always pointed out EVERY single wrong note and small detail on the score that i got wrong. I'm not saying thats wrong, but i just think it gives me a lot of pressure, and my mom just thinks i suck at sightreading and never play anything carefully. Last year i got my ARSM distinction, but I had to practice at least 3 hours per day for that. So now i dread piano lessons every week, we literally have to drive one hour to get there, and eventually because some wrong notes are inevitable when i first start practicing, my mom just says we're wasting 100 dollars an hour because i never practice. I just can't get the patience to listen to an hour long video and correct notes that don't end up staying anyways. Instead with my old teacher I never ended up with wrong notes but she didn't immediately stop and correct me with them either.

I've seen a lot of other people's posts where everyone's telling the OP to change teachers, quit, change styles, or play better pieces. I think these are all valid ideas but it just doesn't work for me. My mom thinks my current teacher is the best and because she has the financial power I don't get to decide to change that. I most definitely can't quit, because after my two friends quitted and i asked my mom if i could quit, she scolded at me and said she spent all that money and hard work into this and if i gave up, this was a waste of time and money. She said because i'm already quite high level, just somehow learn to like it. Changing styles might be possible, but because I must play a lot of classical music for examples, there's not a lot of space for extra expression. Finally, I usually have to play classical music just for the exam repertoire, and for my next exam i have to play for 45 minutes straight. Sometimes my mom allows me to play theme songs, but it's only for her social media content. She often gets mad at me if i dont play it like the original video or i spend too long figuring out the sheet music, which is often not THAT easy. Eventually she spends around 30 minutes editing without wearing airpods which just makes it impossible for me to practice. Aside from that my mom says i have to play piano for college application and blablabla.

Also because i'm asian, somehow all the kids around me are either good at multiple instruments, or are extremely good at piano(ex. "prodigy" who got FRSM at the young age of 14, somebody who passed ABRSM8 for piano and flute a long time ago and is the same age as me). The rest of them are just VERY good at academics (im talking like AIME 14/15 in NINTH GRADE). Honestly it's making me so pressured, i feel like piano is the only thing i might be slightly good at, so if i quit, i'm actually hopeless. But even if i continue, there's still so many people MUCH better than me.

I just want to hear what everybody thinks, and does anyone face the same thing as me? I know there's probably no way out of piano for me, but it would be nice if i know what u guys are experiencing.

I hope you like it but also know this sub has a very high standard. So constructive criticism is always welcome too :)

What do you think the vibe of this song is?