Would I be unreasonable to get a piano?

[alittlefishy]

I live in a new build terrace, neighbours on both sides are extremely considerate. I'd like to get a piano (but an upright not a keyboard) for DC and me to learn on. You can't hear a peep from any house if the doors are closed but any window or door open you can hear everything. I'll obviously never play with doors or windows open. Would you be annoyed if you were them? I could play some piano music to test that they wouldn't be disturbed. If I ask them outright they'll say it's no problem.

Admittedly I live detached, but I've just bought a new digital piano. I did fellowship exams, so I'm a serious pianist, but I'd not choose an upright now unless it was a forever home (mine isn't).

Honestly, some of them are amazing, and you don't have to spend a fortune on something with good weighted keys that doesn't take up a huge amount of room. Great with headphones.

I used to teach. As PP have said, get a digital. Some are great. Personally I have a Kawai MP10 stage piano. It's fab, with excellent action and fully weighted keys. FWIW I learned on a (very good) upright yamaha my parents bought for me, and I shared a house with a piano teacher/ examiner for quite some time who owns 2 (!) Steinway grands AND a digital casio. A decent quality digital is fine.

I lived in a terrace with neighbours who had a piano against the party wall. Kids could be on it from anywhere from 8 on a Sunday morning till 10pm at night, and it was the same tune over and over. I should have raised it with them, but one night I just snapped and started hammering on the wall..... did improve after that though.

A good quality digital piano with weighted keys is fine and gives you options, e.g. use headphones, play with full volume, play with muted volume, etc. Plus, they often have lots of little extras that encourage kids to practice (e.g. drum beats, recording functions, different instrument sounds, play-along functions). We have both a digital (a Kawai CA79) and an acoustic (with a built-in felt sound-damping mechanism) and DD's teacher (who is very lovely but quite strict) has never fussed about which DD practises on.

DH plays piano (quite well) and is very happy with the electric one he has (with weighted keys). DD is showing an interest so we will have the benefit of headphones. I love hearing neighbours who can play well but might be annoyed if I was listening to someone learning!

My Mum has a proper upright and it's so incredibly heavy, and she's never bothered to keep up with the tuning!

And by quite well I mean he achieved a level 6. The poster upthread sounds like she has a snobby teacher for DD!

[quote TheFoundations]@Billybagpuss

Digital don’t help develop your technique at all and as a teacher it’s very obvious the students who have digital pianos

How d'you mean? My teacher told me that my digital will get me up to grade 5. Do you not agree?[/quote]
Absolutely you can get up to grade 5 with one, I’ve taken someone to grade 8 before, if you’ve got a digital it will work, but honestly as a teacher you can tell, the touch is different, but if you have the choice, a decent upright will always be better than a digital

The awesome Fanny Waterman explains it far better than me, but even she agrees they have there place in situations like the OP here.
www.theguardian.com/music/2014/dec/21/uk-pianists-lagging-behind-renowned-music-teacher

A good digital is the answer - headphones are an option and you can adjust the volume.

I had a very old piano, on its last legs according to the tuner, that I didn’t want to ditch because the cabinet was such beautiful wood. Had the innards and keyboard replaced with good Kawai ditto. You can’t tell any difference by looking at it, the tone is better and the pedals no longer squeak. 🙂

Dc is learning the piano and their teacher strongly advised a good, weighted keyboard rather than an upright 'normal' one. It sounds like a good electronic one is better than a poorer quality (cheap) piano. I'm sure that if you're buying a really good piano, that is different but we weren't planning to do that!

Another pro pianist here, and in full agreement with billy. I own a grand and a digital. Upright with practice pedal if you can - the touch on a digital is not the same.

But (and it's a pain in the arse in these pandemic times) if you go for a digital, try them out if you can. Some are an awful lot better than others.

Yamaha DGX660 is good to use with headphones and available in white as well as black.

I used to have a neighbour who played and I loved to hear it. I also think it’s great for kids to learn an instrument. Go for it… it’s not like you’ll be on it all day every day

We have a proper Yamaha digital piano, DD is grade 7 and got into a junior conservatoire playing one so it's fine. You can put headphones on, record yourself, play along with the built in tunes. Maybe if she was concert level it wouldn't be good enough but neither would a low to mid range accoustic. I would say go digital, you'll play more and get better more quickly without worrying about the sound.

@WhatAWasteOfOranges

I used to have a neighbour who played and I loved to hear it. I also think it’s great for kids to learn an instrument. Go for it… it’s not like you’ll be on it all day every day

A keen learner won't want to be thinking 'What if the neighbours hear me??' when they wake up early on a Sunday and feel like running through their scales. All day every day isn't the thing. Whenever you like is more... (dare I say) key, to learning.

I used to live in a terraced house, and had a child who was learning to play the piano on one side, and one who was learning to play the clarinet on the other. I quite liked hearing them practice - it wasn't that loud, and it was only for fairly short periods each day. I think this sort of thing is part and parcel of having neighbours and, providing you're not playing late at night or for many hours each day, is fine.

If you are serious about learning the piano, at least 50% of your time will be spent on exercises, scales, arpeggios, sight reading exercises, going over and over again the "tricky bits" in any piece you are trying to learn. This is not the same as being an accomplished piano player who plays glorious pieces that musical neighbours might like to hear, - and what if your neighbours don't appreciate even the most brilliant piano playing?

The repetitions are tedious for the people you live with, let alone the folk next door.

I would also really recommend a decent digital piano, you can then turn it down if you want to play at unsociable times. We have a Casio Privia. If you are planning on doing any exams then you definitely want weighted keys and pedals.

I live in a flat that is not a new build and have an upstairs neighbour. My neighbour makes loads of noise at unsociable hours (door slamming at 3am, dogs yapping throughout day and night) so my DP isn't too concerned about his one hour of piano per day (about midday) making noise. I can tell you though that I can hear it from outside with all windows and doors closed. When hes learning a new piece of music the repetition is pretty annoying. I would be concerned in your situation and seek an alternative as worrying about your neighbours will take the joy out of learning!

Of course YANBU.

As long as you are not doing your practice at 6am or gone 11pm, then it is a perfectly normal house noise to be making. I presume neither of you are going to be practising for hours every day ?

I have a Roland digital piano like this:

www.gak.co.uk/en/roland-f701-digital-piano-contemporary-black/942548?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7x2BU0vlXd3JR41Zj6fVDo1zM2K2iVeogdmfLw_onbVRcOJVL9Bw5gaAvjhEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It's great, feels realistic and not terribly unlike an actual piano. Also if you want to move stuff around the house, much more doable with a digital piano ;)

Not to mention, as others have said in the thread, much less annoying sound wise. I remember practicing on an upright as a kid and being yelled at by my dad to stop because it was disturbing TV watching 🤣 the constant scales and arpeggios WILL drive you wild, and the neighbours more so I'm sure.

I'll add the rolands sound much better to me than the Yamaha's for some reason!

We have a very good Yamaha upright one you can play with headphones on in our current rental house and will be buying one when we move to our own house soon . It’s been great with 3 people playing piano here and we’re a middle one in a terrace / townhouse . DH and DS are grade 8 and beyond and DD grade 3 . DH and DS also play guitar and DS electric drums he can use headphones with too . Nobody would want to listen to all that even if they’re all playing well ...

Another saying get a digital - at least for the first few years of learning. They are really good these days. You must get 88 keys and they must be weighted. We got a Roland RP 102.

I have a Kawai upright piano. Love it. I practice daily. DC often practice on it too. It is loud, but it's on the gable end of the house.

It's a step up from a Roland EP3 years ago that I used to practice on 🤣🤣