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.

Don't forget, OP, that if you buy a digital for practicing at home, there's pianos available in public places that you can use, to get a feel for 'the real thing'. My teacher has suggested I investigate my local church... there's also one in the train station, and one in the pub.

If you think 'God, no, I'm far too much of a beginner to play in public!', allow that to be a guide as to whether your neighbours are likely to feel good about hearing the sounds you make.

Don't think the OP is coming back anytime soon.

What's the point in asking if you aren't going to actually listen to any ideas or responses?

I used to live in a terrace and the neighbour on one side was a school music teacher and she'd often play her piano that was backed to our adjoining wall. I used to love hearing her play. But everyone has their own tolerances so perhaps sound out your neighbours first before proceding with your new purchase.

@readytosell

Don't think the OP is coming back anytime soon.

What's the point in asking if you aren't going to actually listen to any ideas or responses?

She did come back. And she thanked everyone.

I have a yamaha clavinova. Im just a beginner but I love it. It wont ever need tuning, being able to use headphones is really helpful.
I dont get the snobbery against electric pianos tbh.

I play the piano and so do my kids (currently grade 4 and grade 6). We live in a terrace house. We have a lovely upright with a lovely sound. Our piano teacher (who graduated from the royal academy) has often commented on how good it sounds. She has a digital because she lives in a flat, and she says it just doesn’t compare.

We used to have the piano on an adjoining wall, but we moved it to a different wall and our neighbours say they can’t hear it anymore. We also use the practice pedal if playing late at night or before 10am.

When I’m out in my garden I can often hear other kids practising in neighbouring houses. It’s lovely and not at all a nuisance. It’s part of living in a town. I find it very soothing, even when it’s just scales and arpeggios - it’s part of learning how to do a beautiful thing, simply for pleasure. Certainly no worse than construction noise, cars, trampoline jumping etc.

An acoustic piano is a thing of beauty, with thousands of pieces put together perfectly - it’s a feat of old fashioned engineering. If you choose well, you can find one that will complement your style - ours is a warm colour and has a mid century aesthetic, which I love. Digital pianos are generally an eye sore.

If you are close to London, I’d recommend going to a piano auction - you can buy a piano for about one third of the retail price.

Digital piano is by far your best bet. For me personally the sound quality and feel is what matters and the fewer bells and whistles it comes with the better. Some digital pianos have in excess of 100 different voices or sounds and none are necessary if you're only using it for the purpose of practising and playing the piano.

Our home is more like a recording studio than anything and the Kawai digital we have is superb. Full weighted keys, pedals, allows two headphones for silent practice and they don't need tuning or have any maintenance needs.

A decent upright acoustic will set you back more than a digital and nice though they look nicer and have a clearer, crisper tone, they soon go out of tune and in old Victorian houses the slightest temperature fluctuation can batter the life out of them.

Aside from there being little more likely to put you off playing and practising than an out of tune piano, you'd be constantly worried about upsetting or disturbing the neighbours whereas with a digital you can just plug in and play at 4am if you want.

www.kawai-global.com/product/kdp120/

I've been playing since I was 4, play around grade 7 nowadays. I've always played an acoustic and while very impressed with the couple of digital pianos I've tried, they just don't have the soul and "presence" of a traditional piano. My piano and I have been together since I was 12 and have spent many happy hours together :)

But I think you may find a good digital a good option. I really like the entry level Roland ones, that's what I'd go for if I bought a digital alongside my 80s Zimmerman.

My DH is above grade 8 standard and we have only a digital piano - a Yamaha Klavinova. While it is not the same as an acoustic piano, the practicalities of living in a terrace house with the piano in a room that’s used for other purposes and the fact that the only place it would go is in front of a radiator made it the only option.

@DaphneDeloresMoorhead

My piano and I have been together since I was 12 and have spent many happy hours together

This is lovely I'm a new learner, in my 40s. Grade 1 exam later this year. I'll be going right up to grade 8 - I've always wanted to do this. I have a digital piano, and definitely feel a strong bond developing!

We had an upright when we lived in a terrace. We kept it back on an inside wall (with a hallway between that wall and the party wall) and the neighbours never had a problem with it.
Livingintheclouds, I play Grade 6 + stuff (different instrument) and practicing is not even 'nice' at that level. In some ways it gets worse the further on you go...scales and other exercises are not written to be pleasant to listen to, and serious practice requires continual redoing of short bits of pieces to get fingering right, putting them together in longer sections, playing sections out of order, stopping and starting... You might think it is nice because she is your daughter, but I bet your neighbours don't.

When I’m out in my garden I can often hear other kids practising in neighbouring houses. It’s lovely and not at all a nuisance. It’s part of living in a town. I find it very soothing, even when it’s just scales and arpeggios - it’s part of learning how to do a beautiful thing, simply for pleasure. Certainly no worse than construction noise, cars, trampoline jumping etc.

This ^
But then I'm an oddity on MN in that I love hearing the squeals of excitement when my neighbours get the paddling pool out for their dc. I like the sound of a lawnmower on a sunny afternoon. I smile to myself, remembering my youth when neighbours' late teens have their friends round when their parents first go away overnight without them. I understand that living in a house that is attached to another family's house will mean we will hear each other sometimes, as does a garden in a town or City.
As long as people aren't lasting out drum and bass after midnight 5 days a week, or getting pneumatic drills on the go at 6am, I understand that we all have to live and let live. A person practising a piano for 15mins every day and who practices every day, in truth? is normal household noise as far as I'm concerned.

Got our first digital for my daughter's 13th birthdayover ten years ago which was a cheap, cheerful no frills budget “Chase Direct” which was £400 maybe? Didn't huge expectations for it to be honest as most digitals I'd played until then had a typically electric piano sound to them and were shite but daughter was with the school of music and she and I both were limited to when we played and conscious of bothering neighbours.

So surprised at how well that cheap thing played. It really didn't look much at all, was basic but full size weighted keys, three pedals, ten voices, a record and playback, MIDI / USB port, dual headphones and had a few extras. The main difference and what made that crappy digital stand out head and shoulders was its sound quality which was superb.

Sadly it was badly flood damaged back in 2016 and couldn't be salvaged but the next best one with the same functions is the Kawaii. Little more expensive but it has even better sound quality plus extras to connect, record, transfer and sample using audio software.

Star Wars Cantina duet took ages for my daughter and I to crack but you can't whack those big beefy bass keys like this on an acoustic whenever the mood suits

I’d go digital with weighted keys.
Maybe a Yamaha clavinova?

Yes op you would, get one with headphones.
I have musician friend, proffesonal, he writes music and manages on a good keyboard

We all have to enjoy music, so I think it would be quite unreasonable of your neighbors if they are annoyed at you playing piano (during sociable hours of course! ). Plus, the piano has a rather soothing sound, so I think they will even enjoy it!
I put on classical music all the time and when my flatmate complains about the noise, most of the time I think it's actually because he hates the music. But we all have different taste! (If I have to hear ROCK from his bedroom he surely can tolerate mine )

Plus, the piano has a rather soothing sound, so I think they will even enjoy it

When it's played well, it's soothing to those who enjoy piano music and are in the mood to listen to it. Listening to a learner playing the same thing, wrong, over and over again (literally hundreds of times), interspersed with a variety of poorly played scales, is a different matter.

@TheFoundations

Plus, the piano has a rather soothing sound, so I think they will even enjoy it

When it's played well, it's soothing to those who enjoy piano music and are in the mood to listen to it. Listening to a learner playing the same thing, wrong, over and over again (literally hundreds of times), interspersed with a variety of poorly played scales, is a different matter.

It's true that it may be unpleasant. But such is the nature of living in terraces - if one cannot tolerate strange noise then it would have been better to buy a detached house far away from people instead. And there are so many different types of noise. If one doesn't want to hear a beginner playing piano, how about the dog barking, the children playing, the rock music playing etc. As long as OP is sensible and plays during the social hours it should be fine.

Well, yes, @Okigen, so what you're basically saying is 'should I be considerate with regard to potentially disturbing my neighbours?'

Don't you think that if the dog was barking, the owner should try to keep it to a minimum for the sake of the neighbours? Or keep the music levels down for the sake of the neighbours? Or teach the kids that we need to respect the neighbours?

Not everybody can simply buy a house in the middle of nowhere, simply because they don't like the noise of living near to people. We all ought to be considerate.

Learning to play an instrument, the desire to practice can strike at 7am or 10:30pm, don't you think it would be good to be able to practice freely whenever the urge struck? Most of the piano players, including teachers, on the thread seem to think a digital piano is fine to learn on and play. Why would you choose the 'neighbour disturbing' option?

I own both a traditional upright and a digital with weighted keys (we all play in this household and 2 DD's sit exams so it seemed the best option).

We use headphones with the digital - worth every penny IMHO.

@TheFoundations
Learning to play an instrument, the desire to practice can strike at 7am or 10:30pm, don't you think it would be good to be able to practice freely whenever the urge struck? Most of the piano players, including teachers, on the thread seem to think a digital piano is fine to learn on and play. Why would you choose the 'neighbour disturbing' option?

Because many terraces are small, a really piano is beautiful and will add character to the room, a digital is an eye sore, piano sounds do not carry (it’s not like drum or bagpipes), and it’s no more disturbing than trampolines, lawnmowers and the like.

DD also plays the oboe, now that sounds dreadful in the beginner stages, and is extremely loud. I’ve yet to hear of a digital oboe though!