Regardless of your level of proficiency or particular piano brand allegiance, deciding to purchase a grand piano for your home is a big decision. With many brands and styles on the market, it is important to start the search for the perfect fit piano for your home with certain criteria in mind.

Selecting the Best Grand Piano for Your Home

At Lindeblad Piano Restoration, we’ve helped thousands of customers over the last 40 years make this important purchase decision. So, we’ve outlined some of the top considerations for selecting the best grand piano for your home.

Choosing The Right Size

While the standard width of most grand pianos starts around 5 feet, the length can range from around 4 to 9 feet.[1] It is important to understand that pianos are measured for width along the keyboard and for the length along the spine edge of the piano. The sizes and names of the various grand piano options vary by the manufacturer, but the below list is a general inventory of grand measurements.

  • Small Grand: under 4½' to 5’
  • Baby Grand: 5’ to 5’5”
  • Medium Grand: 5’6” to 5’9”
  • Living Room Grand: 5'10"
  • Professional Grand: 6'
  • Drawing Room Grand: 6'4"
  • Parlour Grand: 6'8" 
  • Semi-Concert Grand:  7'4" 
  • Concert Grand: 8' 11' and larger

Selecting the best grand piano for your home is going to depend on the space you have available. This will determine the range of sizes you can consider purchasing for your home.

Choosing For The Best Sound

The combination of the soundboard and length of strings determines the tonal quality of a piano. When you opt for a grand piano with a large soundboard and long strings, the piano will produce greater volume and resonance of tone.[2] If sound quality is your top priority and you have space, consider going with a longer piano.

Ultimately, the sound is determined by the quality of craftsmanship and materials. When assessing what piano is going to be best in your home, spend ample time researching the manufacturer’s approach to piano creation and use of natural materials. Composite and synthetic materials used on soundboards produced in a large factory setting are never going to compare to the tonal characteristics of a hand-crafted Steinway soundboard made from solid Sitka spruce. 

Selecting For The Piano's Look

While the instrument sound and size may rank higher than the aesthetic for most buyers, the exterior look of a grand piano is still an important criterion when searching for the best options for your home. Depending on the style of your home, whether it’s eclectic, modern or traditional, the classic polished ebony piano may or may not be the best choice. Thankfully, most manufacturers offer grand pianos in a variety of exterior finishes.

Here are just a few examples:

  • Woods:
  • Ebony Polish
  • Painted White
  • Mahogany
  • Rosewood
  • Oak
  • Walnut
  • Cherry
  • Maple

Finishes:

  • Satin
  • Polished

Price Considerations

With the wide range of grand piano prices, it is important to begin your search with a fixed budget. This will help to narrow down the manufacturers and sizes early in your search. While you would be hard-pressed to find a grand piano cheaper than $5,000, they can also be well over $100,000. Knowing where you fall in the range of available grand piano prices is key to ultimately finding the best fit for your enjoyment within your home.

Where The Piano Will Go In Your Home

Lastly, it is important to find the best place within your home for a grand piano. While you may have the perfect spot in mind, there are certain locations that would not be ideal for some of the following reasons:

  • Too much sun exposure
  • Fluctuations in temperature based on time of day or season
  • Placement of air conditioning or heat vents
  • Proximity to kitchen cooking and steam 

Thinking about the environmental factors within your home and how they would affect the condition of your piano is key. Finding the best location within your home for your grand piano will ensure its lifelong value, preserved condition, and sound quality.

Which of these considerations for selecting the best grand piano for your home were most helpful? We’d love to hear from you – comment below!

[1] http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/grandpianos.htm

[2] http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/grandpianos.htm

Photo credit: Roman Kraft via Unsplash