New Piano

I have wanted a new piano for a while but hated the thought of playing the piano in the store. Our old piano was great but for several reasons (no dynamics, loose keys, missing drawer, short height) I broke down and told mom and dad we could start shopping.

We had been looking around for several months when someone offered us their institutional Yamaha. In case you didn't know, an institutional is a kind of piano that almost every brand has. It is usually characterized by an extra-strong build that enables the piano to be moved often and still last a long time. It is the kind of thing a studio or piano teacher could use. 

Anyway, the piano was in good condition but it had a super bright sound that we didn't love, but thought we could live with. It was free so we just decided to take it. We reached out to a couple of movers but a slight problem arose. The piano had been moved up a very tight staircase ten years ago. Then the owners had promptly refinished their stairs, put in a new wooden banister, and wooden bookshelf. As you can guess, this made the already tight staircase impossible to fit a piano down. In the end, we all agreed it was a good thing because we would have probably hated the sound.

After a break for Christmas, Mom took me to a store that had the equivalent of the Yamaha institutional but by Kawai. Before I was done with the first line of my music I loved it like I hadn't done with any of the other pianos. Kawai is well known and has the mellow sound we wanted. The Kawai ST1 also had some nice upgrades from the old piano:

- It has an extra-large music stand that runs the whole length of the piano.

- Our old piano did not come with a bench.

- The extra-large caster wheels are just a plus for a piano in general and for resale value.

- The top opens and has two ways to prop it open for extra volume.

-We had the choice of brown or black and choose black because of the look and resale value.

- The drawer and top both lock, which can be handy because we have little kids at our house a lot.

- The practice petal makes it so I can play during dad's conference calls. To use the petal I push it down and slide it to the side. The petal drops a piece of felt down between the hammers and the strings.

Covid should not prevent you from improving at the piano. But when you can't practice because dad is working from home it does. Micah also likes it because I will use it during his math. 

On the whole, it sounds very nice and is fun to play.                                                      

Anna