Location of piano in new home
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So in our new house we have three levels. Top is all bedrooms. Middle is a formal living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, etc. Bottom is a finished basement.
Where should I put a piano (likely a grand or baby grand)? Keep in mind I enjoy playing it but not everyone wants to hear it. (Insert jokes...) I also plan on teaching my kids, but again...not everyone wants to hear that.
Option 1: Should I put it in the living room? It has high ceilings, and carpet. Normally this is the ideal place for it except for the..."everyone in the house hears it" factor.
Option 2: Should I put it in the basement? It has one large room (TV, wet bar) with a hard floor (laminate or engineered hardwood).
Option 3: Should I put it in the basement bedroom? Yes the basement has a bedroom, with carpet, etc.
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- and get a Silent Piano so it won’t bother the little ones...
The Brad
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So in our new house we have three levels. Top is all bedrooms. Middle is a formal living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, etc. Bottom is a finished basement.
Where should I put a piano (likely a grand or baby grand)? Keep in mind I enjoy playing it but not everyone wants to hear it. (Insert jokes...) I also plan on teaching my kids, but again...not everyone wants to hear that.
Option 1: Should I put it in the living room? It has high ceilings, and carpet. Normally this is the ideal place for it except for the..."everyone in the house hears it" factor.
Option 2: Should I put it in the basement? It has one large room (TV, wet bar) with a hard floor (laminate or engineered hardwood).
Option 3: Should I put it in the basement bedroom? Yes the basement has a bedroom, with carpet, etc.
@89th I'd say the living room. It's a social thing that can be used for gatherings, and it would be nice to have it on the main floor for accessibility and good light, etc. The lowest level could have or develop moisture issues that could be hard on the piano. As the kids get old enough to learn how to play it, you might want it to be where you can monitor or assist, and the main level might make it easier.
I think hearing the piano in the house is a bonus, not a detractor. It adds to the feeling of being a family and sharing the experience. Your piano is a major expenditure that deserves a primo location for all to enjoy it.
My 2 cents.
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- and get a Silent Piano so it won’t bother the little ones...
Agree. I had a Silent Piano, and it was wonderful.
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Living room.
Grand pianos, no matter the size, deserve to be in the main social areas. And like Brenda, I don't think hearing someone practicing away on their music is a bad thing. I loved listening to my daughter playing her guitar, just like my father liked listening to me practicing on the piano. As he put it "I feel like I'm getting my money's worth".
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I solved the dilemma by buying two pianos, an upright piano for the living room and a grand piano for the office (which is distant enough from everyone that I can play almost 24/7 without disturbing anyone).
More seriously, I would put it in the basement. If you really like playing the piano, and want to have effective exercise sessions, then it is by far the best option. In a former home we used to have the piano in the living room. It was nice because people would say "Owww..." when they entered the room, but from the perspective of actually playing the instrument it sucked; there was rarely ever a time when one could practice undisturbed and without the feeling of getting on somebody's nerves. People may say that they don't mind hearing somebody practice, but that's usually because they never heard anyone actually practice for extended time (as opposed to playing pieces)
The hard floor isn't a problem if you can put other "soft" materials into the room. I for one bought acoustic diffusors and sound baffles that I put on the walls, and they make a huge difference to the sound. But sofas, book shelves etc. also do the job.There are a few middle grounds, such as buying a second piano that is digital (which is what Jon did), but then you need to live with practicing most of the time on an inferior instrument.
Another option which I believe is not that common in the US but maybe still available: Since you still need to buy the grand piano, there are a couple of good "silent" options you can add to some brands of pianos (such as Yamaha and Kawai and Bechstein). There are "generic" silent systems that some of the small piano makers use, but from what I understand, they aren't as good (for instance, AFAIK the Yamaha system measures the speed of the hammers, whereas other systems measure only the speed of the keys).
Don't buy a too small grand piano! You can make a room work for a piano that is too large, but a too small piano will always suck. I for one would definitely not go below 5'7.
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I solved the dilemma by buying two pianos, an upright piano for the living room and a grand piano for the office (which is distant enough from everyone that I can play almost 24/7 without disturbing anyone).
More seriously, I would put it in the basement. If you really like playing the piano, and want to have effective exercise sessions, then it is by far the best option. In a former home we used to have the piano in the living room. It was nice because people would say "Owww..." when they entered the room, but from the perspective of actually playing the instrument it sucked; there was rarely ever a time when one could practice undisturbed and without the feeling of getting on somebody's nerves. People may say that they don't mind hearing somebody practice, but that's usually because they never heard anyone actually practice for extended time (as opposed to playing pieces)
The hard floor isn't a problem if you can put other "soft" materials into the room. I for one bought acoustic diffusors and sound baffles that I put on the walls, and they make a huge difference to the sound. But sofas, book shelves etc. also do the job.There are a few middle grounds, such as buying a second piano that is digital (which is what Jon did), but then you need to live with practicing most of the time on an inferior instrument.
Another option which I believe is not that common in the US but maybe still available: Since you still need to buy the grand piano, there are a couple of good "silent" options you can add to some brands of pianos (such as Yamaha and Kawai and Bechstein). There are "generic" silent systems that some of the small piano makers use, but from what I understand, they aren't as good (for instance, AFAIK the Yamaha system measures the speed of the hammers, whereas other systems measure only the speed of the keys).
Don't buy a too small grand piano! You can make a room work for a piano that is too large, but a too small piano will always suck. I for one would definitely not go below 5'7.
@klaus said in Location of piano in new home:
I solved the dilemma by buying two pianos, an upright piano for the living room and a grand piano for the office (which is distant enough from everyone that I can play almost 24/7 without disturbing anyone).
More seriously, I would put it in the basement. If you really like playing the piano, and want to have effective exercise sessions, then it is by far the best option. In a former home we used to have the piano in the living room. It was nice because people would say "Owww..." when they entered the room, but from the perspective of actually playing the instrument it sucked; there was rarely ever a time when one could practice undisturbed and without the feeling of getting on somebody's nerves. People may say that they don't mind hearing somebody practice, but that's usually because they never heard anyone actually practice for extended time (as opposed to playing pieces)
The hard floor isn't a problem if you can put other "soft" materials into the room. I for one bought acoustic diffusors and sound baffles that I put on the walls, and they make a huge difference to the sound. But sofas, book shelves etc. also do the job.There are a few middle grounds, such as buying a second piano that is digital (which is what Jon did), but then you need to live with practicing most of the time on an inferior instrument.
Another option which I believe is not that common in the US but maybe still available: Since you still need to buy the grand piano, there are a couple of good "silent" options you can add to some brands of pianos (such as Yamaha and Kawai and Bechstein). There are "generic" silent systems that some of the small piano makers use, but from what I understand, they aren't as good (for instance, AFAIK the Yamaha system measures the speed of the hammers, whereas other systems measure only the speed of the keys).
Don't buy a too small grand piano! You can make a room work for a piano that is too large, but a too small piano will always suck. I for one would definitely not go below 5’7”.
tl;dr:
If your playing sucks, hide the piano in the far reaches of your home.
If not, put it in the living room. You can always get a high-quality digital for practice.
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- and get a Silent Piano so it won’t bother the little ones...
@lufins-dad said in Location of piano in new home:
- and get a Silent Piano so it won’t bother the little ones...
So...I didn't even know these existed. This might be the perfect option... grand acoustic piano by day, silent by night. I wonder if the silent ones even allow for digital recording?
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@89th the Silent Piano DOES allow digital recording. It also allows full MIDI control. What can you do with MIDI control? Any frigging thing you want... I once fired a canon from a Yamaha Silent Piano.
Pretty much all Yamaha grands are available with their system, as are a few of the Boesendorfers. Kawai has 1 option I believe, and QRS and Piano Disc have retrofit systems.
I am always hesitant about pianos in the basement. Is it a walkout?
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@89th the Silent Piano DOES allow digital recording. It also allows full MIDI control. What can you do with MIDI control? Any frigging thing you want... I once fired a canon from a Yamaha Silent Piano.
Pretty much all Yamaha grands are available with their system, as are a few of the Boesendorfers. Kawai has 1 option I believe, and QRS and Piano Disc have retrofit systems.
I am always hesitant about pianos in the basement. Is it a walkout?
@lufins-dad said in Location of piano in new home:
@89th the Silent Piano DOES allow digital recording. It also allows full MIDI control. What can you do with MIDI control? Any frigging thing you want... I once fired a canon from a Yamaha Silent Piano.
Pretty much all Yamaha grands are available with their system, as are a few of the Boesendorfers. Kawai has 1 option I believe, and QRS and Piano Disc have retrofit systems.
I am always hesitant about pianos in the basement. Is it a walkout?
Yup! Walk-out. Good info, thanks! When it comes time to purchase, I'll give you a shout!
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No brainer
Living room
Digital with earphones for children practice
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@89th From what you wrote, it appears that the "family room" will be in teh basement. People will be there to watch TV, movies etc.
So, I agree with others that living room would be the best place for a piano.
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Front and center! The piano, especially a grand piano deserves top billing wherever it resides. Period!
One of the best pieces of advice my piano teacher ever gave me was, "practice so much, that you send everyone else running out of the house!" I told him, I actually used to do exactly that in my youth, when I would practice my drums for 2 or 3 hours straight.
