Advice, playing, buying

[juco]

Looking for advice.
Both verging on retirement and wife wants to get a piano, we are not well off but wont struggle.

40+ years ago wife could play accordion by ear & reading music and did win some competitions but never played for last 40 years, she can still get a tune together albeit with hitting a few wrong notes on modern pop songs (was a bet as son didn't think she could). So for her retirement she wants a piano. In principal I am not against this....But.
Before me and her argue about it I would like some opinion on my thoughts.

She would like a baby grand, I assume electronic otherwise price would be an issue.
My thoughts are buy a cheapest electronic keyboard (even 2nd hand) and take lessons and practice, if after say 6 months progress is made then lets start to consider something decent.
If it progresses to buying a better one then my argument would be a decent electronic keyboard as my thoughts are a baby electronic grand is paying for visual appearance rather than quality.

I would add that several years back we had an upright in our garage (not our piano,stored) and she never attempted to play it, I also bought her a Concertina at one stage and it has never been played, there is also a guitar in the house but she is not interested.

Although I want to support her retirement with a nice hobby I hope you can see why I am slightly concerned at throwing money too quickly at this.

You opinions are welcome negative towards me or otherwise.

[chrisw]

Firstly, all the best for your retirement.

Taking up piano seems a good idea to me, but then I'm biased. Seriously it can bring a great deal of joy but it can also be hard work and a certain amount of commitment is needed.

An acoustic baby grand if bought new will cost at least £8000. If you buy a secondhand acoustic I recommend something quite new because the sound is so much better than older models which are passed their best. I don't know how much a digital grand would be. However a good digital piano can be bought new for say £1000-£1500.

You could go for a "keyboard" type of piano but these will be £500+ as you need 88 keys and a weighted action. If you want to upgrade from this keyboard at a later date I can't see that it will be worth very much in the secondhand market although you may be able to trade it in at a piano shop if you had arranged this as a possibility in the first place.

I would advise going to a shop, try some instruments and chat over the possibilities with the staff. If it is your wife that wants to learn it is important that she chooses something that she is totally happy with and then she has an incentive to keep playing it.

[Feg]

Why don't you hire a piano for your wife? You are not committing to an expensive piece of furniture if her retirement notion comes to nothing and, if she is keen and plays it a lot, you can buy the piano with the rental payments offset against the purchase price.

Have a look at piano shops in you area and ask about rental arrangments.

Good luck

Fiona

[juco]

Thanks for the input, I am looking at say a budget of £500 although it could go higher. Ideally I want her to take some lessons first.

I am at the stage of researching for info as neither of us have a clue.
At then end of the day it will be her decision but the more info I gather the more help I maybe in helping her choose and yes when the time comes it will be a days out visiting Piano shops.

[cassidybole]

Looking for advice.
Both verging on retirement and wife wants to get a piano, we are not well off but wont struggle.

40+ years ago wife could play accordion by ear & reading music and did win some competitions but never played for last 40 years, she can still get a tune together albeit with hitting a few wrong notes on modern pop songs (was a bet as son didn't think she could). So for her retirement she wants a piano. In principal I am not against this....But.
Before me and her argue about it I would like some opinion on my thoughts.

She would like a baby grand, I assume electronic otherwise price would be an issue.
My thoughts are buy a cheapest electronic keyboard (even 2nd hand) and take lessons and practice, if after say 6 months progress is made then lets start to consider something decent.
If it progresses to buying a better one then my argument would be a decent electronic keyboard as my thoughts are a baby electronic grand is paying for visual appearance rather than quality.

I would add that several years back we had an upright in our garage (not our piano,stored) and she never attempted to play it, I also bought her a Concertina at one stage and it has never been played, there is also a guitar in the house but she is not interested.

Although I want to support her retirement with a nice hobby I hope you can see why I am slightly concerned at throwing money too quickly at this.

You opinions are welcome negative towards me or otherwise.

she must be an expert accordion player.