Until recently I owned a Yamaha baby grand, which sadly had to be sold when we moved house. It was one of the best pianos I have had the chance to play, and had a beautiful tone, despite being placed in one of the worst rooms in the house (i.e. near the boiler!) I have played numerous other ... Read review
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Advantages: Beautiful instrument, slightly weighty keys, good practice piano Disadvantages: Slighly stiff pedals on mine, but adjusted with time
Until recently I owned a Yamaha baby grand, which sadly had to be sold when we moved house. It was one of the best pianos I have had the chance to play, and had a beautiful tone, despite being placed in one of the worst rooms in the house (i.e. near the boiler!) I have played numerous other pianos over the years, usually Steinways and the occasional Globe, but this, as was said in previous reviews, was the best practice piano I have played.
... ...playing one of those!) The Yamaha I think *is* good enough for performance though, but I think it depends on the location of the performance, and the qualities within the concert room - such as fabrics and size of performance area. My Yamaha used to sound pretty good, even in an enclosed space, but I think, for larger auditoriums, the Steinway is probably the better choice.
The piano had to be disassembled when it came to actually ... more
Until recently I owned a Yamaha baby grand, which sadly had to be sold when we moved house. It was one of the best pianos I have had the chance to play, and had a beautiful tone, despite being placed in one of the worst rooms in the house (i.e. near the boiler!) I have played numerous other pianos over the years, usually Steinways and the occasional Globe, but this, as was said in previous reviews, was the best practice piano I have played.
The keys are a slightly heavier than other types of piano, and require a bit of weight to be placed on them in order to get a good sound. I like this, however, as I like to feel I am really physically *creating* the sound, as opposed to simply drifting across the keys.
The pedals were a bit stiff when I first started playing though, the soft pedal, particularly stiff, but that gradually worked out in time. My friends would often joke that instead of getting a car, I got a piano - with a seat, pedals, an open top, and that always needed polishing down with a shammy.
I would usually keep a blanket over the top of the piano, to prevent scratches etc, and this would somewhat dampen the sound, however, when I opened to lid to the full extent, the sound would change dramatically, and the notes would have a “rounder” and more “open” quality - if that makes any sense.
The music stand can be raised or lowered depending on the angle at which you prefer to read sheet music, or laid completely flat so that you can see into the piano, and hear the sound much better (I always much preferred this).
Obviously a baby grand is not the best piano for performance, and usually when playing in concerts, it would be a Steinway, and always black (rather than the white pianos the BBC insist on having! I think I’d feel like Elton John playing one of those!) The Yamaha I think *is* good enough for performance though, but I think it depends on the location of the performance, and the qualities within the concert room - such as fabrics and size of performance area. My Yamaha used to sound pretty good, even in an enclosed space, but I think, for larger auditoriums, the Steinway is probably the better choice.
The piano had to be disassembled when it came to actually having to get it out of the house, and the legs were taken off - a very distressing sight! GOD knows how they managed to get it out, or how they managed to get it into the house in the first place for that matter.
It was an extremely well built instrument, and Yamaha make excellent quality pianos in general. I would not hesitate in buying a Yamaha again, given the chance (and a bigger house!) Really “belting out” a bit of Chopin always did me the world of good.
Bit of advice for piano-buying - have a good old go on a selection of pianos before you make your choice, make sure you play a variety of styles and sound dynamics of music and have a listen to someone else playing the same. Note the situation the piano is in, in the showroom (is it close to fabric? / in a small space? etc), and how it sounds there, and I think most importantly, the height of the stool while you try it out is *everything* in deciding whether the piano is right for you. Good luck!
Advantages: Get a lot of piano for your money Disadvantages: Not quite a Steinway
Yamaha pianos have a reputation for been good quality at reasonable prices. Yamaha is a brand that really covers an amazing array of products. Grand pianos however tend to be something of a speciality. Yamaha grand’s have to rate in the to 5 brands in the world. They are still, like every other piano make, quite some distance behind Steinways – but then again, the prices of Yamahas are considerably lower than Steinways.
The thing about Yamaha grand’s ...
scoobyman 30.09.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Yamaha Grand Pianos
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