How to Donate a Piano

Pianos are not the smallest pieces of furniture in the house. So  when the family piano is no longer used and taking up valuable space, often the thought is to donate the piano to the school, the church or the village hall. Anywhere it can be played and appreciated.  

While donating a piano to a school or college is a generous gesture, the kind of piano and its condition might throw a different light on the gift.

Institutions need any donated piano to be up to scratch, up to pitch and ready for continual and rigorous use without the school having to spend any new money. Pianos of a certain age will never be fully up to scratch, and pianos that are ripe for being donated are often pianos that are simply unloved and unwanted by the owners. In this age of trying to recycle everything, passing on a surplus piano seems a very 'green' thing to do! But not always the most helpful thing to do.

Being given a 'grand' piano seems like manna from heaven to an institution with limited funds. Surely a grand piano can be used for concerts and recitals - what can possibly go wrong? But alas, most of the pianos I have viewed on behalf of hopeful clients, have been poor examples of mediocre manufacture.

It is better to turn down the offer of a poor piano than to be obliged to take it and be forced into paying good money trying to make good an inherently bad piano.

Occasionally there are happy endings:

One was when a parent of a child at a certain school very generously bought a piano for the school. 

Another, an 'old' parent wanted to donate their 1970s Yamaha to the school and even paid to have safety casters fitted, the piano moved and tuned! 

This is how to donate a piano!

So if you are considering gifting a piano to a school of college, be doubly sure the piano would meet the demands expected and actually be a blessing to the school.
    

Tuner's Journal

© Steve Burden

Buying a Used Piano

Buying a good used piano should not be difficult, so long as you do not get carried away with what a piano looks like or by the fact that it is cheap. It is very easy to pay a lot of money for a piano that is simply not worth buying. Pianos, when they are 80 years old or more will almost certainly need some repair work, so it is essential to consider the cost of any work before you agree to buy it. 

Piano repairs are extremely time-consuming and therefore expensive. You do not want to buy a piano and have it delivered only to find that it is beyond any viable repair. Pianos are for playing music - not for stressing you out! Keep the following points in mind when you are looking to buy a piano:

• Never get sentimental over a piano.
• Never buy a piano just because it looks nice.
• Buy as young a piano as your budget allows.
• If you can, get professional help.  

Any piano may be better than no piano but if you go to the trouble of looking for a useable piano, it helps if it actually works and is tuneable. These basics cannot be assumed if you are looking for the cheapest piano available. Once bought and delivered, the pianist who has to play it, might, from disappointment, choose never to play it again. This is a very sad outcome from the piano hunt that started out so optimistically!

Generally speaking, for most piano-owners, the average time between tunings is getting longer all the time: months turn into years and all that time the pitch will be gradually sinking. Claims that a piano for sale was tuned 6 months ago, though not meant to deceive, might be a little exaggerated. A vague "recently tuned" is probably more truthful, but could mean 2 or 3 years ago!

There can be any number of mechanical problems hidden from view, inside a pretty case. If notes do not repeat; play a couple of times and then stop working; if there are clicks and knocks every time you play a note; if the key sticks down when played... there are serious problems within! Walk away.

Of course, if you want to spend £50 and no more, then you will need a lot of luck. I hope you manage to find something, but you are very unlikely to get a reliable piano.

What makes should you look for? Don't even think of it! There were thousands of makers producing pianos that were nothing special when they were new. These are the sorts of piano that are now being sold very cheaply or even given away. To start looking for specific makers, you are at the very least, considering pianos a couple of price brackets up the scale.

You will save yourself much worry, pain and regret if you seek the advice of a trusted professional - at least to steer you away from a disastrous choice. Happy hunting!

The Piano World

© Steve Burden 

.

.