Consider This

When Buying a Piano

Part 1:  Buying for a Beginning Student

 

A very common theme I hear when parents are shopping for a piano for a beginning student is “we don’t want to risk losing a lot of money on a piano because we don’t know if he/she will stick with it”.  As a parent of three myself, I am well aware we have to be careful with the limited funds we have, as we want to stretch them as far as reasonably possible.  That said, most students will take at least a year or two before any decision can be reached regarding a students determination to continue with lessons.  With an average of around $50-$60 per month as the going rate for lessons in this area, that means an investment of up to $1,440 plus method books and print music that cannot be recovered.  Compare that with a piano.  A good, professionally reconditioned piano (please see part 2) will run between $1,200 and $1,800 – warranted, delivered and tuned in-home.  Even taking a 50% loss, between $600 and $900 can be recovered by selling the piano if the student quits lessons, so I encourage parents to invest as much as reasonably possible in the piano – knowing that a better instrument will help the money invested in lessons, which cannot be recovered, have a higher likelihood of success.  Something else to consider is this - many piano dealers, including Ragland Piano, have a rental program where the monthly rental applies toward purchase of the piano so for parents who doubt the student will continue more than a few months this is also a good way to provide a good acoustic piano.  Remember – investing reasonably in your child’s instrument will increase the likelihood of enjoying music the rest of their lives.

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