piano practice facilities

[ryan2189]

Hi everyone,

So I'm graduating from university in the upcoming spring, and I'm expecting to be getting a job and a small place of my own. However, I won't be taking my old piano from home with me. It was a very good instrument for when I was in my first or second year of learning piano, however now, after using the good pianos at my university and being accustomed to something better, I intend to obtain either a baby grand or grand piano for my new place. I'm not sure how possible this is in the immediate months after graduation, seeing as though I won't have enough money to put down for something like that, whether or not I find a good buy from a private owner, which I know is much better than purchasing from a store directly.

Anyways to get to my question...I was wondering if large cities have something like piano practice facilities? Do piano showrooms allow people to play their pianos, or do they have practice rooms in the back that can be rented and payed for? I'm just looking for a temporary solution before I can afford a quality piano of my own.

Thanks!
Ryan

[omar_roy]

No such thing as far as I know.  If there are any universities with music programs around the area to which you'll be relocating, you can always try and sneak into the school's practice facilities.

Piano showrooms won't allow you to practice on their instruments.  Of course, you can always practice under the guise of testing out different pianos for purchase, but that only works for so long. 

Your best bet is to take the piano you have at home and just deal with it for a while until you know you can afford shelling out the cash for a new piano.  It's simpler, and free, aside from the cost of moving it.

[richard black]

Don't know about other cities, but London has plenty of practice facilities and yes, most of them are part of piano dealerships. Steinway has 3 or 4 practice rooms in the basement, Jacques Samuel (main dealer for most makes that aren't Steinway, Blüthner or Yamaha) has 8, I think Blüthner has some, and then there's a further suite of 8 rooms that used to be part of a dealership and stayed on when the actual shop closed.

[lizzie3]

Yes, I lived in a smalish town for a year and the library had a piano you could use. It was affordable too - like $10 an hour or something. However it was in one of the galleries so you had to be comfortable practicing in front of strangers.

In my current city one of the larger grocery stores has a piano that people are always playing - not sure if there is a fee...

Why don't you ask the professors at your school? They might know of some places for you. Or you could always buy an affordable used piano for a couple years, I'm sure you will adjust to its quality.