Begginer piano suggestion

[cheap_piano_a]

Piano questions -

1. So, I keep hearing that - "an upright piano is inferior to a grand, even a baby grand and how anyone should avoid uprights. You should start with a grand as you will learn faster. Uprights sound inferior etc etc."
I know these might be valid points, but not everyone has that much money or want to be a professional or concert pianist.
I think if I share my goal for learning pianos, you guys willl be able to help better.

Here is my goal -

To be able to create/compose tunes/music
To be able to play any song or most of them by listening
To accompany my singing.

So, I would like to know if I start with an upright (I might get either Yamaha B1 or B2 or Kawai K300, nothing above that price range).

1. Till when can I keep using it or should I ask when will I need to upgrade or will I even need to upgrade?

2. What will I lose if I start with an upright?

Please guide. Any other suggestions will be helpful as well.

Thanks




 

[ranjit]

Tbh I think you'll do fine even with a digital if that is your goal.

[lelle]

Grands tend to have better/more comfortable feeling key action than uprights. But for the items you listed I would agree with ranjit that a good upright or digital piano should get you far.

[ranjit]

To be able to create/compose tunes/music
To be able to play any song or most of them by listening
To accompany my singing.

A grand may not be that important given that these are the skils you want to develop. Transcribing involves the notes far more than it does playing with the timbre of a piano in most cases imo. I taught myself how to transcribe on a really cheap digital piano and even on a keyboard at times.

If you're composing you will tend to use sheet music or a DAW. To play songs by listening to them, you need relative pitch and arranging chops. And most people nowadays use keyboards instead of pianos for accompanying their singing anyway.

[quantum]

As a beginner, developing skills at the instrument is probably the thing you want to focus on. 

An upright, grand, or even digital piano with a good action will suffice for a beginner.  Any decent instrument will do just fine.  Realize that as you learn and develop skills at the piano, you will also be developing your particular taste in pianos.  You will be able to make a far more informed decision to choose a more expensive instrument when you already have experience and are able to articulate qualities you wish to have in such an instrument. 

I agree with the others above, a quality digital or upright for the time being.  When you have more experience playing piano, then you will be better equipped for choosing a grand that suits you.  Unless of course, you have found a grand in good condition at an amazing price, then go for it. 

You mentioned composing.  A digital piano with MIDI is very useful  for using with things like notation software and a DAW.  Some people will have a two piano solution: an acoustic for playing and practising, and a digital for working at the computer.

[jimf12]

Just to comment on the pianos you are looking at - take a look at the Kawai ST-1.   It is their "institutional" model, but there is no reason why you can't have one in your home.  I ended up buying one recently because 1) I liked the sound better than the Yamaha's you mentioned and it was close to the K300 and far better than the K200, 2) Same internal components as the K300  3) Music stand is huge and is a big advantage 4) it was a little cheaper than the K300 and 5) Theoretically it should stay in tune better because of the beefier construction, although I'm not moving mine around much so that's probably not a factor.