6 Reasons Why Society Is Shifting To The Digital Age On Pianos

Pianos have been around for nearly 300 years, and have changed dramatically over the years. As society moves to the digital age, so has the piano. How can you blame people wanting to go with a digital piano over the acoustic? Especially when it comes to a 7 to 12 year old kid who just wants to begin learning. My name is Kyle Shook and I have been teaching and selling pianos for over 6 years now, and I will list the 6 reason why I think people choose digital over acoustic now a days.

-6 Reasons Why People Choose Digital-

1 - You do not have to tune a Digital Piano.

Lets face it, today is all about convenience and low maintenence when it comes to products. People do not want to have to worry about tuning their piano, and having to pay someone to tune their piano every year. You never have to tune a digital piano.

2 - Digital Pianos Cost less

Student Model Digital pianos can range from $400 to $800 depending on brand and features. Acoustic pianos can range from $1,000 - $15,000. (These prices are approximated when considering buying new digital pianos or acoustic upright and baby grand pianos). You can purchase an acoustic piano used on the marketplace for basically free, but you do have to spend $250 to move, and another $100 to tune approximately.

3 - Digital Pianos Have Advanced Sound Quality

20 years ago when you played a note on the digital piano the average person could tell it was definitely a digital piano. Now when you play a digital piano the average person probably could not tell you if it was acoustic or digital. Keep in mind a trained pianist still most likely could tell the difference. On some of the higher end digital pianos even the trained ear may not be able to tell the difference.

4 - Digital Pianos are easier to move

Acoustic pianos can weigh from 500 to 1,000 pounds easily. Moving an acoustic piano either costs you having to get 3 - 4 of the strongest people you know, and asking them to work really hard for you, or you can higher professionals to do it for around $200 - $300. My little sister can move a digital piano in a matter of minutes without breaking a sweat.

5 - Digital Pianos have great features

Digital pianos have metronomes, different sounds kids can play on, and about a million other features that kids love. These sounds and features are getting better and better as time goes on.

6 - The touch of a digital piano mirrors the feel and touch of an acoustic piano.

A common question I get from parents is: Will my kid have troubles switching from a keyboard to a real piano? My answer is; if the keyboard has weighted keys (AKA a digital piano) then the student should not have a problem switching between the two, because the touch between a good digital piano feels very similar to that of a real acoustic piano.

-Overview-

So, here we have a product that is much lower maintenence, and can produce a similar quality, and have a ton of extra features that costs less. How can we blame the way people have been switching more to the digital age on piano? The market will shift the way the consumer purchases, and unfortunately acoustic pianos are becoming less popular.

-Hope for the acoustic-

With all of this being said there still is a market for the acoustic. Professional piano players, serious piano students, piano teachers all over the world still understand that even with technology as good as it is, you cannot beat the pure sound and feel of a real acoustic grand piano. For any serious piano player there is an acoustic piano that should be purchased. Grand pianos have a sound and feel that in my opinion will not be overcome, at least in my lifetime.