The piano has a rich and remarkable history. Truly, it has come a long way from its' first conception during the 1700's to today's modern piano. Pianos come in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles and finishes to suit the person's taste and temperament.

Acoustic vs. Digital Pianos:

Acoustic Pianos:
These can and often do last over a century and more when well taken care of.

The short definition is simple. A standard acoustic piano is not electronic in any way. Manual contact with the piano components creates the vibration of strings which produces a sound. Each key represents a different pitch. An acoustic piano consists of taut metal wires, called strings, which vibrate when struck by felt covered wooden mallets, called hammers.

The standard acoustic piano includes a total of 88 black and white keys which is how the instrument is “played”. There are more than 200 strings in a piano that are stretched across a cast-iron frame called the “plate”. One end of each string is attached to a “hitch pin” on the plate; the other end is coiled around a “tuning pin”. Turning this pin adjusts the tension at which the string is stretched. These pins pass through holes in the plate and are embedded in a laminated hardwood plank called the “pinblock”. All this stuff is mounted to the “back” to form the major components of a piano.

Of course, there is a significant amount of detail that has been left out of this description for the sake of brevity. The Hammers, keys, pedals and piano cabinet all work together to make the structure of an acoustic piano. When the pianist strikes a key, the hammers strike the strings and the ensuing vibration within the cabinet produces the beautiful sound you’ve come to expect from an acoustic piano.

There are 2 major types of acoustic pianos:

Vertical piano: This is a piano whose strings are stretched vertically, perpendicular to the floor. Shapes of these pianos are relatively similar but sit in a vertical space. This kind of piano can range in height from 36 to 60 inches.

Grand piano: A grand piano has strings that stretch horizontally, parallel to the floor. It sits with its top open when it is played and takes up a large amount of horizontal space in the area where it sits. This type of piano can range from 4’5” to 9’ in length.

Want to learn more about the different types of acoustic pianos?

Digital pianos:
These are electronic instruments that reproduce piano sounds. Unlike acoustic pianos, they have no hammers, no strings and no soundboard to produce the sound you hear. Instead,they are high quality recorded samples of grand pianos.

Digital Advantages
Digital pianos usually have an array of features that make them an attractive alternative to an acoustic piano, such as:

	Quiet Play with Headphones Never Needs Tuning More Compact Educational Software Available Recording Capabilites for Playback and much more! Buyer Beware! Not all digital pianos are created equal. It is recommended that consumers shop in a store that specializes in acoustic pianos and top rated digital pianos.

Acoustic Advantages:
The problem with digital pianos is that they can't really duplicate the tone and touch of a real piano. Even with today's sampling technology individual notes may be quite accurately reproduced, but the tone of notes sounding together, as in an acoustic piano - with complex harmonics mixing and resonating against a flexible wooden soundboard - cannot be matched. As a result, most music sounds rather sterile played on a digital piano.

Digital pianos don't feel as much like real pianos. "Touch Sensitivity" and "Weighted Action" is not the same thing as the sophisticated inner mechanism, or "action", of an acoustic piano. Digital pianos merely simulate the touch of pianos. They don't provide the same feedback or responsiveness to your playing, so your performance range is limited.

If you are considering buying a piano for your child, consider this: many piano teachers will not teach students who have reached a certain level on anything other than an acoustic piano. Digital pianos are counter-productive when it comes to technique and dynamic performance. These skills cannot be practiced on a digital keyboard and then applied to a real piano action. It's not the same thing. A piano also represents a stronger commitment to a student, as opposed to a digital keyboard that may represent the same thing to a child as a computer, an electronic game-station or a CD player.

Hybrid Digital/Acoustic Pianos:
There are hybrid digital/acoustic pianos on the market, like the Yamaha Disklavier, that combine the features of both types of pianos. These are regular acoustic pianos with real piano actions that can be disconnected with the digital sound on demand. Further, they are MIDI capable. These pianos are often a larger investment, but a must for the right type of dynamic user environment. If, however, you’re ready for the ultimate of both worlds, these pianos are the truest example of a total piano experience. They are the new generation of pianos: they can record and play back your performance with deadly accuracy; can play a wide selection of pre-recorded music of all styles; can be used in conjunction with piano instruction software; and can be used as a MIDI controller to trigger other electronic tone generating devices like samplers, synthesizers, drum machines or anything with a MIDI interface.