The Pianoluxe Glossary of High-End Piano Terms

The strings and soundboard lie horizontally in a grand and vertically in an upright. That difference determines the action: a grand's hammers fall back by gravity and use a repetition lever for fast repeated notes, while an upright's hammers return by spring. Grands also open their lid toward the listener, whereas uprights project much of their sound into the wall behind them.

Plan for the instrument's full length plus space for the bench and the pianist, room to raise the lid and clearance for a technician. A mid-size grand typically wants a room that can give up a substantial share of its floor, and a concert-scale instrument needs a large space with acoustic treatment to avoid overwhelming the room.

Short bass strings must be wound heavily to reach pitch, and that weight makes their overtones sharpen relative to the fundamental, which muddies the sound. Longer strings can be thinner and more flexible, so their overtones align more closely and the bass sounds clearer and more focused.

Most technicians recommend at least twice a year for a home instrument, roughly as the seasons change, and more often during a new piano's first year while the strings settle. Instruments in teaching studios or in rooms with variable humidity may need more frequent attention.

Tuning adjusts the pitch of the strings. Regulation adjusts the mechanical parts of the action so the touch is even and reliable. Voicing adjusts the hammer felt to change the tone. A well-cared-for piano receives all three, tuning most often and regulation and voicing periodically as the instrument is used.

Technicians typically recommend a relative humidity in the range of roughly 40 to 50 percent, held as steady as possible through the year. Stability matters more than the exact figure, because seasonal swings move the soundboard, drift the pitch and can eventually crack wood or loosen tuning pins.

It can be, for a pianist who values individuality and responsiveness at the extremes of dynamics, since small workshops fit and regulate each instrument by hand over a long period. Modern factories produce excellent, consistent instruments as well, so the honest test is to play both and judge the specific piano rather than the label.

It depends on the buyer. Some purchasers value the system and others prefer an unmodified action, so a player system may broaden or narrow the pool of interested buyers when the piano is sold. Factory-installed systems and well-documented retrofits by specialists generally hold up better than undocumented installations.

It can be a fine choice when the rebuilder is reputable and the work is documented in writing. A true rebuild replaces worn structural and action components, whereas refinishing only addresses the cabinet, and the two are priced very differently. An independent technician's inspection is essential before buying any restored instrument.

Bring music you know well that covers slow, fast and full-range playing, and play the same passages on every candidate. Listen for evenness across the registers, the quality of the sustain and the transition at the break, and test the touch with fast repeated notes and very quiet passages. Ask what preparation the dealer's technician has done.

Not in the way an investment does. New instruments lose value in the early years, and only well-maintained pianos from respected makers retain a strong share of their price over time. What a fine piano reliably offers is longevity: decades of playing and the option to rebuild rather than replace.

Partly. A technician can soften the hammers through voicing, but a hard, reflective room with bare floors and walls will still make an instrument sound harsh. Rugs, curtains, upholstered furniture and bookshelves usually change the experience more than voicing alone, and a very large piano in a small room cannot be fully tamed.