The debate between grand and Upright rages!!

I seriously hate it when people think if you only have an upright you're not as serious as those with a grand.
Many people think good pianist all have grands. I get so annoyed by this idea!! Who agrees?
First of all many people with talent and skill to play awesome don't have the money for a grand piano, even if you did many of them DO NOT HAVE THE SPACE!! (talking to the people who believe uprights aren't as good as grands) Face it! Alot of people don't have the space for one. My piano teacher plays for our church and can play ANYTHING you sit in front of her, but she has a yamaha upright because she dosen't have the space. Who agrees? Thank you to the companies that started making uprights the same quality as a grand.

Marnex wrote: A person with a keyboard can be better at playing than a person with a Grand Piano.

Even though it happens not very often but you are totally right. having an upright or an grand isn`t a measure if it is about skill. Many people prefer the upright ones because they are cheaper and you don`t need such a big space so my thesis is, that there are more people playing with a higher level on (their own) upright ones than people with grand pianos. (because I don`t think that there are that many people being able to buy grand pianos xD)

From a purely scientific point the best large grand will produce a better sound than the best large upright because it is not feasable to get the long strings into an upright. Of couse a small grand will not give as good a sound as a large upright. Then the most important question is the quality of the instrument - Fazioli ?
Now one must come to the use of "electronic" sound. I have heard really impressive sound from the " Synthogy Ivory" played through a Yamaha electronic piano, model cira 1993.

Buying a Steinway is generally a waste of money unless you are very rich or recently won the lottery - But they are still better than an upright. Uprights are still great.

Steinways are overrated.
It kinda sux when you pay nearly a house's price for a piano, can't be that good, it's just the name...
Although Steinway make for ex. the Boston brand too and there's uprights too within that brand. Better priced...
Grand piano is probably nice but I'd say as long as it's a decent acoustic instrument it's all great, no one needs any better than that.
If you want to play at high profile concerts they will provide you with some huge snobbish Steinway or Bosendorfer anyway

endre wrote:Steinways are overrated.
It kinda sux when you pay nearly a house's price for a piano, can't be that good, it's just the name...
Although Steinway make for ex. the Boston brand too and there's uprights too within that brand. Better priced...
Grand piano is probably nice but I'd say as long as it's a decent acoustic instrument it's all great, no one needs any better than that.
If you want to play at high profile concerts they will provide you with some huge snobbish Steinway or Bosendorfer anyway

I know they cost like 200,000 dollars, but if I could afford one, I'd buy one.

Remember those are handmade, and uses the best material available, ofcourse they will be expensive. They'll probably last for years too. Just look at all the cheap stuff they sell today like TV's etc. They are extremely cheap, but the built quality usually suck, ofcourse, they do expect you'll get a new mobile phone every 1-2 year, but still.

Piano's sound different and it's up to the listener/player to decide what sound he/she wants. An old saloon upright sounds completely different from a huge grand, but some like how they sound. I dont think we can judge much by the sound ( this aint digital sound, it's analog, and what sounds we like differ anyway ), but the buildquality and playability. You want a keybed that's nice, you want good dynamics, materials that can last for decades.

Price will go up as the piano's get bigger and better, but I do believe that while the price double the quality wont. At some point you'll just pay 100% more for a 1% improvement.

I've got the Synthogy Ivory myself, and that's the best VTSi there is. Synthogy also got a collection of italian uprights, that's right. People want the sound of uprights, not because it's better/worse or cheaper, but because it's the "special" sound. Price will also depend on the amount of pianos made, an upright is by far easier to build, and more people have space for them.

And does it matter how the piano sounds if the room you're playing in doesnt have the acoustic you want?

WOW...great response victor with gd info ..

I think i dont matter if you play in a grand or upright. your skill will not vary on your piano. this is only my guess they say that you are better when you play on a grand because of the size of the grand, the people who say that specially if a man dont know the piano will say its harder to play in a grand and you are better player than those who play in a upright because its big and its more elegant. An upright is a simple piano so they say that people play there is not good as the one in grand. but its not right. all pianos are equal. skills are from practice not from piano.

Well, a few weeks ago I watched a piano battle between Zynga and Gonzales on TV. Gonzales was using an upright. Didn't make him inferior...

See this performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6v508p4f5Q

I think it's fantastic and it is of absolute no significance what kind of piano is there...

PS: Here's a part of the show I was talking about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu6z-QSvze8

(don't know how to embed youtube videos but you need to click it anyway...)