Besides these, they also have limited edition series such as The Imagine Series-a tribute to the legendary John Lennon-and a special edition in royal red and black satin created by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld on the 150th anniversary of the company. Steinway & Sons, a New York-based piano manufacturer, has stately models in its grand piano range, each of which is handcrafted and known to take at least a year to make. While grand pianos start at around Rs 5 lakh, for upright pianos it is roughly Rs 2 lakh. Acoustic pianos, however, come at a higher price bracket. There are many variants of keyboards, with costs ranging anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 2 lakh-plus. That is a major challenge in India,” laments Tarun Sehgal, product head-piano, Yamaha Music India. “It needs to be tuned and serviced every three months which is not an easy task. While cost is an obvious difference, the electronic keyboards are also more convenient as they do not require tuning, are portable and can be used with headphones.Ī lack of professional tuners in India makes pianos extremely difficult to maintain. There are some very obvious reasons why people prefer buying digital pianos.
According to industry estimates, a total of 2,000 digital pianos were sold in 2009-2010 as against 700 units of acoustic pianos. But given the size and maintenance costs of pianos, a growing number of music lovers are veering towards digital pianos or what is popularly known as keyboards.
While in grand pianos the frame and strings are horizontal, in upright pianos the frame and strings are vertical. In fact, such is the allure of the piano that many rich families have one strategically placed in their living rooms, though nobody in the household knows how to play it!īroadly pianos have two categories: grand and upright. The old-world charm and the elitist tag associated with pianos have added to the popularity of the instrument.
In institutions such as Delhi School of Music and Calcutta School of Music, piano is an integral part of learning western music. As a musician, knowing how to play the piano definitely gives you an edge,” he says. “A lot of music schools are coming up now to educate children. Ask musician Rajiv Khati who has been playing the piano for the past few years and who swears by its popularity. In more recent times The Pianist and The Piano Teacher have used this royal instrument as a means to connect with audiences.Įven though the origins of the piano are known to date back to the 1700s, it continues to enjoy immense popularity among those who want to learn music. Who can forget the scene in Casablanca where Ingrid Bergman asks pianist Dooley Wilson to play “As Time Goes By”? This black-and-white classic is not the only film to use piano and its notes as a metaphor.
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