I'm a classically trained studio pianist and keyboard player; genres of choice include classical, jazz, rock, pop, R&B, cocktail, etc. I grew up learning on a Baldwin Hamilton upright, and have played virtually every professional keyboard ever made (Moog modular, Rhodes, B3, Prophet 10, CS80, D50, M1, currently own Kurzweil K2600XS...see my review of same).

As I continue to shop for a grand piano for our church, I am struck by the difference between new Steinways and every other brand I've touched to date.

Having played new Yamahas (beware the C series...purely pedestrian 'home' fodder...consider the handmade S series), Kohler & Campbell, Kawai (some interesting pianos), Boston, Bosendorfer, Schimmel, et al, I have to say to my fingers and ears, the Steinway is so far superior to any of the above that it is less a discussion of ‘apples to apples’, and more a contrast a la ‘apples to oranges’...we're talking about an entirely superior product by an order of magnitude.

In what ways? Well, in just about every way that counts to the professional pianist: articulation, depth and foundation of timbre, touch, immediacy of pianissimo, resolution of individual bass notes, granularity of treble, overall orchestration of entire range...and my list could go on and on.

I've never been bowled over by brand for brand's sake, I often find myself the iconoclast when it comes to musical instruments as I learned many years ago that my ears are the only ones I can count on.

While our church clearly don't have the budget to purchase a new Steinway (no matter how hard the helpful salespeople try to work out a deal), I would support the contention that simply from a playability perspective, Steinway is far and above the best piano sold today.

So should you turn to the used marketplace? Several non-partisan tuners and rebuilders have told me that many folks in my shoes turn to the used and rebuilt market to satisfy that Steinway 'Jones', with mixed results.

Steinways can be notoriously finicky as they age, and may react more to environment, age, humidity, care more so than other brands. Such is the difference between an entirely handmade instrument and production line units sold by other makers. There are some wonderful used instruments out there, but there are also some extraordinarily average pianos whose primary strength is simply the icon above the keyboard. I've played several used Steinway M's that were certainly nothing to write home about. And even new pianos are each individuals...you can play two identical models and have radically different experiences. This is certainly true in the Steinway, as each handmade grand is an individual unto itself.

However, I consistently find the M model to provide the most candidates for exemplary, stellar performance...more so than on many larger model L's and B's.

We'll probably end up with something else, significantly less expensive...and that's alright. There simple truth is that in a large congregation with other instruments, partially amplified in a PA system, many of the subtleties are lost to the untrained ear. Our congregation doesn't attend simply to hear a great piano.

But I would say that if you have the means, there is certainly a difference between Steinway and everything else…head and shoulders above everything else.


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