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01-30-2008, 06:14 PM
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Two Basic Types of pianos
Piano comes in two basic types:
Grand Piano Grand piano has the frame and strings placed horizontally, with the strings extending away from the keyboard. This makes the grand piano a large instrument. It needs more space in the room and also high ceiling to get its good voice surround your room. We usually look at grand piano as an expensive instrument that usually available in a luxury house. Some people want to have grand piano but don’t have enough room space. So manufactures create a smaller grand piano which called “baby grand”. This type is usually used for many residential usages where space and cost are the consideration, whereas the full-size grand piano is used for public concert. Upright Piano Upright pianos, usually called a vertical piano, is more compact because the frame and strings are placed vertically, extending in both directions from the keyboard and hammers. It is considered harder to produce a sensitive piano action when the hammers move horizontally, as the vertical hammer return is dependent on springs which are prone to wear and tear. The grand piano hammers return by gravity, hence their return will always remain more consistent than the vertical hammers, thus giving pianists better control of their playing. However, a well-regulated vertical piano will probably play smoother than a grand piano that has not been regulated for years, and the very best upright pianos now approach the level of some grand pianos of the same size in tone quality and responsiveness. One noticeable advantage of the grand piano action has over the vertical action is that all grand pianos have a special repetition lever in the playing action that is absent in all verticals. This repetition lever, a separate one for every key, catches the hammer close to the strings as long as the keys are played repeatedly and fairly quickly. In this position, with the hammer resting on the lever, a pianist can play repeated notes, staccato, and trills with much more speed and control than they could on a vertical piano. Because of this, piano manufacturers claim that a skilled piano player can play as many as 14 trill notes per second on grands but only seven on upright.     
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