Education Online
About the Piano Marketplace
- Buyer's FAQs
- FREE INFO: Frequently Asked Questions by Buyers. If you don't know about the different types of pianos, want to compare uprights to grands, have questions
about whether a rebuild Steinway is still a Steinway, read these FAQs.
- Buyer's Piano Decide Guide
- FREE INFO: Takes you through a series of questions to help you discover where you are in the process of buying a piano and then gives you answers to your
remaining questions.
- Guide to the Piano World
- FREE INFO: A summary or tour of the piano marketplace today, and what those looking for a piano can expect to find out there, along with a general idea about prices.
This guide takes about a minute to download, depending on the speed of your modem or connection, so please be patient.
- Knock-Off Piano Brands: When a Piano is Not What it Seems
- FREE INFO:An article about the practice of passing off an inexpensive piano as a major name brand. How it is done and how to detect it.
- Pianocchio
- FREE INFO: Comparing Digital and Electronic Pianos to a Real Piano.
- Piano Price Comparison Guide
- Gives you discount, low and high retail prices for new pianos, helping you get a fair price from a dealer. Also tells you which country
the piano is made in. The Guide comes with access to expert consultation, including the pricing of used pianos. $35 Service
- Seasoning Pianos for Different Climates
- FREE INFO: About some manufacturers practices of "seasoning pianos" for different climates and the questions that it raises.
- Seller's FAQs
- FREE INFO:
- What Exactly is a Gray Market Piano?
- FREE INFO: Find out if buying a "Gray Market" is really dangerous and why some dealers and manufacturers give pianos want you to believe
that it is.
- A "No Worries" Purchase by Bonnie Linden. A true story told by a piano buyer about the unexpected problems that
occured when she bought a new piano at a discount price from a local piano dealer.
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About Piano Rebuilding, Repair and Refinishing
- Piano Finders: Rebuilding the Vintage Piano.
- FREE INFO: A detailed photo tour of the piano rebuilding process, for buyers who are considering purchasing a piano and having
it rebuilt by Piano Finders.
- Piano Rebuilding Online Video Clip
- FREE: A 1 minute video showing the Piano Rebuilding Process at Piano Finders.
- Piano Service & Repair FAQs
- FREE INFO: Answers questions about that typically come up when the tuner comes to your location, or when you are making a decision about what work is
necessary to maintain your piano.
- Piano Noise Troubleshooting
- FREE INFO: Takes you or your technican through the process of tracking down those buzzes and noises in the piano.
- Touchweight: Or Why is my Piano So Hard to Play?
- FREE INFO: Explains what "touchweight" is, how you measure it and how it can affect how the piano feels to you when you play it.
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Entertainment
- Kendall Ross Bean Classical Music Video
- FREE: See the first Classical Music Video performed on Arts & Entertainment Network in 1987. It was nominated for an
A.C.E. (Award for Cable Excellence). This video is 7 minutes long, so depending upon your modem/DSL connection, you may need to wait for it
to upload before it starts.
- Kendall Ross Bean Children's Concerts for PBS
- FREE: Kendall makes classical music fun for kids. Between 1990 to 1997, thousands of children came to these concerts at the Dean Lesher
Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA to learn about classical music. Filmed by KCSM-PBS for broadcast to PBS stations nationwide in 1992.
This video is 10 minutes long, so depending upon your modem/DSL connection, you may need to wait for it to upload before it starts.
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Finding Out About Your Piano
- Ballpark Pricing & Piano Information Service
- Want to know a ballpark price range on your piano's value, without paying a technician to inspect it. Have specific questions
about whether it is worth rebuilding, donating, selling or keeping. This service connects you to an expert who help you. Service takes about 7 days from
date of purchase. $15 Service
- Brand Name Research
- Want to know more about your piano brand history? Where it was manufactured? How old it is? This service will gives you the historial information
that is available as a result of our research on your brand. $10 Service
- Comprehensive Appraisal Service
- Need a comprehensive evaluation of your piano, including current market value, replacement value, wholesale value and value after repairs? This
appraisal is based upon a technicians written report (sold seperately) on the piano's current condition. $60 Service
- Insurance Appraisals
- Need an Appraisal for Insurance Purposes, or to settle and estate or claim? This service gives you access to an expert who can write
a letter in language the insurance companies understand, giving you a Replacement Value for your piano and addressing the particular
circumstances of your situation. $60 Service
- How to Find the Serial Number on a Grand
- FREE INFO: Diagram showing you where to look for the serial number on your grand piano.
- How to Find the Serial Number on a Vertical Piano
- FREE INFO: Diagram showing you where to look for the serial number on your vertical (upright) piano.
- How to Measure a Piano
- FREE INFO: Diagrams showing you how to measure your upright or grand piano.
- Owner's Faqs
- FREE INFO:
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Keys Corner Cartoons
- How a Piano Works
- FREE INFO: Guided tour designed for children (but enjoyable to adults as well) Shows what a piano is made of,
what the names of its parts are and how things work together to make musical sound. The three links below are included in this 18 page tour.
- Piano Parts and Functions
- FREE INFO: Cartoon diagram showing you what the various parts of the piano do to help make musical sound.
- Vertical Action Model with Parts Names
- FREE INFO: Diagram showing you where the names of the parts on an vertical piano.
- Grand Action Model with Parts Names
- FREE INFO: Diagram showing you where the names of the parts on an grand piano.
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Law and the Piano Business
- Escrow Law
- FREE INFO: Laws in the State of California that apply to Escrow Agents. Piano Finders will work with Third Party
Independent Escrow Agents that are licensed and comply with these laws.
- Piano Mover's Law
- FREE INFO: Laws in the state of California that apply to Piano Movers. Piano Finders will work with Third Party Independent
Movers that are licensed and comply with these laws.
- Trademark Law
- FREE INFO: US Trademark law governs the use of the Piano Finders® Trademark and other trademarks. It takes precedence over all state laws.
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Piano Manual: Articles of Interest for Students and Teachers
- What makes the piano unique?
- FREE INFO: Tells a bit about the history and unique features of the piano.
- Where's Middle C, and Why Do I Need to Know? or Finding Your Way Around the Keyboard
- FREE INFO: Tells you how to find your way around the piano. Something for every level of piano player.
- What to call the keys, or Which C is that one over there?
- FREE INFO: Piano key names, letters, and/or numbers (the different systems of numbering or naming the keys), or Which C is Middle C?
and what do we call all these other C's?
- When Questions Precede the Answers, Learning to Play the Piano Is Easier
- FREE INFO: A brief article about how teaching, using the student's questions, can be more effective than giving the students facts and answers they
don't yet appreciate the value of. Includes a suggestion of how to handle the question that you don't know the answer to.
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Tech Talk
- Piano Noise Troubleshooting
- FREE INFO: Takes you or your technican through the process of tracking down those buzzes and noises in the piano.
- Seasoning Pianos for Different Climates
- FREE INFO: About some manufacturers practices of "seasoning pianos" for different climates and the questions that it raises.
- Technician's Faqs
- FREE INFO:
- What Exactly is a Gray Market Piano?
- FREE INFO: Find out if buying a "Gray Market" is really dangerous and why some dealers and manufacturers give pianos want you to believe
that it is.
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