Three Benefits of Buying a Used Piano

Learning to play the piano is a dream for a lot of people. Playing a musical instrument is a rewarding hobby regardless of how good you get. You don't need to play like a pro to get something out of playing the piano.

The primary reason people avoid getting their first piano is the cost. Visit any music store Boston has to offer and you will see just how expensive a brand new upright piano can be. Fortunately, used pianos are available for you to purchase. Here are three reasons to consider purchasing a used piano.

1. Cost - Price is the most common reason aspiring pianists choose a used piano. Pre-owned instruments are priced to sell, sometimes at less than half the price of their new counterparts. Taking advantage of this can help you get a world-class used model of piano at the price of a cheaper new model.

2. Broken In - Unlike cars, used instruments are sometimes better than new. The keys are broken in and comfortable to play and the wood has aged, usually giving it a better resonance. This aged look is also appealing to people who like to have a vintage look when they decorate their home. A piano is just as much a piece of furniture as it is a musical instrument.

3. Value - Musical instruments hold their monetary value well as they age. When you purchase a used piano, you are already skipping the phase of its lifespan where it loses its value. Most of the time, you can seel a used piano down the road for close to its purchase price. Of course, you must maintain its condition for this to be true.

These are three great reasons to buy a used piano. Before you choose the instrument you want, have it inspected by a piano tuner or technician. They may notice issues with the instrument that an inexperienced shopper may not know about.

Used pianos are often very easy to rebuild. Before you do, make sure it's not worth more in its original condition. Many vintage instruments maintain their value with the original parts regardless of their condition.

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You Can Give the Gift of Music for Charity

Do you have an old piano that is just sitting around collecting dust? Maybe you have tried to teach yourself piano in the past but just never got the hang of it. Maybe the instrument belonged to a spouse or relative that has departed. If the piano isn't being put to good use, it's just a piece of furniture that may as well get put out to pasture. But what if there was a way to give your old piano a much more fitting fate?

Free Up Space in Your Home by Donating Your Piano to Charity

Did you know that you can make your old piano a charitable gift? This is the best way to get this huge instrument off your hands without feeling guilty about it. There are plenty of charitable organizations out there who would like nothing more than to collect your piano. You can do a quick Google search using the term "donate piano NYC" for more info. It's the perfect way to donate to charity while also freeing up space in your home.

It's Time to Light Up Someone's Life with the Great Gift of Music

If you really want to put a smile on someone's face, do something nice for them. In this case, you can kill two birds with one stone. You can donate your piano to a charity that works to bring happiness to people who truly need it the most. Meanwhile, you can improve the quality of your own life by giving away a huge object that is occupying way too much space in your home. It's a winning scenario for all parties involved.

You Can Find a Suitable Charity to Donate to on the Web

There are plenty of charities that will gladly take your old piano off your hands. All you have to do is use the power of the internet to find one. If you live in the New York City metro area, your search will be even easier. Now is the time to give the gift of music.

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Home and Music

Home is where the heart is and I want my kids to see our home as a place they will be able to relax and enjoy whatever free time they have. Even if I we don’t have a luxurious house I can say that ours is a relaxing and peaceful place with a cool ambiance. Its huge area enables us to design carefree and spacious living, dining, kitchen and study rooms. 

Most of the times we gather in our living room after meals where we use surf with our laptops and play our favorite musical instruments. My kids are so fond of music things that they also browse music stores often like msicians friend site where they find various kinds and brands of their most desired instruments and accessories. How they love to take note and list their wish music items so when there’s enough funds we can easily buy.

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Interest in Guitar Playing

My son is starting to show signs of extra interest in playing musical instruments just like her sisters. I already enrolled him in the past in keyboard class and when he was very young a short stint in drums but now he’s trying the guitar. He’s very close to his sister Gen who knows and can play musical instruments on her own learning without formal schooling so maybe his interest increases as they talk about playing some beautiful music on guitar. 

During vacation I saw them seriously browsing through online stores for the things they’re curious about like guitar center fairfax and nice accessories for guitar. I love seeing them like that as I also tried in my youth to play musical instruments but I didn’t find enough time and resources to do that so I’m happy enough that my kids will continue my dream of being a guitarist and musician.

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Gen's Natural Talent in Music

The whole family loves music and it’s not a surprise considering that we came from a family of musician. Grandfather plays alfa, my uncle sings beautifully and the rest follows. Now all of my brother’s four kids plays various instruments same with my own kids. My daughter Gen plays the most among them and she learns fast even without formal music schooling. When she wants an instrument to play she just set her mind into it, get the instrument and she will start playing it. She usually takes some music pieces online.

When I heard her play piano my soul relaxes and soothes my spirit. That’s the effect the effect of music played in piano to me. I also love guitar so when my Gen falls in love with playing guitar I feel like my childhood dreams of being an instrumentalist came true. She loves every minute of tinkering guitar just as she loves playing her fingers on the keyboard. My daughter has a natural talent so when she asked me if she would be able to buy music items like gibson es I always say yes but will tell her that if we have budget.

Now she’s always telling me that when the time comes that she’s already working and earning good she will buy all her wished musical instruments and accessories. That’s really one of her dreams so as a Mom I’ll see to it that if I can save enough for her instruments I will buy her immediately and will not wait for her college graduation. Or maybe I’ll give it as graduation gift.

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The Calming Effect of Music to Our Home

Last weekend is such a nice long weekend because we all had a rest; we didn’t plan to go anywhere so we just had a good family time together in the house. Well my girls, as expected have some college papers and drawings to do so they’re glad to have some day off the university. They both go to the same university so it’s easier for me to monitor them. They’re taking up two quite different courses; the eldest in Hospitality Management dealing with hotel, restaurant, resort, cruise and transportation management and the younger daughter pursuing Industrial Engineering. I’m lucky to have two dedicated students who want to reach their dreams. They’re both inspired with their chosen career and will study hard to achieve their goals. 

Well life is not all work and no play as with my girls they also relax and take a break from studying and when they do they manage to tinker their favorite musical instruments to unwind and have some nice sounds. Gen is playing various instruments but her favorite is guitar. She’s actually pining for an electrical guitar these past few weeks especially when she gets to see charvel san dimas. Playing guitar is such a nice respite for her from many pressures of taking up Engineering and when she does it she’s also making me feel serene and happy. That’s the effect of hearing her play a guitar or keyboard to me, a calming effect.

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Back to Early Morning Mom Duties

It’s back to school and I’m back to my regular early hours of cooking and preparing early breakfast and packed lunch for my 3 kids. Well my 2 daughters are not kids anymore, they’re already teens but I’m used to calling them kids. I woke up at 3am, cook for them, prepare their packed lunch and see them as they board the bus to go to their school in Manila. I accompany my youngest boy to his school and from there I go to my work leaving my husband to clean up before going to his own school to teach there. 

It was a very fast routine Mommy job but I love it. I love seeing my kids enjoy the food I cook, I love seeing them go their way to their universities and I love sending my growing up son up to the gate of his new high school. It’s like loving the way we spend our weekend together with cracking jokes, enjoying meals together and singing our favorite Christian songs. I also like hearing what they play with their musical instruments and when they sing some songs. I was actually thinking that it would be great if we have amplivox in the house but I know it’s usually used on events and occasions. Nevertheless I would love buying this kind of portable sound system in the next few years so we can use it at home and in our church as well.

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Living My Dreams

Summer vacation for the kids proved to be a good time for them to rest, have a good sleep and enjoy family amidst the hot season. My eldest is on her on-the-job training in a Korean Restaurant and she’s enjoying rounding up duties in the restaurant in serving customers, helping the kitchen and assisting fellow employees. She’s having fun in everything she learns and always tells me stories of their Korean customers and some celebrities who eats there. She learns the Korean menu easily and masters the name which is a bit tricky in pronunciation. I love looking at her when she shares her experiences. It’s what she really wants. 

My daughter has many things to consider when she enrolled in PUP. At first she wanted to take up Interior Design but when enrollment finally came she enrolled in Hospitality Management where she studies management of hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, amusement parks, convention centers, destination marketing organizations, country clubs and a lot more. It also involves culinary things which she loves most especially pastry. The course suits her as it needs patience in organizing and planning events which is so much of her. Well it’s like singing to her which she loves doing in her free times. She has a good voice and can play keyboards and lyre. Her passion for cooking is like her passion for music. 

Sometimes when I hear her sing together with her youngest brother I love to have mackie onyx and have their songs recorded. As Ruth and Gen always sings with Gen playing the instrument it’s a sight I always love to see. It’s a great feeling to see your kids have the hobbies and flair for the things you dream of having. As I dreamed of being a musician in my younger days it’s enough for me now to see all my kids have the talents in singing and playing musical instruments. It’s one of the best gifts from above.

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Schooling Plans for Josh

Josh is reaching his last months in primary school and will graduate before the school vacation. Time flies so fast and realizing this I can’t help but look back at my youngest kid’s first day in big school when he started his first grade. He was so young and the school staff mistakenly categorized him as a kinder student. He’s a bit smaller than kids his age and looks so cute and bubbly. I was working at home then and I had my full attention on him. I’m a super Mom (as my friends tagged me) and gave all my support and time to my 3 kids even if I work online for about 16-20 hours a day. 

I enrolled Josh in school special activities like art school, music class and their ECA which you can choose whether you want violin, guitar, drums or keyboards. We have chosen keyboards which is very important to me and we planned to take violin the next year as we can always buy Used violins when the time comes. It didn’t materialized as Josh continued another year of playing keyboards but I told him that he can continue studying musical instruments if we decided to choose his present school for his secondary course. Well we’re still searching and looking for the best high school for him and wherever it is I know God will always guide him in his studies and music hobbies.

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Gearing Up for Mastering Guitar

It’s Industrial Engineering week for my younger daughter and Gen wanted to be part of their group who will play. When I asked her what instruments will she be playing she told me that she’ll be handling drums this time. This daughter of mine is very fond of playing musical instruments, yes not just one but various instruments. And what’s amazing is that she only learns the instruments by herself. 

I remember enrolling her in a keyboard class one summer and there she started learning almost every instrument she becomes fond of. Now she told me that she needs to master her guitar more to be able to join the band as guitarist because they’re all very good in playing guitar. She’s also thinking that maybe we can get a new one just like Dr500 or the local brands here as long as it’s a little level up from her current acoustic guitar.

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Kids’ Music Schooling

When I think about my kids’ hobbies I can’t help returning back to one summer vacation that I enrolled them in our municipality’s free music schooling for kids and teens. I enrolled my daughters who were so young then in their 6th and 7th grade while my son was in grade 1. As young as they were they’re very much interested not just in music but in playing various musical instruments. I know that it comes from the genes of my Mom who have some musicians in their family but their interest is still overwhelming. 

The girls had their keyboard classes which they used until now in playing their pieces, the eldest didn’t finished the class because of chicken fox but the two made it until graduation. My little boy was so infatuated with playing drums so I enrolled him and he enjoyed every session of it. When I saw concert toms on my favorite music online store those memories of music schooling keep coming back to me. Josh, now a big boy plans on continuing his drum lessons and we’re planning to do it next school break, maybe on summer vacation.

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Shopping for Debut

We’ve done our shopping for gown last weekend in Manila and we’re also able to do some shopping for our house. We need some decors and furnishings for the incoming debut of Ruth and we decided to shop there to maximize our trip there. Aside from the gown which will be customized we’ve also bought curtains, some clothes, decors and party things. Nice thing about our shopping is when we’ve stopped by one shopping mall in the area and saw some sale of musical instruments. 

The keyboard we want to buy for Josh is on sale with free guitar which I noted to buy next time we drop by there again. I was also hoping to find some accessories like the ones we saw online like apc40 but the shop only sells instruments. Anyway they referred us to another shop which caters to small instruments, music books and special accessories.

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Some of My Daughter’s Wishes

My girls in college are so busy with school activities especially Gen who has just started her journey to be a successful Industrial Engineer. As schooling is taking much of Gen’s time she could not play his favorite guitar on her whim. She loves picking up her guitar and practicing her well-loved pieces on her free time but now she really has no time for her hobby. 

Well she promised herself that when holiday comes and she has no incoming exams she’ll relax and play not just her keyboard but her guitar as well. She told me that near her school she found all types of guitars of her choice and she’ll save money to buy one or two of those. I told her that she can buy all the musical instruments of her choice when she finished college and become an Engineer, just inspiring her to study hard.

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New Keyboard for the Recital

My son is into keyboard/piano lessons and in two months’ time he’ll have his recital. He’s using our good old keyboard and he has saved enough for a new keyboard as he wants a new one to play to get ready for his recital. Just after our holiday vacation and fellowship we canvassed into some music stores nearby and we found one that my son approved of. 

Well after his several school activities this week he asked me to help him visit musicans friend just in case we can afford the price because one of his music classmate told him about the store. Now we just have to wait until he decides and we’ll buy him his new keyboard even if we have to add a little more.

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Starting Up with Small Goal Plans for the Family

With all our pending plans for home improvement and business startup I have plenty of wish list on my chart. We need to think of ways on how to gather funds for all our goals and plans. We’re counting next year as our timeline period and we’ll do our best to reach that goal. Meantime we’ll start on some of our small plans like collecting quality musical instruments for the kids. 

As they’re into learning keyboard and guitar we need to invest on some high quality instruments that will help them reach their optimum performance. I’m positive that considering Fender Custom Strats is one good move in our starting our investment as Fender is known for bringing about quality instruments. Well it will take some money to invest on music but it’s worth it all.

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My Kids on Learning Keyboard and Guitar

Josh has just finished his first month of keyboard lessons last week and I can see that he really enjoys this music lesson so much just like his drums lessons when he was 7 years old. After his school classes he would do his academic assignment and pick on his keyboard the rest of his free time. Even if they were only taught the basic keys he shows advanced learning these days. He’s trying out some simple music pieces on his book and from my chair I can hear the good tunes of his playing. 

Music is really best to learn when young because children adapt better and learns faster more than we can imagine. Gen proved this one as she plays the guitar beautifully even she didn’t had any formal schooling on guitar playing. She loves guitar and just started strumming and after some time we hear her playing beautiful music which the three of them offered to church testimony. Now she wish that I will buy her accessories necessary for any guitar player and told me she would be happy having those.

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My Future Musician

My daughter was assigned as the instrumentalist for their presentation and though she’s excited about it she suddenly felt bad because just recently her guitar has broken into two pieces. Someone used it and didn’t place it on its case so when sudden gusts of wind seep through the curtains her guitar fell to the ground. Of course she was devastated to see her favorite music instrument in broken form and even if her daddy repaired it already it was never the same as before. 

She was just lucky that her cousin has a spare guitar to lend her and told her she can use it as long as she want because she’s too busy to play. Now Gen is happy to have a guitar once again which she can use to practice her musical pieces and to use in their school performance. Her happiness prompted her to browse online for new acoustic guitar and to search for some accessories also like music books, pick and gc. She’s a very interested promising instrumentalist and from the looks of it she’s going to be a very good musician. I hope she can use it in our church’ praise and worship.

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Home Ready for the Drum Set

We’re planning to buy the old drum set in our church when the new replacement drum set arrives but we’re not quite sure where to place it just in case because it will eat up a lot of space. Also our house is not that beautiful and rather old but it’s so huge that adding big instruments wouldn’t hurt so much. Josh has been enrolled in a summer music schooling where he studied and learned the basic of playing the real drum set. And now I think that the old instrument would do well for his small talent and hopefully he’ll be as good as our present Instrumentalist.

I’m not so sure about when will we get it and I wonder if we should get him classic drum key as well. Maybe after two or three years he’ll be qualified and can decide for himself. Just smiling to myself now why I get so excited over my son’s musical training and future in preparing to be one of the Instrumentalists in our church. Well this is the usual life of a stage Mom.

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Home and Music Maintenance

Restoring some areas of your home is quite tasking but so vital for enjoying continuous operation inside and out. Some areas should be repaired, improved or replaced if needed. Thus maintenance must be regularly observed to ensure a well-kept environment. This is the same with maintenance of your musical instruments and accessories. You should take good care of every instrument you have by regularly checking if all parts are functioning properly. 

At times some parts should be replaced, repaired or keep in proper tuning to achieve maximum performance in any musical activity. It’s also better if you put some innovations also like adding up irig at guitar center or some accessories that can improve the quality of instrument’s performance. In the end you’ll get the benefits of good music maintenance.

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Family Music Bonding

Family time is the most important moment after a stressful week at work and school. This is the reason why it’s best to schedule a simple activity outdoors on weekend or when there are holidays. Sometimes when you don’t have money and time to spend on faraway places you can do it at home. You can plan a simple backyard barbeque picnic get together. 

With this you can add up a music family bonding with musical instruments you love like string, percussion instruments or any instruments that your family love playing to keep the simple occasion alive and happy. We’re lucky to have kids that play a lot of musical instruments because it’s lovely seeing and hearing them play. The sounds make me feel not just proud for them but happy that they can use it in our church activity as well.

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