Yamaha pianos are made up of several different grades of pianos.  All Yamaha pianos are not created equal..  It is a common misconception that a Yamaha piano is a Yamaha piano.  Many people see Elton John playing on a Yamaha piano and think that the inexpensive yamaha grand piano and upright pianos are made the same way.  This is exactly what Yamaha wants you to think.  However it is not true.  According to Larry Fine's Piano Book Yamaha pianos are in the high performance category with their S series grands, in the better quality consumer grade pianos with their C series grands and Japanese built uprights, and in the consumer grade pianos with their gb1, gc1, etc.1   By the way, the S series Yamaha pianos start at $54,000. for a 6'3" grand piano and are wonderful instruments. 

     Buying a piano requires both research & personal preferences.  Many Jazz musicians prefer a bright strident tone especially if the instrument is to be used with a band.  The bright piano will cut through the other instruments, although thinner in sound, it will be heard in the group.  Most classical pianists prefer a warmer sounding piano that has a full bodied tone and will sound wonderful all by itself for solo works.  Many piano teachers will prefer that warmer tone as well.  Though many of them might believe that in order to get that type of tone one would need to purchase a Steinway, Baldwin, S series Yamaha or some other very expensive piano and will therefore default to a cheaper instrument rather than risk loosing a student by telling them they need to buy a very expensive piano. 

      In recent years the expansion of very good products from China has changed the face of the global economy as well as the piano industry.  It is now possible to buy a piano containing German or American parts that follow a true german scale design precisely assembled by computers at a fraction of the cost of the German and American pianos being copied.   For links to some piano manufacturers we sell click here: ---> PIANOS.

     Some technicians and even teachers can be influenced by advertising and name branding.  It is essential to look at the components of a piano, and really listen to the pianos and feel the action of a piano before making any decisions. Buy from a company you can trust like Worldwide Piano. We are a top rated piano retailer per Music Trades Magazine.

Below are some comments from technicians on Yamaha pianos:

 "Yamaha does use some maple and beech in their grand rims, they alternate them with layers of softer woods.  As a result, so the theory goes, the Yamaha grand tone tends to be "brittle" and lack sustaining qualities..." 2 

"...players of other kinds of music requiring a singing melodic line above an accompaniment may be frustrated by the piano's apparent inability to produce it....the problem may not be entirely obvoius until one places a Yamaha and a higher quality piano side by side and plays the same music on both...  ...I find that the dampers cause the sound to cut off too abruptly, making the music sound choppy, and making me work harder to play legato." 2   

"The Yamaha tone, pleasing to some, may be too bright and limited in its tonal palette for those looking for a highly nuanced, classical kind of sound."2   

   "Many technicians express doubt about the very long-term durability of their (Yamaha's) cabinets, pinblocks, and especially tone due to the quality of materials used.  They warn that this is likely to limit the lifetime of these pianos to twenty-five or thirty years, possibly much less under heavy use or adverse conditions, and that the tone quality is likely to be at its best when the piano is first purchased, not later on....."3

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1. Larry Fine, The Piano Book (Boston, 2001) pg85

2. Larry Fine, The Piano Book (Boston, 2001) pg155

3. Larry Fine, The Piano Book (Boston, 1999) pg127

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