So I’m getting piano lessons and my teacher wants me to get an upright piano instead of a keyboard. An upright piano is way above my price range, so what do I do? And what’s the difference between an upright piano and a keyboard?

The difference between the two instruments is feel. A keyboard has a bunch of switches and sensors in it to tell the electronics “Middle C is pressed, play a Middle C with x loudness.” A piano has a complex system of levers and rods that cause a felt-covered hammer to strike the strings - which is why many people consider a piano to be a percussion instrument rather than a keyboard instrument. Since your piano teacher is teaching you on a real piano, he or she wants you to have an instrument that feels the same as the piano in the conservatory.

Getting a free piano moved and tuned will cost you less than buying a good keyboard. The flipside of this is that if you live in an apartment you may not want a piano because every time you move you’ll need to call the piano movers to relocate it.

Here’s what you do.

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Then you go on Craigslist and post this ad: “Got a piano you don’t want anymore and just want to give it away? I’m a new piano student and I’d love to give it a good home. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx.” Call the local newspaper and place the same classified ad. A lot of people want to get rid of Grandma’s piano but don’t have a way to haul it to the dump; this will help them. See if you can get your piano teacher to go over with you to check the piano before you take it; a lot of times Grandma’s piano isn’t playable and your piano teacher will be able to play the instrument and tell you if it’s good enough to learn on.

First, you google “piano moving services in (my city).” A lot of cities have companies that can move a piano. It’ll cost you a few bucks, but they know how to do it without injuring either themselves or the piano. The company in my area that moves pianos also tunes them, which is a good thing because you’ll also need to have it tuned once you’ve gotten it home.