Piano Video Lesson: How to Measure Your Piano - Part 1

Hi, and welcome to LivingPianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com. And today's question is, "How do you measure a piano?" You're going to need one of these. Now, this is a two-part series. Today, we're going to show how to measure a grand piano or a baby grand and next time, we'll show you how to measure upright pianos.

So when measuring a grand piano, what measurement are they talking about? Well, all pianos have pretty much the same width because of the 88 keys. There's a little variance, depending upon how large the cheek blocks are on either end of the keyboard. But they're all around five feet. So when measuring a grand piano or baby grand, it's the length. What length? The absolute full length from the end of the lid to the end of the keyslip.

Now, if you have two people, you should close your lid completely. Have one on one end, and have you on the other end measuring. But a little trick is you can, with a tape measure, measure a piano by yourself like this. Hook it on the end, and then this is the tricky part because where you stand will determine what number. If I stand here, the numbers go down and here the numbers go up. So try to be as centered as possible. Now, if you do this method, you'll want to add about an inch to the length because the lid overhangs the piano. And typically manufacturers do include the lid and the keyslip. It's absolutely the longest length of the piano.

So that's pretty much all there is to measuring a piano. As I said, the width can vary a little bit by. . . A concert grand might be slighter wider than five feet. But they're all pretty much close to five feet. I hope this has been helpful for you.

One other thing to consider is that most Asian pianos and European pianos are measured in metric system. So your Model 152 will usually be 152-centimeter piano, or around five feet. And that goes for all the different European and Asian models. The Americans go. . . This piano is a Model R Baldwin, which is five foot eight. And these are standard lengths for pianos.

Thanks so much for joining me. If you have any additional questions about how to measure pianos or unusual challenges, Robert@LivingPianos.com. I'll see you next time here on Living Pianos and virtualsheetmusic.com.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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