By: Bobby McHavens
When my daughter expressed a desire to take piano lessons, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was happy that she wanted to cultivate her musical side and I certainly didn't want to stifle that kind of creativity. On the other hand, I'm a single parent living in a small two-bedroom apartment.
Even if I could find a way to pay for the lessons, it was doubtful that I'd be able to fit even the smallest upright into the apartment so my daughter could practice. I explained the situation to my daughter, and even though she was very disappointed, she understood my reasoning.
Then one day at work a friend of mine suggested checking out a Yamaha electric piano. It turns out that my friend faced the same dilemma a few years ago with her kids, but found that a Yamaha electric piano was a fantastic solution in many ways. For example, a Yamaha electric piano is much, much smaller than a traditional upright, so limited space would no longer be an issue. In addition, the price difference was between the two types of pianos is very substantial.
A Yamaha electric piano would likely cost about 30 to 50 percent less than a decent upright. Finally, a Yamaha electric piano is easy to maintain, won't suffer sound degradation with age, and can would allow my daughter to practice with headphones on, which would pretty much be a must in our apartment complex.
Based on all those factors, I was convinced that a Yamaha electric piano was right for our current living situation. So my next step was to find a suitable dealer to purchase from. At first I of course thought I should go to a musical instrument store in my area, but my friend gave me the URLs to a couple of different websites instead. She said that I would be able to get a much better deal on a Yamaha electric piano online. I was a bit hesitant because I figured the shipping and handling charges would be enormous, which would then all but negate the savings. But my friend said that with a purchase as large as a Yamaha electric piano, online retailers would either offer free shipping or a very reasonable flat rate.
I took my friend's advice and purchased a Yamaha electric piano from one of the websites she recommended. The whole transaction went very smoothly, and now my daughter is having fun getting to know her brand new instrument. I've signed her up for lessons at the local community center and can't wait to hear her play her first song on this beautiful Yamaha electric piano.
