How many Types of Pianos

There are 3 types of pianos:

• Grand pianos
• Upright pianos
• Digital pianos

Grand piano

Grand piano is the best sound quality piano. Generally, in pianos, the bigger the better, and grand pianos are the granddaddies of the piano world. They are over nine feet long, and their frame and strings extend horizontally, perpendicular to the keyboard. They have longer bass strings than an upright piano, with a roller action that gives a superb playing response. However, due to their size, they are found less in homes than in concert halls. The powerful sound they produce requires a spacious room with high ceilings for proper
resonance.

Upright piano

Upright pianos is most commonly found in homes. They are also called vertical pianos, as their frame and strings extend upwards and downwards from the keyboard. As the hammers move sideways rather than upwards, it is difficult to get the same sound quality in an upright as in a grand piano.

Digital piano

Digital piano is a recent innovation. Developed since the 1970s, pianos use digitally sampled sounds that are replayed at the touch of a key. They are intended to feel as much like acoustic pianos as possible, down to the weighted key action. They’re portable, don’t need tuning, and often have a variety of extra effects, including other “voices,” preprogrammed rhythms, and the ability to export sound to a computer. However, a digital piano’s sound quality cannot approach the depth of an upright piano, due to the lack of natural harmonics. Too, with rapid changes in technology, a digital piano can become outdated while an acoustic won’t.


Other similar instruments is electric piano, the most famous of which is the Fender-Rhodes, which produces a sound that is part bell, part xylophone, and part piano. Completely portable, the electric piano is similar to an acoustic piano only insofar as pressing a key causes a hammer to strike … but what it strikes are tines rather than strings. Magnets located at the tip of each tine pick up the audible vibrations for amplification.

An electronic piano, or electronic keyboard, is what you see most bands playing. It is similar to a digital piano in that sounds are synthesized, or computer-generated, but unlike a digital piano an electronic keyboard does not have weighted key action or velocity sensitivity.