Midlands123

If you prefer to rent an instrument for a year or two, please let Mairead know, and she will try to arrange to have an instrument for you.

Alternatively, if you already have an instrument which your child has grown out of, please contact Mairead who may be interested in purchasing the instrument to pass on to another student.

Other items which are helpful are a music stand, Tuner (electronic tuner to help with keeping the strings in tune), rosin (for the violinist) and spare strings (violin, 4-string guitar). Expensive violin strings will give a much better sound to the violin and are worth it.

Baritone Ukulele and Tenor Guitar

Bairds Sound Systems, Belfast: stock the Ozark Tenor Guitar http://www.bairdsoundsystems.com Matchetts Music, Belfast: stock the Ozark (3372)Tenor Guitar (stg£379-) http://www.matchettsmusic.com “https://matchettsmusic.com/products/ozark-tenor-guitar-3372?keyword=tenor%20guitar

Moloney Music, Galway stock the Ashbury ‘Rathlin’ Tenor Guitar (€325- at time of writing_Aug2024). Sometimes Moloneys carry the Ashbury AT24 and the Blueridge T20 (recommended), but not at present in stock. http://www.moloneymusic.com “www.moloneymusic.com/Products/Guitars/Tenor_Guitars

Musicmaker, Dublin stocks the Iberica TG100 Tenor Guitar http://www.musicmaker.ie Iberica TG100 Tenor Guitar – Spruce/Sapelli (musicmaker.ie) (currently €299- August 2024)

Ordering online from http://www.thomann.de 1. Harley Benton CLT-20S Tenor €199- plus Shipping 2. Thomann Tenor Guitar Standard €333- plus shipping

A wider range of Tenor Guitars can be got in the UK. For convenience, you can browse Ebay, which gives both second-hand Tenor Guitars and also new stock at some shops, in particular ‘Hobgoblin Music’ with 9 locations in England. Currently (Aug2024), Ebay.co.uk, there are 9 different Tenor Guitars in the listings for ‘Tenor Guitar’, varying in price from stg£250 -£5,500.

A number of top class guitar makers are resident in Ireland (including Nth Ireland), offering quality instruments and allowing you to specify certain parts of the build. Handmade Irish guitars start between €2000-€4000. Avalon Guitars are based in Newtownards, Nth Ireland and give a full guitar listing and pricelist on their website. http://www.avalonguitars.com Website ‘Island of Music’ (www.islandofmusic.ie) give the names and contact details of Instrument makers in Ireland giving contact details for Luthiers (maker of Guitars) Brian Leach, Ciarán McNally, Ronan Kilcoyne, Iain McLean, John Catherwood, John Moriarty. Jan Muyllaert, based in Navan, Co Meath has been known as a harp maker for decades and also makes the Tenor Guitar. You can check our his Tenor Guitar webpage here: “https://www.irishharps.ie/other-instruments/tenor-guitar/

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Buying a Baritone Ukulele

• The following is just a random selection of the mid-price instruments (baritone Ukulele), a snippet of what is available on the main shopping platforms.
• Flight Aurora (Solid-top Spruce)(With pickup, €389- plus shipping, Gear4music.ie)
• Flight Aurora (solid-top Spruce) (without pickup, €369- plus shipping, Thomann.de)
• Flight Fireball (all solid Mango)(€675- plus shipping with Gear4music.ie)
• Cordoba 20BM (solid-top mahogany)(€225- plus shipping, Gear4music.ie)
• Kala KA-BE (solid top Mahogany)(€319- plus shipping, Thomann.de)
• Kala CT-SSRW-BG-C (All solid wood, Spruce top, Rosewood sides)(€499-plus shipping, Thomann.de)

• The Southern Ukulele Store (www.southernukulelestore.co.uk)
• World of Ukes (www.worldofukes.co.uk)

Portable Keyboard, Digital piano, or Acoustic Piano

The keyboard, often referred to as Portable Keyboard, electric or Electronic Keyboard or even a ‘Casio’ is a distinctly different instrument than a piano. The keyboard has ‘light’ keys, meaning that it does not have the heavy solid piano keys and piano ‘action’ (the weight and pressure in the piano keys). The portable keyboard usually comes in two sizes – 49 keys or 61 keys, so it is shorter than the piano. Initially, Casio was the world leader in portable keyboards, and it is the case now that the Brand name has become synonymous with the instrument. However, good portable keyboards are made by many manufacturers nowadays. In the past, the portable Keyboard was much cheaper than the Digital piano but there is a fine range of affordable Digital pianos on the market now, cheaper than many advanced keyboards.

It is possible to purchase a new Keyboard for under €100-, and there are some available for under €50 on DoneDeal.ie. These keyboards are fine as a starter instrument for a person wishing to learn to play the keyboard or piano. The keyboard is convenient (light, portable) and with the option of headphones, it can be played anywhere, at any hour without disrupting others. The keyboard is essentially designed for modern and pop music, to accompany pop songs (drum tracks, loops, accompaniment chords) and to create atmospheric film music (full orchestral sounds, strings and brass), and can be set to the Church Organ tone to accompany a church choir. The Keyboard do not pretend to be a piano, It is a creative and fun instruments in its own right.

Digital Piano

The Digital Piano is an alternative to an acoustic piano. The Digital Piano does not offer the physicality and resonance of an acoustic piano, but it offers a full keyboard with 88-keys, and solid weighted keys. The advantages of the Digital Keyboard include:

• Option to play using headphones and not disturb others
• easier to move and install than the acoustic piano, depending on the size and style of the cabinet
• A good quality Digital Piano can be purchased at less than the cost of a good quality acoustic piano.
• Different piano and instrument tones (grand piano, bright piano, Organ, strings, other)
• Ability to record tracks
• link up to a laptop (save tracks and work with music software programs) and link to web apps which offer tutorials, backing tracks, additional instrument tones, and more.
• Metronome included
• Transposition (change key at the touch of a button)(not on all models)
• Quality speakers, and (depending on model) the ability to link with phone or laptop to play streaming music (eg. Spotify)

Where the advantages of the Digital Piano outweigh the advantages of the acoustic piano, it is a good instrument for learning piano. It is suitable for practicing and playing classical music right up to Senior Grades (and Diploma level).

Buying a digital piano

There is a wide range of manufacturers offering Digital Pianos (Yamaha, Casio, Kurtzweil, Roland, Korg). Differences between them include:

• the quality and type of the piano keys ‘action’ (the weight and pressure and ‘bounce back’)
• the sound (very much related to the quality of the onboard speakers)
• size and bulkiness of the instrument (all have 88 keys, but some digital pianos are stripped down, and hardly bigger than the 88 keys, while others come with small or large supporting legs/frame, and still others come is a full cabinet which is similar to an acoustic upright piano). For the most part, the bulkiness of the frame and cabinet does not relate to the sound quality of the instrument and quality of the keys. But, it is not surprising that the higher quality instruments often offer the full ‘piano’ cabinet (as the picture to the right above).
• options for additional instrument tones
• additional online features

Acoustic Piano

For most of us, this is what we consider as a ‘real’ piano. It is the large cumbersome heavy instrument which we know and love. When you sit down to the piano, you don’t need to plug it in and switch it on, and set the volume. When you touch your fingers to the keys, the instrument ‘answers back’, responding with warm and rich resonances, and always inviting further time and exploration. Despite all the advantages of the Digital Piano and all the disadvantages of the acoustic piano, it still is a wonderful instrument which is worth all the extra expense and bother.

As a new Quality instrument is outside the budget for most of us, buying a Reconditioned instrument is good option. A reconditioned piano is a secondhand used piano which has been rebuilt/restored with new hammers, dampers, and strings (where necessary), and is almost ‘as good as new’, and for sale in the primary piano showrooms. In my own experience, it is almost impossible to get a reasonable quality piano for less then €4,000. A reconditioned quality piano at €4,000 is far ahead of a new piano at €4,000 as the new pianos at this price point tend to have rather thin tone. Second-hand (Reconditioned) pianos by Yamaha and Kawai with price point between €4.5k -6.5k will guarantee a reasonable instrument, and paying a little more will deliver greater depth of sound, better tone in the very high notes and the very low notes. I recommend visiting one of the primary Piano Sales showrooms in Ireland to see the range of pianos, and the quality which can be purchased at each price point.

Yamaha provide a range of pianos, including the ‘U’ range, which is a reliable, durable and affordable model. Note: the U1 (153x121cm)is the smallest of the three, with the U2 (153x127cm)having larger Frame and cabinet, and U3 being the largest of the three (153x131cm). Tone and quality is excellent on all three, but the bigger instrument will have bigger sound/volume (enhanced rigidity, resonance and structural stability).

The following prices are just approximate, and current (Sept 2024), and dependent on availability.

• Yamaha U1 (reconditioned) €4,900-€5,400-
• Yamaha U1 (brand new) €11,400- €15,853
• Yamaha U2 (reconditioned) €5,300-€6,000
• Yamaha U2 (brand new) € (I was not able to get a price for this model brand-new)
• Yamaha U3 (reconditioned)(dependent on year of piano build)€5,500-€11,000
• Yamaha U3 (brand new) €14,700-

Yamaha also offer the ‘B’ range (B1, B2, B3), which is a cheaper instrument, but is lower quality build.

I have rather unfairly given a lot of attention to Yamaha here, as KAWAI also offer a fine range of pianos, at comparable prices. Often, i would say the Yamaha and Kawai piano are indistinguishable (where we are looking at similar quality pianos/similar price pianos). I have also played some Petrof, which is a reliable workhorse, but not a favorite with me. Obviously, Steinway is creme-de-la-creme, and outside my budget.

It does not mean that there are not good secondhand pianos available privately, but it requires a fair knowledge of pianos and the patience to travel about to find the right instrument. While the touch on the piano is important, the sound is the primary KPI (key performance indicator) when judging whether or not to buy. Pianos do not necessarily improve with age. Pianos that have received hard playing and been parked in draughty hallways or against damp walls will disimprove. Pianos need regular tuning, and sometimes little repairs. Second hand pianos from hotels are already at end-of-life.