Know your piano! ... There are two major parts to a piano - a frame and an action. What's a frame? What's an action?

The frame is made from cast iron (not steel as you will read in most classified ads) and is the foremost structural part of the piano, it is what the piano is built around. When you look in an upright or grand it is the gold (usually) coloured structure that you see. It is upon this that the huge tension of the piano strings (about 20 tons) are set against.

The action is the mechanism that in an upright translates the downward vertical motion of the piano key when it is pressed into a horizontal motion as the hammer strikes the strings and the note is played. In a Grand it translates downward vertical motion of the piano key when it is pressed into an upward vertical motion as the hammer strikes.

What is the difference between a straightstrung and an overstrung? As such this applies to upright pianos, before the standard of overstrung was set there were some manufactures that built pianos which had the bass strings in a fairly straight layout on the frame. The disadvantage is that the length of string determines the quality of sound. An Overstrung is what you will find in the majority of pianos, where the bass strings cross over, above the steel strings. This gives extra length to the strings which would otherwise be governed by the height of the piano.

What is the difference between an overdamper and an underdamper? Overdamper: Again, an earlier design employed by upright piano builders in the 19th century where the dampers are placed above the piano hammers - Even in the 21st century these types of pianos are still around. The main disadvantage is that for the poor piano tuner as they are hard to work on and for the pianist, they do not damp the sound as well as an underdamper. You can tell these as they are old and tall pianos and when you look inside you will see a wooden bar on top of the action. Click here to see a picture

Underdamper: This was main change in the design of pianos in the late 19th century with most successful piano makers. The dampers are below the hammers. Click here to see a picture

Upright pianos became smaller in size throughout the century as changes in styles and fashion of homes dictated. Although a few manufacturers still produce pianos over 130cm in height, generally the "modern" piano is under 120 cm. Some, even designed to be under 100cm, although looking small when it comes to fitting a piano in a room it is actually its width, not its height that makes the difference. Pianos with 88 notes are generally the wider piano and manufactures make pianos with 85 notes to lessen the width. If size is not a factor then you should be playing as many types of piano which are within your price range to decide which piano sounds best to you - as you are the one who is going to be playing it!

Grand piano construction: Would you like to see how one is made? Click here to see