Types of pianos: grand, upright, digital and keyboard compared

The types of pianos come down to two shapes and one technology. Strings either lie flat in a grand or stand on end in an upright, and a digital piano replaces the strings with recorded sound. Which one suits you depends on your room, your neighbors and how you want the keys to feel.

This guide walks through every type of piano by size, from the spinet to the concert grand, then digital pianos, hybrids and portable keyboards. It compares them in one table and answers the questions buyers ask most: piano or keyboard, digital or acoustic, and whether you can learn on a keyboard.

There are two families of acoustic piano. Grand pianos run from baby grands about 5 feet long to concert grands about 9 feet long. Upright pianos run from spinets about 3 feet tall to full uprights near 5 feet. Alongside them sit digital pianos, with 88 weighted keys and sampled piano sound, and portable keyboards, usually with 61 or 76 lighter keys and many sounds.

Grand pianos: the horizontal family

A grand piano lays its strings and soundboard flat, in a wing-shaped case with a lid that opens to send the sound out into the room. The hammers strike the strings from below and fall back by their own weight. The grand action also has a repetition mechanism that lets a key strike again before it has fully risen, which is why fast repeated notes are easier on a grand.

Grands are named by length, measured from the front of the keyboard to the tail. Makers draw the lines a few inches apart, so treat the ranges as approximate:

• Petite grand: under about 5 feet, the smallest grand made.
• Baby grand: about 5 to 5½ feet, the most common grand in homes.
• Medium and parlor (living-room) grand: about 5½ to 7 feet, for larger rooms and teaching studios.
• Semi-concert or ballroom grand: about 7 to 8 feet, for recital halls and big rooms.
• Concert grand: about 9 feet, the instrument on most concert stages.

Length matters for sound because a longer case holds longer bass strings and a larger soundboard. The bass of a concert grand is deeper and clearer than a baby grand’s, and it fills a hall. In a small room, a baby grand is often the better match. The All About Piano chapter on acoustic pianos shows each size side by side.

Upright pianos, from spinet to full upright

An upright, or vertical, piano stands its strings and soundboard on end so the instrument fits against a wall. The hammers swing forward into the strings, and springs return them. Uprights are named by height, measured from the floor to the top of the case. Again, the ranges are approximate:

• Spinet: about 36 to 40 inches, the smallest acoustic piano. Its action sits below the keys and is linked to them by rods, a design called a drop action. That makes it short but gives a weaker tone and a less direct touch, and few are made new today.
• Console: about 40 to 44 inches. The action sits directly behind the keys, so the touch is more direct than a spinet’s. Consoles are a common choice for homes because they fit a living room and often come in furniture-style cases.
• Studio: about 44 to 48 inches, with a full-size action and a larger soundboard. Schools and teaching studios use them because they are sturdy and sound bigger than their footprint.
• Full upright: 48 inches and taller, with older instruments reaching about 5 feet. The tallest uprights have the longest strings of the family and the fullest bass.

The chart lines up the four uprights on one height scale, so you can see where each size stops.

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The grand family is easier to picture in two sizes. The photos show a baby grand next to a 9-foot concert grand, the two ends of the range.

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Upright vs grand piano

A grand gives a fuller, more open sound and a touch that repeats faster, because gravity and the repetition mechanism return the hammers. An upright gives a real acoustic sound and a hammer action in a fraction of the floor space, and a good studio or full upright plays better than a small, worn grand. The pedals differ too. A grand’s soft pedal shifts the hammers to strike fewer strings, while an upright’s moves them closer to the strings. The middle pedal is usually a sostenuto on a grand and a practice mute on an upright. Our guide to piano pedals explains each one.

Digital pianos, stage pianos and hybrids

A digital piano has no strings. Each key triggers recordings of a real piano, sampled note by note at different strengths, and plays them through built-in speakers or headphones. A few models calculate the sound instead of replaying it. A good digital piano has 88 full-size keys with weighted, hammer-action keys that push back like an acoustic piano’s. Many have a graded action, heavier in the bass and lighter in the treble, the way an acoustic piano feels. It never needs tuning, the volume turns down, and the headphone socket makes late-night practice possible.

A stage piano is a digital piano built for carrying to gigs: the same weighted keys in a slimmer case, often without speakers, made to plug into an amplifier. Like most digital pianos, it can also connect to a computer over USB.

“Hybrid” is used for two different instruments. One is a digital piano built around a real acoustic-style action, with wooden keys and moving hammers that trigger sensors instead of strings. It has the touch of an acoustic and the headphones of a digital, and it never needs tuning. The other is an acoustic piano with a silent system, often called a silent piano. A rail stops the hammers just short of the strings, and sensors send the notes to headphones. It plays as a normal acoustic when the rail is off, and it still needs tuning.

Portable keyboards

A portable keyboard is a light electronic instrument built for variety more than for piano touch. Most have 61 or 76 keys, a few have 88. The keys are usually unweighted and spring back quickly, and many are touch-sensitive, so a harder press plays louder. A keyboard usually offers hundreds of sounds, drum rhythms and automatic accompaniment, along with built-in speakers, and some run on batteries. It is a good instrument for first steps, songwriting and travel, and a limited one for piano technique, because the light keys do not build the finger strength an acoustic piano asks for.

Types of pianos compared

The table puts every type side by side, with the two things that matter most for learning: the action and the number of keys.

Piano vs keyboard: are they the same?

They share the same keyboard layout, but they are different instruments. A piano, acoustic or digital, is built to sound and feel like a piano: 88 keys, weighted action, one main sound. A keyboard is an electronic instrument built for variety: fewer keys, lighter action, many sounds. The note names, the black-key groups and middle C sit in the same places on both, so everything you learn about where the notes are carries over from one to the other.

The difference between a keyboard and a digital piano is mostly the keys. A digital piano’s weighted keys train the fingers for any piano you sit down at. A keyboard’s light keys are easier to press and harder to control, so playing loud and soft on purpose takes more care. The sound engine follows the same split: a digital piano spends its sound on one excellent piano, and a keyboard spreads it across hundreds of instruments.

Digital vs acoustic piano: which to buy as a beginner

For most beginners, a digital piano with 88 weighted keys and a sustain pedal is the practical first instrument. Four questions decide it.

• Where will you practice? An acoustic piano cannot be turned down. In an apartment, a shared house or late at night, headphones on a digital piano mean you practice when you have time.
• How much space do you have? A console needs a wall and a few feet of floor. A digital piano fits where a desk would.
• Who will look after it? An acoustic piano needs tuning, usually once or twice a year in a home, and it is happiest away from radiators and sunny windows. A digital piano needs a power socket.
• How much does the touch matter to you? Nothing feels quite like an acoustic action, and a student aiming for exams or lessons on a teacher’s grand benefits from one. A well-weighted digital action comes close enough for the first years.

Choose an acoustic piano if you have the room, can play at any hour, and want the real touch and sound from day one. A used acoustic should be checked by a piano technician before you buy, since a worn action or a cracked part can cost more than the piano. Choose a digital piano if you need headphones, have little space, or are not yet sure you will keep playing. Some players end up with both: an acoustic for the daytime and a digital for late practice.

Can you learn piano on a keyboard?

Yes, you can start on a keyboard, and many pianists did. The layout is the same, so reading, note names, chords and scales transfer completely. A few conditions make the difference between a keyboard you can learn on and one that holds you back.

• Full-size keys. Mini keys teach the wrong spacing, and the hands have to relearn every stretch later.
• Touch-sensitive keys. Without them every note plays at one volume, and dynamics, a large part of playing, cannot be practiced at all.
• At least 61 keys. That covers the first year of beginner music. Move to 88 when pieces start to use the outer octaves.
• A sustain pedal input. The pedal arrives within the first year, and a keyboard without a jack for it cannot follow the music.
• The right height. A stand and a bench that put your forearms level with the keys matter as much as the instrument.

Weighted keys are the one upgrade worth making early. A pianist who learns only on light keys finds an acoustic piano heavy at first, so the switch takes a few weeks of adjustment. If you have no instrument yet, the free virtual piano plays from your computer keyboard and shows the note names, enough to learn where the notes are while you decide what to buy.

Whatever the instrument, a beginner method book gives the order to learn things in. For an adult, the Hal Leonard Adult Piano Method, Book 1 puts lessons, solos, technique and theory in one book, with accompaniments online to play along with. Our guide to learning piano as an adult sets out a 12-week plan around it.

For a child, Piano Lessons Book 1 from the Hal Leonard Student Piano Library is the first step. It starts with finger numbers, the black-key and white-key groups and simple rhythms, which work on a 61-key keyboard as well as on a piano.

Is the piano a string or percussion instrument?

The piano is classified as a string instrument. Musicologists sort instruments with the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which groups them by how they make sound. In it, the piano is a chordophone, a string instrument: a simple chordophone with a keyboard sounded by hammers. Its sound comes from vibrating strings, so it belongs with the zither family. The confusion comes from the hammers: a key throws a hammer at the strings, so the piano is struck like a percussion instrument. Some textbooks and orchestras group it with percussion for that reason, and many simply call it a keyboard instrument.

Frequently asked questions

What is the smallest type of piano?

The spinet is the smallest acoustic piano, about 36 to 40 inches tall. Its action sits below the keys, which keeps the case short but costs tone and touch, and few are made new today. The smallest grand is the petite grand, under about 5 feet long. A portable digital piano is smaller than either and still has 88 keys.

What is the difference between a spinet and a console piano?

Height and action. A spinet is about 36 to 40 inches tall, with a drop action that sits below the keys and reaches them through rods. A console is about 40 to 44 inches tall, with its action directly behind the keys. The console’s more direct action gives it a firmer, more even touch and usually a better tone.

Is an upright or a grand piano better for a beginner?

Either works, and the best choice is the one that fits the room and is well maintained. A grand has a fuller sound and faster repetition, which matters more at an advanced level. A good studio or full upright gives a beginner a real acoustic touch in much less space, and it is easier to keep in tune in a small room.

How many keys does a piano have?

A standard modern piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black, from A0 at the bottom to C8 at the top, a little over seven octaves. Acoustic pianos and full-size digital pianos have 88 keys. Portable keyboards usually have 61 or 76, which is five or six octaves and a bit.

Do digital pianos need tuning?

No. A digital piano plays recorded or modeled sound, so its pitch never drifts and it never needs a tuner. It does need a power supply, and its keys and pedals can wear over the years. A hybrid with no strings needs no tuning either, while a silent piano is an acoustic piano and needs tuning like any other.

Choose the piano that fits your room

Grands and uprights are the two acoustic families, each named by size, and the size sets how much bass and volume you get. Digital pianos bring the 88 weighted keys into a smaller space with headphones and no tuning, and portable keyboards trade touch for variety and weight.

For a beginner, the deciding questions are where you will play and when. Pick the instrument you can play every day, check that its keys are full-size and touch-sensitive, and start with the first page of a method book.