mascarasnake

but will any dorms allow acoustic pianos? I'd rather not break down and buy an electric because they're not really the same feel but I'm not sure what dorm would even be able to fit one.

BassDad

Probably not but it depends on the school and the individual dorm. It would be a challenge to fit a small upright into most freshman dorm rooms, even supposing that you can get it past the RA's, up the stairs and through the door. You might have enough floor space if you can bunk the beds or install some kind of loft arrangement with the beds over the desks, but there would still be the problems of getting permission and physically moving a piano in. In a lot of places, you will be lucky if you can squeeze in an extra chair or bookcase. You would have to be blessed with a larger than average room on the first floor (or in a dorm with a freight elevator) with a willing RA and understanding roommates and neighbors to make this scheme work. In other words, the odds are dead against it.

Most good music schools have numerous practice rooms, teacher's studios and classrooms that all have pretty good pianos in them. I have also seen dorms in some schools that have a lounge area that includes an upright or a baby grand piano. If you want the piano for the hours that the practice rooms are closed, then you are probably going to run into noise issues with roommates and neighbors and would do better with an electric piano anyway. If you wind up with a decent piano, a dorm room would probably not be the best place to keep it. If you wind up with a cheap one, the action will probably be no better than what you can find on a decent electronic piano at half the price. I would recommend that you make do with the pianos that are provided by the school while you are living in the dorms and then look for off campus housing in following years. A piano is a much more realistic possibility once you get out of the dorms.

thumper1

Are you saying you want to move a regular piano into a dorm room? Well...first there is the space issue. Most dorm rooms (even singles) do not have the space for a piano of any kind (acoustic or digital). The rooms are too small. For an accoustic piano, you would also be dealing with the sound when you play the thing. Simply put, most dorm rooms do not allow practicing IN the rooms. I know that NEC allows practicing in the rooms during certain hours, but that dorm is old and the rooms are small...no room for a piano. At least with an electronic digital piano, you could use head phones. But even with that...space will be at a premium in the dorm...what would you move out to fit the piano In...your bed, dresser, desk? And in some places, these are built in....can't be moved anywhere.

Agreed with others...schools tend to have ample practice rooms with pianos. Where DS has been, the piano majors actually get priority for practice rooms having the grand pianos or "name brand" (e.g. Steinway) pianos. Where he was almost ALL of the practice rooms had pianos.

Even off campus, you will need to ask the landlord about practicing IN your apartment. DS could NOT practice in either of his off campus apartments in undergrad school, but he is fortunate to be able to do so in his current grad school place. BUT he does not have a piano.

Also, there is the cost of moving a piano...not usually a bargain.