YamahaU1

Yamaha U1 — a Japanese upright, 121 cm tall, black high gloss.

The instrument half the music schools teach on: for children who practise in earnest, for students, and for adults who want to find the same thing under their hands every time.

Yamaha has built the U1 for decades, and its standing rests on one U1 being like the next — learn on one and you are at home on any of them. 121 cm is the upper edge of the home format: the strings are longer than on the compact models and the bass is fuller to match. Three pedals: the right holds the note, the left softens it, and the middle one lowers a strip of felt between hammer and string to make practice quiet — useful when a passage still has to be got under the fingers late in the day.

Black high gloss is easy to look after, but it shows every fingerprint and every reflection of the window; a soft, dry cloth is all it takes.

The piano stands against the wall and, with room to sit, takes about 0.9 m². At 61 cm deep it goes through an ordinary door. Not by the radiator and not in the sun: swings in humidity put it out of tune. It weighs 228 kg, and above the ground floor it is carried by movers. If you practise at night and the walls are thin, an acoustic upright can have a Silent System fitted, and you play on through headphones.