When your piano needs to be relocated, especially for long-distance moves, hiring a specialist is essential. Here’s why entrusting your precious instrument to experts is the smart choice.
Pianos Are Extraordinarily Heavy
The most compelling reason to call professionals is simple: pianos are incredibly heavy.
Much of this weight comes from the solid cast iron harp that supports all the strings. Add to this the specialized wood casing, heavy wooden soundboard, thousands of mechanical parts made of various materials, and you’re dealing with substantial weight even in the smallest models.
- Smaller pianos (spinets and consoles): 300-400+ pounds
- Larger upright pianos: 500-800+ pounds
- Upright player pianos: Often over 900 pounds
- Small grand pianos (54″ long): 500-600 pounds
- Larger grand pianos: Up to 1,000 pounds
- Specialty grand pianos: Can exceed 1,200 pounds
With average weights ranging from a quarter to well over half a ton, moving your piano is definitely not something to take lightly!
Pianos Have Awkward Dimensions
If weight were the only concern, you might be tempted to recruit your strongest friends to help. However, the challenge extends beyond mere heaviness.
Pianos are inherently large and extremely awkward to maneuver. Grand pianos have particularly unusual shapes, while upright pianos are often exceptionally tall.
All pianos, both grand and upright, are constructed in ways that make evenly distributing their excessive weight nearly impossible. A slight shift in any direction can create dramatic and unexpected changes in balance, weight, and momentum.
These factors make lifting, carrying, turning, and maneuvering any piano in or out of buildings—especially around tight corners or up and down stairs—a job requiring specialized knowledge and experience to accomplish safely and efficiently.
Safety Concerns Are Real
While runaway pianos might be comedy gold in cartoons, in reality, an out-of-control piano is no laughing matter.
Without proper care, precautions, and experience, serious injuries are a genuine possibility when attempting to move a piano. Even relatively minor injuries like pulled muscles or strained backs can have lasting, sometimes lifelong impacts.
Beyond personal safety, there’s significant risk of damage to your home, building, property, and of course, to the piano itself at every step of the moving process.
Pianos Are Valuable and Delicate
Let’s be clear—a piano is a significant investment. Since their invention in the late 1700s, pianos have been status symbols and major purchases, often financed rather than bought outright.
New pianos today continue this tradition, while older instruments, especially rare models and antiques, can hold substantial monetary value. Damage during moving—whether a scratched finish, broken leg, cracked casing, or worse—can be extremely costly to repair and significantly decrease your piano’s value.
More importantly, pianos are sophisticated, delicate musical instruments. With thousands of wooden pieces glued together and over 7,500 moving parts finely tuned and adjusted to produce beautiful music, even slight damage during moving can permanently alter your treasured instrument’s performance.
While standard moving companies might address some of these considerations, they typically lack the specialized training and knowledge needed to fully protect your piano during relocation.
Pianos Hold Deep Emotional Value
Beyond monetary worth, pianos carry profound meaning. Whether they’re cherished family heirlooms, essential instruments for professional musicians, or simply the source of countless family memories and joy, pianos occupy a special place in our hearts.
They are both functional instruments and works of art—true treasures deserving the highest level of care.
Trust the Experts
When it’s time to move your piano, both you and your instrument deserve the absolute best care available. Don’t settle for standard moving companies, and definitely don’t attempt this specialized task yourself.
Call piano moving experts who understand the unique challenges involved and have the experience, equipment, and expertise to transport your valued instrument safely to its new home.