# Piano Types: Q about Types of Pianos **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664 "2013-04-25T14:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/1 "2013-04-25T14:33:31Z")
I have a coworker here insisting there’s a difference between an upright piano (like the kind you’d see in an 1890s Klondike honky-tonk) and something called a “vertical grand piano”, which googling doesn’t reveal to be a distinct thing. So, is there something called a “vertical grand piano” and if so, is it distinct from an upright and if so, how? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/2 "2013-04-25T14:41:06Z")
Never heard of it, and I hope it’s not what I’m picturing. (Yes, that involves the pianist lying on his back. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/3 "2013-04-25T14:51:05Z")
[Upright pianos with unusually tall frames and long strings are sometimes called upright grand pianos.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano#Upright_.28vertical.29) ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/4 "2013-04-25T17:23:28Z")
Googling “upright grand piano” lists a few things. Like this: [http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/Keyboards/SchimmelNelsonPiano/1212/Schimmel.html](http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/Keyboards/SchimmelNelsonPiano/1212/Schimmel.html) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/5 "2013-04-25T20:39:00Z")
Moved to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/6 "2013-04-25T20:58:04Z")
I’ve heard them called “upright grand” instead of “vertical grand” but yes they definitely do exist. The string layout in an upright grand is going to be similar to a regular grand, which looks like this (obviously the keyboard mechanism will be different due to its location but the string layout will be similar): [![](https://i.infopls.com/images/ency332musins002.jpg) ](https://i.infopls.com/images/ency332musins002.jpg) Compare this to the string layout in a typical regular upright piano: [http://www.carstairs-pianos.co.uk/images/Bechstein%209%20inside.jpg](http://www.carstairs-pianos.co.uk/images/Bechstein%209%20inside.jpg) A large size alone isn’t going to make it an upright grand. A true upright grand will have the same basic string layout and similar construction to a regular grand. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/7 "2013-04-25T22:29:09Z")
I’ve just heard them called an “upright”. Basically a tall compact piano, distinct from a smaller “spinet”. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/piano-types-q-about-types-of-pianos/656664/8 "2013-04-26T22:09:40Z")
To answer the OP’s question, the cited wiki page has descriptions and names of the common types of pianos. Since standard (horizontal) grand pianos come as small as 4 or 5 feet (usually called baby grands under 5 feet) any upright piano over 45 inches or so (i.e. larger than a studio) could, IMHO, legitimately be called a vertical or upright grand. Such terms have been used by various manufacturers for marketing purposes, but have no “official” definition that I know of. Your coworker may have been thinking of rare older instruments like the Schimmel in **Blue Mood** ’s link. That type is called a “giraffe,” and unlike standard uprights, it puts the tuning pins at the bottom, below the keyboard. Needless to say, it makes tuning somewhat more difficult. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The string layout in an upright grand is going to be similar to a regular grand, which looks like this (obviously the keyboard mechanism will be different due to its location but the string layout will be similar): > > [http://www.factmonster.com/images/ency332musins002.jpg](http://www.factmonster.com/images/ency332musins002.jpg) > > Compare this to the string layout in a typical regular upright piano: > > [http://www.carstairs-pianos.co.uk/images/Bechstein%209%20inside.jpg](http://www.carstairs-pianos.co.uk/images/Bechstein%209%20inside.jpg) > > A large size alone isn’t going to make it an upright grand. A true upright grand will have the same basic string layout and similar construction to a regular grand. I don’t understand what you are saying, unless you mean that a vertical grand has to look like the giraffe above. The string layouts of the grand and the upright in your links are virtually identical, except flipped mirror image. In both, the single-string bass notes are angled toward the player’s right side and the multi-string treble notes are angled to the left. The upright doesn’t have the curved casework, but I assume you weren’t referring to that. Can you clarify what you mean, and what you think the differences between these two arrangements are?