Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today’s subject is about the most expensive and least expensive musical instrument. There are so many choices! You might think the piano is the most expensive instrument. There was a time when digital pianos didn’t exist and the cheapest piano was about $1,000. But now, you can get an 88 key digital piano for a few hundred bucks.
What are the most expensive pianos?
The most expensive pianos go for $200,000 to $300,000, unless it’s some sculpted work of art. There are some pianos that are worth millions, if they were owned by one of the Beatles or something like that. But generally speaking, the top end is going to be in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, unless it’s an exotic wood or intricately carved or painted or something of that nature. The cheapest pianos may be a few hundred dollars. So pianos might not be the most expensive or the cheapest. You know, you can get a student model clarinet for not that much money. There are a lot of instruments that you can get for less than $1,000. rMany orchestral instruments are not that expensive.
You’ll be surprised to learn that the most expensive instrument and the least expensive instrument are the same instrument!
How can this be? The cheapest instrument you can buy is the violin. Go on Amazon and see if I’m right. Search for the cheapest violin you can find and it will probably be the cheapest instrument you can buy. I mean a real musical instrument, not a kazoo or a penny whistle. Violins are really cheap. You can get one for far less than $100 easily. But Stradivarius and other rare violins can be in the millions of dollars! These aren’t works of art, like pianos that are carved and painted. No, these are just instruments that cost that much.
Any great violin is going to be very expensive.
It’s not just Stradivarius violins. High level violins can be in the high five figures. And for something really high level, you’re going to get into six figures pretty quickly. And like I say, if you want a world class violin, you could easily get into the millions! Yet it’s also the cheapest instrument there is. I bet you didn’t expect that one instrument is the cheapest and most expensive instrument there is. I hope you find this interesting! If you have different ideas about this, leave a comment on LivingPianos.com and YouTube! Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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6 thoughts on “What is the Most Expensive and Least Expensive Instrument?”
Yes, you did, regarding pennywhistles.
The most expensive instrument, depending on size, would be a carillon or an organ. The least expensive instrument is the voice. If talking about inexpensive instruments, things like ocarinas might well be bought for under $100. Or what about pennywhistles or harmonicas? There is actually a classical concerto for harmonica, if not more than one. Recorders can also be inexpensive, and there is a lot of classical literature for them.
Chromatic harmonicas start out about as cheap as violins. I did make a disclaimer about pennywhistles and kazoos even though there are very creative people doing things with them!
Where would a full sized church organ fit in the cost? 🙂
Pipe organs can cost a million dollars. Some violins cost far more. It’s probably a toss up!
Lausanne Cathedral’s most recent instrument inaugurated in 2003 came in at more than $4.2 million.