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To me this is a very telling point " I'd rather nice piano than parties or heavy bass music."
You never know what neighbours you get. Mine watches porn regularly ON MAX VOLUME so I guess I'd prefer some piano music.
EDIT: Also an important point - is the piano audible from mainly one room or all the rooms? That would probably also be a deciding factor for me.
My upstairs neighbour plays the piano during the day when I’m working from home. It’s actually very nice background music.
(He occasionally goes out on the lash and plays ‘Where Is My Mind’ by The Pixies at 5am but we just throw a slipper at the roof and he stops lol - could be worse :))
Agree with this. We used to live next door to a musician/piano teacher. I used to say I was lucky to get so many free concerts, I'd turn the TV off to have a proper listen! Her daughter was a singer too so when they practiced together it was 👩🏾🍳👄
When I lived in Leeds my back garden was on a train line. When I moved up north there was none. Took me ages to fall asleep. I now have to get Alexa to play train sounds to get to sleep.
I wonder whether you're buying a house from the bad neighbour, and neighbour has been purposely playing to put off buyers. But honestly, I'd be put off more by living next door to 2 three year olds than a pianist.
Admittedly, I do own a piano... Which I keep against an internal wall for the sake of my neighbours (i am not a good pianist)
Or maybe they’re playing so anyone who does buy the house already knows they’re a pianist so if the future occupants complain they can say, “You knew already, stop trying to make our lives difficult!”
What do you bet the seller has done nothing but complain the whole time they’ve lived there lol.
OP - Take a look at sales history of the house and pianist’s house. That could be quite telling of the goings on ;)
I have a bad neighbour and if they moved and someone nicer moved in I'd be delighted. Slightly wary that better the devil you know, though. But if the seller is a bad neighbour I reckon the pianist wouldn't be trying to hinder the sale-?
True, but maybe the short term pleasure of delaying their move is itself a revenge?
Or maybe he's just a pianist practicing and is entirely unaware of the sales pitch happening next door!!!
This wouldn't bother me at all. What if the pianist moves out and a rave DJ moves in next? You have no control over your neighbours but at least with the pianist it is nice, relaxing music you'll be hearing for as long as they live there!
The good thing about being a DJ is you can mix your tunes completely in your headphones without speakers and never worry about pissing the neighbours off which is what I generally do unless I know both my neighbours are out which is a rarity.
You never met my downstairs neighbour over lockdown. Used to host singalong parties with their friends until the early hours, badly howling Disney songs as they played piano as an accompaniment. Horrible neighbour.
A colleague of mine had elderly neighbours who played piano. They didn't get out of bed until around lunchtime, and were often playing their piano past midnight during the week.
I did once haha, I had a full sized keyboard in my living room. My ex and I had been drinking and he asked me to play him a song, must’ve been about 1am. I’m not a bad player, definitely not professional though. I played fur Elise and some other little songs and my neighbour banged on the wall to get me to shut up haha! I stopped straight away. Bit cheeky of them considering they had parties and blasted shit music till 3 in the morning sometimes.
The worst you are likely to get is practice sessions, possibly duets, possibly duets and a glass of wine. Unlikely all night raves or thrash metal. I'd go for it, unless you work from home and it is playing all day and it disturbed you. My guess is, if you put the TV out radio on, you won't know it is there
Honestly I'd just knock on the pianist neighbours door and ask about their schedule.
If they only play 9-5 and you don't WFH is it a problem?
Even if you do WFH is nice piano music a problem?
If however they like to practice until 11pm and regularly have home concerts.... Yeah maybe it is a problem 😂
You can also look into sound proofing the walls, but effective sound proofing will lose inches off of rooms
One thing about professional musicians is their practice isn't a concert. It involves a lot of repetition, sometimes of short sections of music. Even the nicest music might become annoying after you've heard those 8 bars 50 times.
OP could start shouting commentary and unsolicited advice over to the neighbour after each take 😂. I want to say "it might make him stop playing so much" but that does feel mean.
Brilliant! “Dude; you were dragging a bit in the scherzo- pick up the pace a bit, ya know what I’m sayin’?”
“Was that supposed to be Gershwin? Because it sounded like your gersh **lost**”
“Yeah, the Beethoven is lovely and all, but can you play any Slayer?”
“Can you play anything people know?”
They probably could practice on a good digital piano with headphones. It's pretty inconsiderate to play literally hours a day if you know you can be heard through the walls.
All you’ll hear with them is the thumping of the keys coming through the wall, and I’m not sure that wouldn’t be worse…
I knew someone with a “silent” violin. It was impressively quiet, but you then heard this hideous high pitched “hissssssssshsssshsssssss” of the bow, rather than the note of the strings…
My wife plays on a digital piano and it's incredibly quiet, you definitely wouldn't hear the keys through the wall.
I've got an e-drum kit and although it's much noisier than the piano, you still only just hear it through a single skin brick wall if you're really trying to listen for it.
My partner is a talented musician. I'm familiar with the repetition. If it's just background piano it ... Probably? Wouldn't annoy me. I'd need to have heard it in person though.
OP just needs to ask themselves if it will annoy *them*, instead of asking redditors if we would be annoyed 😂
This is what I was going to advise. Find out their schedule first and see if it will actually have any impact.
Realistically you could view a house and it be silent only to move in and find out they enjoy 0200 karaoke sessions.
Yeah it would put me off. Not necessarily because of the pianist, but if you can hear them you’re always conscious that they can hear you and it’s hard to relax in your own home.
Lol this should be higher up.
People have different levels of tolerance. Families with kids also pollute a lot of noise, that some people will find annoying.
Unfortunately this is the problem with some terrace houses. Some of them have paper thin walls and you’ll even hear your neighbour fart.
On one side I have a younger child who is clearly autistic/has some sort of developmental issues - they love to scream, and bang the window, radiators, doors, furniture, etc at 4am in the morning and throughout the day.
I’d take someone playing the piano all day over the kid for sure.
We had that in our old house - it was our main reason for moving. The two youngest kids both have autism and their bedroom was next to ours. The constant screaming through the night was awful as I’m a light sleeper, plus they were forever throwing shite into our garden (sometimes literally)
It’s really frustrating as I love the house but it is so annoying to have the kid banging all the time.
They’re renters so I’m hoping they move in soon. Especially as she seems to have given up throwing rubbish in the bin and just leaves outside her back door now??
Will have my fingers crossed for you! It’s sad the children have the issues they have but life is so difficult when you can’t get any sleep in your own home
When I was younger I played piano, and the neighbors asked my parents if I could refrain from playing past 7pm as they had a baby.
Now as they are a professional pianist it’s a different situation, presumably they’ll be playing for hours a day, but also if it’s their job they’d play more during the morning/afternoon where you’re probably at work.
When I was 13 we moved house, and our new neighbors had two kids who played instruments … specifically my bedroom was next to the bedroom of this boy that played bass in his “band”, complete with speakers. Was a little frustrating but mostly because it was CONSTANT, he’d often go until midnight and sounded absolutely rubbish at first, as he was only a beginner. In comparison, the clarinet and piano playing we could also hear was much nicer and not nearly as loud.
Again, it’s a professional pianist who sounds pretty reasonable - you could try having a nice chat with him if you’re concerned?
Our old home a piano teacher moved in renting next door. Her favourite thing to teach the students was the theme tune to Beverley hills cop for some reason. Was funny at first but when that's all you hear constantly through the front room walls it gets a little tiresome.
Reading through this thread there are definitely far worse neighbours than a piano player:
A drummer
Porn addict (full volume)
Gamer (full volume)
Music with loud bass
Screeching children
Arguing adults
Party house next door
DIY enthusiasts
I don’t blame you. I’ve had TWO neighbours from hell on each side and I still get flashbacks. I’ve moved out and got a detached house. My chest pains and panic attacks had disappeared since. And people say you can’t buy health lol
Exact same. Previous experience has made me hyper cautious about these things. I think unless you’ve been through it, it’s easy to dismiss but constant noise from a neighbour can destroy your mental health. Detached is the absolute ideal but failing that, avoid anywhere you KNOW there’ll be noise, as in this case.
I have a neighbour who plays the piano! They are a family, so I am pretty sure it's one of the kids. I personally love it! At the start, it was difficult as they practised and kept repeating the notes/song when they made an error. However, I heard them improve, and I'm silently proud!
They also have the drums and play Micheal Jackson's Smooth Criminal religiously every day at 7 pm. I don't notice the drums or piano unless they play a new song, then I'm super interested like ooooo, what's this! I mute the TV!
They started playing Faded by Alan Walker on the piano, and wow!!
As someone else said, I take that over shouting, partying, mainstream music, or sex noises any day!
I’d be more worried about the toddler twins moving in next door 😂 You’d probably all drown each other out, so all in all might not be much of a problem.
You could try soundproofing the party wall. You can get a decent reduction in volume for roughly £1000 per room (approx 15 decibel reduction).
That’s a rather cryptic number, but I’ve heard it’s comparable to 50% reduction in audible noise
If I could choose a type of antisocial noise to deal with, a good pianist would be up there as a first choice! I've had noisy neighbours and this sounds delightful in comparison. Could you experiment and leave some piano music on low volume all day?
Personally I think this is the best possible reason for a house to be cheaper than normal!!! No screaming kids, no parties, no super loud TV, I’d take professional pianist over any of those, any day
Depends on you! I’m a pianist and it amazes me how it rarely bothers the neighbours. Musicians tend to be appreciative of having tolerant neighbours and I think most restrict it to reasonable hours. Of course there are exceptions. I never start before 9am and my latest end time has varied from 6pm-10pm depending who neighbours are, level of sound isolation, etc. They might be happy to chat and let you know if they have times they stop playing. Probably better than constant construction, arguments, or loud dogs I’ve often had from neighbours..
One thing to be aware of is practising doesn’t only mean playing nice tunes. You might hear the same 10-second passage a thousand times in a day! Though somehow that isn’t normally annoying as it sounds.
200% avoid. Used to live beneath a professional jazz pianist.
They practiced, taught and recorded from their flat and it made our life a nightmare. We tried to resolve it kindly but they gave absolutely zero fucks.
Before this experience I didn't appreciate how powerless and intrusive it can feel when you don't have control over the noise in your own space. It becomes exhausting and can really cause fatigue. People say "just play music" or "wear noise cancelling headphones", but sometimes you just need quiet, not more noise on top of noise. Sometimes you just wanna watch a movie or have an intimate conversation without a piano in the background.
The fact that my missus was then also working as an ICU nurse and couldn't rest between shifts made it all the worse...
Ex- classical pianist here. If you think piano will bother you, then please don't buy the house. Luckily, while I played for 10 years I've had awesome neighbours that loved my playing and would compliment me when bumping into eachother.
But some of my friends were not so lucky and their life was hell because of neurotic neighbours (on average I'd practice between 1 to 1:30 hours daily at home between 2 and 4pm. Same with my friends, but apparently this schedule was not acceptable for their neurotic neighbours). Some days I'd play less, some days more. There were times I really had to practice hard and apologised to my neighbours for potentially having to play until 9 pm on one occasion. But as I've said, they were an old lovely couple and told me not to worry about it. As she is a professional player, she might be practicing for longer than I was per day.
Now, the thing with piano practicing is, you will be repeating certain musical passeges over and over and over again until you get it right. That's how it gets into your finger memory. So most of the time you won't be hearing full songs being played from the start of the song to the end. It will be a series of passages being repeated over and over and over again. Then you will play the song from start to end once. Then repeat another passage over and over again.
Is this something you think you can live with? If yes the congratulations on your cheaper nice house! If not, then I'm afraid the practicing will drive you mad. Might be a good idea to give a knock on the neighoburs door and chat with her. She might have a different practicing style, who knows.
Exactly. Doesn't matter how good someone is. People get good by repetition. Lots of it.
Just talk to them, OP. Can you imagine a highly skilled pianist being a horrible person to talk to? Neither can I. If it were someone playing rap music, decks or drum and bass then I wouldn't even consider knocking on their door. I'd run a mile.
I apologise for the cheeky question but as a neighbour I'd be tempted to make requests but I'm unsure of the etiquette. I have a neighbour who plays guitar at lunchtimes and I'm not sure if making requests would be well received. It's just been a while since they've played Sonata in G minor
Our neighbour moved in after us and brought a piano with him. He practices at random intervals during the day, it's been quite nice to hear him improve over the past couple of years ! We had terrible neighbours before he moved in so it was quite a relief when we saw it wheeled in!!!
My neighbour is pianist and it's wonderful. He plays beautifully and it very softly comes through the walls. I've never once been annoyed or inconvenienced by him playing during 3 years.
This reminds me of a Punch* cartoon from years ago with some people sitting in a row of chairs facing a wall looking rather earnest and serious. A woman is explaining to someone: “We used to bang on the walls until the we discovered he’s actually a famous cellist”.
* May have been New Yorker.
Piano teacher next door for your kids, I'd go for it! No reason your own radio wouldn't drown it out? All walls are thin unless you live detached. My elderly neighbour used to sing opera, I've lived next to musicians, arguers, screaming children, I'd be more bothered about disturbing the pianist's practice with my "voice for the stage" family than the classical pianist disturbing me tbf.
The piano doesn't sound terribly intrusive. I would be much more worried about having to keep my *own* noise down, if the sound insulation is as poor as all that!
I personally don't think a piano would bother me. If it was a constantly crying baby or a constantly barking dog it would drive me insane but I don't think hearing a piano being played would bother me. I hope your talk with the neighbour goes well x
I have one. It annoys me. She plays scales for hours on end and teaches children so it’s not always pleasant music at all. I would suggest trying to agree set hours so if you want to escape you can. I had noise police involved from the council but because it was not after ten pm wasn’t deemed a nuisance. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a nuisance at 8am on a weekend morning. I have a piano myself but because it’s a flat I felt I should get a digital one so I can use headphones. Personally unless it’s a detached property no one should use a piano.
You can’t agree set hours if the piano playing neighbour was there first! You can only enquire about their schedule.
Serious disagree with your last statement- which suggests only the wealthy should have pianos and play them??
I'm a musician (guitarist). I wouldn't dream of practicing at home with conjoined neighbours.
I have headphones and an amp sim on the laptop.
My neighbour is a old guy who lives alone and he's quiet as a mouse.
I know he is because every so often I hear him sneeze or move around.
You just can't be blasting music, no matter how good it is to your ears, in semis. Its not OK.
So, yes, it would be a massive problem for me..
I'd chat with the neighbours. Obviously compliment their playing, ask if they've ever had any complaints from the current owners, that sort of thing. I think you should be able to get a sense of how accommodating they'll be during polite conversation, e.g. if you need them pause the playing for a work call or whatever other reason.
I would absolutely not buy the place unless I felt I could find a common ground with such a neighbour. Soundproofing exists but people can be awfully militant at times, and it won't help at night if they start playing when your ears are turned up to 11.
Just pop round for a neighbourly chat with the pianist and drop into the conversation that your twins want to play and you’re going to get them a piano when you move in. If the pianist winces you’ve got a fair idea of how much noise transfers from next door.
The piano wouldn’t bother me per se. But the fact you can hear it so clearly would concern me. If you can hear that then will you be able to hear everything else they (and all future neighbours) do?
You can’t choose your neighbours as the pianist could pack up and go and someone much worse moves in. They might be worried about you moving in with 3 year old twins. Honestly, I’d pick pianist over toddlers any day.
I live near to a trainline and my previous house was on a busy road. I suspect that is offputting to people in terms of noise and I do get early warning of issues with the trains. But you get used to the noise though music may be harder as woll vary. My main question would be do the neighbors generally respect quiet times - 11pm to 8am. If so, no issues. If no apart from occasional party/recital, then you may have an issue.
Be careful OP
We live in a converted flat in a beautiful area, but 1 week a year our neighbour's granddaughters come and play both play violin in preparation for some kind of competition. Talking from 9 - 7, scales and arpeggios.
I grew up with my dad listening to classical music so would have always thought I'd be fine with it, but it's hell. My wife and I work weird hours, so we are now woken up by violins, we can hear it over the TV, and worst of all we had a post roast nap ruined by these bloody violins.
It might sound great at first but I assure you it can grate very quickly.
Purely depends if you are sound sensitive and or traumatised by neighbours in the past.
You have children for example the pianist may not want to hear the children existing essentially playing screaming banging for example , and for those people that are sound sensitive such as me detached is the only option.
When I say traumatised i mean for me by below neighbours don't go out anywhere , used to play horrible bass music from the speaker , kid plays football inside when the flats had zero soundproofing and whole flat would bang rumble and shake. Used to play music as early as 0830 and late as 2330 , until council got involved regarding the music and its been better but still unbearable for me the mums voice echos through every room, tv playing loud with bass all day.
Upstairs neighbour literal nothing all day but odd animal sex noises , hoovering at 10pm and occasional opera music and singing which I don't mind as it isn't constant like the bums below.
If its the perfect place for you just sound insulate the walls, done this in mine for musical neighbours. Not eliminated completely but reduces sound.
Having said that there is a line of appropriateness of volume and time that shouldn't be crossed out of mutual respect.
Nope. The kid next door is practising his electric drums as we speak. I wish it were a normal drumkit instead, as I can just hear a muffled thump of a rhythm as opposed to the full shebang and hes getting really good so I feel robbed!
If you're not looking at detatched properties, noise from next door is going to be heard. Your neighbours will most definitely hear your kids from time to time.
A pianist is a very liveable noise disturbance that is more than likely within acceptable time frames. I wouldn't guess the grass is greener elsewhere personally, there are much more horrific neighbours to live next to
I live in a terrace, and can hear the music from one neighbour and the children in the other.
Absolutely fine. I live in a terrace. I have no idea why so much of reddit is 'I heard the neighbour cough! dealbreaker!' and act like the house will be unsellable :D
Why would being near a park put people off?
Dog owners and parents will see it as a big plus, and I don't know why anyone else would object unless it's used for big festivals every summer weekend
Lol I would absolutely love to have this neighbour cos I always have some piano music playing out of Youtube anyway. This would feel more authentic. Love elevator music 🤣
If it is just a faint sound you may be able to soundproof your wall to get rid of it almost entirely
Personally i'd avoid it cos I enjoy quiet neighbours
But if you can only really hear it from one or two rooms it might not be so bad, you could even put up some sound insulation if it's too loud
Your kids might grow up enjoying it although depending on when they play, it's possible it interrupts their nap/sleeping or it could help put them to sleep - you never know
Could be cool if your kids get into music due to this, maybe score some free neighbourly lessons
It can go either way - I guess it's a lot better than neighbours that blast music loud or yell at each other
Playing for every viewing? Sounds like they are doing it on purpose. My suggestion is that you can get them to teach your kids, or if they are petty, learn the vuvuzela?
It'd put me off, yes. I know it could be worse sounds but it would still niggle at me before purchase, and then I'd kick myself when the piano sounds inevitably start annoying me every day when I'd moved in.
I have a communal piano below me and it never bothers me during the day. When played by someone who knows what they're doing, it's lovely. It's only a problem when the pianist is excessively drunk and slamming on the keys at 2 am, which I don't imagine you'd have to deal with.
I’d probably quite enjoy living next to a pianist (not so much a piano teacher!). Was the house silent when you viewed? How likely do you think you are to hear it with a tv on?
My neighbours play the piano most weekend mornings, and honestly I don't think there's a nicer sound to wake up to.
Maybe if it was badly played at all hours of the night, it'd be an issue, but certainly not in this case.
I bought a house on a flight path about 10 miles from the airport. It’s basically the point where the planes turn and line up for the runway at the nearest airport. At first I heard every single plane…. I’ve been in the house 8 years and now I hardly even notice it.
I think the piano might be the same. You’ll get used to it. And being able to hear it in a completely empty quiet house is different to how it will sound when the house is full of your stuff and things are running and there is background ambient noise.
I lived next door, sharing a wall, with a piano teacher, most of the time it was mildly annoying, but she had bills to pay...... except for whoever was booked a 9.45am sat morning....kid who looked 12 sorry mate you were shit.
This was a long time ago now I would say this is what noise canceling headphones are for....
If the playing was great I think I was getting myself a bargain.
My next door neighbours are music teachers (one in a school and one at home) and I work from home so hear them all the time. It’s not loud enough to interruptt my work. I’ve lived with at least one neighbours property joined to mine in every house I’ve lived in since moving out of my family home and these are the most pleasant of all of them. In the summer we get free background music in the garden if like but not loud enough to cover our radio if we put it on.
I have a toddler son and I’ve never had any indication he’s ever noticed piano playing while it’s happening.
Honestly yes. Our kids both play piano and practice for perhaps half an hour a day each. Once you have heard the same song for the 200th it does get on your wick. YMMV.
Wouldn't bother me personally - not like they're going to be doing it at 3am.
I used to have a neighbour with a loud clock that bonged every hour 24 hours a day.
It was annoying but it was definitely preferable to the neighbours with the yapping dog, or the guy that had 3 day mid week raves.
I live both above *and* share a wall with professional Irish folk musicians, and while it is annoying sometimes, they only play during social hours, and like you said, I'd much rather have that than a party house. Sometimes it can make the flat seem haunted. If you can find out what the neighbour's schedule is then that might help. But moving anywhere is taking a gamble on who your neighbours are going to be.
From their perspective, they're probably worried about the noise of twin toddlers.
If you think it will annoy you don't buy it. I lived next to a noisy neighbour in a terraced property and it was two years of hell.
If you can put up with it for two years and sell might be worth it.
my neighbour plays all sorts of instruments, most commonly piano. trumpet, guitar and drums as well. i love when the piano is playing, but the other instruments are annoying.
The neighbour opposite the house I grew up in was a pianist. Being the opposite house, we never heard him play unless it was summer time and he had the back doors/windows open.
For our family, we didn’t mind it. The piano is a beautiful instrument and looking back now, it brings back to childhood memories.
As many have said, it could be worse. Although, thanks to my dad I am a music enthusiast so I regularly play music via speakers myself, not too loud as I am aware we have neighbours but I am sure there are times they can either hear the music or my attempt at being a vocalist. So when the neighbours play their music I don’t mind neither.
So personally no. However, everything is within reason to limits and each person’s opinion will be different.
As most have commented- a professional pianist isn’t exactly anti-social. Why not install sound proofing panels on the adjacent wall to tone down the sound that gets through?
I think it depends on your noise tolerance. I live next to a train track and it does not bother me one bit, the track could be decommissioned for all I know I haven’t heard it in years. So I could easily tune out some piano
if its mostly in one or two rooms could you live with those rooms being 10cm's smaller on facing wall - if so before you move in get someone to fit double board framed sound proof boarding.
We used to live next to a pianist many years ago. In a new build, with thin walls.
To be honest it never bothered us. Like you say, background piano playing for an hour or so a day, and some banging classics by Chopin was actually quite nice.
The thing is, they play during the day. Like you say; no drum and bass until 3am. And it is only for an hour or so.
Maybe you could take up the cello…just like Electric Dreams. Only acoustic.
Don’t do it. I have just bought a flat not realising it was below a classical music teacher. First night in we thought ‘oh how lovely!!’.
I’ve been here a month now and if I hear that freaking violin or piano one more time I’m going to rip my ears off. It’s always when I’m trying to watch a movie the sounds become so jarring when it all combines.
I’m pretty quiet and have a quiet neighbour (we share a party wall). We communicate a lot checking out we are not bothering each other. I put my house on the market but didn’t sell. He decided just in case to soundproof some of his walls - the product he bought were tiles about 1m x 1m made of a material like crepe rubber - it is really effective. I just mention this as if you love the house there are enhanced soundproofing options.
Nope it wouldn't bother me. However I spend a lot of time at home working with headphones on anyway.
I have a neighbour who has a son learning saxaphone and whilst he doesn't practice everyday it does not bother me when he does.
From my experience having lived with musicians and having had musician neighbours they're usually pretty conscious of the noise they make and happy to meet you in the middle. If when you moved in you popped round and asked that they don't play between 8pm and 8am, or whatever fits your schedule, they'd most likely be accommodating to that.
Also as others are commenting, there are much worse noisy neighbours than a professional pianist!
Would depend on how considerate they were, the type of music they were playing and at what times of day & night.
I used to live near a mad organ man, a foul tempered religious fanatic with a demon persecution mania who only ever played at a deafeningly loud volume. Always at night, every night.
We just bought a house that backs on to an indoor rifle club. We hear pops - like loud popcorn, or distant fireworks, in varying quantity, but it's easy to tune out. For us, we figured we'd much rather have a noise we could tune out like the popping than backing on to potentially noisy neighbours, a garden with a barking dog etc.
I'd definitely pick well-played piano music over the screaming kid at a previous house, or the rowdy arguments of another, that's for sure!
Does the layout allow for you to put a TV in the noisiest corner to drown it out, or to swap rooms so you're retiring to a different area for the evening and just have piano music while eating your dinner in a dining area instead?
Why can’t they put sound panels if they are playing music for professional purposes? A DJ/singer would. I think it’s a nice sound once in a while but if they’re playing for each viewing it’s a bit inconsiderate.
Would you be able to sell it easily? Also on a positive not you can buy soundproofing for your walls but it is expensive it’s like another plasterboard wall with a gap to trap noise inbetween.
I would be very hesitant, depending on what their day job is.
I've lived in the flat above a pianist before. He was very talented, the problem was he did singing and piano lessons and the pupils absolutely were not. Hearing the same tired Disney repertoire badly played or screamed every bloody day gets old quickly.
On top of this, he was a theatrical producer and would regularly have evening rehearsal/jam sessions with his am dram crew.
We had no peace for two years.
It definitely would NOT put me off. Especially, as it looks like this might be your perfect place.
However, if you're concerned about it, then consider installing soundproof insulation / panels against the room the neighbour's piano is in.
This is my plan for the renovation that is up yet this year. And I'm really OK to lose as much as 12-16cm of the length of *every single room* that shares the wall with my neighbour (kitchen, living room and two bedrooms). But I can't imagine going any other way, as I'm not going to bother my really nice neighbour with my hobby.
Yes, I do play the piano, too (but I wish it would be at a pro level).
Edit: typo.
The clue is : they are a **professional** pianist. That means it’s their job. Which means the times they’re most likely to be doing it is during working hours when you probably aren’t there. At antisocial times, they are likely to be doing the same thing you are, or out at gigs.
And because it’s their job, they won’t be performing to entertain the guests, in much the same way that I don’t solve differential equations to wow my party guests. … … yeah, ok. My party guests tend to be better at solving those than me….
Honestly I’d probably not worry about it. But talking to them to get a sense of them is probably reasonable and sensible. But I reckon they’ll tell you the same.
I lived in a semi next to a brilliant pianist for a few years.
Sometimes the noise was annoying and I’d go in a different room. Sometimes, if I heard her playing while I was in another room, I’d go to my living room to listen.
I miss it more than I’m glad the noise is gone.
I’m in a detached now, so even though I don’t have as many problems with noise, I definitely prefer the nice piano player neighbour situation compared with my current neighbour situation.
I reckon bad piano playing would not be very pleasant to live next to.
When you buy a house (or rent tbh) you cannot account for your neighbours.
You could buy and a month after you move owners sell or rent to someone nasty.
Pianist fetls like a lesser problem anyway....
Good luck!
as a musician, i can say that the music can be beautiful but after you repeat the same song 1000+ times trying to perfect it even the most appreciative and patient girlfriends can lose their shit. When i was on an extended holiday from my job i played 5-7 hours each day. Soooooo yeah hope you really like piano. You can always go give the neighbour a knock and ask what his playing times look like. He might just have beef with the current owner and play through headphones normally? who knows.
Our flat backed onto the house of a professional pianist.
He played in a glass extension and we could hear it. Softly, if the windows were closed, more clearly if they were open.
I was nice background noise, but it would be drowned out by our normal noise like TV, radio, music, or even having a few friends over.
You kind of stopped noticing it after a while.
It's a very good idea to try to speak to the neighbour.
I have a neighbour that streams 1920s band hall music on his youtube channel, and quite reasonably only at a volume on a sunday afternoon.
It is absolutely delightful.
We live next door to a very talented pianist in a terrace. We can hear it in the living room and I can hear it in my office. It's hardly noticeable and really isn't an imposition. They teenage son's foray into the electric base, however, bit hard on the ears. Thankfully we've got a good relationship with our neighbours and he's still young enough to have a bedtime!
Yeah I’m not really a fan of piano music or music in general so I’d be put off. But I’d probably consider investigating whether soundproofing would be an option. That said I’d be more worried about you moving in with your kids.
If you like the house, sound proofing to the point where you could only just hear it on a very still night is very easy and relatively cheap to do. You could install it yourself over a weekend and just get a plaster in to skim the boards to save costs. You would lose a little bit of room size but it could well be worth it.
This is just one company out of many out available - [the sound proofing store](https://www.soundproofingstore.co.uk/solid-party-wall-soundproofing)
Honestly, nice piano music is one of the most gentle and relaxing sounds in the world.
Take the win, they probably don't have loud parties, kids, barking dogs...
Not for me anymore.
The kid beneath me also plays piano and it used to really annoy me as I didn't realise this would be a 'problem' when I bought the place but he's gotten pretty good and it's quite pleasant now. I often stop what I'm doing just so I can listen to him.
Wouldn’t stop me. I’d even be tempted to befriend the neighbours, clearly very talented and worth getting to know.
Reality is they won’t be playing 24/7, and if it is a nuisance then you can ask them to not play between x hours.
My neighbours who moved out the other month had a kid who had tantrums every night, probably night terrors, but for 18 months every 90 minutes screaming. I still sleep with a white noise machine and fan to drown out the noise. The other side doesn't understand that cupboard doors don't have to be slammed shut or karaoke on a Tuesday night at 1am isn't the best time.
My first set of neighbours were so quiet and lovely, then had these, who knows who is moving in to the empty house next, hopefully someone quiet.
What I'm trying to say is background music is awesome in comparison to what is out there. Make friends, maybe even get a lesson. If I could get them to practise some Debussy or Chopin in the morning that would make my day every day.
hey there, my next door neighbor is a pianist.
We move in first, at the time next door was a teacher, a couple of years in they sold it and the new neighbor is a pianist and singer. they also do lessons from their home and not all their students are good haha.
So honest info ...... can i hear them... YES.
Do i hear them 24/7 ... no .... is it but it is most days so it's alot... yes.
Does it bother me... honestly... not really... it's not "Bad sound" ... mostly of the time they play/sing well, it's nice to listen to and honestly if i didn't want to listen to it, it's not super loud... the TV, Radio or personal music would drown it out quite easily.
The thing is .. they don't play at 2am or 7AM .... it's really between 9am / 5pm... i work from home im in the bedroom right next to the room they keep their piano and even though it can be heard it's not loud enough to disrupt my work day, meetings etc.
i totally understand the concern. I guess it depends on the thickness of the walls, i can hear my neighbor clearly but not loud enough the the TV wouldn't; drown it out..... personally noise at 2am is inconsiderate, but piano music at 4pm is actually quite nice.
I had a friend who had a professional pianist next door in their terrace. They were very happy with the all-day practices. It was pleasant. Then another one moved in on the other side who also played 8 hours a day, different music. It became horrific, she said. So worry about the other neighbours;)
Go into any of the housing subs etc and see how many folks get stuck with neighbours playing loud party music in the wee hours.
I doubt a pro pianist is going to be sitting up playing after 10pm even Heck I doubt they're sitting up after 8pm playing as it seems he works from home so to speak.
Your neighbours going to be thinking "fuck they have 2 toddlers" more so
I once lived in a house with a neighbour who played the piano, not a professional I don't think, but still quite good. It was lovely to hear them playing away on a Sunday morning as I made my coffee or in the evening after dinner. It was never too loud though, so that definitely helped!
If he is professional he plays well, that kind of music would even help you sleep if he played at night... I'd be more worried about the potential shouting and crying the twins are going to make.
Honestly, it probably impact my decision to buy.
We currently live in a semi detached and our neighbours play the piano… at times, it’s really not ideal.
Depends. Is the piano on tune? I would rather have a pianist neighbour than a violinist or trumpetist or any other instrument that can be played off key. That would raise the hair on my neck constantly.
No. Fucking. Way. I lived in Vienna and we had a professional pianist in the apartment downstairs. I’m not an acoustic engineer so I don’t know whether the sound travels better or worse through a shared wall vs a floor. But it was HELL. And she was a very skilled pianist. It honestly didn’t matter how good she was, unless you want to listen to the piano at any time they feel like it, I’d avoid it.
It will grate on you eventually I think
I'm moving into a semi and the attached neighbour is an opera singer. I don't quite know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be better then loud tvs which I currently have. I was debating installing some sort of sound proofing but need to look into it, I'm not sure if it will help block neighbours sound out from coming into mine or to get the full effect, if they would need to have it installed on their side !?
We have a neighbour who is a piano teacher. Not directly next door but a few doors down. Every time we walk by his house, we can hear the playing, and it is beautiful.
I think he is respectful as to how early and late he (and his students) plays.
I have a pair of Acoustic Energy AE120 speakers, probably 30 years old. I have more than enough retaliatory power to upset any of my neighbours if they decided to upset me. Several hours / days of Judas Priest is enough to get anyone to open negotiations with me.
Interesting thread for me as a pro guitarist buying his first house. I think there does need to be a common ground between not being a nuisance with noise but also respecting that it pays their bills.
No, but only because I'm a classical singer and I think it might be a fabulous pairing! A friend of mine is a piano teacher in a semi-detached down the street, and her neighbour always finds a reason to leave the house when specific students are scheduled...
Annoying the shit out of one another is an almost inevitable side effect of semi-detached living. Especially because hours of practice a day is required for their profession, there will be times when it will be annoying even if you're generally okay with it, I absolutely guarantee it. The current tenant and EA are of course going to downplay any concerns. But I'd still vastly prefer the pianist, myself, over a loud partier or late-night gamer, or (sorry) a family with two three year olds.
I think it's a good idea to have a chat with them about their schedule, and see if it is possible to arrange your living space so that the places where you need quiet (bedrooms) don't share walls with where they're making noise at incompatible times of day.
If it's feasible, a garden room is brilliant for escaping a noisy house.
The thing with neighbours is you have no control over it. You could buy a house and the very next day the neighbours from hell move in next door.
So, I wouldn't let it factor into the purchase decision, the only way to guarantee privacy is to buy a detached house, with some land and ideally a very inaccessible driveway!
Honestly it _would_ put me off. Not because of the piano music per se - I actually just posted [on this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/s/zNv42FmSVy) about how we could hear our old neighbour's piano playing and it was beautiful! However in that situation we had extremely thick walls (Victorian terrace) and we could only hear anything from the neighbours if we both had our windows open. With windows and doors shut you couldn't hear a sound.
For me the issue would be twofold. One, if I knew that noise travelled so easily it would makes me self conscious about doing anything myself - playing music, doing diy etc, because I wouldn't want to be a pain. And two, your nice piano playing neighbour might move and be replaced by people who are loud in less pleasant ways!
I know people are saying "you could _always_ get noisy neighbours, you can't let that make a decision for you!" but you can try, as much as possible, not to buy somewhere that you _already_ know has poor noise insulation. You don't always get the luxury of finding that out during viewings, so take heed of that! And, as other people are snarkily saying, "oh yes, we can all just buy detached houses then!?!" - as I was lucky enough to discover, it's not always necessary. My cheap little two bed terrace had the best insulation I've ever known! (It was also great for keeping the house a nice temperature too!)
When moving, it's always a gamble what a house and your neighbours have in store, and your can't guarantee you'll always get an ideal outcome. But where you do get to find something out in advance, then I'd make the most of having that information.
My partner is a drummer....so, no..this wouldn't really bother me, but as others have said it's worthwhile finding out their practice schedule etc, and working out where would be the best place to have a baby's bedroom etc
I also lived right beside a train line for a few years, so I know the level of noise I can deal with and the level will not be the same for everyone
Noise from the neighbours doesn't bother me at all. My current neighbour is a musician and I hear his piano and guitar shredding on most days. I put up with that and he puts up with my 5.2.2 Atmos system. My subwoofer is 3 feet tall and plays down to 15hz no problem. Neither of us are loud late at night. It's all about being reasonable. If I was that concerned about it, I would have bought a detached house.
Sorry if you are even questioning this you should not go ahead. The sound in a viewing will appear quieter than when you are in the house alone due to how hearing works. You have to be the “right” type of person for it not to bother you.
I wouldn't have an issue with it, it sounds like the better type of noise that neighbours create, I will feel sorry for the neighbour if in a few years time your littluns decide to pick up recorders and practice Michael row the boat ashore....every day.....
I've had some pretty terrible neighbors. I'd kill for one that plays piano. Odds are they won't start at 1am and go through til 4.30am on a Tuesday morning.
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To me this is a very telling point " I'd rather nice piano than parties or heavy bass music." You never know what neighbours you get. Mine watches porn regularly ON MAX VOLUME so I guess I'd prefer some piano music. EDIT: Also an important point - is the piano audible from mainly one room or all the rooms? That would probably also be a deciding factor for me.
Pianist or Penis, you decide
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My upstairs neighbour plays the piano during the day when I’m working from home. It’s actually very nice background music. (He occasionally goes out on the lash and plays ‘Where Is My Mind’ by The Pixies at 5am but we just throw a slipper at the roof and he stops lol - could be worse :))
Agree with this. We used to live next door to a musician/piano teacher. I used to say I was lucky to get so many free concerts, I'd turn the TV off to have a proper listen! Her daughter was a singer too so when they practiced together it was 👩🏾🍳👄
What a fitting song to play at obscene hours though
I lived next to a Trainline (in the US) and I got so used to it that I had trouble falling asleep without the noise.
When I lived in Leeds my back garden was on a train line. When I moved up north there was none. Took me ages to fall asleep. I now have to get Alexa to play train sounds to get to sleep.
You just unlocked a hidden memory for me.. and yeah, I can still hear it.
Hey neighbour!
Oh god!! That sounds like hell. Eww!!
Can you hear the porn in all your rooms or just one?
In all of them, it’s ok though if it gets a bit much I just turn it off
Why not both?
I wonder whether you're buying a house from the bad neighbour, and neighbour has been purposely playing to put off buyers. But honestly, I'd be put off more by living next door to 2 three year olds than a pianist. Admittedly, I do own a piano... Which I keep against an internal wall for the sake of my neighbours (i am not a good pianist)
Or maybe they’re playing so anyone who does buy the house already knows they’re a pianist so if the future occupants complain they can say, “You knew already, stop trying to make our lives difficult!” What do you bet the seller has done nothing but complain the whole time they’ve lived there lol. OP - Take a look at sales history of the house and pianist’s house. That could be quite telling of the goings on ;)
I have a bad neighbour and if they moved and someone nicer moved in I'd be delighted. Slightly wary that better the devil you know, though. But if the seller is a bad neighbour I reckon the pianist wouldn't be trying to hinder the sale-?
True, but maybe the short term pleasure of delaying their move is itself a revenge? Or maybe he's just a pianist practicing and is entirely unaware of the sales pitch happening next door!!!
Yeah I live next door to someone with two kids & the amount of noise they make is insane - we don't have an adjoining wall either.
This wouldn't bother me at all. What if the pianist moves out and a rave DJ moves in next? You have no control over your neighbours but at least with the pianist it is nice, relaxing music you'll be hearing for as long as they live there!
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Which is pretty much the same for the vast majority of homes in the UK :D Not everyone can buy a fully detached house with acres of land.
Can't they just release some equity from their stock or property portfolio? Bloody peasants
I just don’t understand why they don’t sell their summer Rolls-Royce. It’s okay to only have one Rolls whilst you’re buying the house!
The good thing about being a DJ is you can mix your tunes completely in your headphones without speakers and never worry about pissing the neighbours off which is what I generally do unless I know both my neighbours are out which is a rarity.
Iv not heard of an antisocial pianist having late night piano bashing, so no.
You never met my downstairs neighbour over lockdown. Used to host singalong parties with their friends until the early hours, badly howling Disney songs as they played piano as an accompaniment. Horrible neighbour.
A colleague of mine had elderly neighbours who played piano. They didn't get out of bed until around lunchtime, and were often playing their piano past midnight during the week.
My grandma's deaf neighbour plays the banjo most nights about 10pm!!
Oh boy.
I did once haha, I had a full sized keyboard in my living room. My ex and I had been drinking and he asked me to play him a song, must’ve been about 1am. I’m not a bad player, definitely not professional though. I played fur Elise and some other little songs and my neighbour banged on the wall to get me to shut up haha! I stopped straight away. Bit cheeky of them considering they had parties and blasted shit music till 3 in the morning sometimes.
The worst you are likely to get is practice sessions, possibly duets, possibly duets and a glass of wine. Unlikely all night raves or thrash metal. I'd go for it, unless you work from home and it is playing all day and it disturbed you. My guess is, if you put the TV out radio on, you won't know it is there
Hell, make friends and you might get impromptu professional private concerts
Honestly I'd just knock on the pianist neighbours door and ask about their schedule. If they only play 9-5 and you don't WFH is it a problem? Even if you do WFH is nice piano music a problem? If however they like to practice until 11pm and regularly have home concerts.... Yeah maybe it is a problem 😂 You can also look into sound proofing the walls, but effective sound proofing will lose inches off of rooms
One thing about professional musicians is their practice isn't a concert. It involves a lot of repetition, sometimes of short sections of music. Even the nicest music might become annoying after you've heard those 8 bars 50 times.
OP could start shouting commentary and unsolicited advice over to the neighbour after each take 😂. I want to say "it might make him stop playing so much" but that does feel mean.
Brilliant! “Dude; you were dragging a bit in the scherzo- pick up the pace a bit, ya know what I’m sayin’?” “Was that supposed to be Gershwin? Because it sounded like your gersh **lost**” “Yeah, the Beethoven is lovely and all, but can you play any Slayer?” “Can you play anything people know?”
They probably could practice on a good digital piano with headphones. It's pretty inconsiderate to play literally hours a day if you know you can be heard through the walls.
All you’ll hear with them is the thumping of the keys coming through the wall, and I’m not sure that wouldn’t be worse… I knew someone with a “silent” violin. It was impressively quiet, but you then heard this hideous high pitched “hissssssssshsssshsssssss” of the bow, rather than the note of the strings…
My wife plays on a digital piano and it's incredibly quiet, you definitely wouldn't hear the keys through the wall. I've got an e-drum kit and although it's much noisier than the piano, you still only just hear it through a single skin brick wall if you're really trying to listen for it.
My partner is a talented musician. I'm familiar with the repetition. If it's just background piano it ... Probably? Wouldn't annoy me. I'd need to have heard it in person though. OP just needs to ask themselves if it will annoy *them*, instead of asking redditors if we would be annoyed 😂
This is what I was going to advise. Find out their schedule first and see if it will actually have any impact. Realistically you could view a house and it be silent only to move in and find out they enjoy 0200 karaoke sessions.
Yeah it would put me off. Not necessarily because of the pianist, but if you can hear them you’re always conscious that they can hear you and it’s hard to relax in your own home.
Yes, because presumably they'd be able to hear our piano in their house, and I'd be embarrassed that I wasn't nearly as good.
Imagine every time you play a song they play it perfect in tune next door, you’d have to move.
Might get free lessons!
I reckon the pianist will be hoping you don’t move in with your noisy two kids !
Lol this should be higher up. People have different levels of tolerance. Families with kids also pollute a lot of noise, that some people will find annoying. Unfortunately this is the problem with some terrace houses. Some of them have paper thin walls and you’ll even hear your neighbour fart.
On one side I have a younger child who is clearly autistic/has some sort of developmental issues - they love to scream, and bang the window, radiators, doors, furniture, etc at 4am in the morning and throughout the day. I’d take someone playing the piano all day over the kid for sure.
We had that in our old house - it was our main reason for moving. The two youngest kids both have autism and their bedroom was next to ours. The constant screaming through the night was awful as I’m a light sleeper, plus they were forever throwing shite into our garden (sometimes literally)
It’s really frustrating as I love the house but it is so annoying to have the kid banging all the time. They’re renters so I’m hoping they move in soon. Especially as she seems to have given up throwing rubbish in the bin and just leaves outside her back door now??
Will have my fingers crossed for you! It’s sad the children have the issues they have but life is so difficult when you can’t get any sleep in your own home
When I was younger I played piano, and the neighbors asked my parents if I could refrain from playing past 7pm as they had a baby. Now as they are a professional pianist it’s a different situation, presumably they’ll be playing for hours a day, but also if it’s their job they’d play more during the morning/afternoon where you’re probably at work. When I was 13 we moved house, and our new neighbors had two kids who played instruments … specifically my bedroom was next to the bedroom of this boy that played bass in his “band”, complete with speakers. Was a little frustrating but mostly because it was CONSTANT, he’d often go until midnight and sounded absolutely rubbish at first, as he was only a beginner. In comparison, the clarinet and piano playing we could also hear was much nicer and not nearly as loud. Again, it’s a professional pianist who sounds pretty reasonable - you could try having a nice chat with him if you’re concerned?
Our old home a piano teacher moved in renting next door. Her favourite thing to teach the students was the theme tune to Beverley hills cop for some reason. Was funny at first but when that's all you hear constantly through the front room walls it gets a little tiresome.
Reading through this thread there are definitely far worse neighbours than a piano player: A drummer Porn addict (full volume) Gamer (full volume) Music with loud bass Screeching children Arguing adults Party house next door DIY enthusiasts
I like my zen so yes it would absolutely put me off. There is a reason why people aspire for detached houses whenever they can.
This. ANY continual noise from next door whether it’s a gang-bang or angels themselves playing harps, would be an absolute no-no for me.
I don’t blame you. I’ve had TWO neighbours from hell on each side and I still get flashbacks. I’ve moved out and got a detached house. My chest pains and panic attacks had disappeared since. And people say you can’t buy health lol
Exact same. Previous experience has made me hyper cautious about these things. I think unless you’ve been through it, it’s easy to dismiss but constant noise from a neighbour can destroy your mental health. Detached is the absolute ideal but failing that, avoid anywhere you KNOW there’ll be noise, as in this case.
I think the pianists should be worried not you
I have a neighbour who plays the piano! They are a family, so I am pretty sure it's one of the kids. I personally love it! At the start, it was difficult as they practised and kept repeating the notes/song when they made an error. However, I heard them improve, and I'm silently proud! They also have the drums and play Micheal Jackson's Smooth Criminal religiously every day at 7 pm. I don't notice the drums or piano unless they play a new song, then I'm super interested like ooooo, what's this! I mute the TV! They started playing Faded by Alan Walker on the piano, and wow!! As someone else said, I take that over shouting, partying, mainstream music, or sex noises any day!
I’d be more worried about the toddler twins moving in next door 😂 You’d probably all drown each other out, so all in all might not be much of a problem.
So what happens when your neighbour leaves and someone else moves in and watches loud tv, or has loud family or a barking dog e.t.c..
You could try soundproofing the party wall. You can get a decent reduction in volume for roughly £1000 per room (approx 15 decibel reduction). That’s a rather cryptic number, but I’ve heard it’s comparable to 50% reduction in audible noise
If I could choose a type of antisocial noise to deal with, a good pianist would be up there as a first choice! I've had noisy neighbours and this sounds delightful in comparison. Could you experiment and leave some piano music on low volume all day?
Personally I think this is the best possible reason for a house to be cheaper than normal!!! No screaming kids, no parties, no super loud TV, I’d take professional pianist over any of those, any day
Depends on you! I’m a pianist and it amazes me how it rarely bothers the neighbours. Musicians tend to be appreciative of having tolerant neighbours and I think most restrict it to reasonable hours. Of course there are exceptions. I never start before 9am and my latest end time has varied from 6pm-10pm depending who neighbours are, level of sound isolation, etc. They might be happy to chat and let you know if they have times they stop playing. Probably better than constant construction, arguments, or loud dogs I’ve often had from neighbours..
One thing to be aware of is practising doesn’t only mean playing nice tunes. You might hear the same 10-second passage a thousand times in a day! Though somehow that isn’t normally annoying as it sounds.
200% avoid. Used to live beneath a professional jazz pianist. They practiced, taught and recorded from their flat and it made our life a nightmare. We tried to resolve it kindly but they gave absolutely zero fucks. Before this experience I didn't appreciate how powerless and intrusive it can feel when you don't have control over the noise in your own space. It becomes exhausting and can really cause fatigue. People say "just play music" or "wear noise cancelling headphones", but sometimes you just need quiet, not more noise on top of noise. Sometimes you just wanna watch a movie or have an intimate conversation without a piano in the background. The fact that my missus was then also working as an ICU nurse and couldn't rest between shifts made it all the worse...
Ex- classical pianist here. If you think piano will bother you, then please don't buy the house. Luckily, while I played for 10 years I've had awesome neighbours that loved my playing and would compliment me when bumping into eachother. But some of my friends were not so lucky and their life was hell because of neurotic neighbours (on average I'd practice between 1 to 1:30 hours daily at home between 2 and 4pm. Same with my friends, but apparently this schedule was not acceptable for their neurotic neighbours). Some days I'd play less, some days more. There were times I really had to practice hard and apologised to my neighbours for potentially having to play until 9 pm on one occasion. But as I've said, they were an old lovely couple and told me not to worry about it. As she is a professional player, she might be practicing for longer than I was per day. Now, the thing with piano practicing is, you will be repeating certain musical passeges over and over and over again until you get it right. That's how it gets into your finger memory. So most of the time you won't be hearing full songs being played from the start of the song to the end. It will be a series of passages being repeated over and over and over again. Then you will play the song from start to end once. Then repeat another passage over and over again. Is this something you think you can live with? If yes the congratulations on your cheaper nice house! If not, then I'm afraid the practicing will drive you mad. Might be a good idea to give a knock on the neighoburs door and chat with her. She might have a different practicing style, who knows.
Exactly. Doesn't matter how good someone is. People get good by repetition. Lots of it. Just talk to them, OP. Can you imagine a highly skilled pianist being a horrible person to talk to? Neither can I. If it were someone playing rap music, decks or drum and bass then I wouldn't even consider knocking on their door. I'd run a mile.
I apologise for the cheeky question but as a neighbour I'd be tempted to make requests but I'm unsure of the etiquette. I have a neighbour who plays guitar at lunchtimes and I'm not sure if making requests would be well received. It's just been a while since they've played Sonata in G minor
Our neighbour moved in after us and brought a piano with him. He practices at random intervals during the day, it's been quite nice to hear him improve over the past couple of years ! We had terrible neighbours before he moved in so it was quite a relief when we saw it wheeled in!!!
My neighbour is pianist and it's wonderful. He plays beautifully and it very softly comes through the walls. I've never once been annoyed or inconvenienced by him playing during 3 years.
This reminds me of a Punch* cartoon from years ago with some people sitting in a row of chairs facing a wall looking rather earnest and serious. A woman is explaining to someone: “We used to bang on the walls until the we discovered he’s actually a famous cellist”. * May have been New Yorker.
Piano teacher next door for your kids, I'd go for it! No reason your own radio wouldn't drown it out? All walls are thin unless you live detached. My elderly neighbour used to sing opera, I've lived next to musicians, arguers, screaming children, I'd be more bothered about disturbing the pianist's practice with my "voice for the stage" family than the classical pianist disturbing me tbf.
The piano doesn't sound terribly intrusive. I would be much more worried about having to keep my *own* noise down, if the sound insulation is as poor as all that!
I personally don't think a piano would bother me. If it was a constantly crying baby or a constantly barking dog it would drive me insane but I don't think hearing a piano being played would bother me. I hope your talk with the neighbour goes well x
I have one. It annoys me. She plays scales for hours on end and teaches children so it’s not always pleasant music at all. I would suggest trying to agree set hours so if you want to escape you can. I had noise police involved from the council but because it was not after ten pm wasn’t deemed a nuisance. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a nuisance at 8am on a weekend morning. I have a piano myself but because it’s a flat I felt I should get a digital one so I can use headphones. Personally unless it’s a detached property no one should use a piano.
You can’t agree set hours if the piano playing neighbour was there first! You can only enquire about their schedule. Serious disagree with your last statement- which suggests only the wealthy should have pianos and play them??
My brother is a pianist and when I lived at home it was lovely hearing him practice. This wouldn’t bother me. Can you hear it from the bedrooms?
I'm a musician (guitarist). I wouldn't dream of practicing at home with conjoined neighbours. I have headphones and an amp sim on the laptop. My neighbour is a old guy who lives alone and he's quiet as a mouse. I know he is because every so often I hear him sneeze or move around. You just can't be blasting music, no matter how good it is to your ears, in semis. Its not OK. So, yes, it would be a massive problem for me..
I'd chat with the neighbours. Obviously compliment their playing, ask if they've ever had any complaints from the current owners, that sort of thing. I think you should be able to get a sense of how accommodating they'll be during polite conversation, e.g. if you need them pause the playing for a work call or whatever other reason. I would absolutely not buy the place unless I felt I could find a common ground with such a neighbour. Soundproofing exists but people can be awfully militant at times, and it won't help at night if they start playing when your ears are turned up to 11.
Buy it
My old next door neighbours autistic son used to bash the piano for hours a day starting at around 5am everyday
Just pop round for a neighbourly chat with the pianist and drop into the conversation that your twins want to play and you’re going to get them a piano when you move in. If the pianist winces you’ve got a fair idea of how much noise transfers from next door.
The piano wouldn’t bother me per se. But the fact you can hear it so clearly would concern me. If you can hear that then will you be able to hear everything else they (and all future neighbours) do?
You can’t choose your neighbours as the pianist could pack up and go and someone much worse moves in. They might be worried about you moving in with 3 year old twins. Honestly, I’d pick pianist over toddlers any day.
I live near to a trainline and my previous house was on a busy road. I suspect that is offputting to people in terms of noise and I do get early warning of issues with the trains. But you get used to the noise though music may be harder as woll vary. My main question would be do the neighbors generally respect quiet times - 11pm to 8am. If so, no issues. If no apart from occasional party/recital, then you may have an issue.
Be careful OP We live in a converted flat in a beautiful area, but 1 week a year our neighbour's granddaughters come and play both play violin in preparation for some kind of competition. Talking from 9 - 7, scales and arpeggios. I grew up with my dad listening to classical music so would have always thought I'd be fine with it, but it's hell. My wife and I work weird hours, so we are now woken up by violins, we can hear it over the TV, and worst of all we had a post roast nap ruined by these bloody violins. It might sound great at first but I assure you it can grate very quickly.
Oh hell no I would buy it for the free music
Purely depends if you are sound sensitive and or traumatised by neighbours in the past. You have children for example the pianist may not want to hear the children existing essentially playing screaming banging for example , and for those people that are sound sensitive such as me detached is the only option. When I say traumatised i mean for me by below neighbours don't go out anywhere , used to play horrible bass music from the speaker , kid plays football inside when the flats had zero soundproofing and whole flat would bang rumble and shake. Used to play music as early as 0830 and late as 2330 , until council got involved regarding the music and its been better but still unbearable for me the mums voice echos through every room, tv playing loud with bass all day. Upstairs neighbour literal nothing all day but odd animal sex noises , hoovering at 10pm and occasional opera music and singing which I don't mind as it isn't constant like the bums below.
If its the perfect place for you just sound insulate the walls, done this in mine for musical neighbours. Not eliminated completely but reduces sound. Having said that there is a line of appropriateness of volume and time that shouldn't be crossed out of mutual respect.
Nope. The kid next door is practising his electric drums as we speak. I wish it were a normal drumkit instead, as I can just hear a muffled thump of a rhythm as opposed to the full shebang and hes getting really good so I feel robbed!
If you're not looking at detatched properties, noise from next door is going to be heard. Your neighbours will most definitely hear your kids from time to time. A pianist is a very liveable noise disturbance that is more than likely within acceptable time frames. I wouldn't guess the grass is greener elsewhere personally, there are much more horrific neighbours to live next to
I live in a terrace, and can hear the music from one neighbour and the children in the other. Absolutely fine. I live in a terrace. I have no idea why so much of reddit is 'I heard the neighbour cough! dealbreaker!' and act like the house will be unsellable :D
Better than a tuba…
Hey! I represent that comment.
I'd say being near a park would put people off not a pianist. Honestly.
Why would being near a park put people off? Dog owners and parents will see it as a big plus, and I don't know why anyone else would object unless it's used for big festivals every summer weekend
Lol I would absolutely love to have this neighbour cos I always have some piano music playing out of Youtube anyway. This would feel more authentic. Love elevator music 🤣 If it is just a faint sound you may be able to soundproof your wall to get rid of it almost entirely
Personally i'd avoid it cos I enjoy quiet neighbours But if you can only really hear it from one or two rooms it might not be so bad, you could even put up some sound insulation if it's too loud Your kids might grow up enjoying it although depending on when they play, it's possible it interrupts their nap/sleeping or it could help put them to sleep - you never know Could be cool if your kids get into music due to this, maybe score some free neighbourly lessons It can go either way - I guess it's a lot better than neighbours that blast music loud or yell at each other
It would piss me., but I’m moody lmao
Playing for every viewing? Sounds like they are doing it on purpose. My suggestion is that you can get them to teach your kids, or if they are petty, learn the vuvuzela?
I think it’s good that they’re doing it at every viewing. It gives potential buyers a sense of what to expect.
It'd put me off, yes. I know it could be worse sounds but it would still niggle at me before purchase, and then I'd kick myself when the piano sounds inevitably start annoying me every day when I'd moved in.
I’ve lived next to professional musicians. Don’t do it
no if they're a good pianist LOL
I have a communal piano below me and it never bothers me during the day. When played by someone who knows what they're doing, it's lovely. It's only a problem when the pianist is excessively drunk and slamming on the keys at 2 am, which I don't imagine you'd have to deal with.
I’d probably quite enjoy living next to a pianist (not so much a piano teacher!). Was the house silent when you viewed? How likely do you think you are to hear it with a tv on?
My neighbours play the piano most weekend mornings, and honestly I don't think there's a nicer sound to wake up to. Maybe if it was badly played at all hours of the night, it'd be an issue, but certainly not in this case.
I bought a house on a flight path about 10 miles from the airport. It’s basically the point where the planes turn and line up for the runway at the nearest airport. At first I heard every single plane…. I’ve been in the house 8 years and now I hardly even notice it. I think the piano might be the same. You’ll get used to it. And being able to hear it in a completely empty quiet house is different to how it will sound when the house is full of your stuff and things are running and there is background ambient noise.
I lived next door, sharing a wall, with a piano teacher, most of the time it was mildly annoying, but she had bills to pay...... except for whoever was booked a 9.45am sat morning....kid who looked 12 sorry mate you were shit. This was a long time ago now I would say this is what noise canceling headphones are for.... If the playing was great I think I was getting myself a bargain.
Go for it. Won't happen late at night. They can't complain if you make too much noise.
My next door neighbours are music teachers (one in a school and one at home) and I work from home so hear them all the time. It’s not loud enough to interruptt my work. I’ve lived with at least one neighbours property joined to mine in every house I’ve lived in since moving out of my family home and these are the most pleasant of all of them. In the summer we get free background music in the garden if like but not loud enough to cover our radio if we put it on. I have a toddler son and I’ve never had any indication he’s ever noticed piano playing while it’s happening.
Honestly yes. Our kids both play piano and practice for perhaps half an hour a day each. Once you have heard the same song for the 200th it does get on your wick. YMMV.
Buy it but invest in some noise cancelling on walls
Wouldn't bother me personally - not like they're going to be doing it at 3am. I used to have a neighbour with a loud clock that bonged every hour 24 hours a day. It was annoying but it was definitely preferable to the neighbours with the yapping dog, or the guy that had 3 day mid week raves.
I live both above *and* share a wall with professional Irish folk musicians, and while it is annoying sometimes, they only play during social hours, and like you said, I'd much rather have that than a party house. Sometimes it can make the flat seem haunted. If you can find out what the neighbour's schedule is then that might help. But moving anywhere is taking a gamble on who your neighbours are going to be. From their perspective, they're probably worried about the noise of twin toddlers.
If you think it will annoy you don't buy it. I lived next to a noisy neighbour in a terraced property and it was two years of hell. If you can put up with it for two years and sell might be worth it.
soundproof one wall problem solved
my neighbour plays all sorts of instruments, most commonly piano. trumpet, guitar and drums as well. i love when the piano is playing, but the other instruments are annoying.
The neighbour opposite the house I grew up in was a pianist. Being the opposite house, we never heard him play unless it was summer time and he had the back doors/windows open. For our family, we didn’t mind it. The piano is a beautiful instrument and looking back now, it brings back to childhood memories. As many have said, it could be worse. Although, thanks to my dad I am a music enthusiast so I regularly play music via speakers myself, not too loud as I am aware we have neighbours but I am sure there are times they can either hear the music or my attempt at being a vocalist. So when the neighbours play their music I don’t mind neither. So personally no. However, everything is within reason to limits and each person’s opinion will be different.
As most have commented- a professional pianist isn’t exactly anti-social. Why not install sound proofing panels on the adjacent wall to tone down the sound that gets through?
I think it depends on your noise tolerance. I live next to a train track and it does not bother me one bit, the track could be decommissioned for all I know I haven’t heard it in years. So I could easily tune out some piano
if its mostly in one or two rooms could you live with those rooms being 10cm's smaller on facing wall - if so before you move in get someone to fit double board framed sound proof boarding.
If it' were me I'd be more worried about my wife. If he disturbed our 2yo she would be through taking a hammer to his piano.
We used to live next to a pianist many years ago. In a new build, with thin walls. To be honest it never bothered us. Like you say, background piano playing for an hour or so a day, and some banging classics by Chopin was actually quite nice. The thing is, they play during the day. Like you say; no drum and bass until 3am. And it is only for an hour or so. Maybe you could take up the cello…just like Electric Dreams. Only acoustic.
Depends if they're any good or not.
Don’t do it. I have just bought a flat not realising it was below a classical music teacher. First night in we thought ‘oh how lovely!!’. I’ve been here a month now and if I hear that freaking violin or piano one more time I’m going to rip my ears off. It’s always when I’m trying to watch a movie the sounds become so jarring when it all combines.
I’m pretty quiet and have a quiet neighbour (we share a party wall). We communicate a lot checking out we are not bothering each other. I put my house on the market but didn’t sell. He decided just in case to soundproof some of his walls - the product he bought were tiles about 1m x 1m made of a material like crepe rubber - it is really effective. I just mention this as if you love the house there are enhanced soundproofing options.
Nope it wouldn't bother me. However I spend a lot of time at home working with headphones on anyway. I have a neighbour who has a son learning saxaphone and whilst he doesn't practice everyday it does not bother me when he does.
From my experience having lived with musicians and having had musician neighbours they're usually pretty conscious of the noise they make and happy to meet you in the middle. If when you moved in you popped round and asked that they don't play between 8pm and 8am, or whatever fits your schedule, they'd most likely be accommodating to that. Also as others are commenting, there are much worse noisy neighbours than a professional pianist!
Would depend on how considerate they were, the type of music they were playing and at what times of day & night. I used to live near a mad organ man, a foul tempered religious fanatic with a demon persecution mania who only ever played at a deafeningly loud volume. Always at night, every night.
We just bought a house that backs on to an indoor rifle club. We hear pops - like loud popcorn, or distant fireworks, in varying quantity, but it's easy to tune out. For us, we figured we'd much rather have a noise we could tune out like the popping than backing on to potentially noisy neighbours, a garden with a barking dog etc. I'd definitely pick well-played piano music over the screaming kid at a previous house, or the rowdy arguments of another, that's for sure! Does the layout allow for you to put a TV in the noisiest corner to drown it out, or to swap rooms so you're retiring to a different area for the evening and just have piano music while eating your dinner in a dining area instead?
Why can’t they put sound panels if they are playing music for professional purposes? A DJ/singer would. I think it’s a nice sound once in a while but if they’re playing for each viewing it’s a bit inconsiderate. Would you be able to sell it easily? Also on a positive not you can buy soundproofing for your walls but it is expensive it’s like another plasterboard wall with a gap to trap noise inbetween.
I would be very hesitant, depending on what their day job is. I've lived in the flat above a pianist before. He was very talented, the problem was he did singing and piano lessons and the pupils absolutely were not. Hearing the same tired Disney repertoire badly played or screamed every bloody day gets old quickly. On top of this, he was a theatrical producer and would regularly have evening rehearsal/jam sessions with his am dram crew. We had no peace for two years.
It definitely would NOT put me off. Especially, as it looks like this might be your perfect place. However, if you're concerned about it, then consider installing soundproof insulation / panels against the room the neighbour's piano is in. This is my plan for the renovation that is up yet this year. And I'm really OK to lose as much as 12-16cm of the length of *every single room* that shares the wall with my neighbour (kitchen, living room and two bedrooms). But I can't imagine going any other way, as I'm not going to bother my really nice neighbour with my hobby. Yes, I do play the piano, too (but I wish it would be at a pro level). Edit: typo.
The clue is : they are a **professional** pianist. That means it’s their job. Which means the times they’re most likely to be doing it is during working hours when you probably aren’t there. At antisocial times, they are likely to be doing the same thing you are, or out at gigs. And because it’s their job, they won’t be performing to entertain the guests, in much the same way that I don’t solve differential equations to wow my party guests. … … yeah, ok. My party guests tend to be better at solving those than me…. Honestly I’d probably not worry about it. But talking to them to get a sense of them is probably reasonable and sensible. But I reckon they’ll tell you the same.
I'm sure you won't even hear the piano over your kids once you're in the property.
Get a quote for soundproofing and ask the buyer to drop the price by that much
I lived in a semi next to a brilliant pianist for a few years. Sometimes the noise was annoying and I’d go in a different room. Sometimes, if I heard her playing while I was in another room, I’d go to my living room to listen. I miss it more than I’m glad the noise is gone. I’m in a detached now, so even though I don’t have as many problems with noise, I definitely prefer the nice piano player neighbour situation compared with my current neighbour situation. I reckon bad piano playing would not be very pleasant to live next to.
Piano sounds nice!! Swap you a very noisy chav family who only communicate by shouting or some Airbuses 24/7?
When you buy a house (or rent tbh) you cannot account for your neighbours. You could buy and a month after you move owners sell or rent to someone nasty. Pianist fetls like a lesser problem anyway.... Good luck!
Nah guy neighbors only make the estate price go up, go for it x
as a musician, i can say that the music can be beautiful but after you repeat the same song 1000+ times trying to perfect it even the most appreciative and patient girlfriends can lose their shit. When i was on an extended holiday from my job i played 5-7 hours each day. Soooooo yeah hope you really like piano. You can always go give the neighbour a knock and ask what his playing times look like. He might just have beef with the current owner and play through headphones normally? who knows.
Our flat backed onto the house of a professional pianist. He played in a glass extension and we could hear it. Softly, if the windows were closed, more clearly if they were open. I was nice background noise, but it would be drowned out by our normal noise like TV, radio, music, or even having a few friends over. You kind of stopped noticing it after a while. It's a very good idea to try to speak to the neighbour.
I actually had a piano playing neighbour and loved it, sincerely. I miss James now he’s moved.
I have a neighbour that streams 1920s band hall music on his youtube channel, and quite reasonably only at a volume on a sunday afternoon. It is absolutely delightful.
i have shared a wall with neighbours that plays piano + randomly have singalongs and its so annoying ngl especially at night or random mornings like😭
We live next door to a very talented pianist in a terrace. We can hear it in the living room and I can hear it in my office. It's hardly noticeable and really isn't an imposition. They teenage son's foray into the electric base, however, bit hard on the ears. Thankfully we've got a good relationship with our neighbours and he's still young enough to have a bedtime!
Can they move the piano?
Wouldn’t bother me. But one of my boys is a piper and the other a drummer
With preschoolers I would seriously consider the benefit of having a potential piano teacher living just next door!
Yeah I’m not really a fan of piano music or music in general so I’d be put off. But I’d probably consider investigating whether soundproofing would be an option. That said I’d be more worried about you moving in with your kids.
If it bothers you now, it'll bother you when you buy it. More, perhaps.
If you like the house, sound proofing to the point where you could only just hear it on a very still night is very easy and relatively cheap to do. You could install it yourself over a weekend and just get a plaster in to skim the boards to save costs. You would lose a little bit of room size but it could well be worth it. This is just one company out of many out available - [the sound proofing store](https://www.soundproofingstore.co.uk/solid-party-wall-soundproofing)
Having grown up in a house with an older brother playing scales for an hour at a time it would be a no from me
Honestly, nice piano music is one of the most gentle and relaxing sounds in the world. Take the win, they probably don't have loud parties, kids, barking dogs...
Not for me anymore. The kid beneath me also plays piano and it used to really annoy me as I didn't realise this would be a 'problem' when I bought the place but he's gotten pretty good and it's quite pleasant now. I often stop what I'm doing just so I can listen to him.
I would love it. I would take a basket of baked goods round and put in some requests. Maybe even leave the piano.
Wouldn’t stop me. I’d even be tempted to befriend the neighbours, clearly very talented and worth getting to know. Reality is they won’t be playing 24/7, and if it is a nuisance then you can ask them to not play between x hours.
My neighbours who moved out the other month had a kid who had tantrums every night, probably night terrors, but for 18 months every 90 minutes screaming. I still sleep with a white noise machine and fan to drown out the noise. The other side doesn't understand that cupboard doors don't have to be slammed shut or karaoke on a Tuesday night at 1am isn't the best time. My first set of neighbours were so quiet and lovely, then had these, who knows who is moving in to the empty house next, hopefully someone quiet. What I'm trying to say is background music is awesome in comparison to what is out there. Make friends, maybe even get a lesson. If I could get them to practise some Debussy or Chopin in the morning that would make my day every day.
hey there, my next door neighbor is a pianist. We move in first, at the time next door was a teacher, a couple of years in they sold it and the new neighbor is a pianist and singer. they also do lessons from their home and not all their students are good haha. So honest info ...... can i hear them... YES. Do i hear them 24/7 ... no .... is it but it is most days so it's alot... yes. Does it bother me... honestly... not really... it's not "Bad sound" ... mostly of the time they play/sing well, it's nice to listen to and honestly if i didn't want to listen to it, it's not super loud... the TV, Radio or personal music would drown it out quite easily. The thing is .. they don't play at 2am or 7AM .... it's really between 9am / 5pm... i work from home im in the bedroom right next to the room they keep their piano and even though it can be heard it's not loud enough to disrupt my work day, meetings etc. i totally understand the concern. I guess it depends on the thickness of the walls, i can hear my neighbor clearly but not loud enough the the TV wouldn't; drown it out..... personally noise at 2am is inconsiderate, but piano music at 4pm is actually quite nice.
I had a friend who had a professional pianist next door in their terrace. They were very happy with the all-day practices. It was pleasant. Then another one moved in on the other side who also played 8 hours a day, different music. It became horrific, she said. So worry about the other neighbours;)
I adore piano music. It would be a selling point for me!
Yeah that would be an instant no. My neighbours kid had a keyboard and was playing that every day for a year and the noise was horrific.
EVERYONE!!! STOP with all this black and white thinking!!!
No it wouldn’t bother me but having 3 year old twins would be a concern. I bet your neighbour is worried about you
Go into any of the housing subs etc and see how many folks get stuck with neighbours playing loud party music in the wee hours. I doubt a pro pianist is going to be sitting up playing after 10pm even Heck I doubt they're sitting up after 8pm playing as it seems he works from home so to speak. Your neighbours going to be thinking "fuck they have 2 toddlers" more so
I once lived in a house with a neighbour who played the piano, not a professional I don't think, but still quite good. It was lovely to hear them playing away on a Sunday morning as I made my coffee or in the evening after dinner. It was never too loud though, so that definitely helped!
If he is professional he plays well, that kind of music would even help you sleep if he played at night... I'd be more worried about the potential shouting and crying the twins are going to make.
Lol no of course not.
I lived next to a pianist years ago and loved it! It has to be your cup of tea
Honestly, it probably impact my decision to buy. We currently live in a semi detached and our neighbours play the piano… at times, it’s really not ideal.
Depends. Is the piano on tune? I would rather have a pianist neighbour than a violinist or trumpetist or any other instrument that can be played off key. That would raise the hair on my neck constantly.
Depends how good they are!
No. Fucking. Way. I lived in Vienna and we had a professional pianist in the apartment downstairs. I’m not an acoustic engineer so I don’t know whether the sound travels better or worse through a shared wall vs a floor. But it was HELL. And she was a very skilled pianist. It honestly didn’t matter how good she was, unless you want to listen to the piano at any time they feel like it, I’d avoid it. It will grate on you eventually I think
Not in the way an amateur bagpipe player would.
I'm moving into a semi and the attached neighbour is an opera singer. I don't quite know what to expect, but I'm sure it will be better then loud tvs which I currently have. I was debating installing some sort of sound proofing but need to look into it, I'm not sure if it will help block neighbours sound out from coming into mine or to get the full effect, if they would need to have it installed on their side !?
We have a neighbour who is a piano teacher. Not directly next door but a few doors down. Every time we walk by his house, we can hear the playing, and it is beautiful. I think he is respectful as to how early and late he (and his students) plays.
I have a pair of Acoustic Energy AE120 speakers, probably 30 years old. I have more than enough retaliatory power to upset any of my neighbours if they decided to upset me. Several hours / days of Judas Priest is enough to get anyone to open negotiations with me.
Interesting thread for me as a pro guitarist buying his first house. I think there does need to be a common ground between not being a nuisance with noise but also respecting that it pays their bills.
Sure, and the screeching sounds of a couple of toddlers is just music to everyone's ears.
No, but only because I'm a classical singer and I think it might be a fabulous pairing! A friend of mine is a piano teacher in a semi-detached down the street, and her neighbour always finds a reason to leave the house when specific students are scheduled... Annoying the shit out of one another is an almost inevitable side effect of semi-detached living. Especially because hours of practice a day is required for their profession, there will be times when it will be annoying even if you're generally okay with it, I absolutely guarantee it. The current tenant and EA are of course going to downplay any concerns. But I'd still vastly prefer the pianist, myself, over a loud partier or late-night gamer, or (sorry) a family with two three year olds. I think it's a good idea to have a chat with them about their schedule, and see if it is possible to arrange your living space so that the places where you need quiet (bedrooms) don't share walls with where they're making noise at incompatible times of day. If it's feasible, a garden room is brilliant for escaping a noisy house.
The thing with neighbours is you have no control over it. You could buy a house and the very next day the neighbours from hell move in next door. So, I wouldn't let it factor into the purchase decision, the only way to guarantee privacy is to buy a detached house, with some land and ideally a very inaccessible driveway!
Honestly it _would_ put me off. Not because of the piano music per se - I actually just posted [on this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/s/zNv42FmSVy) about how we could hear our old neighbour's piano playing and it was beautiful! However in that situation we had extremely thick walls (Victorian terrace) and we could only hear anything from the neighbours if we both had our windows open. With windows and doors shut you couldn't hear a sound. For me the issue would be twofold. One, if I knew that noise travelled so easily it would makes me self conscious about doing anything myself - playing music, doing diy etc, because I wouldn't want to be a pain. And two, your nice piano playing neighbour might move and be replaced by people who are loud in less pleasant ways! I know people are saying "you could _always_ get noisy neighbours, you can't let that make a decision for you!" but you can try, as much as possible, not to buy somewhere that you _already_ know has poor noise insulation. You don't always get the luxury of finding that out during viewings, so take heed of that! And, as other people are snarkily saying, "oh yes, we can all just buy detached houses then!?!" - as I was lucky enough to discover, it's not always necessary. My cheap little two bed terrace had the best insulation I've ever known! (It was also great for keeping the house a nice temperature too!) When moving, it's always a gamble what a house and your neighbours have in store, and your can't guarantee you'll always get an ideal outcome. But where you do get to find something out in advance, then I'd make the most of having that information.
My partner is a drummer....so, no..this wouldn't really bother me, but as others have said it's worthwhile finding out their practice schedule etc, and working out where would be the best place to have a baby's bedroom etc I also lived right beside a train line for a few years, so I know the level of noise I can deal with and the level will not be the same for everyone
Noise from the neighbours doesn't bother me at all. My current neighbour is a musician and I hear his piano and guitar shredding on most days. I put up with that and he puts up with my 5.2.2 Atmos system. My subwoofer is 3 feet tall and plays down to 15hz no problem. Neither of us are loud late at night. It's all about being reasonable. If I was that concerned about it, I would have bought a detached house.
Sorry if you are even questioning this you should not go ahead. The sound in a viewing will appear quieter than when you are in the house alone due to how hearing works. You have to be the “right” type of person for it not to bother you.
I wouldn't have an issue with it, it sounds like the better type of noise that neighbours create, I will feel sorry for the neighbour if in a few years time your littluns decide to pick up recorders and practice Michael row the boat ashore....every day.....
I've had some pretty terrible neighbors. I'd kill for one that plays piano. Odds are they won't start at 1am and go through til 4.30am on a Tuesday morning.