Zender 6 Octave

Colour: Polished mahogany The Zender 6 Octave is one of the smallest pianos ever sold in any number in the UK. It stands 100cm tall and only 114cm wide, with a shortened six-octave keyboard of 73 notes rather than the usual 88, which is how Zender managed to get a real acoustic piano into flats and small houses where nothing else would fit. Sydney Zender founded the business in London early in the twentieth century, and the brand found its moment in the 1960s and 1970s as large Victorian houses were divided into flats and new homes got smaller. Priced at £1,595, this example is finished in polished mahogany with two pedals, and has been assessed and prepared by our team at The Piano Gallery. Available to purchase online or to try in person at our Oxfordshire showroom. Contact us to arrange a viewing or to discuss delivery and part-exchange options. Frequently Asked Questions How many keys does it have, and which notes are missing? Seventy-three, which is six octaves plus a note, against 88 on a full-size piano. The keys that are absent are the very lowest in the bass and the very highest in the treble. The keys themselves are full width, so the hand position and spacing are exactly the same as on any other piano, and the middle of the keyboard where almost all early learning happens is untouched. Will a child outgrow it, and what happens then? Most players will reach the missing notes somewhere around Grade 4 or 5, when pieces begin to use the extremes of the keyboard. That is usually several years of playing away. When the time comes we take instruments in part-exchange against something larger, so a piano like this can be a first step rather than a dead end. Will it fit through a standard doorway and up stairs? Almost always, yes. At 114cm wide, 100cm tall and 48cm deep this is about as manageable as an acoustic piano gets, and it will go through a standard doorway and round a normal staircase where a full-size upright would not. It is still a heavy object, so it should be moved by piano movers rather than by hand, and we can arrange that. Who was Zender, and where were these pianos made? Zender was a London name rather than a single factory. Sydney Zender founded the business early in the twentieth century, and to meet demand the pianos were built in several British workshops, with well over 70,000 made from the 1960s to the 1980s. They were designed as practical domestic instruments and should be judged on their condition rather than on brand prestige. Is a piano this small worth tuning and keeping? Yes, provided the frame and strings are sound, which is what our technicians check before we sell one. A small piano that is tuned twice a year and kept away from radiators will stay pleasant to play for many years. What it will not do is develop a big bass, so if you know you want depth of tone rather than convenience, a taller upright is the better buy.