Yamaha Silent Pianos

Browse new and pre-owned Yamaha silent uprights and grands, from compact b series models to C series grands. Each one is a real acoustic piano you can switch to headphones. Below, you’ll find help choosing a system and model.

What is a Yamaha silent piano?

A Yamaha silent piano is a Yamaha upright or grand with a silent system fitted at the factory. In silent mode, a rail stops the hammers before they reach the strings, and you hear sampled grand piano sound through headphones.

Yamaha released its first silent piano back in 1993. For a general guide to how silent pianos compare with digital and acoustic pianos, see our silent pianos page.

SC3 or SH3: which Yamaha system?

Yamaha’s current silent pianos use one of two systems, SC3 or SH3. Both read your playing with non-contact sensors under the keys, and both play samples of the Yamaha CFX and Bösendorfer Imperial concert grands through headphones.

SH3 adds more for players who record or connect other equipment. It has 25 voices to SC3’s 12, a balanced audio output for amplifiers and mixers, and hammer sensors that pick up slow keystrokes and fast trills.

On SH3 grands, a motor switches the piano into silent mode at the press of a button. If you mainly want quiet practice, SC3 covers it well and comes on Yamaha’s more affordable models.

Which Yamaha pianos have a silent system?

SC3 comes on the b series and B series uprights, from the b1 to the B30, and on the GB1K baby grand.

SH3 comes on the U1, U3, YUS, P series and SU7 uprights, and on the GC and C series grands.

Two good places to start are the U1 SH3 and the b1 SC3. You can also browse all our U1 models and U3 models.

Should you buy a pre-owned Yamaha silent piano?

Our pre-owned Yamaha silent pianos include uprights built as far back as the 1970s, alongside more recent models.

Older silent systems use earlier sensors and sound modules than SC3 and SH3, so listen through the headphones as well as acoustically before you decide.

Our refurbished pianos go through a 113-point check and come with a 5-year guarantee. On refurbished silent pianos, that guarantee covers the piano rather than the silent system.

View our pre-owned Yamaha silent pianos, or see the full range of pre-owned Yamaha pianos.

How much does a Yamaha silent piano cost?

Pre-owned Yamaha silent uprights start from £3,795, and new ones from £4,495 for a b1 SC3. New SH3 uprights start from £9,495, and new silent grands from £13,545.

You can spread the cost with our finance options, and we offer part exchange if you have a piano to trade in.

Silent or TransAcoustic?

A TransAcoustic piano does everything a silent piano does, and adds a volume control so the soundboard can play digital sound out loud without headphones.

If you only need quiet practice through headphones, a silent piano is the simpler choice. Compare them on our Yamaha TransAcoustic pianos page.

Where can you try a Yamaha silent piano?

The Richard Lawson Pianos showroom has more than 200 new and refurbished pianos and is open from 8am to 10pm, 7 days a week.

You can compare SC3 and SH3 models side by side, and set them against our Kawai silent pianos.

Want to hear both systems? Book a showroom visit: call 01923 720 974, email info@richardlawsonpianos.com or use the contact form.