What is the Difference Between a Grand and Upright and can I have a hybrid and have both in one?

The answer to the first question is that grand pianos and uprights obviously look quite different.  Grands are built on a horizontal plane and uprights are on the vertical.  Grands are the preferred piano for concerts because their actions are built faster for higher repetition as well as bigger sound.  Grands optionally have a middle pedal called a sostenuto which hold certain notes while others are played.  Grand piano soft pedals function differently as well by shifting the entire keyboard and action to the right so that the hammers strike only 2 out of 3 strings making the sound ‘softer’ while upright soft pedals just bring the hammers closer to the strings before the key is played.  Uprights are typically used in households for lessons and general playing although this is changing with the emergence of smaller grands.

Heintman, many years ago, came out with the slogan ‘Grand piano in Upright form’.  This insinuated to the customer (and must have been worth thousands of dollars to the company at one time) that the customer was getting a sort of hybrid piano – both upright and grand piano all rolled into one.  This phrase could not refer to that because such a beast does not exist.  The piano is either is an upright OR a grand but not both.  My viewpoint is that the company indirectly was using the word, ‘grand’ as an adjective not a noun,

Upright Piano