From Our Family to Yours

Next Gen Pianos is a family-owned, fifth-generation authorized Yamaha dealer based in Gilbert, Arizona. We  offer the world’s most advanced technology pianos — including Yamaha’s Clavinova and AvantGrand hybrids —  along with high-end pre-owned acoustic pianos at prices families can actually afford. 

Our story began in 1929, when my great-grandfather started rebuilding and tuning pianos by hand. Over the next  four generations, the Wallace family combined craftsmanship and musicianship — restoring, playing, and helping  others experience the joy of music. 

For me, music began in a most unlikely place — a converted chicken coop in remote Humboldt, Arizona. When I  was sixteen, my parents moved our family of seven from Phoenix and we lived in a trailer while building a house.  There wasn’t room for me inside, so my parents fixed up the old chicken coop as my bedroom. Inside was a small bookshelf, a bed, and an old piano my dad was rebuilding. In the piano bench was a “teach yourself to play” book,  and with plenty of time on my hands, I did just that. 

Before then, I wasn’t great in school, didn’t play sports, and struggled with confidence. But as I started to play,  something clicked. Music opened up a world of creativity, imagination, history, and purpose. Performing for others  gave me confidence I’d never had before — I’d found a skill that connected me with people in a way nothing else  had. I practiced for hours a day, listening to every classical and jazz piano record I could find. 

That experience changed my life, and it’s a big part of why I do what I do today. Every time we place a great sounding piano in a student’s home, I know it might open that same beautiful world for them. In an age where screens  dominate, learning an instrument can be a powerful counterbalance — especially when combined with the modern  technology kids already love. 

In 2009, I carried my family’s legacy forward by founding My First Piano, a store created to help families and first time buyers begin their musical journey. It quickly became a trusted name in Arizona’s teaching community for its  honesty, quality, and personal service. Around that same time, we launched Safe & Sound Piano Movers, later sold  to Sherri Radick, who has since grown it into Arizona’s largest piano moving company — continuing the same  tradition of care and excellence we began. 

In 2020, we expanded with The Piano Guys Piano Store, an e-commerce platform that became the largest seller of  Yamaha Clavinova and hybrid pianos in the world. 

By 2024, we united all our brands under one roof as Next Gen Pianos — a modern, hybrid retail company serving  both local families in Gilbert and musicians nationwide online. Today, my son Miles Wallace proudly represents  the fifth generation of our family as Director of Sales, helping connect the next generation of players with the next  generation of pianos. 

Music education has always been at the heart of what we do. Since 2009, our free community recital hall —  featuring a Yamaha Artist Grand and seats 130 and has welcomed over 20,000 attendees each year to celebrate  local students’ achievements and love of music. 

We’re passionate about the success of every piano student because we’ve seen what happens when kids stick with  music: they grow into confident, creative, and social adults with a skill admired by everyone. Watching them thrive  is our greatest joy. 

At Next Gen Pianos, we believe better instruments create better students — and better students make better  music. 

Whether you’re buying your first piano or your forever piano, we’re honored to be a part of your musical journey. — The Wallace Family, Next Gen Pianos