Buying A Keyboard Piano For Beginners
The next type of piano keyboard for beginners that is sometimes considered are hybrid pianos. This is a mix of the features of grand pianos, as well as a home keyboard. Usually the keys have a half octave of extra attack that is found in grand piano models. These hybrid pianos provide a more enjoyable approach to learning the piano, and most can be had for under one hundred dollars.
buying a keyboard piano for beginners
Do you need a fully-fledged digital piano, or will a portable 61-key keyboard suffice? Do you want hundreds of instrument sounds, or will you use piano tones 99% of the time? Are you looking for something portable, or do you want something that resembles the look of an acoustic piano?
It goes without saying that the keyboard on a digital piano will play a massive role in whether or not you decide to buy it. It should be a quality build and also feel realistic to the touch. Choosing a keyboard that fits this criteria will depend on several factors, including the key action mechanism used in your instrument.
Most digital pianos come with a fully-weighted hammer action keyboard that resembles the feel of an actual acoustic piano. The keys are often graded, meaning the lower register keys will feel slightly heavier and gradually get lighter as you move up the keyboard.
Digital pianos are, without a doubt, more expensive than keyboards. That being said, they are the most cost-effective option if you want to experience the authentic feel and sound of an acoustic piano.
Below I have listed eight different options for beginners and first-time players. As of March of 2023, I still believe the Roland FP-30X is by far the best digital piano for beginners, which is why I have listed it first.
Instructors know that most budget keyboards are of poor quality. If their students are going to buy a keyboard, they want them to purchase something that will last a few years. If you get a cheap keyboard, you will outgrow it as you get better at the piano.
For kids a little bit older, I would recommend the Alesis Recital Pro. This digital piano is built for beginners and kids, yet it has weighted keys. For an entry-level option, Alesis really knocked it out of the park and has also included some great learning software.
Before we get started, I want to stress that there is a difference between digital pianos and keyboards. Digital pianos are going to oftentimes have 88 weighted keys, whereas keyboards are going to usually have fewer keys with more sounds.
The Yamaha P-45 is one of the main keyboards I recommend for kids. It has 88 fully-weighted keys and a solid piano sound. This not only gets your foot in the door, but also gives you an option that you won't outgrow for years.
The Alesis Harmony is a great look for those in search of a lightweight keyboard for beginners. It comes equipped with over 300 preset sounds ready for exploration as you take on your musical journey.
The Casio Sa76 is powered by batteries, but it can also be powered by a power adapter you would purchase on the side. You need 6 AA batteries for this keyboard so I would recommend buying a big pack of batteries to save money in the long run.
This keyboard comes in different colors, so be sure to check out what colors are available for it before buying. The manual makes it rather easy to assemble as long as there are no faults in the product that was shipped.
Most of the time you use these instruments as a transition into a better more expensive keyboard for your kid. However, if you have the budget, then this is your top option as far as sounding like an actual piano. I would recommend this for anyone under 6-7 years of age.
The piano is a revered instrument to learn but not always the most accessible for home practice. In this article, we're going to take a quick look at other options that make for the 5 best pianos for beginners in 2023.
This piano has been designed with beginners in mind, which means that it comes loaded with handy features that will help you to quickly improve your piano playing. Lesson Mode is an innovative program that will help you learn the right keys.
Why We Liked It - The Alesis Recital is undoubtedly one of the best pianos for beginners because it has been designed specifically with beginners in mind and therefore offers lots of handy functions to improve your playing.
Tonality - When finding the right piano to learn on, it may be best to find one that you can easily plug in headphones or a speaker into. This way, you can practice your material in the privacy of your own ears but still have the flexibility to amp up your sound for performance. If you're looking for a more classical piano sound, you may not need to prioritize having a wide variety of different keys or tone modes that some of these keyboards have.
Now practicing on a 44 key scale sized keyboard isn't an ideal for everyone, but we get a lot of readers who are parents purchasing for young instrumental learners. Smaller hands need relatively sized keys and not every parent is willing to commit to a brand new piano, in case of interests fade into nothing but a phase.
Why We Liked It - It is an affordably priced option, and one top contender for best keyboard to learn piano on. The size make it perfect for junior beginners to harness their skills with.
Built-in Learning Tools - Some of these electric pianos have built-in learning tools like embedded sound books that may be helpful for beginners. Even if your piano doesn't have these features available, keep in mind that there are plenty of piano learning resources available for free online. Scour the internet for tutorial videos, sheet music, and more.
Why We Liked It - It is a decent compact option and an ideal choice of digital piano for beginners who want something space saving that comes with adult suitable, full sized keys, without a heavy investment.
If you're buying a piano for beginners, firstly you need to think about age as a factor adults are going to want something with full scale sized keys whereas juniors might get along better with something smaller. There is, however, a school of thought that goes against this stating it can slow down progress as they transition and suggests that young learners should just jump straight in, on a full sized instrument.
Circumstances weigh in on the decision to, for example, if you intend to have or already have lessons from a tutor or in an educational setting you will want something with weighted keys and pedals so that practicing at home is as realistic. Alternatively, if you have a budget that won't stretch to a digital piano or lessons a full-size keyboard may be a sufficient choice.
You may have noticed we have only suggested digital solutions, it is never ideal to practice piano on a keyboard but it is also not wise to buy a piano until you are sure about your playing progressing. No one wants to see an unloved piano gathering dust. There are many suitable digital options out there whatever your budget. With a buyers market comes a tougher time narrowing down choices. So we hope our article will be of some help before you make your purchase.
I started on an unweighted 61-key touch-sensitive keyboard (touch-sensitivity is, by the way, essential, but implied on the weighted keyboards. You cannot play classical piano music even remotely musically without touch sensitivity. Organ music is a different story). It's great for playing "Mary had a little lamb" and even "Fur Elise", but when you start hitting the more involved classical repertoire, you need to have weighted keys; it's simply too hard to play without the proper resistance. It's impossible to play more advanced classical pieces on this keyboard, because you run out of keys. The last major drawback was that it made playing on real pianos very difficult, since it doesn't let the student develop the musculature required for playing for long periods of time on a real piano (I'm only talking a half hour, here). That's because while they're often used as such, unweighted 61-key keyboards are not designed for use by classical pianists; they're designed for use as synthesizers. I still have this keyboard, and whenever I have to rock out a Katy Perry or a Taio Cruz, that's the instrument I turn to.
I then bought a piano, but from the sounds of it, the piano itself and the upkeep are way too expensive at the moment. I will say that I never bothered to keep it in tune (I've tuned it maybe 3 times in 10 years), and I regret that irresponsibility every day. That being said, it still works! The greatest drawback is the noise level; pianos are LOUD! With keyboards, at least, you can pop in headphones, and it'll be mostly silent (you still have to deal with the thumping of the keys, but it's tolerable).
My latest keyboard purchase was a Yamaha Portable Grand. It's an 88-key fully weighted keyboard. Keep in mind that fully-weighted is just what it means: it feels like a real piano and is heavy as anything (My estimate is 50-60 pounds; I feel that portable should have been in quotes on the packaging). It sounds beautiful and never requires tuning. This particular keyboard has something like 500 voices (which is actually useless; I never use anything except the stock piano voice, and occasionally an organ). This is the sort of keyboard you'd want for advanced classical pieces. The only major problem that I have with this particular keyboard is that the sustain does not last as long as in a real piano. This leads to sloppy pedal work, which does require a little bit of concentration to adjust for. The other minor issue is, as I mentioned before, the weight.
Finally, halfway between unweighted and fully weighted keyboards, you have half-weighted or semi-weighted keyboards. I personally hate the action, but I hate it less than I hate unweighted keys. I have successfully played somewhat intense classical pieces on them, and if it'll save a few hundred bucks on the cost of a new keyboard, it might be worth it. When it comes to picking an action, make sure your wife plays it and likes how it feels; that really is the most important factor. When I was buying a piano, my parents dragged me around to three or four warehouses full of pianos so that we could find one with an action that I liked. (By the time I found a handful of good pianos, my fingers were very, very sore!) 041b061a72