Digital piano for a beginner

[Proto]

Always wanted to be able to play the piano, and now I’ve retired and have time on my hands I think I’m going to give it a go. Don’t have a huge amount of space so I’m thinking of an electric piano or keyboard. It’s a bit of a minefield - lots of manufacturers, 61 or 8i keys, weighted or not weighted, effects and accompanimen, etc..

Would love to teach myself but realise it’s a big task so will speak out a local teacher.

Anyone else been down this road able to offer buying advice?

 

[vickster]

Always wanted to be able to play the piano, and now I’ve retired and have time on my hands I think I’m going to give it a go. Don’t have a huge amount of space so I’m thinking of an electric piano or keyboard. It’s a bit of a minefield - lots of manufacturers, 61 or 8i keys, weighted or not weighted, effects and accompanimen, etc..

Would love to teach myself but realise it’s a big task so will speak out a local teacher.

Anyone else been down this road able to offer buying advice?

Get the piano teacher’s advice?

 

[Cycleops]

YouTube is your friend:

View: https://youtu.be/CrNnXcfcFQM

 

[Jody]

25 odd years since we sold our electric piano but have been thinking of getting another recently.

Personally, I don't like keyboards as unweighted keys don't feel right. I'd also want the full rang of octaves so it would have to be 81 keys but if you have limited space you may want a smaller one. It's not very often that you use the extremes of either end.

Up to you whether you'd want effects and accompaniment. Mine had it but never really used them other than the odd mess about.

 

[markemark]

If you can be bothered and have a reasonable spec PC then think about a midi keyboard (£60-£100 get can you a good one). In itself it makes no sound but it passes through the computer and you can get a whole world of different sounds - huge swathes of it for free. There's also plenty of free software to get you going and most midi keyboards come with free software.

 

[Specialeyes]

If you want to learn to play the piano, as opposed to the keyboard, then weighted keys and ideally hammer action is an absolute must. You can always branch out and buy a more auto-accompaniment-laden machine later, but learning on something that looks and feels like a piano will set you up much better thatn doing it the other way around.

Roland HPs are excellent and hold their value very well from what I've just seen on eBay, as are Yamaha Clavinovas (Clavinovae? ). Everything since the early 90s has had MIDI and latterly USB connectivity, so you can hook them up to your laptop or computer for teaching apps and when inevitably you dip a toe into the world of virtual instruments!

I've got virtual instruments and soft synths loaded into my PC and laptop, but to be perfectly honest I find playing them and controlling them like painting my hallway through the letterbox - weirdly remote and time-consuming. Unless recording, you can't beat the bread-and-butter immediacy of sitting straight down at the piano and cracking on.

 

[T4tomo]

Definitely get weighted keys, but you don't need to spend a fortune. I got my Mum one a few years back, it wasn't at all expensive but had weighted keys and decent sound. As a long time piano / organ player she said it was very good and felt like the real deal to play.

 

[Milkfloat]

When I looked into all of this a few years ago, for the kids we ended up buying a https://pianohut.co.uk/casio-cdp-130-digital-piano-review/ 88 keys with hammer action. The music teacher raved about it and we have had no complaints and my daughter is pretty accomplished now. My son gave up after about a year though.

 

[HelenD123]

It's over 20 years since I bought mine so I can't comment on current models but weighted keys are a must if you want to play it as a piano. Mine's pretty basic and I rarely venture past the basic piano sound so don't regret not paying more for multiple sound effects and inputs/outputs. It's great not having to worry about keeping it tuned.

 

[Lozz360]

As others have said, weighted keys are a must if it is piano you want to learn. Also, don't underestimate the amount of practice you will need. You have time on your hands so that is good.

 

[Hudson1984]

I always preferred digital pianos to acoustic, just made practice alot easier and with online gradings it's all much more accessible being digital

Alot of this will really come down to Feel - yeah people will tell you about the weights of keys and what generation their action is etc but if it feels like a keyboard it'll just be awful to use.

Sadly some of this comes with experience as you won't really know what you're looking for to start with and key feel will develop over time - some people really love Yamaha, others hate it (I really like yamaha acoustic pianos pre mid 80's as they're a more mellow tone)

For me, Roland is a good brand, look for PHA-4 action or newer, and the feel is really nice. Would see you well beyond beginner (although tbh an expert pianist will make a £10 casio sound lovely)

I really dislike entry level casio stuff, just feels like a keyboard i.e. feels like a spring pushing the key up rather than a hammer feel.

alot will come down to how much you want to spend too more money does get better feel in alot of cases... but then, again, you'd need some experience to really notice.

with regards to learning. DON'T TEACH YOURSELF, look, sure, there's people out there who have done it and do very well, but it's damned rare and you'll plateau really quick. I used online teachers during lockdown and that was great, all via webcam etc, in fact it felt alot more direct than using a face to face teacher as you have a set time and that's that - whereas face to face you generally get chatting about other things.

Hanon exercises are a good resource though. If you want to progress do these EVERYDAY. Really does make a difference in how your hands behave

 

[Time Waster]

Interesting thread.

We wondered whether to get one for our son to learn on. He shows signs of interest even musical talent. It runs heavily through the family with generations of musical teachers, royal college of music graduates and various orchestra/ chamber music group memberships too. I missed out in that but hopefully our son has had the skip a generation thing going on with music.

So what would you suggest as a starter one for a 9 year old who might not take to it? I guess cheap but good enough to learn and progress on?

 

[Hudson1984]

Depends a lot on your budget.

I started with a Yamaha ydp series piano which I bought used. That was great but man they’re expensive new.

If it was me, I’d go with Roland fp or Yamaha ydp, if money isn’t an issue, kawai make great digital pianos which interestingly use Casio keyboards but I can’t stand Casio lol.

It also depends on how long you expect to keep it and the type of music you want to play.

If he’s going classical, you’ll want pedals (sustain at the very least) as it will come up around grade 3, but good to practice around grade 2. Equally if classical 88 keys should be what you go for as it’ll last longer and whilst they won’t use all the keys very often, it does feel abit alien sitting at something else so when they do exams they’ll definitely be sat at an 88 key instrument so will want to be comfortable with it.

If you’re wanting to go cheap but good - go second hand.

£500 is where I’d be setting my budget if buying new

 

[lazybloke]

Went for a Korg B2 for my children to learn on (about 2 yrs ago).
88 key touch-sensitive keyboard with weighted hammer action, I think was the description.
Has 3 pedals.

Controls are basic, which could be limiting now that one of the kids wants to study music.

It does have midi.

 

[Johnno260]

My daughter wanted to learn, we had zero space for a proper piano, we went for a Alecsis Recital, it has semi weighted keys, my wife’s aunt who is a music teacher tested one for us and was very impressed.