Best Electronic Piano For Beginners

Whats A Digital Piano

A fine choice for any piano student, the digital piano is the electronic descendant of the traditional piano. Though this variation is much smaller, theyre designed to feel like and produce similar sounds to an acoustic piano.

They typically come with 88 keys with weighted synthetic ivory to add that exquisite and less slippery touch. Digital pianos come in various designs, including upright to mimic an upright acoustic, cabinet format, or set on akeyboard stand. And many of them come with pedals too.

While replicating an organic sound with an electronic system is a tall order, sound technology has come a long way. Modern digital pianos offer quality sounds that only the sharpest ears can distinguish.

Lastly, digital pianos generally cost less and take up less space than their acoustic cousin.

Internal Sounds And Polyphony

Two other factors to consider, when shopping for a digital piano, are the number and/or quality of the internal sounds and the instruments polyphony.

Presets vary greatly between digital pianos and keyboards, and manufacturers are known for specific sounds. The best way to determine which sounds you like best is to watch product demos or to try out the digital pianos in person. Youll also want to decide how many sounds you would like to have available. For instance, you might only need a small collection of piano, electric piano, and organ sounds if those are what you intend to play the most. Conversely, if you are playing in numerous styles, then you might desire a full complement of sounds, including synth sounds, percussion sounds, and so on, and the ability to edit your sounds.

Polyphony refers to the number of notes that can sound simultaneously. The maximum polyphony on a traditional acoustic piano is 88 since you can play every note on the keyboard at once. Like presets, the maximum polyphony of digital pianos varies from model to model, ranging from 48 notes to unlimited polyphony. You might wonder why you would need more notes of polyphony than there are keys on the digital piano. Expanded polyphony allows for playing multitimbral presets and sequencing and playing over full band arrangements on your digital piano.

How We Picked The Best Keyboards For Beginners

A lot goes into making a keyboard special. Some of those qualities are universal and some are personal preferences. When researching this list we looked long and hard at keyboards from all across the market, diving into the specs, testing them out ourselves, and stacking the various benefits of each one against the next. Along the way a few criteria emerged.

Keys, Voices, and Polyphony: While traditional pianos have 88 keys, our picks varied somewhat, including a few 88-key picks, along with some slimmer keyboards. We prioritized graded weighted keys where possible, as these feel the best and make for a better learning experience for those who are looking to segue to piano. We also considered polyphony, which refers to the amount of notes that can be played simultaneously. That measure varies somewhat across our picks, but 64-note polyphony is a good standard. We also looked for keyboards that feature at least a few voices. While keyboards with hundreds of voices can be appealing, we think that a few good voices are better for the average student, as larger voice libraries can be easy to get lost in.

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Williams Legato Iii 88 Key Digital Piano

The Williams Legato III 88 Key Digital Piano is another great choice for beginner musicians who are looking for an affordable digital piano with high quality sound and feel. This piano features 88 full sized keys with Graded Hammer Standard action that provides a realistic playing experience and allows you to develop your skills quickly. The Legato III also has 10 built in voices and 10 demo songs as well as MIDI connectivity so you can connect it to your computer or other devices easily! Additionally, this piano is relatively affordable and comes with an AC power adapter included so you dont have to worry about buying batteries every time you want to use it.

How Much Does A Piano Cost

It’s no secret that pianos are expensive items, with some costing tens of thousands of pounds, but don’t worry, there are affordable options out there.

For budding pianists looking to get to grips with the keys, there are plenty of digital instruments on the market that come in well under the $/£500 mark. This means you can test the water and see if this is the instrument for you without shelling out thousands. We would, however, stick to big-name brands at this price point, as this will ensure you get a piano of a certain quality. Yamaha, Casio, Roland and Kawai, all make exceptional entry-level pianos at this price.

For those who are a little more advanced, want a furniture style instrument, and would prefer the convenience of digital, you are looking at $/£1,500+. At this price point, pianos typically come with incredibly authentic key actions, very sophisticated speaker systems, and even look just like the real thing.

Now, that leads us on to acoustic pianos. Unfortunately, this is where the prices can get out of hand, with some pianos costing as much as a brand new Ford Focus. That said, it doesn’t have to cost that much. Although it does depend on spec, pianos such as the Yamaha B1 will set you back around $5,000/£3,000. On average, if you are looking for a reasonable spec acoustic piano, you’ll be looking around $/£10,000, with high-end models from the likes of C. Bechstein costing upwards of $/£30,000.

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What Are The Benefits Of Choosing A Digital Piano

Believe it or not, there are still some people out there who think that to learn the instrument âcorrectlyâ, you have to play an acoustic piano. While this outdated opinion may have been correct 20 years ago, the truth of the matter is, digital pianos have come a very long way since then, with some of the high-end models being indistinguishable from the real thing.

The most obvious positives are digital pianos donât have to be tuned – saving a lot of money over the lifetime of the instrument – and are way easier to move around!

Going digital opens players – new and old – to a whole host of features you simply canât get from an acoustic instrument. From headphone outputs for silent practice, built-in metronomes to help you keep the beat, on-board recorders for tracking progress and a slew of different tones, these state-of-the-art instruments can make learning the piano fun and more engaging.

What’s more, many digital pianos can be hooked up to a computer or tablet via a cable or Bluetooth connection and used as a MIDI controller or for interacting with online lessons. Read our guide to connecting a digital piano to a computer to find out how.

Best Digital Pianos: Our Top Picks

When recommending any piece of musical equipment – or motorbikes, for that matter – itâs very difficult not to recommend Yamaha. If we could only choose one digital piano from the Japanese instrument giant, then it would have to be the excellent Yamaha CLP-775 . We found that this digital piano feels and sounds exactly like the real thing, while also benefiting from Yamahaâs world-famous build quality – and not to mention it looks absolutely stunning.

On the other end of the price spectrum, we would have to go for the Casio AP-270 . This entry-level digital piano punches well above its weight, and in our tests, we found that it offered outstanding sound quality for its wallet-friendly price.

The Clavinova range made its debut way back in 1983, and itâs fair to say that the technology has progressed significantly since then! While the original Clavinova digital pianos looked somewhat piano-like and sounded great for the time, the new 700 series is in a completely different league.

The groundbreaking 700 series features the latest technology developed by Yamaha to perfectly recreate the feel and sound of an acoustic piano. In our tests we found the GrandTouch key action with its Linear Graded Hammer emulation offers a truly authentic touch that will easily convert anyone sceptical of digital pianos.

So if youâre looking for a terrific-sounding digital piano that wonât completely break the bank, then itâs worth considering the Roland HP702.

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Piano Keyboard Instrument Category #: Electronic Keyboards

Can you learn piano on a keyboard? Electronic keyboards are the most affordable way to get started, but learning piano on a non-weight, non-full-size beginner keyboard is less than ideal and could even be discouraging. We recommend upgrading to at least a digital piano as soon as possible.

If youre not ready to spend several hundred to a few thousand dollars on an instrument, your beginner piano student can get started with an electronic keyboard. Electronic keyboards come in many sizes and prices. Rather than trying to mimic the experience of playing on a real piano, they are designed to be mini synthesizers, and many come with lots of different instrument sounds and even pre-recorded rhythm tracks. Whats most important for a new piano student will be the number of keys and whether or not the keys are weighted.

Remember that learning on a keyboard with 88 weighted keys gives a student a big advantage. The weighted keys build hand strength and respond more like the keys of an acoustic piano, making it easier for an advancing student to move on. Most electronic keyboards do not have weighted keys.

If a keyboard with 88 weighted keys is still out of your price range, we recommend that students use a keyboard with at least 61 keys in order to be able to do all the exercises in our lessons.

Regarding the best keyboard for beginners, we recommend the Yamaha PSR Series. Models in the PSR lineup cost between $200 and $500.

Your Perfect Digital Piano: What To Look For

To start, these are the main factors you should consider when purchasing a new digital piano:

1. Budget

High-end digital pianos are crazy expensive, some costing as much as a new car! If thats up your alley, then go for it but do your research first. If you want bang for your buck, youve come to the right place.

2. Features

If youre just starting out, all you really need is a digital piano that facilitates the practice of proper piano technique. Experienced players might want keyboards with sound-shaping or detailed recording facilities. Well briefly cover what you can expect and why certain features are essential.

3. Goals

True beginners might be a bit apprehensive about starting with an expensive digital piano. What if you find its not for you? Well, its perfectly fine to start out with a cheaper digital piano or even a keyboard. Upgrades are always available down the line when needed.

4. Space

This is a minor consideration, but if youre living in a small apartment, you might want to avoid a furniture-like console.

Bigger isnt always better with digital pianos, and slab-style versions are still worth checking out. In fact, our lists offer recommendations from both categories.

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Best Overall: Casiotone Lk

Casiotone

Why It Made the Cut: The LK-S450 makes learning piano as fun as Guitar Hero, with light-up keys that walk you through lessons, a vast library of customizable tones that can be layered, light up chord books, and midi connectivity.

Specs: Voices: 600, with 200 rhythms Connection: Headphone jack, microphone in, pedal, midi, bluetooth Weight: 10.14 pounds

Incredible library of tones and rhythms Lighted keys are very useful for learning songs Easy to navigate the keyboards library Sounds and feels good with semi-weighted keys

Cons: Does not include midi adapter and proves more difficult than some to connect No quarter-inch line out for recording

While its certainly not a traditional electric piano, the Casiotone LK-S450 brings piano lessons into the era of Guitar Hero and wavetable synths. This keyboard features innovative light-up keys that glow, cueing you to your next move through a wide songbook of piano classics. But thats not all the LK-S450 is also a working library of voices, with 600 customizable voices that include everything from sine waves to string ensembles, as well as built-in rhythm settings with multiple parts, and a record function.

How Much Is Best Piano For A Beginner

Best Piano For A Beginner come in a variety of designs and pricing ranges. Its difficult to predict product costs nowadays.Because the price range is so wide, you don’t know how much something costs. For example, a pair of pants can range from $20 to $200 depending on where you buy them. Similarly, additional goods like as best piano for a beginner.

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Digital Piano Buyers’ Guide

There was a time when the only form of a piano was an acoustic piano. Acoustic pianos are large and it’s difficult to easily keep such a big instrument in a house.

There was a need for a piano that was both portable and didn’t take up loads of space. This led to the invention of the digital piano, a compact instrument that solved these problems for the consumer and also came with additional features that aren’t available with traditional pianos.

It’s hard to say whether one is better than the other it’s a matter of personal preference and the application. Some people might like the acoustic piano over a digital one because they are used to playing in big auditoriums and aren’t concerned with portability. On the other hand, you’ll also find people who will opt for a digital piano over an acoustic one because of their features and the portability.

There are some very important things that you should consider before purchasing a digital piano which we’ve outlined below.

• Sound Quality of the Digital Piano

The job of a digital piano is to emit sounds as close as possible to that of an acoustic piano. Therefore, it’s important for a digital piano to reproduce a realistic acoustic piano sound. A key factor to look for is digital memory. The greater the digital memory of the piano, the more realistic the sound it will produce. Some of the very best models are equipped with a larger digital memory and offer better quality sound.

• Tools for Learning

Top 11 Best Electric Piano Reviews

To assist you in the process, we compared various brands and models and settled for ten best electric pianos. These models can help you create amazing sounds similar to that of acoustic pianos without occupying much space or requiring you to spend a lot of cash while purchasing them.

Read on with an expectation of finding the right digital piano for your needs.

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Q: Which Is The Best Keyboard For Electronic Music

If youre getting a beginners keyboard for electronic music, then there are a few roads you could go down. Most of the time its a good idea to get a keyboard with a good midi connection. Some keyboards, like the Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S61, are built specifically for midi and offer lots of ways to control your digital audio workstation on your computer. Others, like the Yamaha P45, are digital pianos that also feature solid midi connections. This option will allow you to learn, practice, and perform on your digital piano without needing to connect it to your DAW. Another route you could go is to find a great arranger keyboard with lots of built in synths, rhythms, and recording features, which you can record through an audio interface. If youre a beginner and youre equally interested in learning piano as well as using it to control a DAW, then the P45 is our favorite pick, with its excellent real-piano feel and its midi port.

How To Choose The Best Digital Piano For You

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Digital piano vs keyboard: what’s the difference?

First and foremost, you need to consider the size of your space. Digital pianos come in various shapes and sizes, from slimline units that will most likely fit in any room to upright pianos that look just like the real thing. So, measure the space before you make a purchase.

Next, you need to think about the key action. This is how heavy – or light – the keys feel to play. Now, there are no rules here, pick an action that feels right to you. If you feel more comfortable on a piano with a light touch, thatâs fine. At the end of the day, the more comfortable you feel, the more youâll play!

Lastly, consider extra features. You may want a digital piano with built-in Bluetooth to connect to your smart device, or perhaps you need two headphone outputs for lessons. Each piano brand offers a unique set of features, so make sure you look into these before you buy.

Want to know more? We answer common digital piano queries in our digital piano FAQ.

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Best For Intermediate Players: Yamaha P515

The P515 is the latest upright variant in Yamahas P-series. It comes as an upgraded version of the P-255, which was a replacement of the previous P-115 and P-125.

The P515 comes with all the features found in its predecessor and a few extras to match the needs of todays players.

It has Virtual Resonance Modeling , which actually reproduces the interaction between the strings and the keys to deliver the same depth and realistic overtones.

The P515 comes with natural wood keys complete with a soft to touch synthetic ebony and ivory finish. The sleek design and perfect weighting give the keys a natural feel and incredible response.

In terms of sounds, the P515 comes with more than 500 recorded piano sound samples from CFX, Bosendorfer Imperial, and other hybrid pianos. It uses the Pure CF Sound Engine.

TheP515 supports Smart Pianist Application which helps you to get organized and access your sheet notes via your iOS mobile device. Overall, the sound and feel of P515 is great for a intermediate players.

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