Piano Keyboards

**John86** · 01-06-2008, 21:48

Hey,
I'm looking to buy a piano keyboard and saw this one:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

Does anyone have an opinion on if this would be a good keyboard to learn piano?
It only has 61 keys so I was skeptical, but its the cheapest quality one I can find.

**Gregoshi** · 01-06-2008, 22:27

Hiji, do you have anywhere near you where you can look, hear and feel some keyboards side by side? I'm no musician (unfortunately) but we went through this very exercise for my daughter last Christmas. She taught herself how to play piano but wanted to learn more with a keyboard she could put in her room.

When we were looking, there was a difference between the $100 tier, $200 tier and higher tiers of keyboards: feel of the keys, the sound quality, and features (learning mode, recording, built-in songs, sustain pedal, etc.). The one you linked I'd consider a $200 tier (list price). I no longer recall the details, but the Yamaha's sounded real nice (full, rich sound) and the Casio's almost as good. We eventually went with a Casio ($200 tier) keyboard because it had better features than the Yamaha for what my daughter planned to do with it (USB hook up to computer for recording). The store we purchased it from offered a free 1 year upgrade to a better model deducting the full price we paid for the original keyboard if our daughter decided that she needed a better keyboard. That was a nice little "insurance" policy.

I'm sure some of the real musican here will have some better advice for you though.

**John86** · 01-06-2008, 23:16

Originally Posted by Gregoshi

Hiji, do you have anywhere near you where you can look, hear and feel some keyboards side by side?

Theres only a guitar store around, thats why I'm asking here.

**Mouzafphaerre** · 01-06-2008, 23:42

.
Bro recommends Yamaha NP30. It's a professional gear though. (They sell that stuff online.)

I can say anything from Yamaha, Roland, Korg would do. What exactly will your use be? Playing, midi tracking, arranging?
.

**John86** · 01-07-2008, 00:28

Originally Posted by Mouzafphaerre

What exactly will your use be? Playing, midi tracking, arranging?

Until I acquire enough funds to buy a good synth, I just plan on learning to play Piano. The one you showed me looks like what I want.. Just not in my price range. Will 61 keys do?

**Beirut** · 01-07-2008, 05:22

Doesn't matter how many keys it has as long as it's yours, you can afford it, and you enjoy it. If you have fun with it, you'll save up and buy a better one. Then another better one. Over and over.

That's what we keyboardists do.

**Mouzafphaerre** · 01-07-2008, 05:45

.
Aye.

Owning a lower end one is surely better than owning none.
.

**Bijo** · 01-07-2008, 20:07

If you want to learn the piano, the best would probably be to have a real piano (smallish or grand). But I see no reason either why such an electric apparatus wouldn't cut it for a while. Ultimately, it's about what you learn and as it has been said you will get more in the future if you really want.

I remember I started learning piano on this old primitive keyboard (which I still have by the way). Doesn't go that low and not that high either. But man.... the joy I had with this machine

From what I see it seems you must ask the following question: are you going to be about serious piano-playing OR it is only synthesizers and for what exact purpose? Do you want to record? If you're going to be making music using computers (and MIDI) superior piano playing skills aren't always needed.

For now I'd just say "Get that machine you have in mind and start learning!"