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Piano or Keyboard? Please help


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We want to get a piano or a very good keyboard for the kids for Christmas. I have no idea where to start looking. If I check the local ads, how do I know what a good brand is?

 

They are 9 and 10 and I see us using it for years to come. If we look for a used piano what do we look for?

 

Would a keyboard have more options?

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A lot of piano teachers will not teach kids who don't have a piano at home. Most keyboards do not feel the same to play, and some teachers will not even teach kids who have one that is designed to feel more "piano-like" with weighted keys.

 

If you do decide to buy a piano, I'd recommend seeing if your library has The Piano Book. It has a lot of information about pianos. I found it really helpful before we bought one because I really knew nothing about what to look for.

http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Book-Buying-Owning-Used/dp/1929145012/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288739431&sr=8-1

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If you do decide to buy a piano, I'd recommend seeing if your library has The Piano Book. It has a lot of information about pianos. I found it really helpful before we bought one because I really knew nothing about what to look for.

http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Book-Buying-Owning-Used/dp/1929145012/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288739431&sr=8-1

 

The latest edition of this book is FREE online at pianobuyer.com.

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DH is a musician so we have both. The piano is what he prefers, but the keyboard is more versatile. He taught piano lessons for several years and he didn't seem to mind students only having a keyboard.

If you plan on taking piano very seriously, then a real instrument is probably a must. If you're looking for general enjoyment and enrichment, I think a good keyboard would be great. They're easier to move, no tuning, headphone options, multiple sounds, and with newer models you can plug them into your computer and record music. Lots of plusses! The minus? It's not a real piano, and there's just no substitute for the real thing sometimes.

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Thank you to all.

 

WE have an organ that they have been practising on for two years and then they play on her piano when they play for her, so it seems to have worked, so I doubt she would mind what we get. Any more recommendations. Any one brand someone has that they love?

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Sadly, there are SOO many people that have pianos sitting in their houses for years, untuned and unused.

 

I always suggest to people that you get the word around as much as possible that you are looking to buy a used piano and that you will be responsible for moving it out. I've heard this is the key that makes people take notice.

 

Incidently, we have a Yamaha YDP Digital Grand, and we hardly ever play our upright anymore -- we prefer the Yamaha.

 

If you get an acoustic, please keep it tuned. First, not doing so can cause permanent damage. Also ... once I was at a friend's house and started goofing around on their piano. It was horribly out of tune, and they said they never noticed. What was so sad to me was that their child had been taking private lessons for years. This was what she practiced on??'

 

Good luck!

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I see us going the digital route. First we've had two offers for pianos. DH refused both because he doesn't trust taking other peoples used stuff. He thinks it will be junk:001_huh:. He believes in getting new, quality in things that you will be using for long time.

 

So a used piano is out of the question. Since they are so expensive new, I can see him getting a new Yamaha.

 

Thanks so much everyone.

 

I'm going to look through our local Craigslist, just to see if I can find something that looks good enough to show him.:lol:

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I see us going the digital route. First we've had two offers for pianos. DH refused both because he doesn't trust taking other peoples used stuff. He thinks it will be junk:001_huh:. He believes in getting new, quality in things that you will be using for long time.

 

So a used piano is out of the question. Since they are so expensive new, I can see him getting a new Yamaha.

 

Thanks so much everyone.

 

I'm going to look through our local Craigslist, just to see if I can find something that looks good enough to show him.:lol:

 

I'm so pleased with our Yamaha. We have a Clavinova.

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We have a Yamaha digital and are very happy with it. I would recommend going to a music store in your area and talking to a salesperson who plays piano. We told the salesperson what we were looking for, and he was able to tell us very specifically the pros and cons of each model. We chose the Yamaha because of the weighted keys, as it feels like playing a real piano. Even if you don't buy a piano from the shop, you have a good idea of what brands to look for used.

 

Cat

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I would recommend going to a music store in your area and talking to a salesperson who plays piano. We told the salesperson what we were looking for, and he was able to tell us very specifically the pros and cons of each model. We chose the Yamaha because of the weighted keys, as it feels like playing a real piano. Even if you don't buy a piano from the shop, you have a good idea of what brands to look for used.

 

Cat

:iagree: Shop around. We also found that different salespeople told us different things at different shops (they all seemed to know each other though).

 

Also, another vote for The Piano Book!!

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We have a Yamaha YPG-635 keyboard which we bought from a music store.

 

We later found out that the exact same digital keyboard can be bought at Walmart under the model DGX-630. It costs less money too.

 

My ds7 loves this keyboard. He uses the 'pitch bend' feature to make his songs sound 'different'.

 

IMO a keyboard can help Some kids fall in love with music. My ds especially loves to practice his assignments and also to make his own music. I think that the smaller size of a keyboard compared to a piano is also an advantage for kids.

 

My ds piano teacher doesn't mind that we don't have a real piano at home. We're not in it for competitions, more for fostering creativity.

 

Most likey we will be buying a real piano in the next few years, if ds is still interested.

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I love real pianos but dh bought me an electric one and it is fantastic- tuned to a grand piano so the sound is great. And it never needs tuning.

I also have a keyboard with weighted keys, so it plays like a piano. You need the weighted keys otherwise you cannot put feeling into the music (because how hard you press doesnt make any difference on a non weighted key keyboard).

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It's been awhile since I looked for digital pianos but I think you should look into 88 key digital piano, weighted hammer action key, and 64 note polyphony. You can get console styles that look similiar to regular piano, or just the body (looks like your basic keyboard).

 

Yes, my children prefer a real piano, but we don't have room for a real one, dh won't move a real one, and we have other financial needs at this time, so piano tuning isn't in our budget.

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Thanks so much. I have a feeling we should have invested looong ago. I had no idea such marvelous options were available to us!

 

Thankfully they still haven't grown to hate it even though they had to practise on an old organ. :tongue_smilie:

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