Recommendations for Digital Piano with weighted keys

[Donna J.]

Hi All!

 

My 15yo starts piano lessons soon and I need to buy a digital piano with weighted keys for her to practice on at home.

What are your recommendations for a digital piano with weighted keys? :bigear:

 

TIA, :)

Donna

[JudoMom]

I'm really happy with our Yamaha Clavinova.

[kmp]

I'm really happy with our Yamaha Clavinova.

 

We absolutely love our Yamaha. With no musical background we had two pianists help with this selection and could not be happier. I love that I can move it easily and it doesn't need to be tuned. My children have no problem going back and forth on this piano and the grand piano they take lessons on.

[emubird]

Do you think you need a full piano, or will a smaller keyboard work? There are big differences in price, and a beginner may not need the full 88 keys. You might ask the teacher what they recommend.

 

These are a couple review/advice pages I ran into while searching for full digital pianos:

 

http://www.allaboutpianos.com/digitalfaq.html

http://www.ukpianos.co.uk/digital-pianos-which-brand-should-i-buy.html

http://www.read-and-play-piano.com/kawai-digital-piano.html

 

I'm not sure how old these reviews are (whether these models are still available or if the issues noted are still a problem) but they gave me some good points to think about.

 

My SIL has a Clavinova. She likes it, but claims the tuning of the fifths gives her a headache. I haven't played one long enough to understand what she's talking about. She uses it to teach piano. There are a lot of gimmicks on the Clavinova that really impress her students, so they often prefer to play that over her grand piano. Despite that, she does seem to think it's a good piano.

 

I also read another review that recommended Kawai over Yamaha, but I'm having trouble finding that one.

 

We also have a weighted key piano keyboard that isn't nearly as expensive as the full digital pianos. It has fewer than 88 keys, but for a beginner, those really aren't needed. I think we paid about 150 dollars new for it. I can't remember the brand, but it does have weighted keys. It's perfectly functional and probably great for a beginner. I actually like playing it. Does your teacher have an opinion on what would be best? (My only advice would be to make sure you can position the keyboard at the right height --either with a purchased stand, or with a table that happens to be the right height. You might need your teacher's advice for that.)

 

If you want to order one online, I've had good luck with Musician's Friend -- although for items that were considerably cheaper. Sometimes they have used instruments, which might be worth looking into. Alternatively, for the short run, you might be able to find a cheap -- or free-- upright acoustic piano. (My neighbor was just giving one away last week.) The digital piano would likely be a lot more rewarding to play than a dead acoustic piano, but for a beginner, for awhile, a crummy acoustic might be just fine. (Of course, if you had to pay to move it and tune it, you might be better off, financially, with the digital piano.)

 

I'd be wary of buying an acoustic instrument online without being able to try it, but a digital instrument might not be as dicey.

Edited August 17, 2011 by emubird

[Matryoshka]

We also have a Yamaha. It's not a Clarinova; it was a less-expensive model - the model is P85. But it is a true digital piano with full 88-key keyboard and weighted keys, and it sounds very nice. It has an optional furniture-like stand (pictured in that link) which makes it nice and stable.

[emubird]

Also this thread had some advice and links:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=201657

 

 

 

 

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/6/1/Digital%20Pianos%20-%20Synths%20&%20.html

 

http://www.pianobuyer.com/

[Storm Bay]

Well, how serious do you want to be? Yamaha used to have some good digital pianos, but they now only make their lower lines. I recently bought a digital piano and looked at a number of different makes and models. I strongly recommend getting a Roland. There are a variety of levels of lines. If you're serious and can spend the money, get a HP 307. If you can't spend that much, the HP 305 is fine.

 

If that's too much for you and you're not sure how serious you want to be, get a Roland with a Supernatural sound engine. Sweetwater has a couple of these and although I haven't bought a digital piano from them, I've found them to be a good company to buy from. It's often cheaper to buy this way.

 

Weighted keys alone aren't all that you need. I'd be sure to get the full 88 keys because there is a lot of visual learning involved and it's a lot easier to switch to a smaller keyboard than it is to go the other way.

 

I am a piano teacher, so have a bias, but I also know a lot of musicians, etc, and if you want to keep your musical doors open this is what I recommend for piano lessons.

[bbkaren]

I'd say the full board of 88 keys is actually more important than the weighted keys, if money's a consideration...

[clementine]

We have had a Roland for over 15 years. Love it & have no complaints. I would agree with getting a full keyboard along with the weighted keys if possible.

[flyingiguana]

Well, how serious do you want to be? Yamaha used to have some good digital pianos, but they now only make their lower lines.

 

Are the Clavinovas "lower" then? The price seems to indicate otherwise.

 

Also, my quick check of prices at Sweetwater and the Guitar Center suggested that the prices tended to be better at the Guitar Center. (I also ran into a 10,000 dollar Yamaha digital piano at Sweetwater.)

Edited August 18, 2011 by flyingiguana

[Matryoshka]

A

Also, my quick check of prices at Sweetwater and the Guitar Center suggested that the prices tended to be better at the Guitar Center. (I also ran into a 10,000 dollar Yamaha digital piano at Sweetwater.)

 

We were able to get our Yamaha P85 for around $1000 on sale at Guitar Center. It is our second piano (we have a real piano as well) - we got it so both our pianists could practice at the same time. Our piano teacher was happy with our purchase. The sound is sampled from real pianos, not digitally re-created.

[Storm Bay]

I'd say the full board of 88 keys is actually more important than the weighted keys, if money's a consideration...

Perhaps, but I'd consider both equally important. I went beyond that and bought a piano where the lower register keys are weighted more heavily than those of the higher register (like an acoustic piano) and which you can actually play the key silently, etc, but sadly not the model I really wanted which was much better.

 

Ther are many, many features that can make a digital piano closer to playing an acoustic piano which helps if you practice on a digital and perform on an acoustic, but there's no digital piano out there that can totally recreate what you can do on a good acoustic piano. However, price tends to get in the way, but buying an expensive digital piano (and yes, they can run into the 5 digits) doesn't necessarily mean you're getting the best or more for your playing if you're paying also for a fancy case, a name, etc.

 

Are the Clavinovas "lower" then? The price seems to indicate otherwise.

 

Also, my quick check of prices at Sweetwater and the Guitar Center suggested that the prices tended to be better at the Guitar Center. (I also ran into a 10,000 dollar Yamaha digital piano at Sweetwater.)

That may be; I haven't checked the Guitar Center.

When I was shopping I called Yamaha but they didn't seem to have a piano that had everything I was looking for which is a lot more than most beginners are looking for. I didn't play one, so can't compare. Many use real piano samples at that price range, and it is always better to have that unless the speakers are bad. I do know that the Yamaha I had been interested in a few years ago has been discontinued.

 

Bear in mind that you're paying for the casing, too. I tried an expensive piano that was not very good but that had a beautiful casing (it was a Galileo Aria). The speakers were the big problem; there was a lot of hissing.

 

 

We were able to get our Yamaha P85 for around $1000 on sale at Guitar Center. It is our second piano (we have a real piano as well) - we got it so both our pianists could practice at the same time. Our piano teacher was happy with our purchase. The sound is sampled from real pianos, not digitally re-created.

Yes, the Roland one I bought is the same way (not digitally recreated) as was my old digital piano which is no longer made and wasn't a Roland (back before Yamaha made any decent digital pianos.) Speaker quality makes a huge difference, too, as I've heard some pianos with sound sampled from real pianos that sounded awful.

 

I don't live in the best area to buy digital pianos and the one I bought you have to buy at a piano store; it's not sold in all music stores. I got the Roland HP 205 but the 207 has a much better sound.

 

There were no stores in reasonable driving distance with any Yamaha that I liked, so this may be better than I am aware of after my call and what I saw. If I saw a Clavinova it wasn't one I liked; different models are going to play differently.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Karin

[FourOaks]

So how do you lovely ladies feel about purchasing used digital pianos?

 

We have been interested for awhile now, but have no knowledge in this area, so this thread has been immensely helpful. Is it recommended to try to get a used one off of Craigslist, or even in a music/piano store?

 

I have a friend who owns one and whose family owned a music store all her life. She told me that the problem with purchasing used is that there could possibly have been some electrical damage from a power surge or lightning just like any other electronic devise, but the piano could possibly still play but have an underlying problem that you would not know about until it was too late.

[HollyDay]

We have had a Roland for over 15 years. Love it & have no complaints. I would agree with getting a full keyboard along with the weighted keys if possible.

 

We've had ours about 10 years and love it. I don't know the model, but it has a pedal and weighted keys.

[Shawn On the Border]

We have a Casio Privia, and my sons have taken piano for a few years. The only problem they have complained of is that there is only one pedal. I have noticed that the piano moves back and forth when they play. That would drive me crazy, but they don't seem to mind. Other than that, the sound is very good.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We also have a Casio. It was really the only choice we has when the kids started piano.

Full keyboard, weighted keys, and I think sampled tones for the notes.

 

Best for us was that it fit in our little apartment in Japan.

I think I paid $650.

 

It was a better option than trying to get to the community center everyday to use an upright piano. And had better sound than several of those pianos anyway, especially the one that sounded like a reject from an old west saloon.

[catz]

We also have a Casio. It was really the only choice we has when the kids started piano.

Full keyboard, weighted keys, and I think sampled tones for the notes.

 

Best for us was that it fit in our little apartment in Japan.

I think I paid $650.

 

It was a better option than trying to get to the community center everyday to use an upright piano. And had better sound than several of those pianos anyway, especially the one that sounded like a reject from an old west saloon.

 

We have a Casio that was in that price range too - full 88, weighted keys. We mostly use it as a traveling piano here (we have an acoustic too and a relatively serious piano student). But we've been happy with it.

[Susie in CA]

We recently upgraded to a Kawai. It is digital, has all the keys, and three pedals. We love it.

 

Susie

[kmp]

So how do you lovely ladies feel about purchasing used digital pianos?

 

 

 

We bought our Yamaha, which was the floor model, from a local music store. We saved almost $1000 on it and haven't had a problem with it at all. We did have our piano teacher check it out for us. We've had it for almost 3 years.