Hazelt"nut" Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 My dd7 is wanting to take piano lessons. We do not have a piano and could probably only afford one of the digital pianos with the touch sensitivity. Could she learn on such an instrument? I really hate to tell her no to piano just because we can't purchase a real piano right now. Any insights would be appreciated. Sheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 We were in a similar boat, purchased the digital piano, kids learned to play and used it for 3 years. Then my Dad told me I could move my childhood baby grand piano to my home. It took them some time to adjust to the baby grand and in fact the one son never did take to playing on it. They no longer play either, but I have taken up playing the piano again. Gee, do you live close to DE cause my digital sure could go to a new home for a small fee. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoplayer Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 My dd7 is wanting to take piano lessons. We do not have a piano and could probably only afford one of the digital pianos with the touch sensitivity. Could she learn on such an instrument? I really hate to tell her no to piano just because we can't purchase a real piano right now. Any insights would be appreciated. Sheryl Yes, she can start learning on a digital piano. She will learn much better if you get one of the digital pianos with touch-sensitive keys. If you think that she is likely to continue lessons, I also recommend a full-sized keyboard. If your dd continues to practice and become advanced, at some point you will want an acoustic piano. However, a good digital piano will take her through several years of beginning practice. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 According to the concert pianist down the street, absolutely not. According to most piano teachers I know, including ours - we don't take lessons from Clenchy Concert Pianist Lady, she frightens me - you should buy the best you can afford, even a digital keyboard. To be perfectly frank, my 7 year old has been taking lessons for nearly a year and there is really nothing that she has learned that wouldn't function exactly the same way on a digital like you described. In our current book, there's some pedal work near the end, but that's it, and I don't know digital pianos well enough to know anything about that function. As long as it's a standard 88 keyboard (and not, for instance, a spinet keyboard with 49 keys) I wouldn't think it would be any different for at least the first several years, as she learns to read music and coordinate her hands. If she plays for several years and moves into a stringed piano, she will learn the nuances of that while playing it, which would be true for moving between different instruments anyway. I will say this, however: we bought our piano from Craig's List. It's a 110 year old Kohler & Chase concert upright and it was really inexpensive - about the same price as a Casio freestanding digital. So I wouldn't necessarily write off being able to find a piano to fit your family and budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulubelle Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 We just had my ds 6 begin in Sept. without a real piano. The school he takes it at is a group class on digital. Though they have a real one in the class. We bought a digital that plugs into the apple and it works just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJH Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Our piano teacher told us a 61 key keyboard was fine for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Have you priced pianos? "The" piano store in Dallas has quite an assortment of quality used pianos and they are very reasonable. We went ahead with a new one and plan on trading it in next year for a more expensive one. My sister has one of the best digital pianos made and they spent more on that than we did on our piano. Of course, they have a concert grand in their living room, too. :) And try craigslist, too, like a pp mentioned. Either way you decide to go, though, I would at least visit a piano store and get all the info you can on pitch, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzf242 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 It might not be so hard to find a reasonably priced piano. I would look on Freecycle, Craigslist, or the local paper want ads. Also, if you can just put the word out with people you know, you may be able to find a nice piano for a couple of hundred dollars -- or free. I got a really nice upright at an estate auction for $200. It was about 90 years old at the time. It stayed it tune well, sounded great, and had a beautiful finish. I gave it to our neighbor about 10 years ago when we were remodeling, and they are still using it. Good luck. Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I will add to those who say you should look into buying a used piano from Craigslist or in the paper. This time last year I was drooling over my MIL's beautiful old-fashioned oak piano (for the millionth time but now with a few littles who would really benefit from us owning one of our own). She mentioned how she had picked it up 20 years ago for less than $200 and I thought sure, sure. When I got home, I looked in our newspaper's classified section and Craigslist for our town and the two big cities one hour north and one hour south. Within about half an hour, I found 17 pianos from free to $450, with most falling in the $200 range. You need a truck and a few really strong men but they're definitely more affordable than I thought. When I can get my homeschool into its own room and out of the dining room, I'll be looking again and getting a piano for the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 (edited) We bought a Casio -- full size, weighted keys, etc. Both dc took piano lessons and practiced at home on the Casio. ER is a now a music major in college, with weekly piano lessons. The digital piano did not hurt him in any way. In fact, on the first day of ER's college piano class, his piano professor moved him into the next higher level piano class after hearing him play. Edited January 19, 2009 by ereks mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 Yes, yes, yes. In fact, some universities have good digital pianos for their music students. Used pianos--BUYER BEWARE!!!!! I would ONLY buy a used piano if I took an expert piano technician with me to assess the inside of the piano. Many old pianos are no longer able to stay in tune due to warped sound boards, etc. It's more important for a child to start off with a piano that is in tune due to the development of the ear than it is to have an acoustic piano (ie bad used pianos are no good, and old pianos are usually bad, especially if they're small or spinnets). There are great differences in the qualities of digital pianos, and I personally wouldn't buy most of them, but I want the harmonics, etc that the salesman all tell you most people cannot hear the difference. But I can as I grew up playing on an acoustic piano. Touch sensitive, full sized, WEIGHTED, 88 keys are the most important elements, though. Touch sensitive allows students to learn dynamics, full sized keys allow proper motor development (aka feel), weighted are important for strength and 88 because you learn to find keys based on what the whole keyboard looks like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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