Choosing a keyboard that is comfortable and inspiring to play is essential to help you develop properly as a piano player. So here are a few tips to help you pick a keyboard that’s right for you! You can learn piano on anything from a full-sized grand to a battery-operated plastic keyboard, but there are definitely some options that are better than others.
First, let’s talk about size. Since keyboards come in all shapes and sizes, it can be hard to determine what your priorities should be as far as keyboard sizes go. Naturally, if you have a smaller living space then you’re likely going to want a smaller instrument to accommodate your smaller living space.
After you decide how much space you have for your piano, you’ll have to consider whether you want an acoustic piano or an electric piano. Naturally, if you want the full piano experience, an acoustic piano is the way to go. They provide the most accurate keyboard action, offer the smoothest dynamic range, and obviously sound 100% like the real thing.
The downside with acoustic pianos is they are big, heavy, loud, and require regular tuning to sound best. So if you find yourself with limited or shared space, it might not be best to go with an acoustic piano.
If you find yourself looking at electric pianos, you’ll find they have a lot of features and advantages that you can’t find in a traditional acoustic. You can plug in headphones, control the volume, and they tend to be a lot more portable, so you can move it around different places.
A simple Google search online will show you countless options for keyboards in all price ranges, so you have plenty of options to choose from. The one feature that you must make sure your keyboard has is full-size keys. Some cheaper keyboards and specialized synths make use with a physically smaller key size for the keyboard.
The trouble with learning on a smaller keyboard is it reinforces muscle memory for keyboards of reduced size. So you’ll become used to playing chords and scales in this physically smaller form and when it comes time to switch over to a better full-size piano you’ll find that you have to relearn a lot of basic finger and hand movements.
Another thing that’s really important is touch sensitivity. Touch sensitivity refers to how the note sounds depending on how hard you hit that key. Some of the cheaper keyboards out there have no touch sensitivity, which is a big nono if you’re looking to learn dynamics on the piano.
So there you have it. Make sure that the keys of your piano are fully sized and touch-sensitive if you want to give yourself the best learning experience.
The price ranges for a keyboard can vary enormously. It’s always important to find an instrument within your budget, so make your purchase accordingly!
Purchased your first keyboard? Get started with these beginner piano lessons!
► Introduction To Piano Scales
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Jordan Leibel is passionate about songwriting, improvisation, and helping you become a creative musician! He’s worked as a composer for film, commercial, and theatre projects as well as a session musician and producer for recording work.
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