Community Chat

[Burnsite]

I still don't have one, but for years I have yearned for a Yamaha Clavinova, an electronic piano. They range from 1000 - 1900 dollars. Space is limited in my house and I do not have room for a grand piano. The Clavinovas look like stripped down upright pianos. They have very good weighted keys that feel like playing the real thing and they are full sized, all 88 keys. Some higher end keyboards are weighted and full-sized and very good, also.

You don't need a Steinway for a student pianist whose resolve may well fade, but they should be playing on something that will teach them how to play an acoustic keyboard.

If you have space in your house, my advice would be either to 1. rent a piano by the year or 2. see if a music school near you sells their practice pianos. That is a good deal if you can find it. There is a school near me that has a piano sale every year.

[puglet1]

If there's any inkling that your friend's children might become seriously interested or if it is your friend's desire for them to become serious about it, I'd either rent an upright or invest in a used upright. Mine is a 55-year-old Whitney, designed by Kimball. I've toyed with the idea of selling it, but honestly cannot part with it. It's still a beautiful piece of furniture.

I've also had an electronic keyboard for the past 10 years (Casio CTK-691) and love it! It cost me just a little over $100 at the time. It has 61 full-sized keys and can be set to any instrument in existence, plus numerous sound effects. It's a lot of fun and would certainly be something any child would enjoy. While the piano setting sounds almost spot on to a real piano, the touch is very definitely different from a piano and so would not be an ideal instrument on which to learn piano for serious career purposes. Here's the Casio. It's light and portable.

[Kalli]

Work got hectic and I'm just now checking back. Thanks, everyone, for the great advice. I'm going to pass this info on to her. I'm excited for them since summer's here and taking lessons is a good thing to accomplish during their time off.

Thank you again for all your advice and info!

-Kalli

[insomniac]

If you must, go with an electronic keyboard. But a real piano is of greater value for a serious student.

Avoid spinets--they're cheaper for a reason. Baby grands are also not worth the money.

The ideal piano is the modern-day upright: its tone is comparable to that of a grand. For most people, pianos in the console category are valuable purchases.

[sfnative]

On 6/11/2014 insomniac said:

If you must, go with an electronic keyboard. But a real piano is of greater value for a serious student.

Avoid spinets--they're cheaper for a reason. Baby grands are also not worth the money.

The ideal piano is the modern-day upright: its tone is comparable to that of a grand. For most people, pianos in the console category are valuable purchases.

Spinets are just fine for beginners. Plus, their footprint is smaller than other pianos. No need for concert hall quality for those just starting out.

[stevieb]

Without knowing your friend or her children and their level of commitment, it's hard to weigh in on whether or not the cost of a piano is sensible, but a used one makes a lot of since. Many schools, theaters and piano shops do sell quality used instruments at somewhat reasonable prices. An electronic keyboard is just that, an electronic keyboard. It's not a piano and it doesn't really sound like a piano...

[lulu2]

One of the biggest drawbacks with an electric keyboard is the feel of the keys. Our Grands started taking lessons and our DIL decided on a keyboard. The studio where they took lessons had pianos. Little hands have a tough enough time when starting out. The children had difficulty transitioning from the keyboard to piano. After a few months of frustration they bought a piano.

[Cakers1]

On 6/12/2014 lulu2 said:

One of the biggest drawbacks with an electric keyboard is the feel of the keys. Our Grands started taking lessons and our DIL decided on a keyboard. The studio where they took lessons had pianos. Little hands have a tough enough time when starting out. The children had difficulty transitioning from the keyboard to piano. After a few months of frustration they bought a piano.

Agree. Electric pianos are fine for today, but electric keyboards do not give the correct "feel" of playing the piano. The lack of foot pedals, for one.

I have a full size electric piano and love it.

eta: My electric piano "plays" as a regular piano. Only plugged in for all the extras that come with it.

[violann]

I'm about as conservative as a musician can be, and even I say "electronic keyboard". Even for a couple hundred dollars, there are high quality keyboards available with "piano touch". Perfectly fine for the first few years of instruction. I bought an 88 key electronic keyboard a dew years ago that had keyboard touch and a sustain pedal. If I can remember the brand name, I'll post it.