Congratulations! If you are reading this, it means you have made the most exciting decision to learn the art of playing the piano! I still remember that day, which for me happened decades ago, and it has completely changed my life!
In over 20 years of teaching piano I have helped hundreds of my students find an instrument that they loved and enjoyed playing on for years to come. While everyone's budget and space availability at home vary greatly from family to family, there are many of the same questions I recieve about purchasing an instrument from new students every year.
I have put together a comprehensive guide to purchasing an instrument, which I hope will answer all of your questions about this exciting process and help guide you towards a piano that will be the best fit for your family and make learning to play a truly joyful process that it should be!
DO I NEED A PIANO TO PRACTICE ON AT HOME IF I AM OR MY CHILD IS A BEGINNER?
Whether it is you, who will be taking lessons, or your child, or any other family member, the first step on the path to learning how to play the piano is getting an instrument to practice on at home. After all, playing the piano is a motor skill which requires building muscle memory, and while you might understand exactly how to play piano in theory, the actual result cannot be accomplished without regular, preferably daily, practice at home.
Some might think that a beginner does not require a high quality or even a full size instrument, but to the contrary, having a proper instrument from the very first lesson directly correlates with positive outcomes and successfully learning to play. Not having a suitable instrument to practice on at home typically results in quitting soon after starting lessons, as the student isn't able to practice properly and therefore isn't making progress. Not being able to properly practice at home will make a student feel like learning piano is much more difficult that it should be.
Just like you wouldn't be practicing horseback riding on a wooden toy horse, learning to play the piano will require a real, full size piano. What exactly is a full size piano, I will explain below.
ACOUSTIC PIANO VS KEYBOARD VS DIGITAL PIANO
In the process of shopping for a piano, many will come across the different options that are available to you. There are acoustic pianos, keyboards and digital pianos and they are not all the same.
WHAT IS AN ACOUSTIC PIANO?
An acoustic piano is always going to be preferable to any other kind of piano.
It is a mechanical piano, made out of wood. While the piano sizes can vary from spinet, upright or varying sizes of the grand piano, the functionality of the piano does not change with its size.
The size of the acoustic piano will only largely affect its volume. Therefore, the size is taken into consideration based on the space the piano is going into, i.e, a concert hall will need the largest concert grand piano as it will be the loudest instrument for the space.
An acoustic piano will always have 88 keys and two or three foot pedals. It will always have touch sensitivity, which means that dynamics (how loud or how soft the sound is) will depend on how hard you press the key. Those functions are essential for learning to play the piano. In fact, using the full range of the keyboard and learning to play with dynamics is something a piano student learns on their very first lesson.
Because there is a mechanical process to producing a sound on the piano (when you press a key with your finger a hammer hits the strings), there is a certain resistance you feel when you press the keys while playing on an acoustic piano. The weight of the piano keys will vary a bit from piano to piano and can even be something that, to a degree, could be adjusted by a piano technician on an existing piano. Having a weighted keyboard is an important requirement to playing the piano because it builds proper playing technique. Not having any weight to the keys when playing, will result in not developing the proper feeling of the keyboard and will greatly hinder the student's ability to play.
WHAT IS A DIGITAL PIANO?
It’s important to know that if you are taking piano lessons you are shopping for a digital piano and NOT a keyboard. I know these words are often used interchangeably, but they don't mean the same thing. They are actually two different things and each have a different purpose.
A digital piano is exaclty what the name suggests- a digital version of the acoustic (mechanical) piano. Instead of having strings and hammers inside and using a mechanical process to accomplish making a sound, there is a computer chip inside and all of the sounds are pre-recorded.
All of the aspects of playing the piano are digital. There is a digital process to produce a sound when you hit a key and the touch sensitivity and the weight of the keyboard that mimicks an acoustic instrument is good enough that it can be used to actually play and perform even the most advanced piano pieces. There have been many technological advancements in the recent years that make a good digital piano very close in quality to an acoustic instrument.
WHAT IS A KEYBOARD?
If I had a penny for every time a student or parent has showed me a picture or link to a keyboard when shopping for a piano I could probably retire from teaching, effective immediately. There are so many of these keyboards being sold for under $100 or given away for free, sadly many are very misleadingly even marketed for piano students. Maybe even you have a friend or a neighbor giving one of these away.
A keyboard is NOT suitable for playing piano or piano lessons, even for a complete beginner or a small child. Maybe the logic people have is that a small child has a small piano when starting, and upgrading to a bigger one as they get older. Unfortunately, that is the one instance where it doesn't work like that as a keyboard has a completely different purpose and functionality than a digital piano. It would be like getting a golf cart as a first car for a new driver and saying they can upgrade to an actual car when they are a good driver. They are both vehicles that drive, right?
A keyboard is a perfectly good instrument, with a completely different purpose. It is usually used as a synthesizer to mix and record beats. This will be more suitable if you are performing in a pop or rock band. Typically a keyboard will have less keys (48/64/72) and not the full 88 and they are NOT weighted or touch sensitive, because it is not used to actually play piano pieces. A keyboard is also typically played standing up. It’s what you see on stage with any pop singer and their band.
Now that you know the difference between an acoustic piano, digital piano and keyboard, I will be happy to share some tips on picking out acoustic and digital pianos.
HOW TO SELECT A DIGITAL PIANO?
The three criteria to look for in a digital piano:
It must have 88 keys
The keys have to be fully weighted
The keys have to be touch sensitive
BEST DIGITAL PIANO BRANDS:
The best keyboard brands out there are Yamaha or Casio. Both have a longstanding reputation of manufacturing high quality instruments. Yamaha is well known for both acoustic and digital pianos, while Casio only manufactures digital pianos.
BRANDS TO AVOID
On Amazon you will see some other brands that are cheaper, one of these is the Donner brand. You will see thousands of good reviews, but if you look at the bad ones you will see that they are coming from mostly professional musicians and they all seem to be saying the same thing.
The keys on those keyboards are only semi-weighted, while it says that they are weighted, and they also happen to be a little shorter than the typical key, which is a problem because all pianos should have exactly the same dimensions of their keys, regardless of the brand or manufacturer. The sound samples that are used for each music note are a tiny bit off in their pictch and tuning. And finally many people stated that they had problems with those keyboards losing their volume and the sound not working after a few months of use.
I would probably avoid purchasing those if you can.
Keep in mind that a digital piano is an first and foremost an electronic device, so you would do best to stick with a reputable brand that specializes in the manufacturing of these, has a good warranty and has been in the business for decades.
It's possible that with time the Donner brand will catch up with Yamaha and Casio and produce equivalent instruments, and I will be excted to share that with you, when that time comes.
I can speak for the quality of Casio and Yamaha keyboards as I have owned and still own several of them myself. One of those is almost 20 years old and another one is 17 years old and they are still as good as new. These keyboards have seen thousands of hours of practice and have traveled around the country.
PROS and CONS of a DIGITAL PIANO VS ACOUSTIC:
PROS of a DIGITAL PIANO:
1) It will not require tuning
2) It requires a little bit less space and is portable
CONS:
1) It will never feel exactly the same as an acoustic instrument
2) As an electronic device it will lose value once it is no longer new
3) As any electronic device it will not last nearly as long as an acoustic instrument, which can last over 100+ years
SHOPPING FOR AN ACOUSTIC PIANO
When shopping for an acoustic piano, you have so many options. Primarily I would look into any local piano store. If you are comfortable shopping online, I would strongly recommend going to Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist and try to buy a piano directly from someone. There are 1000's of pianos being sold every day, some for half or less of their value that you would see in the store. Many pianos are given away for free, due to people having to move.
One thing to keep in mind when purchasing an acoustic piano is that it will require professional movers. The cost of the movers will vary, but typically begins at about $350+ for a local move. Movers charge extra per stair as well as mileage that exceeds their limits.
When giving away a piano for free, many people will require for you to pay for the moving costs.
BEWARE OF A SCAM
Every once in a while I see a scam out there, where people are listing an insturment that is normally worth tens of thousands of dollars for free or nearly free, claming it was their deceased relative's who wanted it to go to a good home. If you ask to see it, they will say that the piano is in storage and that you are not able to come see it and that all you have to do is pay for the delivery of the piano to their movers. Please do not fall for this scam. Always go to see the piano in person before exchanging any money, and remember that it is the buyer that should be hiring piano movers themselves and it is not typically arranged by the seller. Also, a simple reverse image search on google can save you the time, as these scammers usually use a photo of an existing piano being sold by a piano store.
SHOPPING FOR A DIGITAL PIANO
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Affiliate I will receive a small commission if you purchase something using the links in this blog
Here are some examples of keyboards you could get that are proven to be great:
These are just some examples, and you definitely do not need to purchase from Amazon if you find a better price elsewhere.
Sometimes you see these sold used on Facebook marketplace. That is a great option too, but since this is an electronic device, as opposed to an acoustic piano, purchasing it used will mean there won’t be a warranty and you will never know how it was being used prior to you buying it or if it has any issues.
ADDITIONAL TIPS ON BUYING A DIGITAL PIANO:
Keep in mind that typically the cost of the digital piano is highly affected by the options that it has- such as extra sounds, beats, recording and connectivity capabilities etc. However, all of those extras are actually more distracting rather than helpful, as an acoustic piano has no such thing as it can only make one kind of sound, so you really do not need to pay any extra for that. In fact, the less it has the better.
DIGITAL PIANO STANDS:
Some of the digital pianos will come without a stand, in which case you would need to purchase that separately. You absolutely need to have a proper stand as you cannot place the piano on a countertop or table. There is a particular height that it has to be from the floor.
You can choose between having a x shaped stand which is portable vs the furniture like legs that get screwed on.
Here are some examples of an x shaped keyboard stand.
And here are the more permanent “legs” which have to be screwed on:
For Casio:
And for Yamaha
PIANO BENCH:
A proper place to sit at the correct height from the keyboard is essential for both acoustic and digital pianos . Unfortunately the piano and digital piano are a little higher than the height of a standard table, so a regular chair does not work.
Additionally, you want to avoid having to sit on anything that swivels, moves or rotates such as an office chair.
Something simple like this would be perfect to use.
PEDAL UPGRADE:
Typically the pedal that is included with the keyboard is one of those small square ones. If you would like to upgrade your pedal to one that is just like the one on an acoustic piano, then this is the perfect pedal for you
I am glad to provide all of this helpful information and I hope it has helped you with your journey to finding the perfect instrument for piano lessons
For further information, I have listed some piano materials that I like to use, such as method books, staff paper and holiday music books on my store front. Come check it out here! https://www.amazon.com/shop/margaritaloukachkina?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_aipsfmargaritaloukachkina_8SX4FMS7K0AMGJKCA2EB
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