What type of piano should I buy?

Question

I want piano lessons but I'm not sure what type of piano I should buy. Is an acoustic piano better than a keyboard?

Answer 1

If you are a beginner I would invested in getting a heavy weighed keys on the keyboard which is not hard to maintain. However, after becoming more advanced in playing the piano, then I would consider in purchasing an acoustic piano. This something you will enjoy playing. I enjoy playing both.

Answer 2

An acoustic piano is better than a keyboard because it will give you better control over your sound (not to mention feel and sound better). You will have to control the volume with your playing instead of turning it down, you will feel how the hammer hits the string, and you will hear how the sustain pedal affects the sound.

However

You absolutely can use a keyboard to learn and practice piano *as long as it uses fully weighted keys.* Also make sure that the keyboard comes with all 88 keys because some do not. There are actually many advantages to an electronic keyboard such as the ability to play while wearing headphones (so you can practice whenever), the amount of space it will take up compared to a real piano, the price of an acoustic, and the hassle and price of tuning am acoustic. Acoustic pianos are expensive to get and maintain.

So an acoustic is better but not necessary, and based on your situation you might just be better off with a keyboard.

Answer 3

I've had many pianos throughout the years. Most of my life, I practiced on a baby grand piano but I also have a lot of keyboards such as a Roland FP-30, Roland Juno-DS 61, a Korg SV-2s 73, and now a Nord Wave 2.

Roland and Yamaha make some great affordable keyboards that have weighted keys. I would suggest trying out a few and getting a feel for all of them. If you're willing to pay a few thousands, then I would suggest looking at the Nord Grand Piano which is top tier.

I've played on a few upright pianos that weren't so good but my baby grand piano will always be my favorite just because of how the keys feel and I am used to the weight. All of my keyboards did not feel so great unfortunately.

Answer 4

Everything that Emily said above is true. I'll emphasize that an acoustic piano responds to the pianist so much more than a digital piano (next best) or keyboard (third choice). It becomes an extension of the pianist's fingers, wrists, forearms, upper body, emotions and effort. There's nothing comparable!

And I'll add that there are some nice used pianos being sold very reasonably. Your piano teacher can guide you in this venture and will possibly suggest getting a tuner/technician's advice as well.

Yes, an acoustic piano needs to be tuned and they are heavy to move. If you buy a digital or keyboard, I guarantee that you'll be disappointed because of its shortcomings. The only exception would be if you're intending to play in a band and then the type of music you'd be playing lends itself to less beauty as a solo instrument and more toward beat and volume.

Answer 5

The short answer is yes, an acoustic piano is much higher quality than a keyboard, and will provide you with a more pleasurable experience. That being said, there is a huge variety in construction quality, sound quality, stability, the way the keys feel, in keyboards and digital pianos, so if you are able to afford the high priced digital piano, you will have a fairly good instrument to practice on. But digital pianos, even really nice ones, are never able to reproduce the nuances of sound made by acoustic pianos. I recommend going to pianobuyer.com and reading some of the articles that explain the differences between acoustic and digital pianos.