New piano students looking to purchase a keyboard or digital piano may become overwhelmed by the wide variety of options. Keyboards and digital pianos come in an array of shapes, sizes, capabilities, and prices. So what should you look for when purchasing a keyboard?

Number of Keys

Standard pianos have 88 keys and are typically about 5 feet wide. While many apartments in and around Boston are on the smaller side, getting a keyboard containing all 88 keys is critical for developing skills on the piano. If space and budget are restricted, keyboard manufacturers produce instruments with fewer keys. Any keyboard with less than a five-octave range (about 60 keys) will stunt development of the fundamentals. The more keys, the better!

Functionality

Most keyboards today come loaded with many different instrument sounds and tools like a built-in metronome, the ability to record, and even instructional programs. While beginner piano students may not use some of the more advanced features right away, having access to other sounds can inspire new ideas and keep practicing fun.

Students will need to use different sounds to authentically play different styles of music, too. And recording yourself is an extremely valuable practice tool that allows for immediate objective feedback of your own playing.

Weighted Keys

If you’ve ever played on a real piano, each key takes a bit of force to make a sound. The resistance is due to the mechanism inside the piano; pressing a key triggers a small hammer that strikes a wire, producing a note. Since keyboards don’t have any moving internal parts, their keys naturally have no resistance. Instead, that resistance is simulated with springs. Practicing on a keyboard with weighted keys will allow piano students to easily switch between playing on an actual piano and playing on an electronic keyboard. The resistance in the keys also strengthens the hand muscles used for playing piano and instills proper technique. Keyboards and digital pianos without weighted keys feel more like a novelty than an actual musical instrument.

Touch Sensitivity

On a real piano, the harder you press a key, the louder the resulting sound. Very low-end, inexpensive electronic keyboards don’t possess that ability. No matter how hard you press a key, you get only one volume. A keyboard with a range of sensitivity is a must for new piano students since all styles of music require a range of dynamic expression. Most keyboards and digital pianos feature touch sensitivity to some degree, but more expensive models will mimic the feel of an acoustic piano more accurately.

Sustain Pedal

Playing piano also requires the use of foot pedals. While acoustic pianos have three pedals, keyboards typically use only an electronic sustain pedal to mimic the feel of a piano’s.

While practically all keyboards are compatible with a sustain pedal (usually plugged in the back), many keyboards do not include one and require the consumer to purchase a pedal separately. Learning piano requires coordinating your feet with your hands so a foot pedal is a necessity.

Other Perks of Digital Pianos

In addition to costing less and taking up less space than an acoustic piano, digital pianos and keyboards never go out of tune. On an acoustic piano, the wires gradually fall out of tune through use and changes in the instrument’s environment. Tuning a piano requires the skill of a trained piano tuner, which doesn’t come cheap. And keyboards allow students to plug in headphones so practice and playing can happen without disturbing anyone nearby.

Overall, ensuring a digital piano or keyboard contains all of the features listed above will get you well on your way toward learning to play music. Once you have a keyboard, you can begin taking lessons in your home right away with one of our Loudlands Music Lab instructors!

What to Know When Purchasing a Keyboard or Digital Piano