Most people would like to have a real piano (upright piano or grand piano).
However, many people are unable to afford a piano due to issues such as price, space, and maintenance.
In such cases, digital pianos are more practical and inexpensive , so they are an option for beginners.
In particular, the evolution of electronic piano technology in recent years has been amazing, and although it is digital, it has a sound quality and resonance that can be mistaken for a real piano, and a touch that feels like playing a piano keyboard (using hammers) . I feel like I'm getting closer to the piano
There are also reasons why digital pianos are recommended over pianos for beginners.
You may have been very motivated before doing something, but once you start doing it, you may find that you don't enjoy it and it doesn't last long. Similarly, if you are a beginner or have no experience playing the piano, there is no guarantee that you will continue to enjoy playing the piano until you can play it to a certain extent. In that sense, keyboards are cheaper than pianos, and can be said to be a recommended instrument for beginners.
Another reason is that it is equipped with many functions to assist beginners in practicing, such as recording and metronome functions.
However, even though a keyboard is cheaper than a piano, there is no doubt that it will be a more expensive purchase for your household budget.
This time, we will introduce the minimum knowledge and points you need to know when choosing a keyboard to avoid wasting your money.
table of contents
4 points to check
I would like to introduce four points this time.
There are some points that I would like to discuss in more detail, but if there are too many, I will not be able to choose a product.
There is no point in introducing features that beginners will say "I don't care about", so I will introduce only four carefully selected features.
1. The keyboard must be full size.
A digital piano should also have the same number of keys as a real piano.
The so-called "ordinary piano" an 88-key keyboard and supports a 7-octave range.
The first point is to check the number of keys on the digital piano
If you use an electronic piano as a toy, it doesn't matter, and most beginner sheet music can be played with half this number of keys.
However, if you want to master the piano in the future or want to play a slightly difficult song, if the number of keys on your digital piano is different from that on a piano, you may end up making a wasted purchase. Masu.
We recommend that you hold a full-sized keyboard, not only to learn the songs (scores) you can play, but also to acquire the correct posture.
By intuitively learning how to extend your arms and use your strength when playing low and high notes, you will be able to cope easily when playing the piano in the future.
First, let's check the number of keys.
2. The keyboard should have weight, similar to a piano.
It is very important that the touch is realistic.
If you compare the keys of a children's keyboard and a grand piano (upright piano) at a music store, you will quickly see that piano keys are heavy, requiring some .
Keyboards don't have this weight.
Even if you practice with an unweighted keyboard, when you play the piano, the difference in weight will make your performance awkward. Therefore, practicing on the keyboard is not (although not at all) practicing on the piano.
The second point the keyboard has weight .
Manufacturers of digital pianos, including Yamaha and Kawai, strive to make the touch, which is weight, as close as possible to that of a real piano, and create various types of digital piano keyboards.
For example, Yamaha's ``GHS (Grade Hammer Standard) keyboard'' and ``NWX (Natural Wood X) keyboard'', and Kawai's ``GFS action keyboard''.
Grand pianos and upright pianos also have different touch characteristics depending on the type, so we won't discuss which keyboard is best here, but choose a digital piano that has a certain weight on touch, like these.
Playing on such a digital piano will help you develop your finger strength and technique, and you'll easily be able to adapt to playing a real piano.
3. Be aware of touch sensitivity
I wrote "touch sensitivity", but this refers to the strength, weakness, and speed with which you play the keyboard
to choose that recognizes these and produces sounds in response to your touch
Many, especially old, cheap digital pianos do not have this feature.
No matter how hard you press the keys or slowly and gently, the sound will be the same volume.
If you practice on a piano like this, you won't know how to add dynamics, and when you try playing on an upright piano or grand piano, you'll end up with a very poor tone.
This function has slightly different names depending on the manufacturer.
For example, Roland has a name such as ``Hammer Response Function.''
If you find an interesting digital piano, take a close look at its specifications and choose one that has a touch sensitivity recognition function and, if possible, one with high accuracy.
4. Does not have unnecessary functions
This may seem obvious at first glance, but it is very important.
The fourth point is to avoid using useless features as a criterion for choosing a digital piano
Electronic pianos don't necessarily have to be expensive.
Synthesizers can add various effects to your performance, and can play the sounds of many instruments.
Some of these features are also often included in especially expensive digital pianos.
For example, let's say there is a function that allows you to reproduce the sound of a flute on a keyboard.
Is this function necessary for your piano practice and enjoyment?
Do I also need a function that modulates (changes the pitch of the sound) and outputs a sound slightly higher than the note being played on the keyboard from the speakers?
If your reason for buying a keyboard is not to practice or play the piano, but to compose music or play solo in an orchestra, you will need these features.
However, if you are buying a digital piano as a replacement for a piano, these features are not necessary.
Especially for beginners, these additional features can be confusing and distracting
Of course, these features are reflected in the price of the digital piano.
In order to avoid wasting money, avoid purchasing a digital piano that has functions that are useless to you.
On the other hand, it is very convenient to have necessary accompanying functions, such as a metronome, so you may want to consider such functions as one of the criteria when choosing a device.
Finally
I was fortunate to have an upright piano that my aunt used to play at my parents' house, so I used that to practice when I first started.
However, now that I have moved away from my parents, I am using an electronic piano (Yamaha's Gravinova).
As I mentioned at the beginning, modern electronic pianos are a good reproduction of a piano.
Sometimes I go home and play the upright piano, and I can do it without feeling any discomfort at all.
If you carefully understand this checklist and choose a digital piano, you should be able to perform just as well as you would on a real piano.
The first practice may be difficult and not fun, but you will find yourself able to play a variety of songs in the future.
Please enjoy your piano life.

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