Is a Piano or a Keyboard Better for Beginners?

If you are interested in playing the piano, the first thing you need to figure out is what kind of piano you will be playing on.  You want to make sure that you start off on the right foot!

Is a piano or a keyboard better for beginners?  For beginners, a keyboard is an affordable option to begin piano and will provide you with what you need to get started.  Though most pianists find that an acoustic piano can be very rewarding to play on, and so eventually, most pianists will have a piano to play on as well.   

It’s worth taking a look at both a keyboard and a piano to see what works best for you.

 

 

Why a keyboard is good for beginners

 

If you are a beginner, then a keyboard has a lot of things going for you.  A keyboard is portable.  It is easy to put just about anywhere and can be moved around at your convenience.

Keyboards never go out of tune.  They are super easy to maintain.  While a piano needs constant maintenance and upkeep, a keyboard will never be tuned and requires way less maintenance, on average, than an acoustic piano.

A keyboard has the capability to hook up to technology.  The ability to hook your keyboard into apps is amazing and can potentially save you a lot of money and time trying to get the same benefits in other ways.  Playing around with the apps, recording your music, and composing are all made much easier when you can just hook it up to the web with a chord.

A keyboard is much more affordable than an acoustic piano.  You can get a really decent keyboard with all that you need for a much better price than an acoustic piano.  While you can get a cheap piano, that’s exactly what you will get and you will soon be spending money to get it tuned and kept up anyhow.

 

Why a piano is good for beginners

 

While a keyboard has quite a bit of benefits for the beginner, or frankly, for any pianist, it is also worth noting the benefits of an acoustic piano.

While a keyboard or digital piano has come a long ways in copying the sound of an acoustic piano, it still is just an imitation.  There are keyboards and digital pianos out there that actually do go through the same process of making sound as an acoustic piano, but those are expensive.

Because most digital and electric pianos are copies of the real deal, there is something that is just different about an acoustic piano.  While the keyboards can come pretty close to the real deal, they just aren’t the real deal.  You get a feel, a sound, and an experience on an acoustic piano that can’t be replaced.

But that feel, sound, and experience, is likely most appreciated by the pianist who is more advanced.  A pianist who appreciates all the nuances and immediate reactions of an acoustic piano will likely not be a beginner in piano.

So eventually, you may want an acoustic piano.  And it certainly doesn’t hurt to practice on one as often as possible.  If you can afford it, you may want to just go ahead and get that piano.  Just take a look at both options before you decide and figure out what would be best for you now and in the long term.

 

What you will definitely want to look for in a keyboard

 

Technology has come a long ways and what used to be, at one time, considered cheap and unwanted (keyboards), has now become more often than not — the instrument of choice for many pianists.  A good quality keyboard has so many benefits, you will likely find one in most pianists homes, no matter their skill level.

But you don’t want to end up with just any old keyboard.  It is really important to begin piano in the right way.  Keyboards definitely have to have certain qualities, or don’t even consider it.  As much as it can imitate a live action-hammer piano, the better.

A keyboard must have full-sized keys.  Absolutely, and without question, a keyboard must have full-sized keys.  The kid’s play keyboards often come with keys that have smaller sized keys. What I mean by this is that the key itself is skinnier than a normal piano key.

Smaller, skinnier keys present several problems.  One problem is that your hands will never quite fit on the keyboard like it ought to.  The fingers will become squished and will become trained in the wrong way.  Not a good way to start out on the piano.

Another issue with this is that the fingers won’t have the proper training for reaching for other keys.  When you play a chord, an interval, a scale, an arpeggio….practically any new key, the fingers won’t learn how far to stretch or where to put it because the keys are positioned the right distances from each other!

So make sure to always look for full-sized keys.  If your keyboard doesn’t have full-sized keys already, then get a new one.  It is definitely a requirement.

A keyboard must have 88 keys.  A piano has 88 keys.  And while you won’t be using all the keys at the beginning, you will use them and sooner than you think.  It doesn’t take long before you are playing an octave higher and an octave lower and nothing is worse than realizing you can’t play all the keys.

I wouldn’t even recommend using a piano that has less than 88 keys temporarily because it just won’t pay out in the end.  You will end up wanting the full keyboard before you even got your money’s worth out of a smaller sized keyboard.  You don’t want to waste your money on something you will end up needing to upgrade before long.

A keyboard must have weighted keys.  Weighted keys will allow you to be able to have dynamics in a song.  Without weighted keys, your piano will be the same sound throughout the whole song.  You will definitely need weighted keys otherwise you won’t have any capabilities of creating the sound of a piano!  This is absolutely necessary for any pianist, beginner or advanced.

Look for high quality sounds.  Read the fine print and make sure that you are getting a piano that won’t sound “twangy” to you.  I have experienced less quality sound from a keyboard in the past and you can immediately tell from the moment you hit a key.

You will never be able to sound good on the piano (and it won’t take long to lose your motivation to play) when it just sounds bad, and it’s not even your fault!  Sound quality will either make or break your experience.

Take note of the features.  What capabilities it has will depend largely on what you are looking for. Some of my favorite features of my keyboard, which I absolutely love, by the way, is the abilities to use technology with it.  It was really important to me that it had a midi chord capabilities.

I also find it really important to be able to record, and to be able to do so easily.

The speaker’s quality and placement is an important factor for me.  As is the location of the headphone hook-up.

Consider all of these factors and what you want.  Make sure you are getting what you want.  If you are going to spend the money, do so wisely.

 

The keyboard I have fallen in love with

 

In case you were wondering, my absolute favorite item I have ever bought for myself has been my Casio Privia PX-160.  After doing a lot, and a lot, and lot of research and reading a ton of reviews, I felt pretty confident it would make me happy.  And it has done that and more.

 

 

I love my Casio.  The sounds quality is awesome, it has all the features I was looking for, and it is affordable.  I am not the only one who has found their true love.  It really is probably the most popular keyboard across the board.

If you are going to get the electric piano gear, you can check out my recommended pedal, stand, and piano bench by clicking on my article on electric piano necessities.

 

Related Questions:

 

Is playing piano and keyboard the same?  Every single piano and keyboard will all have a difference to them.  You can play different pianos and they will feel different.  You can play different keyboards and they will all have a different feel.  So no, you will never quite have the same experience on a piano and a keyboard.

Is a keyboard good for learning piano?  Yes, with weighted keys, and an 88 full sized keyboard, a keyboard is a great way for learning piano!  It will provide you with just about everything an acoustic piano would provide you.  Keyboards are also a lot of fun to begin learning piano on because of all its extra features.