Talk to me about Digital Pianos

[goldendesign]

Daughter, 5yo, in her 3rd month at piano lessons. She's showing good skills and has fun with it. We waited until there is some longevity in her excitement. We'd like to buy a reasonable piano/keyboard to make practice at home more than book and IPad only practices.

Don't really need the full-sized 88-keys, she's tiny and only beginning, I cannot imagine they will be selecting any pieces to be played with all the octaves.

Would like a semi-weighted to at least keep her used to the real piano feel. 

Or you know, talk to me like I know flipping nothing. This is exactly as much as I know about piano and piano practice and growth for an elementary child.
Budget $200-450
 

[goldendesign]

https://www.kraftmusic.com/roland-go-piano-portable-keyboard-key-essentials-bundle.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=merchant&utm_campaign=rol-gopiano61ke&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD2BtsDm5he54hgmQfVXxhFHnIrWxwd5V7LpfztwHZ6XPOjy-vjF6O4aAtnhEALw_wcB

I like the completeness and from a brand I recognize

[goldendesign]

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha/NP-12-Portable-Keyboard-Package-Black-1500000022276.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD2ahySt8T_h5UI0oh5upNHGLuNnK60uvyk1ztnFY8_WavdMOS--XsoaAgnPEALw_wcB

Or Yamaha?

[Longjohn ★]

I just bought a used one for $500 and gave it to my son. I did it mostly to help my sister in law that was moving and didn’t have room for it. My son already has two electric pianos but with six kids and his wife all playing/learning piano a third one can’t hurt.

 

[Razors Edge ★]

4 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

I just bought a used one for $500 and gave it to my son. I did it mostly to help my sister in law that was moving and didn’t have room for it. My son already has two electric pianos but with six kids and his wife all playing/learning piano a third one can’t hurt.

 

No one was selling a drum set?

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

@MickinMD is the source for information on this. He has an electronic piano for practice and he’s been known to do research before buying.

[Kzoo]

6 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

No one was selling a drum set?

Nominated

[Kzoo]

2 minutes ago, Parsnip Totin Jack said:

@MickinMD is the source for information on this. He has an electronic piano for practice and he’s been known to do research before buying.

Huh?

 

[Airehead]

17 minutes ago, Parsnip Totin Jack said:

@MickinMD is the source for information on this. He has an electronic piano for practice and he’s been known to do research before buying.

Yes and I know @MickinMD has done recent research 

[bikeman564™]

Roland, albeit pricey has a very good feel. with weighted keys. Maybe for a future purchase. I haven't used it in years, but I have a Roland RD-500, which has 88 weighted keys. Feels real...to me. IIRC the internal mechanism is mechanical just like a piano. The keys even have that bounce.

[MickinMD ★]

Basically, here's what you need with any digital piano to be used for practicing piano while taking lessons:

The piano itself: you need good touch sensitivity (soft to loud depending on how hard you hit the keys) which is typical in today's decent digital keyboards, hopefully a built-in metronome for practicing (otherwise a separate one), a sustain pedal operated by foot on the floor and a music rest (aka music desk or sheet music stand).

Unless you go for bundles that cost around $650 or more, you won't get a digital piano with weighted keys, which take a little more pressure to push down and give you a little better feel for how much pressure you need, but it's not a big deal for a beginner.  The Yamaha P-45 does have weighted keys and with sustain pedal and power supply costs $549.99 at Amazon, but it's a 2015 piano and is missing too many recent, good features.

But there's still an attempt to make the keys feel normal.  According to the Roland site: "It’s frustrating to learn piano on a keyboard that doesn’t feel like the real thing. Unlike typical portable keyboards that have lightweight synthesizer-type keys, GO:PIANO’s 61 full-size keys provide playing feel and expressive touch inspired by the keyboards on acoustic grand pianos. This helps to support your developing technique and ensure a smooth transition if you choose to play a larger keyboard in the future."

You also need a light that rises over or clips-on to the music rest and shines on the sheet music.  I got this very inexpensive ($16.99) music stand light on on Amazon and it works great: bright and covers two pages of a large sheet music book - it runs by battery or power plug.

The Yamaha NP-12 and Roland GO:PIANO that @goldendesign listed look like good 61-key choices in the under $400 price range.  The GO:PIANO 61 bundle with adjustable stand, sustain pedal and power supply is $429.99 at Amazon (doesn't include a bench to sit on).

This review of the Roland 61-key version on YouTube shows very good touch sensitivity.  This review of the Yahama NP-12 doesn't show it as clearly, but it's there.  I liked the sound of the Roland better than the Yamaha, but it may be due to the quality of the recording and the acoustics of the room in which it's played.  Both sounded good.

A review of the Roland GO 61 said the piano skimped on plastic and it seemed a little flimsy: "Most keyboards cover up their hollow interiors, but the GO:PIANO has a bottom that shows you how little plastic is actually used.  This is a plus if you care about weight, but I’m a little apprehensive about using too much strength while playing on an X-stand."

 

I'll mention a couple of 88 key digital pianos only because I don't know about early childhood piano lessons and how long it will be before piano lessons would require a larger than 61 key range.

I do like the Roland GO:PIANO 88, which has 88 keys instead of 61 for only about $100 more on Amazon, where the bundle (with bench) I just linked is $549.99 (and $449.00 at Sweetwater) and includes almost all the extra stuff that may not come with the basic unit alone: sustain pedal, music desk (sheet music stand), bench, adjustable piano stand, and power supply.  The GO 88 doesn't have the small screen to help with navigation the GO 61 has.  The GO 88 has fewer voices you can use while playing (types of organs, horns, etc. sounds) but can be set for grand piano, electric piano, church organ, strings.  The GO 61 does many more, though personally the four listed are plenty.

The Roland Pianos include an interesting feature: a free Piano Partner 2 app for Apple or Android phones that let you record what you played and includes a diary of what keys you played, etc. to share with teachers, etc. and more.

One site likes the Roland FP-10 as the best digital piano under $500.  The bundle at Amazon costs $649.99.

"It’s frustrating to learn piano on a keyboard that doesn’t feel like the real thing. Unlike typical portable keyboards that have lightweight synthesizer-type keys, GO:PIANO’s 61 full-size keys provide playing feel and expressive touch inspired by the keyboards on acoustic grand pianos. This helps to support your developing technique and ensure a smooth transition if you choose to play a larger keyboard in the future."

When I visited good music stores and looked at digital pianos, they all told me $3000 or more was needed for a good piano, but the piano I got was the Casio Privia PX-870 where the bundle including the bench cost $1199 on Amazon.  It sounds very good, though the $17K Kawaii Baby Grand Piano I lost in the house fire sounded better!  I had realized I had no room for it in the house, so I replaced it with a digital piano after the fire.

[goldendesign]

36 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

do like the Roland GO:PIANO 88, which has 88 keys instead of 61 for only about $100 more on Amazon, where the bundle (with bench) I just linked is $549.99 (and $449.00 at Sweetwater) and includes almost all the extra stuff that may not come with the basic unit alone: sustain pedal, music desk (sheet music stand), bench, adjustable piano stand, and power supply.  The GO 88 doesn't have the small screen to help with navigation the GO 61 has.  The GO 88 has fewer voices you can use while playing (types of organs, horns, etc. sounds) but can be set for grand piano, electric piano, church organ, strings.  The GO 61 does many more, though personally the four listed are plenty.

The Roland Pianos include an interesting feature: a free Piano Partner 2 app for Apple or Android phones that let you record what you played and includes a diary of what keys you played, etc. to share with teachers, etc. and more.

One site likes the Roland FP-10 as the best digital piano under $500.  The bundle at Amazon costs $649.99.

Thanks for the immensely helpful reply! While diving down the rabbit hole of piano forums and help boards it seems a good starter piano costs around this. It's something she can play on for years and years.

I spent 20% of this getting spa treatments for my wife and myself today. Under 700 is reasonable. 

[Bikeguy]

5 hours ago, goldendesign said:

Talk to me about Digital Pianos

I read the title..   and my first thought was @MickinMD would know about this. 

And he did....   

That's you solution.