My piano is really, really old and pretty useless. It has been ok until now, but it's definitely ready to die. My parents have said that if I want, I can have a digital piano i.e. a clavinova or something. My question is, will practising on one of these ruin my technique or not be good for me or something and also, which digital piano is best within a price range of about £900-£1100?

NM

Read this thread which covered this subject earlier. I'd say don't, get another second-hand piano.

But are you ruining your technique by playing on a worn out piano?

Hello
I have a Clavinova and a Piano...It's too easy to play the Clavinova...Sometimes when I play piano soft and don't quite play it well I sometimes don't get a sound....dead play ....this doesn't happen with electronics....
The sensitivity of playing a piano is much greater than that of the clavinova...
Stick to the real thing...
BFN Mike

I've got a Yamaha clavinova and I love it to bits! I can play away and do scales to my hearts content with no one to moan at me. Cost me £750 from a net music site (am I allowed to name names?)....but, even at my Grade 1 beginners level, I can still see that it lacks that certain sensitivity that an acoustic piano has, I find I can be more expressive on my teacher's piano, for example. It's swings and roundabouts as they say, what you lose on one thing you gain on another......

As you're at Grade 6, you'll obviously want to progress onto more demanding pieces so really I'd recommend getting an acoustic piano. Not necessarily a Steinway, but something decent.

I considered it but with me going to Uni or France (haven't fully decided yet!) in the near future, it wouldn't be worth my while, so I'm sticking with my Clavinova - it is very good!

I go to my lesson and my playing on an acoustic piano sounds clunky... Grade 8 is a nightmare!

That can certainly happen with the electronic setup I use! (Studiologic SL880 MIDI controller and Kurzweil piano module).

If you really want to play piano..... no.
If you are just happy amusing yourself and family/friends with some music that sounds like a piano... yes.

I've been saving for a digital piano for ages & now I finally have enough money to be able to afford a Yamaha Clavinova CVP-307!!! I'm really excited as my acoustic piano is getting a bit old now - the keys are very clunky & it can sound a bit 'crackly' sometimes. I realise that a digital will lack that certain something that an acoustic has but it will definitely sound better than what I've got now & there are so many features on it it's unbelievable. I'm going to keep my old piano but I know that I will have to replace it at some point as it won't last forever. I played on the Clavinova in my local music shop & it did actually feel like an acoustic piano but the leaflet that I got said that it's been made to feel like that which is good.

Anyway, I'll let you all know what it's like when I get it which will hopefully be before Christmas.

Lisa xx

One of the main reasons I would like a digital is because you can put headphones in as my piano is located in my living room where everyone doesn't want to listen to me bashing away at scales. Is it worth it for that reason?

Also, if I were to get an acoustic, could someone recommend the "decent" types and makes of pianos so I know where to begin looking. I'm looking at second hand .. £800 - £1100.

NM

Hello
There is a make of piano that has a lever you can use to move it over to electronis I think......and it is available with headphones..
bfn Mike

Full-size 88-key MIDI controller keyboards are now readily available and not too expensive, and these are perfectly adequate for practising scales etc. You connect them to your PC and listen through headphones. Here's one good example: http://www.turnkey.co.uk/tkweb/stockdetail...K88&context=WEB - I have the earlier model of this and it's fine. Use some free software like Anvil Studio http://www.anvilstudio.com/ to play the MIDI signals.

Good luck!

Yes, instead they just have to listen to your fingers tapping on the keys..even more annoying! Personally, I'd prefer the scales.
Headphones certainly help when you want to practice late at night or when you live in a flat. Mind you, having said that, when I used to live in a falt, I once had complaints from neighbours who could hear my fingers tapping away late at night!
If you aim to be a top-class professional pianist then of course go with a piano but if you just want to play for your own pleasure then a digital is an OK choice. It also gives you the option of using rhythms and other instruments too as well as the ability to connect up to a computer or other hardware via the midi port to do recordings/composing etc. I'm fortunate to have both a digital piano and a piano so I can practice quietly for hours on the digital, saving my hearing and then once the music is mastered, I can then go and play on the piano. Personally, I dont think its too difficult to adapt your technique from a digital to an acoustic. It's very different for sure, especially in the pedalling and acoustics...a real piano is less forgiving and requires a more controlled approach!
Both have their merits though in my view. For one thing, my acoustic piano doesn't have the ability to play back the dozens of Violin accompaniments that I have recorded over the past few months via midi!

Gae

I've just gone in the other direction and bought a Yamaha V118 upright, part exchanging a Yamaha CLP115 (At pianoforte in Faringdon)

I own a Yamaha Silent Series piano which allows for silent practice with headphones.

To stop the keys hitting the strings you use either a lever or (on mine) the middle pedal can be locked down. The piano can be attached to mains power and has an internal sound card which plays a pretty good piano sound through headphones. There is an stereo audio out socket allowing connection to a HiFi.

This piano allows me to practice when the neighbours are in. Mind you I'm not saying our walls are thin but they did tell my wife they could hear a stange tapping sound through the walls. It was me playing with my headphones on.

Using the MIDI ports you can record MIDI on a PC. This allows you to either play back the MIDI through the PC's soundcard (as you play or at a later date) or play it back into the piano and listen on the piano's headphones.

Of course, with the keys enabled you get a good quality Yamaha upright piano sound. A little bright if I were to be picky but a perfectly sound action.

Mine cost £1250 (bottom of the range) though I got a discount as I'd been hiring it for a while. I'm sure it is worth looking around for one second hand.

SP

PS If it's any use, my user profile photo shows a picture of the piano in question!

We have a Korg digital piano that's 10 years old and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Yes, there is a difference, especially the absence of the vibration of the strings, but, as others have already pointed out, there are advantages of a digital piano. Also, I've noticed as many differences between real pianos as between a real piano and our digital. (Er, does that make sense?)

A word of warning! Don't underestimate the ingenuity of kids when faced with all this technology.

One evening, I was rather impressed that our 10 year old had been practising rather longer than his normal 15 minutes. I looked round the door and saw him playing his gameboy while the piano played what he'd recorded earlier.

I was too busy laughing to be angry!

Steve

What has your tuner/technicican said is the prognosis for the current instrument? Does he/she consider that with a few hundred pounds spent on it it's salvagable?
If you're going to be playing seriously for the next few years, you probably are better off with an acoustic, but if your current instrument is past it it's going to be down to what your budget will furnish you with.
A decent digital can be found for that kind of money, but you're going to have to do some homework to get a good secondhand acoustic.
If you can enlist the help of a tuner in looking at acoustics, you may just strike it lucky!

I had a clavinova for a few year (lived in a flat) and it did the job just fine - I've switched to an acoustic now that I've got a house, and definitely helped with the diploma work!

if you want a digital piano try COSCO, if you know some one who's got a card i think it was about #600 same one in dawsons for over #1000
I used to have a touch sensetive digital piano with 3 pedals it was ok never went out of tune and it had a volume control so it didn't matter when i practised.
My parents traded it in for a REAL piano the dynamics sound a lot better the only thing is I have to be careful what time i practise at in case i anoy the neighbours no volume control on this one
any way good luck what ever you decide