I have a beginner piano pupil who does not have a piano at home, but had access to one she could practice on during the week. However, the family have decided they would now like to get her a keyboard so she can practice at home. I know nothing about keyboards - can anyone recommend what sort she should be looking for? Preferably near the lower end of the price range...
Thanks.

A few of my pupils have keyboards to practice on at home. I guess that as long as the keyboard has quite a wide range, near 6 octaves, and is touch sensitive - so you can play dynamics. You can get quite a few now with a good piano sound - I have a keyboard that I use sometimes, and that's a Yamaha. You could even suggest that they buy a plug-in sustain pedal for when your student gets up to using the damper pedal? Apart from that, I'm not sure you can go far wrong - gone are the days of plinky plonky keyboards, luckily!

Gareth.

Full sized keys, polyphony (plays more than two or three notes at once) and touch sensitive. The sustain pedal can be bought later if it's not needed straight away - as long as there's a socket for it. It's best to have a proper stand too, and Yamaha instruments don't come with a power supply though these are often included as the shop's special offer. The cheapest keyboard I've found that I consider adequate is/was £130. Then it's £20 for a stand and I don't know about pedals as I haven't got one.

How many notes has yours got, sneekymum? I wonder if fewr than 76 may be annoying for a pianist, and I can't find one of these for less than £200 at the moment.

I think that most who start with a keyboard have 61 keys.
There will be a point when that is not big enough though.... 2 octave scales with both hands can be a tight fit.

I'ts got 61 - but I only use it for teaching keyboard and early piano skills. I only teach adults and I find that most really want to progress onto a piano one day (mine sits next to my keyboard). A 61 note keyboard at £130 is fine for the time being when someone really has an eye on a full sized piano. I think if someone spent much more than that on a keyboard it would seems waste to upgrade to a piano a year or so later. No one does scales here.

I use my keyboard only in its piano voice and never with accompaniments. Though if one day someone should demand to be taught this then I wouldn't refuse.

The pupil concerned is never likely to get a piano. I don't know whether I should push for a full-size keyboard straight off? It seems a lot to pay for those few extra notes.

A question about the 61-note keyboards: there doesn't seem to be a C in the middle, so you either have two octaves above and three below, or three above and two below. Which way round is it?

I use the Dozen-a Day books a lot which take pupils out to far-flung notes early on, and it might be annoying if her keyboard's not big enough?

I'd appreciate some more people's thoughts on this.... please.... since I really don't know what to advise.

Hmm - I can see you are basically unsure about this. I have to say that where pupils of mine have less-than-full-size keyboards, I do find that they take a little adjusting to the layout of a normal piano and I suggest families regard them as a temporary solution.

However if this child is worth encouraging, and it's the best they are likely to do, I guess you have to decide if it's better than nothing. I don't know - not an easy one. I don't use the keyboard in question so can't help on specifics. Good luck in sorting it out.

Some of mine use keyboards to practise on - and if they already have one I don't enquire too closely about it, I just ask them to give me an idea of how big it is and whether the keys are the same size as the piano keys. I take the view that anything is better than nothing at all. Some years ago I had a pupil who got up to Grade 5 practising on a keyboard before her parents bought her an electronic piano.

I have today bought a (what seems to me) a 'toy keyboard', I call it a toy keyboard as it has only 61 keys, they are not touch sensitive but you can plug a sustain pedal into it. I only bought if to take it with me on holiday so I can still do 'some practice', but I must say....I can't stand it! (the toy keyboard I am talking about is a yamaha psr175 at £60) It will be better than nothing though when I am on holiday (I am sad I know but I cannot visualise 2 weeks of no practicing I just love it too much).

I am in the position where I cannot buy a piano for maybe another 4 years and originally when I wanted to start learning I bought a very nice digital piano keyboard (yamaha p70, 88 fully weighted touch sensitive keys) and I must say I hardly know the difference between this and my teacher's piano so good it is (of course an acoustic always sounds best), this one though is from £365 to £450 (depending on where you buy it), but I am sure I could go up to grade 8 on it and more.

Jo




sorry forgot to answer this: my 'toy keyboard' has 61 keys and has 5 'C' keys, two to the left of middle C and 3 to the right of middle C (but last one on right is the very last key on keyboard), in total just over 4 octaves. I think this is definetely ok up to grade 2 (as I am looking at grade 2 things at present) but I am sure at some point higher up in the grades it will not be enough anymore.

Not having the touch sensitive option is a pain, I keep going softly and hard with my fingers on the keys and always get the same response, it's so annoying and boring!

It was such a nuisance that I returned it and exchanged it for a psr-e303 which is the cheapest with 'touch sensitive' keys

I don't find touch sensitive to be awfully good on a keyboard even if you adjust it and it doesn't really respond anything like a piano.

I totally agree, but this will have to do for my holiday, it's this or nothing at all I still prefer this to the non touch responsive keyboard, still not at all like a piano but half a step closer