How many people play both digitals and Acoustic pianos, ? - and if so, how do they adapt to each instrument once they have learend a piece: IE: if you learn a piece entilrey on a digital, can you play it on an acoustic straight away? - or does it take you a certain amount of time to adjust?


PL7

I play a digital at home at the moment, but my teacher has a Bechstein grand. I assume it's because I'm a relative beginner (3 yrs), but I do find it difficult to adapt when I first sit down to play. I always think that if only I had more time on her instrument, I would sound fantastic!!

That's why I'm selling my digital & buying a hybrid acoustic/digital piano - the best of both worlds hopefully....

(Btw, my digital has 88 fully weighted, graded hammer action keys & half pedalling, so it's not that that's the problem.)

Jen

I've got a digital, and I play an acoustic in my lessons and at school. I've been told lots that sometimes I sound like I'm hammering through the piano when I play an acoustic! It's because I have to thump mine to get it to play loud. And I have to go to school an practice peddalling, because it's so different on an acoustic!

i play both digital and acoustic

when you have a lot to offer on the piano, theres nothing better than a nice big gand piano, preferably yamaha.

there'll never be a digital piano to match the sound of a acoustic grand, period!!

as all pianos are different, going from one piano to another, may take a little time to adjust, when you're considering hammer action, key response, pedalling, and the sound world that you can create. beginners shouldn't have any trouble going from one to another.

but ill again recommend the Yamaha P120 digital piano for its touch and sound, though if i could afford a yamaha C5 i would, but this is, in my opinion, one of the best digital pianos ever made to date!!

and i don't like upright pianos!!

I have a Yamaha CLP-860 digital and a Broadwood 5 ft grand. Play both - digital useful late night / early morning when I use headphones. Also nice to record yourself and see how you're getting on. I also have it linked to the 'audio in' on my computer sound card, so you can even transfer pieces to computer and then onto CDs!!!! Also have a midi connection, which means I can use ear training software - the computer plays 'questions' via piano and 'listens' to your answers via the key board!

All very useful, but my Broadwood is my pride and joy and has a much nicer tone and broader dynammic range (i.e the difference betwen pp and ff) and I always play it unless I'm going to disturb the neighbours.

It is actually a bit harder to play than my digital, I can usually start to play pieces well on the Yamaha before I've totaly got the hang of the phrasing etc. on my 'real' piano.

I had a Broadwood piano a few years back, but the bass was terrible, and was forced to sell (got quite a lot really, becuause the keys were reall ivory - not what you see in todays piano's i don't think. I now have a Roland KR-577 Digital, and a RX2 Kawai. The Roland never goes out of tune, i'll give it that!. and the keys are VERY similar to the Kawai grand Piano thats important, more so than the tone. I also record onto CD, but use sequencing software, and audio (Sound forge) to cut out the hiss you get in silent parts of a recording. "Noise-gate" is the effect that eliminates this noise. You probably won't here "noise" if your playing, say, Prelude N) 8 by chopin, were there are no brakes at all, but in Debussy's "Golliwog" the breaks are quite evident (that piece is one of the onboard demo's on my Roland !


PL7

I play a Technics PX 664 digital piano at home which i love to pieces. I also play a digital piano at school..the only time i play on a "real" piano is at my lessons and exams.


Lots of Luv

Teabag

xx

I have to practice on a digital at college and I much prefer an acoustic - it feels more "real" although I have a good digital one. I think there's more adjustment needed from digital to acoustic than from one acoustic to another

Cat

I have both a digital and an acoustic and I use both for teaching and playing.

Assuming both instruments are of a good quality, adjustment time is pretty much the same as going from acoustic to acoustic.

When I first began to learn piano, I bought a Yamaha CLP-120 digital piano. I began alright, because I had my lessons on Yamaha CVP digital pianos... which is only slightly heavier in comparison.

However, two months later I changed a new teacher and had my lessons on Yamaha / Kawai accoustic pianos... and the difference is HUGE! The wooden keyboard of the accoustic pianos felt much more solid (as compare to very plastic feel of digital pianos) and response much faster and rigid. It is much more heavier in comparison. Even though I can turn the digital piano's touch to "Hard", it is just way too much different from the accoustic pianos.

In particular, even though it's few years after now, I did a test on most digital pianos available in the "Tom Lee" music shop, none of them can produce the subtle tonal difference when I play harder / softer on them. All they can reproduce is the difference in volume, not the tone quality... and the sound is all ways bright - which is not good for serious piano learning.

I decided that I should get rid of my digital piano before the end of first year I owned it, and then I bought a hybrid Kawai accoutic piano. I bought it with the digital part mainly because when I practise late at night, or my parent were watching TV, I have to use the head phone. It helps my progress a lot! Since I practise on accoustic piano, I can perform much better when I have lesson on accoustic piano ever since...

After all this experience, I can conclude that for any serious piano learners, they should learn on accoustic pianos as much as they can. It is much easier for an accoustic pianist to adapt to digital pianos, then the other way round!!

Tannie - thanks for this. It's what I'm hoping I'll feel when I buy my hybrid piano. I'm off to the showrooms tomorrow to try them out!

Jen

You are welcome Jen. Let us know what you get from the showroom then...

Cheers,
Tannie

Tannie - I didn't get as far as looking at Kawais as I found a Yamaha V114 silent at a knock-down price (& it was a bit knocked-about too, but that didn't worry me!!).

It's quite mellow for a Yamaha & the touch is heavy, but I felt I had much better control - I will have to work on getting a good tone, however. When it was played by an experienced pianist it sounded good - better than some of the other models on offer.
As it's only a small upright, it shouldn't upset the neighbours too much when played acoustically!

Jen

I use a Yamaha P120 at home, and can wholeheartedly recommend it - it's a very good instrument. It sounds excellent, although the action isn't quite the same as an acoustic piano - if anything, it's a bit too easy to play on; a bit too forgiving. I don't have any problem adjusting between it and an ordinary acoustic though.

Anyone tried a Kawai digital? One of the piano shops down here doesn't stock any other make - are they good?