I was wondering whether any of you piano players would have some advice on getting a portable piano for when one is away from home? I am thinking of my forthcoming holiday where I won't have access to a piano. Yet, I would like to keep practicing daily, if possible...

PS: I now wish I had been interested in learning how to play the piccolo. At least, holidays wouldn't have been an issue!

How are you travelling? and if by car how much spare space do you have?

I will be travelling by car and I will definitely have some space in my boot. I guess I would like, if possible, to have a 88-key piano with weighted keys, but I feel like it might be wishful thinking, since I would also like something that doesn't weigh a 'ton'...

The trouble with holidays is that if it's somebody else's idea to go they are not going to think that practice time matters. If it was just me then these days going anywhere would mostly be connected with playing something anyway.

Where are you going ? And what sort of accomodation ?

If you're staying in a holiday cottage or hotel, call up the manager or owner and ask if they know of any home or bar that has a piano where they'de be willing to let you practise. Even a camp site manager may well know someone.

It's easier than lugging one along (especially if you've got limited space and dont' actually own one). It makes practising a bit more difficult - you have to arrange mutually convenient times - but it often works well. I occasionally get holiday makers calling me up and asking if little Jimmy can come and practise as I'm 'known' as having a piano. I usually say yes and sometimes it's quite interesting and fun.

We have a Yamaha P140 that meets this spec. Because of the weighted keys and the built-in speakers it's not exactly light, but I can load it into the car (Astra 5-door) by myself. My wife cannot, but a strong young woman would manage. It travels on its back (i.e. with keys vertical) across the back seat. I'm not sure whether the boot is wide enough to take it; it would be very difficult to get it in. Another possibility would be to put down the single side of the split rear seat and put it longitudinally through the gap, half in the boot and half in the middle passenger compartment. Of course larger cars give more options.

Its speakers are rather small and are the weak point in the sound system. Nevertheless my wife uses it to accompany performances by a local choir. A separate amplifier and speaker could improve the quality. For practice purposes you would minimise the broadcast sound and use one of the mini stereo sockets on the front with a pair of 'phones. It has midi in and out, and a useful range of other stops, including a decent harpsichord, organs and a vibraphone.

When we bought it, some years ago, it cost just under £1000. It has probably been superseded by now, but they will almost certainly have a new design with a similar specification.

I work in a piano shop and our best selling brand over the past year has undoubtedly been the Casio Privia series. These digital "stage" pianos all have 88 weighted hammer action keys so mimic the feel of a real piano. The starting off one is the Casio PX-130 which retails at around £600 (with attached stand). You may be able to buy them around £500 without the stand (you can then use an X-Frame stand instead). This model is piano based with not many fancy functions and features but great for just basic piano playing. Available in black or white. Next model up is the PX-330 retailing at around £650. This is portable but has many more built in features, such as rhythms & accompaniments (you can use it like a keyboard) and lots of voices. Also has an SD card slot to record on, built in metronome and many other things. Next is the PX-730 which comes with a stand attached, then the PX-830 , top of the range model retailing around £1,000. Here is a link to them -

http://www.priviapiano.com/

Yamaha also do some portable ones (new models out June/July so may be an idea to wait if you can). Currently there's the P85, P140, DGX630 and the P155. Yamaha's prices are a bit more than the Casio.

Hope the above information is of use to you.

Visiting relatives, but now thinking of it, maybe there would be a way to find a place near where they live where I could play the piano. I will have to check with them.


My home piano (Yamaha CLP320) cost me under £1,000, so I would rather not spend the same kind of money on what would effectively be a piano that I would only very occasionally use. I suppose that if I was to get a portable piano, I would like it to cost no more than £500.


I hadn't thought of the Casio PX130, but that might be an option. Otherwise, I was leaning towards the forthcoming Yamaha P95.

Anyway, I guess I ought to go to a piano shop and try them out, as I have become very picky about the sound quality of digital pianos. I am, for example, starting to regret my Yamaha CLP320, but more on this in another thread later (tonight!).

I have a Casio PX310 which I bought when I was gigging in a pop band and wanted a weighted keyboard (the unweighted keys on the Fantom X7 were horrible ) that weighed less than the 25kg (without flight case) of the S80 I had.

I currently use it for late night practice (until my Avant Grand N2 turns up in the next week or so ) and it has a really nice feel. It is around 12-13kg and so is quite easy to move around - useful if transporting frequently. There are padded gig bags available that protect the keyboard and make it a bit easier to transport but don't really add to the weight.