Hi all,
I'm interested in beginning my piano lessons again as I've left them for close to 15 years now... (my last exam being grade 1 when I was 9)
I've spent the last few years working on accompaniment and improvisation. Now I play regularly in my church.
I'm just wondering if I get a piano teacher and she puts my thru standard piano repetoir, should I invest in an acoustic piano? I currently own a Yamaha clavinova which I use to record music for our church use (hard to do that on an acoustic in a totally un-soundproof home)...
My music school sells Wilhelm Tell pianos and I'm tempted, but I dunno anything about them...

We'd all like to practice for a few hours a day on a Fazioli in a huge room in a big detached building ( or soundproof studio) but for most of us it is an idle dream.

Any piano is better than no piano and, despite its differences from an acoustic, an electronic piano on which you can do lots of practice is better than an acoustic that you can hardly use beause the noise disturbs neighbours and family.

Clavinovas are nice instruments in their own right.

That's true...and thanks for the encouragement.
Actually I'm concerned if I will actually experience technical difficulties since the touch response, etc, is different. My previous teacher was completely sworn off electrics...but that was in the days when they were not much to talk about anyway.

Nah, a nice digital will see you through for many years to come. The only issue I have is with the pedals which I think are hopeless on digitals (but then again, at the end of the day, you're supposed to pedal by ears anyway so there's no point practising the rigid scheme of foot-down-on-this-note-then-up-on-that.) Otherwise, I practise almost exclusively on one (as I live in a flat and can only practise at night so an acoustic is not an option) and it gets me through post-G8 fine. Also, I think a good digital is better than a bad acoustic any day, so depending on your budget, sticking to the clavinova for now also gives you time to save up for a nicer acoustic a few years down the road too

I second all of the above. A good digital is better than a lousy acoustic, and infinitely better than no piano and no practice at all.

I have not found that my playing on an acoustic suffers too much from me playing my digital piano a lot, but I do try to play an acoustic every couple of weeks or so.

I have a Kawai CA51 and I find the touch to be pretty close to an acoustic piano.

Newer digitals (and more expensive ones) tend to have better actions, but the only digital I've played that I found hard to control was about 12 years old and had been rather well used.

Comparing my Privia to the university practice pianos, I'd say it say it has a better action than one of the grands and all of the uprights (but to be fair they don't get the servicing they really need considering the hammering they take)

Wow, thanks for the helpful feedback, guys!
I'm really all ready to go for piano lessons now... and continue saving up for that beautiful acoustic one day!
At any rate, I'll probably only be able to start March-ish or so ... after I get this cello exam over with.
Btw, any of you have had experience on the Yamaha electrics? My teacher has a Privia... but I daren't touch it up til now... since I'm admitly there for cello lessons and oughtn't be banging on his piano.

I have a lovely piano on which I love to play and practice, but early in the morning (and that can mean before noon at weekends) and after 11 pm the acoustic is a bit loud for the family so a lot of practice still gets done on the digital next to it (with headphones). It's not by any means the best digital on the market, but it's fine to practice on (and better than a lot of acoustics). It has the added advantage of being able to play it as a harpsichord, clavichord or organ and set it up in various different tunings including Werkmeister III Well Temperament, so that I can play music such as the preludes and fugues by JSB in the tunings and on the possible instruments they were written for: Quite a revelation sometimes, I can tell you!

Me too! I have a lovely Yamaha piano which is my pride and joy, but it is loud and I can't really play it early morning or very late evening, grudgingly considerate of family and neighbours! We also have a Yamaha Clavinova which replaced my aging original acoustic piano before buying the posh piano, and that is great for the rest of the time. I do try and play it regularly anyway, as I find it a good idea to play and practise on a different piano to usual. I was starting to find that as I am so comfortable playing my usual piano that I was struggling with my teacher's piano at lessons. Also both my children play, (they prefer the big loud posh piano!) so there is always another piano for whoever needs one when practise sessions clash.