You or your child started a piano lessons journey. Your excitement is over the roof, you are ready to practice days long and you can't wait for your first lesson. To improve and make progress you have to have an instrument at home. Daily practice is a routine you would need to get used to. For some reason, your first instrument is not going to be an acoustic piano*. What kind of piano variation should you choose? Let’s discuss the top 3 qualities any beginner’s digital piano** should have.
1. A magic number
Your piano should have 88 keys, which is called a full keyboard. It is comprised of 52 white keys and 36 black keys. You have to see and embrace the actual length of the instrument you are about to learn to play. So yes, 88 keys, and it is not that hard to remember.
2. To feel the real
Your piano should have weighted keys. It has to look “full” which means no substantially visible gaps between the keys and the keyboard case below them. Weighted keys help feel the sensitivity required to push down the keys with different levels of control. We love how this important factor is explained here: https://tinyurl.com/yckru959
3. Food for your fingers
The keys on your piano should be touch-sensitive. Music has its own “colors” from pianissimo (very quiet) to fortissimo (very loud), and those are just black and white. You will only be able to show the difference, as well as the subtle nuances in between when your digital piano has touch-sensitive keys. In short, the volume and quality of sound should depend on the way you press the keys.
Takeaway
You might be thinking, that starting from any kind of keyboard should be ok since it is just the beginning of a long way towards playing a more and more advanced repertoire. But it is very important that you have the true piano feel from the start, that your fingers acquire a proper touch and create a beautiful sound right away. Most of the cheap versions of the pianos won’t give you that pleasure of playing a real instrument, and it might leave you feeling frustrated or even disappointed. If you keep in mind our top three suggestions above when shopping for an instrument, you’ll be on the right track in your piano path.
* An acoustic piano - An acoustic piano produces sound with felt-covered hammers hitting steel-wire strings. It doesn't require to be plugged in.
** A digital piano doesn't use hammers; instead, it features electronic speakers to playback high quality recordings taken from the very best acoustic pianos.