A Guide to Buying Your First Keyboard

To the untrained ear, the majority of student-line keyboards sound the same. How does a first-time buyer know what to look for to find their perfect keyboard? Do you buy the most affordable one you can find on Gumtree? Or is there more to a keyboard than price? Is it in your best interest to take your time and find the right keyboard for you?

This guide to buying your first keyboard will help you make the perfect purchase.

Basic Buyers Guide

There are a lot of options to consider when buying your first student keyboard. This is what you need to look out for:

  • Keyboard range – most students learn on a 61 key (5 octave) keyboard. That’s because it’s less effective to learn on a keyboard any smaller than that.
  • Touch response – does the volume change depending on how hard you play? Most players prefer a keyboard that has touch response.
  • Sustain pedal – make sure your keyboard has a socket so that you can attach a sustain pedal.
  • Peripheral items – remember this little list of essentials. 
    • Keyboard stand
    • Piano bench
    • Sustain pedal
    • A bag or dust cover
    • Headphones for late night practice

In-Depth Buyers Guide

Purpose

What will you be using your keyboard for? This is the most important question to ask yourself when buying your first keyboard.

Are you looking for a cost effective substitute for a piano? Great, a keyboard could work for you, but you will have to replace it in a few years time. While keyboards and pianos seem similar, they are actually completely different instruments. 

If you’re looking for synth sounds, trance tracks, or mellow organ music for your church band, then go with the keyboard. However, if your goal is to play Beethoven in a symphony hall, then a keyboard is not an adequate replacement for a piano. Pianos have weighted keys and a greater range. These are vital elements that you’ll need to master to reach your goal.

Range

Range refers to the number of keys your instrument has. Most keyboards have 61 keys, whereas pianos usually have 88 keys.

If you’re an aspiring pianist, but an 88 key piano is out of your price range, you can still learn to play on a keyboard. Most beginner pianist exercises will work on a 61 key keyboard. All you need to remember is that the keys on a keyboard are not weighted. That means that when you play on a piano, the feel will be completely different.

Weighted vs Unweighted Keys

What makes a piano’s keys weighted and a keyboard’s unweighted? 

Pianos use hammers. Hammers are the bits inside a piano that move when you play a key. When you press down on a key, the hammer swings out of place and hits a string inside the piano. This hammer action adds weight to the piano keyboard.

Most keyboards don’t have weighted keys. When you press a key on a keyboard, the key presses on a pad, which triggers the sound you hear – it’s like typing on a computer. Some players believe this makes them faster when playing.

Companies, like Roland, use weighted keys on their keyboards to replicate the feel of a piano. Roland even has a progressive hammer action feel. This means that the bass keys are heavier than the treble keys. Weighted keys add a huge range of dynamics to your playing.

Some keyboards offer dynamic playing with velocity sensitive keys. The harder you press a key down, the louder the sound will be.

But most basic keyboards don’t have dynamic playing features. If you want to learn how to play dynamically, be sure to pick a keyboard that has these special features included.

Polyphony

Polyphony is how many sounds a keyboard can play at once. If the keyboard has a polyphony of 28 notes, once you play note 29, the first note will stop playing.

A small polyphony won’t affect scales or basic songs, but it will affect your ability to create big layered synth sounds. It will prevent you from being able to sustain a few notes, while playing other notes over them.

Type

Think about the purpose of your keyboard again. There are different types of keyboards for different purposes. 

As a beginner pianist, you would want a basic keyboard with piano sounds. This keyboard usually comes with drum samples and basic synth sounds included. But if you want a specialised keyboard, then take a look at this list of keyboard types and their uses:

  • Synthesizer (synth) – for production of sounds, like trance music
  • Workstation – for composing, recording and production. Most studios will have one of these
  • Digital piano – for students of classical music and piano-inspired jazz
  • Arranger keyboards – for songwriting
  • Portable keyboard – for students
  • MIDI keyboards – these keyboards have no built in sounds, and instead trigger sounds from a PC

USB/MIDI Connectivity

Does your keyboard allow you to plug it into a PC? 

This is important if you want to record your playing. You can also use some portable keyboards as MIDI controllers. This is a great option if you are learning to play, and want to try your hand at recording. 

You can use MIDI to download and buy virtual sound packs. This means that you can find and use different sounds to the ones that came stock on your keyboard.

Back-Up Service

Regardless of the quality of your keyboard, sometimes things can go wrong. If that happens, you need to be sure that you can fix it.

When buying a keyboard, ask the salesman what the backup service on the keyboard is like. Even some big brands can have poor backup service.

Need some professional advice?

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