How to Choose a Piano for a Learner Pianist

Someone who’s just starting to learn how to play the piano needs a good one to practice on. For example, if you were learning to play soccer you wouldn’t go out on the field in an old pair of flip-flops. You’d much rather get a pair of good trainers of course! Same applies for musical instruments. You wouldn’t give a learner pianist an old out-of-tune piano, but at the same time you don’t want to go for something extremely expensive straight off the bat either.

To help you find the best piano for a beginner and within your budget, in this post we’ll talk about how to choose a piano for a learner pianist.

Choosing A Keyboard Instrument For Your House

Keyboard instruments are usually divided into three basic categories. The biggest and most expensive are the acoustic pianos. They are also the best when it comes to learning piano skills, but if they aren’t to your budget there’s other good options out there. You can find many good digital pianos that are smaller and significantly cheaper. They do an adequate job when it comes to mimicking the sound and feel of a regular acoustic piano. The last category, the electronic keyboard, is the least expensive out of the three, however, bear in mind that it may not have the correct touch to develop proper hand strength for a learner pianist, nor enough keys to play a wider range of music.

Acoustic Piano

Acoustic pianos offer an unmatched experience for beginners and the sonner a learner has the opportunity to practice on one, the better it would be for their skills. A high quality acoustic piano that produces sound through real strings and wood offers a level of responsiveness that can’t be matched even by the most expensive digital pianos. This is why acoustic pianos tend to be so expensive.

The average price range for a good acoustic upright piano starts from about £2,000 to £8,000, but can be even higher than that depending on make, quality and more. If you’re keen on a grand or baby grand piano then you have to be prepared to pay between £7,000 to £12,000 or even more.

Many music teachers and specialists consider Yamaha to be one of the preferred brands when it comes to acoustic pianos, but there are many other good brands on the market such as Schimmel, Kawai, Kembel and others.

If an acoustic piano sounds out of your budget, many stores offer acoustic piano rental services, or second hand or refurbished pianos. Keep in mind that if you decide to go for a rental or plan to purchase a used acoustic piano, be sure it’s tuned properly and all the keys are in good working order. An acoustic piano kept in poor condition will only frustrate and hinder the progress of a learner pianist.

Digital Piano

It’s impossible to replicate the experience of playing on a proper acoustic piano, but there’s nothing wrong with starting your journey as a pianist on a digital piano. Digital pianos are generally designed to sound and feel as similar to their acoustic equivalent as possible. Their keys are weighted to provide the correct resistance and are also sensitive to pressure and speed to offer a range of loud or soft dynamics. They are installed in a cabinet type of console, and are smaller and cheaper than an acoustic upright piano.

The average digital piano costs between £500 to £2,000. Some digital piano models which are popular for beginners are the Yamaha Arius and Casio Privia series. While nothing can compare with the experience of playing on an acoustic piano, digital pianos are still a good option for beginners. In fact a good quality digital piano would be far better for a learner than an old out-of-tune acoustic one.

Electronic Keyboard

Electronic keyboards are the most affordable alternative, but learning how to play piano on an instrument without weighted keys or a full keyboard is less than ideal for a beginner and could even be discouraging. It’s recommended that if you do start learning on an electronic keyboard to upgrade to at least a digital piano as soon as possible.

If you’re not ready to invest several hundreds or thousands of pounds in an instrument, before you know if you’ll commit to it, then an electronic piano is a suitable option. Electronic keyboards are available in a variety of sizes and prices to suit every budget. Rather than trying to imitate the experience of playing a regular piano, those are designed to function like mini synthesizers, and many of them have lots of different instrument sounds or even rhythm tracks built in. However, the most important for a learner pianist will be the number of keys and whether they’re weighted.

Learning on a keyboard with 88 weighted keys can give a beginner pianist a great advantage, because it helps build hand strength and as well as that the keys respond more like the keys of an acoustic piano, making it easier for a learner to advance in their practice. Most electronic keyboards do not have weighted keyboards but you can get some more premium models which have a full keyboard with weighted keys.

If a full-sized electronic keyboard with weighted keys is still out of your budget, we recommend for a complete beginner to use a keyboard with at least 61 keys in order to be able to do most of the beginners’ exercises. The average price for an electronic keyboard ranges from around £200 to £700 depending on the model.

When you buy an electronic keyboard also make sure to purchase a bench and a keyboard stand. A keyboard set on a table will probably not be the correct height for a pianist seated in a chair. When set to the correct height the pianist’s arm from wrist to elbow should be parallel to the floor.

Acoustic vs Digital and Electronic – Which One Is Better For A Beginner?

There are a number of advantages to having a digital or electronic piano such as the option to plug in headphones so that you can practice without disturbing people around you. Many digital instruments can also be connected to a computer and used with various educational music softwares. As well as that they take up less space, are easier to move and unlike acoustic pianos don’t need to be tuned. This makes them perfect for a beginner pianist to start learning the basics of the piano with one of those instruments.

On the other hand, nothing can replicate the experience of playing on an acoustic piano. If you have space in your home as well as the budget for it then we do recommend to go for an acoustic option. Committing to a real piano can make a clear statement of making music a part of your life. If a learner pianist has access to a quality acoustic piano, it would give them the opportunity to develop their musical skills right from the beginning.