The Digital Piano is a wonderful resource for people of all ages and all kinds of disciplines. They make learning and performing much easier but still offer the satisfaction of playing on a beautiful expressive musical instrument.
But, choosing the right piano can be exhausting and frustrating – where would you even start looking? How do you know if you’ve found ‘the one’?
Our friends at Casio have come up with a brilliant guide to help you on your way. With this six tips from digital piano expert, Chris Stanbury, you’ll soon be on your way!
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1. An Authentic Touch
Today, all digital piano keys are designed to look like those on a traditional piano, but some can feel far superior to others and it’s worth looking closely at how the keys are made. Some instruments, such as Casio’s Grand Hybrid range, have keys that are made from exactly the same materials as acoustic pianos, to make the playing experience as close to a traditional instrument as possible. What’s more, these keys are connected to real, moving hammers (which is what acoustic pianos have) to ensure that the weighting of the keys is true to the original instrument.
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2. Measure Up Your Digital Piano
One of the big advantages of a digital piano is that it takes up far less space than an acoustic one. Portable pianos, those without wooden stands, are great for carrying around or setting up in a spare bedroom. You should consider the maximum practical weight of a portable piano to be about 12kg – anything more and it will be difficult to carry.
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3. Will You Be Using Headphones?
One of the huge benefits of a digital piano is the ability to play with headphones so that you don’t disturb others. The trouble is, many pianists say that headphones can remove the live acoustics that they hear when playing normally. If you’re going to be using headphones frequently, consider buying an instrument with a dedicated Headphone Mode, which will remix the sound and put the natural ambience back.
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4. Features That’ll Take Your Playing In A New Direction
 
Features such as USB Audio allows you to play audio tracks through the speakers of the digital piano. This means that you can play along to any song that you have stored on a USB Stick. There are a many different features to look out for, such as Casio’s ‘Concert Play’, which allows you to play along to real orchestral recordings of famous classical pieces. There’s even the Hall Simulator, which recreates the acoustics of famous concert venues.
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5. Your Piano & Your Home Devices
With the popularity of music learning apps on iPads and online music lesson systems, it’s important to make sure that your chosen instrument will work with a computer or tablet. Always check to see if it connects to the devices you have at home.
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6. Are You Sitting Comfortably?
Take time to check out your chosen instrument in a music store, and bring some music with you to try. Make sure that you are happy with the playing height and the position of the music before you play.
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AVAILABLE ON
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| Casio CDP130 Digital Piano £229.00 |
Casio AP-260 Digital Piano (Black) £569.00 |