Keys & Keyboards
Advice for choosing a piano
I recommend you practice on an 88-key piano, either acoustic or digital with a weighted keyboard.
Good acoustic pianos are the best instruments to play, and if you're lucky enough to have access to one - great!
One consideration is tuning: this should be done regularly to keep them sounding their best.
These days digital pianos are very popular, portable and affordable now, providing a near-acoustic performance for a fraction of the cost and needing no tuning.
Please avoid cheaper keyboards with light flimsy keys
It's false economy, they are not nice to play, and don't last. Weighted keys are much better.
You can tell if a digital keyboard has a weighted keyboard by playing the keys, or often by looking at them, see below.
After trying many different types, I highly recommend Yamaha digital pianos like the Yamaha P45 or P35, P95, etc
You can buy a Yamaha P45 new for around £349 - as of March 2017.
Alternatively, I have purchased several of these via eBay on behalf of students - usually for around £230 in good condition.
Most students now use weighted keyboards, and they've given very positive feedback after they switched: the keyboard makes a big difference to their playing, enabling much more expression.
