What to Look For When Buying A Keyboard

Students will use the studio’s pianos during class, but each student needs a keyboard at home on which to practice.


WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A KEYBOARD


Which keyboard to purchase will all come down to how much you want to spend. Please note that these keyboard features are not required. These are suggestions for what features to inquire about when purchasing your keyboard:

1. FULL-SIZE KEYS: Keys are the width of real piano keys.
2. TOUCH-SENSITIVE KEYS or VELOCITY-SENSITIVE KEYS: Key sounds soft when pressed lightly and sounds loud when pressed hard.
3. MUSIC RACK: Holds up the music book
4. BUILT-IN SPEAKERS: Keyboards and digital pianos should have built-in speakers; synthesizers will not.
5. DAMPER PEDAL JACK: Pedal is usually sold separately.
6. “TRUE PIANO SOUND” or “GRAND PIANO SOUND”
7. WEIGHTED KEYS: Feels like you are pressing down a real wooden piano key instead of a light piece of plastic.
8. AT LEAST 61-KEYS: The more keys the keyboard has, the longer a student will be able to use it. A 61-key piano will suffice through about the 6th year of piano.
9. FEW BELLS-AND-WHISTLES: Many keyboards come with a lot of features that you don’t need, such as 500 instrument sounds, MIDI interface, or 300 prerecorded songs. I recommend that you spend your money on the quality of the keyboard, rather than the number of bells and whistles.
10. STAND AND BENCH: To get the best posture it’s important to have your keyboard on an adjustable stand and have a bench at the proper height. Smaller students may need a stool if their feet do not reach the floor. Avoid having the keyboard on a table or bed since this will create bad posture and position habits.

Here are some Amazon options that meet all this criteria:

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