Cheap Digital Piano

So what are you looking for in a cheap digital piano?  Do you want one that sounds like an acoustic piano but without the price tag?  Different digitals will produce sounds of varying quality so it pays to try out a couple of models before picking your favorite.

There are many different brands to chose from – Yamaha, Korg, Roland or Casio are just some of the more popular pianos.

How much you spend on your new piano will depend on your budget but also on your piano playing skills.  A beginner doesn’t need as many different features as a more advanced player would use.

The design of your new piano is also important.  You may need a portable digital piano or may prefer the ones that sit in the room similar to the old fashioned acoustic variety.  If you have a large house then you may be able to go for the larger sizes which come with a lot more features.  But for us ordinary folk, you need to think of the space your new musical instrument will take up together with the noise levels it will produce.

Make sure that the keyboard is set out properly and is easy to use.  The more adaptable the instrument, the more likely you will play it and actually be able to produce some songs/music.  The benefit of cheap digital pianos is that they often come with a LCD display screen.  This handy feature allows you to see which options you are using.   If you want to get the best out of all the features on your new possession a good LCD display is a must.

Another feature to check out is polyphony.  This is the number of notes that can be played at once on the piano.  Some have 32 whilst others go up to 128.   More advanced players will appreciate the differences but if you are new to music go with the basic features for now.

If you are buying a used digital piano you want to first check for obvious damage to the piano.  Bumps and scratches are easy to see but spillages take a little more investigation.  You need to check each key to see if anything was spilled on the keyboard as it is fairly easy to clean the top of the keys – much harder to clean the insides!  Whilst doing this you should play each of the keys or you could end up with a keyboard full of stiff or wobbly keys.  Being a digital piano, you can make it sound more like an acoustic version if your touch control still works.

Turn up the volume to full blast to check out the sound on the speakers and then turn the volume off so you can check it there are any mechanical problems i.e. a funny clanking sound means your alarm bells should ring!

The other features you could be looking for include the pre-recorded songs, the ability to split the keyboards, what teaching techniques if any are available, and perhaps even voice layering.

There are great deals available on cheap digital pianos so try shopping around before making your final decision.