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BUYING A PIANO OR A KEYBOARD:
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| The pros and cons to learning from a piano or keyboard look a bit like this:- |
Pianos are mechanical and interesting machines in their own right.
They can be a good looking piece of furniture.
They are historical and their sound is unique.
Pianos
sometimes are available in secondhand stores. In Warwickshire, the
antique market at Hatton Craft Centre sometimes has them. Remember to
ask someone who knows about pianos before considering buying a
secondhand one. Some used to have wooden frames and these crack,
rendering the piano un-tuneable, for instance. Also look out for
woodworm!
Locally, long established "Accordions of Coventry" at
192, Binley Road, Coventry (a few doors up fromn TMC), have upright
pianos starting from £700. As the business title suggests, their main
sales items are accordions, but they also sell harps (starting price at
approx. £2,500 for a folk harp)
tel: 024 76 448933
www.valepianos.co.uk
Remember that pianos need regular tuning. Mine costs £45 every 6 months. Piano tuner link.
TAKE THIS LINK FOR FURTHER DETAILED ADVICE BUT BE WARNED THAT THE PAGE IS NOT PROPERLY FORMATTED
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An electronic piano
is a different beast: Recently their technology has advanced greatly, although its range of sounds and functions are still limited in
comparison to keyboard. A benefit of this is that there are less distractions for the learner. It
is a modern, sleek machine and can be portable. The full size ones are the same size as a modern acoustic piano and need
to stay put in one place: They are very heavy to lift. There newest portable
ones are lighter. Roland are now producing exciting range of smaller electric pianos (Available at TMC , Binley Road,
Coventry).
Electric
pianos traditionally have a limited range of sounds. Some of these are good ones,
including good vibraphone sound and some do have some more exciting
possibilities, depending on what you want to spend. There are electric
pianos that have additional features and are a bit of a blend of the
keyboard and piano. Electric pianos are now incorporating some of the features of the keyboards, like rhythm and a better range of sounds. They may also be programmable, depending on what you want to pay. An electric piano, like keyboard, can be connected to computers and used as dummy keyboards with programmes like cubase.
Remember that the use of headphones enables you to practice in private.
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Keyboards are
flexible: they can fulfil a lot of different demands, from basic
learning to advance composition: If you spent the same amount on an
electronic keyboard as you might on an electronic piano you would have
a mighty machine that could produce all manner of clever tricks.
However it will soon be outdated. A less expensive keyboard can link up
to computers as a dummy keyboard to extend their possibilities. Children know how to do
this sort of stuff.
Young
people these days get a lot of pleasure from producing their own music
in these ways. Headphones enable quiet practice. The piano sounds on less expensive keyboards are not very good, but this may not matter to you.
I recommend that you research on the Internet for the kind of
keyboard you want. Try Roland, Kawai and Yamaha. Casio may also be
useful.
Then go to Musician's Friend site (www.musiciansfriend.com)
and see what they say about what you have found out. After this go to
your local musical instrument shop at an off peak time and try out the
keyboards. These shops get very busy and can feel really daunting. You
will feel more confident because you know a bit about keyboards. In
Coventry, try TMC on the Binley Road,Coventry. They are very helpful and pupils from Unlock the Music have been happy with their purchases and the service and advice. Personally, I'm not keen on
buying any electronic equipment over the phone or through the Internet. The last time I did this I waited for months for mine to arrive.
Remember,
although very young fingers can't always cope with the full size keys on keyboards, it's best to get them onto a full size keyboard as soon as possible.
For a very young child a slightly smaller keyboard could be a good starting point.
But these keyboards are very, very limited in their sounds and range. They are hopeless to support real learning. They are toys and just not suitable for piano pupils to practice on.
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07941 565311
