Buying a keyboard or stage piano? Found lots of different models and brands on the market? Having fun trying to understand what each one does?
If this sounds familiar, then you have come to the right place. I’m going to attempt to help you out here - give you some pointers that you can look for - hopefully guide you in the right direction.
Yamaha Keyboards
Within the majority of Yamaha starter keyboards, they include their ‘Education Suite’. This has 3 different lesson settings, which allow you to learn a variety of different songs easily and without any pressure. This is a easy to operate, self-motivating feature that scores you on your performance at the end of the session.
A good keyboard to look at for this function is the PSRE373: One of the most popular Yamaha starter models. You get a whole range of different instrument voices and accompaniment styles to play around with, (plus the Education Suite.) Even if you just have a 30-minute independent practice with it, you will definitely hear the benefit.
Arranger workstations are also well known for being the ultimate machine for live gigs, composing etc. They contains a whole load of voices and styles while also giving you a lot more in depth settings for recording and playing around with music. One of the main reasons for their popularity is due to the simplicity. You don’t have to connect these to any computers in order to get the very detailed and professional recording system.
Casio Keyboards
Generally Casio Keyboards also contain some learning functions. In the CTK-3500, you get the ‘Step Up’ lessons, or can use the specially designed ‘Chordana’ app for extra learning. These lessons aren’t as in depth as Yamaha, but still provide a good starting point for a new player. Casio keyboards are often very popular for connecting to computers and other recording devices, and so more developed models like the CTK-6200 is great for people looking for the more ‘music tech’ side of things.Stage Pianos are slightly different again
They aren’t designed to have all of the education features like keyboards do. Yamaha models are considered to be more realistic in terms of sound, as they can sample their own Concert Grand pianos. From there, it’s a lot of personal preference. Some people prefer the feel of Yamaha keys to Casio, and vice versa.
It’s always worth trying to have a go on a couple of models if you are unsure. It normally depends on what you are going to be using the piano for (and price!) which will determine what instrument you get. As said previously, Casio tend to be more popular for recording and using alongside computer software. Yamaha more for performing and realism, and the name and experience behind all of their acoustic models.
...Not that kind of Stage Piano *eye roll*
Hopefully, this has given you a little bit of knowledge you can use when researching all the different models out there. Of course, like always, if you’ve got any questions that you are unsure of or can’t find an answer to, please get in touch with us where we will do our very best to help!
