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Home / Shop / Which Digital Piano to Buy
A teacher's buying guideShort answer: an 88-key digital piano with weighted keys, a real piano sound and a sustain pedal. Here is how to choose among them.
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The short answer: buy the best 88-key digital piano with weighted keys that your budget allows, add a sustain pedal, an adjustable bench and headphones, and begin.
A digital piano is mostly a keyboard. The way a key resists your finger and returns decides what your hand learns. Weighted keys answer differently to a light touch and to the weight of the arm; that difference is musical playing. Features such as hundreds of sounds, rhythm patterns and apps are secondary.
Choose a piano whose basic piano sound you enjoy listening to for an hour. Make sure a sustain pedal is included or supported, and plan for a stable stand and an adjustable bench, because sitting height changes how you sound. See the benches and stands page and my article on bench height and posture.
If you are buying once, buy 88. My article on how many keys you need gives the longer answer. For the digital-versus-acoustic question, read this comparison.
Each note below comes from the listing itself. Open the listing on Amazon to check today's price.
88 semi-weighted keys, semi-weighted not hammer action. Semi-weighted keys are a step below the hammer-action feel I would prefer for serious study.
I suggest it for a first budget for an adult beginner, with a plan to move to fully weighted keys later.
Check today's price on AmazonThe listing says 88 full-size weighted keys at a budget price. I would want to try the touch before committing to any digital piano.
I suggest it for an adult beginner on a careful first budget who still wants 88 keys.
Check today's price on AmazonIn short, 88 weighted-action keys, sustain pedal included. A good piano sound matters more to me than a long list of extra voices.
I suggest it for an adult beginner who wants to buy once and keep it.
Check today's price on Amazon88-note compact digital piano from Roland. Weighted keys are what teach a hand to shade soft and loud.
I suggest it for an adult beginner in a small apartment who still wants 88 keys.
Check today's price on AmazonFor an adult beginner I look at the keys before anything else. Here: 88-note Roland digital piano with speakers.
I suggest it for an adult beginner who wants to buy once and keep it.
Check today's price on AmazonIn short, 88 weighted keys, portable Yamaha P-225. I would want to try the touch before committing to any digital piano.
I suggest it for a returning player who wants a better touch to grow into for years.
Check today's price on Amazon
The listing says 88 weighted keys in a console cabinet. A good piano sound matters more to me than a long list of extra voices.
I suggest it for a returning player, or a family that wants the piano to sit in the room like furniture.
Check today's price on AmazonAn 88-key digital piano with weighted keys, a good piano sound and a sustain pedal. Within that, buy the best touch your budget allows.
They can carry a first year, but weighted or hammer-action keys build a touch that transfers to any piano.
Yes. An adjustable bench sets your forearms at the right height, which a dining chair rarely does.
Yes, if a touch-sensitive keyboard is all that fits now. Plan to upgrade when you start reading real repertoire.
88 keys, weighted action, real piano sound.
The right height changes how you sound.
Practice any hour without disturbing anyone.
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