Are digital pianos good for a beginner to learn on?

[vikely]

My lady teaches piano and she is happy to talk digital pianos but one should get keyboards with velocity sensitive keys. They feel much more like a real piano and assist the development of strength needed in the fingers. 88 keys a minimum. There are some good secondhand bargains available.

[markymark]

So what do you want to know?

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

A beginner doesn't need 88 keys in my opinion.

[athomik]

Now there is a spammer who's never touched a piano, if I've ever seen one.

[NewAge]

Now there is a spammer who's never touched a piano, if I've ever seen one.

I completely agree.
As for his, "Keyboards and pianos are the same in sounds", what a load of rubbish!
And his, "and they produce the same music." What the hell is that supposed to mean

As for the link to his website, wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole, for fear of reading similar rubbish, catching a virus, or worse.

[eugeneportman]

My lady teaches piano and she is happy to talk digital pianos but one should get keyboards with velocity sensitive keys. They feel much more like a real piano and assist the development of strength needed in the fingers. 88 keys a minimum. There are some good secondhand bargains available. :lol:

I personally think that digital pianos are probably better to learn on than accoustic pianos. I say this for a number of reasons:

a) I learnt on an old battered upright and I very seldom got the opportunity to hear a recording of myself playing. In contrast most digital pianos have an on-board sequencer which allows you to record your own playing at the touch of a button. This can also be an invaluable tool when practicing piano duets.

b) One of the biggest advantages is that you can practice with headphones on. This would have been so handy when I was a was a child as my father sometimes worked night shifts and my practice times were very restricted.

c) People are very critical about the action of digital pianos, but I find the action on most (especially Yamaha) digital pianos to be very good and extremely even. Frequently I find the acton of so called 'proper pianos' can be very dissapointing; so I would definitely class the action of digital pianos as being one their greatest attributes.

d) There is also an added fun element to working with a digital piano. Everyone has a computer these days and you can hook your DP up to a computer and use all sorts of recording, sequencing and educational software.

I just wish that I'd had a digital piano to learn on rather than that old battered upright.

[Aisling]

The answer is that Digital Pianos are just fine.

I teach piano and I have three pianos and a keyboard at home. The three pianos are a Petrof Grand (acoustic piano), a Roland HP203 digital Piano and a Yamaha Clavinova.

I have had these for years and they are real workhorses, never let me down.

Three of my four kids are post Grade 8 in Piano and they have been hammering out their practicing on the Digital Pianos for years. Never a problem.

The action on these pianos is great and they make a faithful attempt to be like an accoustic piano.

One thing to watch out for when buying a Digital piano - get one with Touch-Sensitive keys. That's very important. See the links in my signature for more detail.

Regards,
Aisling