Different makes of keyboard

tuisginideach

Looking at keyboards for a 12 yr old, Grade 4 on piano.

Keyboard will be for recreation, songwriting, bringing to school (by parents' car). Piano lessons will still continue.

I saw Casio boards for c150 euro and Yamaha PSR E433 for c320 euro.

Is it a case of 'you get what you pay for' or am I paying above the odds for the yamaha brandname?

Any other advice?

Thanks

martinedwards

I had a pal in college (now head of music at Castlederg High school), who was so in love with one particular brand of Keyboard that he had a T shirt printed up.

on the front it said

Casio make calculators
Yamaha make motor Bikes

and on the back

Roland make Keyboards.

Last time I saw his Synth cupboard he had about 15 different Roland keyboards in there, all midied up.

his one concession to other makers was a DX7

My 15 yearold has just finished his grade 5.

we have an acoustic piano and a Clavinova, and in his room he has a Casio CTK-651 that I got for free off freegle.

In this modern age, they are all pretty much the same as far as finish quality, so get the one with the sounds that he likes.

Joaquin223

If the new keyboard is just for recreation etc as you say, then yes the Casio one will suffice. But if it is going to be the main practice instrument for piano, the cheaper keyboard models are fairly useless as it probably will not have features like touch sensitive keys which are necessary for learning piano at a higher level.

zafo

If they're used to piano then good chance they'll be wanting weighted keys too.

tuisginideach

Thanks - yes, we had been told to look for the weighted keys.

Yes, it will be for recreation but not 'just for messing' - this lad is reasonably serious (at a 12yr old level) about playing music and writing songs.

I did see Roland in the shop but as I had never heard of the make, i didn't examine them - must look again at them.

Joaquin223

As long as the keyboard has touch sensitive and yes, weighted keys, so that it plays like a real piano, then you can't really go wrong. To get those features you'd be looking north of 250 euro at least I'd imagine, and the difference between the big manufacturers in terms of quality is going to be pretty negligible

martinedwards

tuisginideach wrote: »

I did see Roland in the shop but as I had never heard of the make,.......

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

wow!

look at ANY pop video of the 80s and it'll be either a Roland or a Yamaha

ok, maybe 95% of vids......

there were a few moogs around too......

never heard of Roland........:rolleyes:

that's like........

buying a car and never having heard of Ford!!

tuisginideach

Thanks to you all - that's why I ask advice, Martin!