Anyone know anything about keyboards (musical)?

[SlowSpyder]

My wife has been telling me how she would like to start playing the piano/keyboard. She has never played before, and with Christmas coming up I thought it might be a nice gift for her. The problem is I don't know anything about them really. I'm looking at Yamaha and Casio keyboards on Ebay, but really am open to any brand. What features should I look for? The only thing I know of is touch sensitivity. Other than that I want something decent, but not really high end. I'm planning on anything between $100-$200 or so. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[summit]

costco is pretty good too. its going to be difficult to learn but keyboards that have preprogrammed keys/lights make it easier to pick up famous tunes.

 

[borisvodofsky]

My wife has been telling me how she would like to start playing the piano/keyboard. She has never played before, and with Christmas coming up I thought it might be a nice gift for her. The problem is I don't know anything about them really. I'm looking at Yamaha and Casio keyboards on Ebay, but really am open to any brand. What features should I look for? The only thing I know of is touch sensitivity. Other than that I want something decent, but not really high end. I'm planning on anything between $100-$200 or so. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Definately Get a keyboard and not a piano,, piano get's real boring unless you seriouz.

the lights thing is useless.. learning how to read music will be the BIGGEST and the ONLY hurdle when it comes to playing piano.. Once you get it,, you're done..

 

[mmntech]

My dad plays. A proper music store will have better selection than Costco does. Yamaha are usually a good bet.

 

[QueBert]

I would look for one with semi weighted keys, I don't like keyboards that have light and soft keys. I like Hammer action but for $200 you're not going to find that. Casio makes some good keyboards that aren't too expensive. Velocity sensitive is another feature I would recommend.

 

[alkemyst]

Weighted keys are nice and a full sized keyboard even better.

 

[summit]

Definately Get a keyboard and not a piano,, piano get's real boring unless you seriouz.

the lights thing is useless.. learning how to read music will be the BIGGEST and the ONLY hurdle when it comes to playing piano.. Once you get it,, you're done..

if you are starting to play when you are in your late 20's and beyond, reading music is going to be quite hard. you will likely become frustrated and give up, unless you con yourself into thinking you know songs.

 

[Madwand1]

SlowSpyder,

Try piano forums for such information. E.g. this thread, among others:

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubb...eed help finding a keyboard!.html#Post1547843

There's an entire forum dedicated to adult beginners there.

It's never too late to begin or resume music, and a well-motivated adult has a greater chance of success than a kid being dragged unwillingly through lessons. But if you have children, then there is an even greater chance of success through synergy and an increased exposure to and understanding of music. The Suzuki method is one which takes advantage of that, and also one which doesn't stress the ability to read music at the onset.

 

[manlymatt83]

Get a used YPG 625 or a PX100

 

[Imdmn04]

You are not gonna get a keyboard with weighted keys for $100 unless you get lucky.

If there is no weighted keys, it will not translate real well into a real piano.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

You are not gonna get a keyboard with weighted keys for $100 unless you get lucky.

If there is no weighted keys, it will not translate real well into a real piano.

This. It's kind of an all or nothing thing here. You can learn guitar decently enough on probably the shittiest of guitars but unfortunately the differences between keyboards is just too great. I suppose a cheap one might get you through a year or so of just learning to read sheet music, but I don't know... I think even early on you'd hit the limitations of not having pressure sensitive / weighted keys very quickly.