learning to play the keyboard...advice...help...?

raul · #1 09-25-2011, 07:33 PM

i'm thinking of maybe buying an electric keyboard to start learning how to play some keys! not sure what kind to get...maybe a Yamaha or Casio of some kind? i don't think i need to go all out expensive, but do need something that sounds great and is fun and will make learning more exciting...looking for some cool piano and electric piano, organ and rhodes kinda sounds and more...for fun and learning...

i'm wanting to learn as much as my ears will take me...some funky stuff, soul...etc...maybe a jazzy touch...but mostly cool funky stuff like Stevie Wonder and the like, etc i suppose...

waleross · #2 09-25-2011, 07:54 PM

I had a Yamaha for a while it was a good one to start with. Keyboards aren't too expensive for starter models.

Muzoid · #3 09-25-2011, 08:06 PM

See if you can find a Korg SP200. The feel is awesome, sound is stunning!...has all the sounds you are looking for and more...and they are great quality sounds.

Yamaha are ok, ...Casio? meh, not a big fan.

I had to lend out my Korg last weekend, to a Casio Privia owner...issue: adapter bit the dust.

The SP200 uses a wall wart, however, if it ever goes down, you can use any multi-adapter...but the wart is fairly decent quality...no issues for me yet (5 years), and the board has been well roaded.

MalcolmAmos · #4 09-26-2011, 07:20 AM

You do not need 88 keys for most of what you will be doing so you will be able to find something in the $250 range.

I have a Yamaha and it has more bells and whistles than I'll ever use. I would recommend a teacher right at first, but, after you and the teacher get through Alfred's # 1, 2 & 3 and you know how to move around on the keyboard and have both hands working together - then there is a bunch of stuff on the Internet that you can use.

At that point I went the chord accompaniment route, i.e. playing from fake chord or lead sheet music letting others, perhaps your voice, carry the melody.

Lot of fun - go for it.

MontzterMash · #5 09-26-2011, 10:06 AM

My wife got a yamaha electric piano to learn (three years ago, it's discontinued now so no link sorry), and I am seriously impressed with it.

In my experience, the main problem with most electric keyboards is that the keys don't respond the same as a mechanical keyboard. Just like strings, keys should be responsive to how you hit them - loud, soft, sharp, gentle ... It's part of what makes them so fun to play! How responsive is a matter of taste, but it's always there in any good instrument.

Imagine learning bass on some thing that looks like a bass but with little push buttons instead of strings - not so much fun and would mess one's learning up. Same deal with a cheap (as opposed to inexpensive) keyboard with those spongey keys.

With our yamaha, it feels great. Listening to it, I can hear an ever so slight synthetic quality, but it sounds nice; but when playing, I instantly forget it's "not a piano" because it feels great and is fun to play.

Good news is, there's a lot of good ones out there, you just gotta avoid the bad ones.

Having recently started bass, I completely sympathize with trying to shop for an instrument you can't play. Turns out, you can learn a lot about how an instrument feels with simple chords and scales and nobody in the store minds! Try a variety, read lots of reviews, go back and try again, include a few pianos for comparison, and you'll find something that sounds and feels good to you and you actually want to play, and there it is.

Someone mentioned the Alfred books already - I second that. Great books, and very practical with good tunes and info.

Have fun!

stingraysvt · #6 09-26-2011, 10:09 AM

I got the MAudio keyboard (64keys? can't remember at the moment), it's just a controller, but I have a mac with garage band and I can turn it into any instrument I want, pretty sweet.

Like $100-$150 bucks if you already have the Mac and Garageband

Andy_D · #7 09-26-2011, 10:20 AM

I bought an Akai MPK 49 Controller. Very nice Keys which have a nice feel and are velocity sensitive. Used with some software like Ableton Live, or Reason you can cook up a wide variety of sounds to accompany you recordings. As an added bonus (for me) trying to learn keys has helped with my understanding of music theory which in turn helps me to become a better bass player.