Looking for the best digital piano for beginners?
Working on finding the right digital piano is not easy for everyone since you might struggle with multiple factors. But don’t worry, we’re here to help!
We’ve collected a list of 10 best digital piano for beginners, each of them is loaded with 88 weighted keys and high-quality sound. Surely, they are all great choices for you to either learn on or train your finger techniques. Let’s take a look!
Top 8 Best Digital Piano for Beginners On the Market
Top 8 Best Digital Piano for Beginners with Weighted Keys
Casio Privia PX-160 (Full review here) is an 88 fully-weighted keys digital piano with excellent key action. Featuring its realistic key action and other beginners friendly features, this is well worth investigating.
The model is sold as a bundle, you can either get a furniture stand or an adjustable X-shaped stand based on your needs. Each of them includes a bench and a sustain pedal.
Brilliant features
- 88 fully-weighted keys
- Two-layered tones
- 128 Polyphony number
- Amazing Key action
- Recording function
Watch out for
- Not adjustable bench height
Why it is for beginners
1. Key action
Weighted keys are also called hammer action, which is designed to emulate the feel and the touch of an acoustic piano action. For beginners who want to play on a real piano in the future, the biggest benefit of weighted keys is that you can get accustomed to the weight of the keys so that you can improve your finger techniques for being able to play any genre on a real piano.
In terms of key activities of the model, Casio Privia PX-160 is equipped with Casio’s famous Scaled Hammer Action II. It has three sensors to catch the dynamics of your playing, offering the ultimate key-to-sound experience. It makes sure that you get an authentic response from the keys. Together with ebony and ivory textured keys, you are able to avoid slipping off the keys when your fingers are little sweaty.
2. Play two different sounds at the same time
There is a feature that is designed for beginners to learn. Casio PX-160 provides split and layer capability which you can split the keyboard into two parts and play two different sounds on the high end and bass end separately. When you are learning or taking lessons, you can play a tune in high end and your teacher plays in the bass end using another sound at the same time. It can be really useful.
Those who want to have a pleasant experience of playing piano, it’s the right option for both beginners and players with a musical background to have a digital piano allowing you to get real action and ultimate hearing pleasure. Get it and get shocked by its excellent features!
Yamaha p71 is a digital piano with 88 weighted keys. The model could be a really great deal in the price range with features that satisfy beginners and more advanced functionality as you get improved. It’s identical to a very popular Yamaha model—Yamaha p45, but $50 cheaper. Apart from the essential feature of 88 weighted keys, it offers loads of advanced functionality you would associate with more expensive models. Either you want to find a digital piano for serious learning or upgrade your previous keyboard, here you find the chance!
Yamaha P71 (Full review here) has two options that you can buy in if you are a beginner looking for your first piano, I recommend you to buy a bundle to get a furniture stand, bench, and a sustain pedal included. Furniture stands can give you a stable feeling when you play, just like sitting in front of a real piano.
Brilliant features
- 88 fully-weighted keys
- Authentic touch
- Compact and light-weighted
- MIDI capable
Watch out for
- No recording function
- Polyphony number of 64
Why it is for beginners
1. 88 weighted keys
Yamaha p71 is characterized by 88 weighted keys which give you the same weighted feeling as you play on an acoustic piano. Weighted keys can let you practice your finger strength which is essential for any beginners.
However, it’s not only featuring it, but it offers authentic touch and high-quality sound as well. All of these features are designed to give players an authentic experience, just like a real piano.
2. Authentic touch& high-quality sound
Yamaha’s Graded Hammer Standard provides weighted action that you can have the same feeling as an acoustic piano. Advanced Wave Memory sampling is a technology that the manufacturer uses to make the sound richer and more spacious. Together with touch-sensitive keys and a sustain pedal, you can play pieces more expressive with a large range of dynamics.
Yamaha p71 has come to the markets with high-quality features and also the price is very reasonable. It’s a super affordable digital piano with loads of features you need. If you want a digital piano to practice your finger strength and listening skills without spending too much, you can’t go wrong with it.
Yamaha p125 (Full review here) could be an upgraded model of p71. It has more available features. Well, I can’t say that Yamaha p125 is definitely better than Yamaha p71 because the latter is also a great choice for beginners to practice and learn on. But it may have some limitations as you progress. So, what’s the improvement of Yamaha p125?
Brilliant features
- 88 fully-weighted keys
- Sound Boost System
- Record function
- Polyphony of 192 notes
Watch out for
- No Bluetooth connectivity
Why it is for beginners
1. Sound
When you play the Yamaha p125, the most impressive thing you’ll notice is the high-quality sound. There is some new technology used on the p125, which is considered to be a greater version of AWM that the Yamaha P-71 uses. It uses a new sound engine (Pure CF Sound Engine) to recreate the sound of the Yamaha CFIIIS which is a concert grand piano.
An additional speaker is added in to give the players a stereo sound. By using the newly improved 2-way speaker system, it produces boosted sound quality to make the sound gorgeously resonant in both high end and a base end.
Try to imagine you’re sitting at this digital piano and hearing the enjoyable sound, it’s a pleasant experience, right?
2. Polyphony
Another impressive feature is the polyphony. The polyphony number of p125 is 192 notes, which is above the average number in the realm of digital piano (The average number is 128-note polyphony). Polyphony means 192 notes can be produced simultaneously, which it’s a huge asset to any player as you can play pieces with incredible feelings and expressiveness. You might want to ask how does polyphony work?
Actually, it works with the use of sustain pedal or sound effects like a chorus. To be specific, when you play some notes and continually add more notes, the earlier notes will keep on sounding. It needs enough polyphony number to keep all the notes sounding. If the amount isn’t enough, the earlier notes will disappear as you add new notes.
This feature allows for the incredible expressiveness of the pieces you play. If you want to be a sensitive pianist, the polyphony number is an essential feature to have.
Whether boosted sound or the amazing amount of polyphony or other brilliant features, Yamaha p125 stays in one of the Top 3 models among Yamaha p-series. It delivers versatile features to either beginners or experienced pianists, offering functions for you to be a sensitive pianist. You can choose 73 keys keyboard or 88 keys keyboard to suit your needs. Plus, there is a white piano version available in the model.
Here is where you can get the best bang for your buck! Alesis Recital is an 88 full-sized key digital piano with semi-weighted keys. It’s the best affordable on the list and probably the best affordable digital piano on the market in spite of semi-weighted keys.
Alesis Recital is not as well-known as those famous brands, but it does value the price without compromising quality issues. So, don’t worry about its quality problems, it’s built strong and sturdy.
You may not expect sound quality as realistic as Yamaha or Casio brand. But generally, the sound is pretty good since the adjustable touch response providing the dynamics into your performance.
Brilliant features
- Best affordable
- Natural sound
- Educational features
- Online piano lessons
Watch out for
- Semi-weighted keys
- Volume is quiet sometimes
Why it is for beginners
1.Educational features & aids
Educational features of a digital piano are truly helpful for beginners to have a huge step. Alesis Recital provides a built-in metronome that you can adjust it from 30 to 280 BPM, allowing beginners to raise rhythm feelings and learn to control the tempo of your playing. Additionally, Lesson Mode enables you and your teacher to play together.
The digital piano automatically comes with a 3-month premium subscription on Skoove which offers expert interactive online piano lessons.
2. Touch response
The keys are touch-sensitive with the adjustable setting to suit any musical style. It has a polyphony number of 128 notes, which is a great number to play pieces with expressiveness and dynamics. But considering it, I recommend buying a sustain pedal to maximize the use of these features. It allows you to shade more color on your playing.
With all said of it, I would not recommend it to a pro player, but it’s adequate for beginners to learn and practice especially if you are on a tight budget and do not satisfied with a non-weight and poor sound quality keyboard. It will be better than expected. Plus, if you want to upgrade your non-weighted touch-sensitive keyboard, Alesis Recital 88-key digital piano is well worth considering.
Additionally, this digital piano is very suitable for kids to use, they can easily learn the features of it.
Yamaha DGX-660 is an amazing digital piano with 88 fully-weighted keys. It’s from Yamaha’s DGX series which is a series of portable grand pianos. And the impressive feature to make DGX-660 shines is it combines the useful functions of both digital pianos and keyboards.
The model uses the same sound engine as Yamaha p125, so the sound you can hear is just like an acoustic piano. Apart from it, DGX-660 is characterized by its functions for learning and its instrument library, etc.
Brilliant features
- High-quality grand piano sound
- 554 voices
- Learning functions
- LCD screen display for guiding
- Versatile digital piano
Watch out for
- A bit expensive
Why it is for beginners
1. Learning features
Very few digital pianos have lesson function and LCD display. But Yamaha DGX-660 is one of them.
These educational tools can help beginners to learn favorite songs easily. LCD screen integrated into the digital piano provides instructions for beginners to learn which key you should press and which figure you should use as well as note reading.
Additionally, the model allows the player to adjust tempo to suit your own space. If you couldn’t catch its original tempo, the button of ‘Minus one’ can slow down the tempo of songs. This function is beneficial for beginners as it suits different levels of learning.
2. The mix of a digital piano and an arranger keyboard
Yamaha DGX-660 is an instrument that combined the features of digital pianos and arranger keyboards (also as known as a hybrid piano).
Not only providing the useful features of digital pianos (like high-quality sound, realistic keys, etc), the model has also loaded features of an arranger keyboard. It comes with 554 voices. Impressively, the voices include virtual space sound, including Stage, Concert, Room, etc. It allows you to practice your ears to be like a musician or conductor.
Overall, Yamaha DGX-660 is one of the best Yamaha piano keyboards that can satisfy your need whether you’re using it for learning, composing and performing. For beginners, it’s a brilliant choice to learn on as it has many useful teaching modes. And as you improve, you can continually explore endless advanced functions on it. It’s a digital piano that grows with the players as they progress!
Do you want a digital piano with 88 keys whereas having no enough room space for it? You’ve found what you need here.
Roland FP-10 is an 88-key hammer action digital piano which is great for beginners and intermediate players. And it is a very compact and slim digital piano, which can perfectly fit in your room and you can take it either to your gigs or family gatherings because of its portable design.
Brilliant features
- Authentic piano touch
- Resonate sound
- Built-in Bluetooth
Watch out for
- Weak speakers
Why it is for beginners
1. Realistic feel and touch
Roland’s touch-detection technology gives you responsive and touch-sensitive keys, allowing you to enjoy dynamic piano sound through high-quality onboard speakers. It uses SuperNATURAL piano sound engine, which you can have a pleasant experience of practicing. Additionally, the model is built by moisture-absorbing material so you can feel the textured keys of ivory.
2. Bluetooth Connectivity
It’s unusual to have Built-in Bluetooth on a digital piano at this price range. It allows you to connect your piano with electric devices as well as you can use Roland Piano Partner 2 app to get many learning features and set voices etc. Although Roland fp10 doesn’t come with recording function, recording your performance to your smart device via Bluetooth can work well.
Roland FP-10 is a newly released Roland digital piano in 2019 and it’s one of the best digital pianos under $500.
For beginners, Roland FP-10 not only features its authentic touch, but its Bluetooth connectivity also gives you the chance to explore more learning and other impressive features.
Roland FP-30 (Full review here) can be regarded as an upgraded model of Roland FP-10. It provides acoustic sound to get a maximum expression. If you’re looking for an instrument to be a transition to play on a real piano, your wait can end up here.
The digital piano is sold on its own, so you may need a bench to play it. The model can get a 3-pedal unit attached. I recommend you get one to get more feelings while playing.
Brilliant features
- Recording function
- Rich and powerful sound
- Lots of Keyboard Mode (Whole, Dual, Split, Twin Piano)
Watch out for
- No line out
Why it is for beginners
1. Recording function
Roland FP-30 has a recording function which is a great feature for beginners. At the initial stage of learning, players may get frustrated by two-hand skills. Recording function can help you in this way. For example, you can record the sound playing by your one hand first and play with the other hand over the top while listening to the sound you just recorded. It’s a wonderful way to practice cooperation between two hands.
Additionally, you can record your play and then listening back to find where you get wrong.
2. Acoustic sound
Roland FP-30 produces richer, deeper and more powerful sound compared with FP-10. The sampling was recorded from a real Steinway and has high-quality stereo speakers.
The digital piano offers 5 levels of touch sensitivities together with the ivory and ebony key feeling. It creates an amazing touch for you to play.
It’s loaded with lots of modes, including Whole, Dual, Split, and Twin Piano and comes with 35 voices and 8 basic rhythms.
Roland FP-30 is a digital piano for serious beginners. It features superior sound quality, recording function, Bluetooth and MIDI connectivity and multiple keyboard mode to give you a fully pleasant experience on it.
Casio CDP-240 is an 88 key portable digital piano that marked as entry level-piano plus lots of fancy features waiting for you to explore. It offers versatile functions for teaching you how to play pianos with motivating your interest.
Brilliant features
- Recording function
- Authentic feel
- Teaching features
- 700 sounds built-in
Watch out for
- Only 64 polyphony notes
Why it is for beginners
1. Adjustable weight of the keys
Most digital pianos have weighted keys. But there is a little difference in Casio CDP-240. The weighted keys on this model have three different weights, allowing you to suit your performance by adjusting them. Although playing with natural weighted keys is recommended, three different weights give your kids or yourself the flexibility to play without finding it’s difficult to press the keys and losing the interest.
2. Teaching features
The feature that makes CDP-240 stand out is its education functionality. Firstly, it offers Step Up Lessons with a built-in LCD screen, which teaches you how to play. When you’re learning a song on the piano, the finger you should use will light up as the music goes.
Then, another function is Music Challenges, which allows you to learn to play as a game. Basically, it’s you and the piano playing the same song. And you need to follow the piano to press the keys. It’s a funny way to make the learning process more engaging together with its 152 built-in songs and 50 finger exercises.
3. Synthesizer features
Apart from its adjustable weighted keys and teaching features, it has more fancy feathers. Casio CDP-240 is equipped with lots of features of Synthesizer, allowing you to use it as a MIDI controller while working with DAWs. It comes with 708 digital sounds, 200 auto-accompaniment rhythms, plus the recording function, which you can use it to record and edit audio very easily.
To conclude, Casio CDP-240 is an affordable digital piano with high quality and lots of features for beginners to keep interested and wanting to explore. Although the sound quality may not as realistic as Yamaha p71 and DGX660. It’s one of the best digital pianos for beginners and meets your different needs whether you use it to learn or use it as a synthesizer. Plus, It’s a great value for the money as a digital piano under $500.
Choosing the Best Digital Piano -Beginner Buyers Guide
As this article is about the best digital piano for beginners, you might be new to digital pianos. In the following content, we’re going to take look at what is a digital piano and how to choose the one that suits your needs best.
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What is Digital Piano?
Basically, the digital piano is a replica of an acoustic piano. They are like a portable and affordable version of a real piano.
Well, the sound of a digital piano cannot be as realistic and high-quality as a real piano. However, as the technique of digital pianos improves, the key action and sound quality are getting much closer to an acoustic piano.
Additionally, the digital piano also provides lots of useful features that the real piano doesn’t have, such as MIDI connectivity and different voices & rhythms. One great thing is that you can get rid of tuning troubles if you’re using a digital piano.
Here are some FAQs you might want to know:
#1. How do digital pianos generate sound?
A standard piano has the mechanical part made up of hammers and strings inside and the sound is produced by hammers hitting the strings and then vibrate to produce sound.
On the other hand, the digital piano has no mechanical parts. The sound samplings are generated from recoding acoustic pianos. Every brand has their own sound engines to recreate sounds such as Yamaha’s Advanced Wave Memory Sound Engine and Roland’s SuperNATURAL piano sound engine.
Additionally, speakers play a vital role in sound quality. Some models that use the same sound engine yet different speakers also make different qualities of the sound, such as Roland FP-10 and the FP-30.
#2. What features do digital pianos have whereas acoustic pianos don’t have?
The main differences between these two are that digital pianos have some tech features that you can’t find on an acoustic piano.
These features include:
Use of headphones -You can plugin headphones into headphone jacks, it’s really useful for you to practice whenever and wherever you like without disturbing others.
MIDI and Bluetooth connectivity -Most digital pianos have MIDI input and output, allowing you to transfer tracks to your computer and edit them on Digital Audio Workstations, therefore creating a piece of band music. This function may not for players who are absolute beginners, but if you have dreams to compose, you can learn piano basics first and then compose as you improve.
Impressively, Bluetooth connectivity can be used in many ways. For example, you can connect apps wirelessly for learning, creativity, and playing with your favorite songs. It’s beneficial for beginners as you can use many apps to learn on.
Lightweight and space-saving -Apart from its affordability, these two features are probably the main reasons why more and more people choose to buy digital pianos. We know that an acoustic piano can be very heavy to move around. It’s fairly difficult to move upstairs and downstairs. But for digital pianos, you can get rid of this trouble.
Normally, a digital piano weighs about 25 pounds and it can vary from 15 pounds (semi-weighted digital pianos) to 50 pounds. Plus, Digital pianos are a great choice if you’re living in an apartment and want a piano that can fit in your space.
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How to Choose a Digital Piano for Beginners?
As the price of digital pianos varies from $200 to several thousand, so it’s important to set a budget before considering other factors.
If your budget is under $500, then you can choose digital pianos with acceptable high-quality sound and relatively realistic touch and feel. If your budget is about $1000, you don’t need to compromise the quality. The digital pianos in this price range often come with more realistic sound and authentic touch compared with digital pianos under $500. For a beginner who wants to learn to play the piano seriously, key action and sound quality matter a lot.
After setting your budget, taking space, portability, educational functionality, and other tech features including Bluetooth MIDI connectivity and recording function into consideration. Together with the reviews of 10 digital pianos above, you’ll find your favorite one!
Our top 3 picks of best digital pianos for beginners
| Yamaha p71 | Yamaha p125 | Alesis Recital |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| • 88 key weighted action • Affordable • High-quality sound | • 88 fully-weighted keys • Very high-quality sound • 192 polyphony | • 88 semi-weighted keys • Best affordable • Educational features |
| View on Amazon | View on Amazon | View on Amazon |
Conclusion
Well, we’ve reached the final part of the best digital piano for beginners. Have you got your pick?
As you’re looking for a digital piano for getting proper practice, make sure that the one that you chose is able to let you improve finger techniques, music sense, and rhythm sensation. They could have a huge influence on your further music studies.
If you’re looking for a simple instrument that cost less, you can check the list of best keyboard for beginners.
If you’re serious about learning piano, getting a digital piano is well worth investigating.
