Piano vs Keyboard Debate

The Piano Vs. Keyboard Debate

One of the main goals of my studio is to set the student up for success! Would you send your child to school without supplies, send them to track practice in sandals, sign them up for basketball but practice with a nerf ball at home? I don’t think so and the same applies to learning an instrument.

To truly set a child up for success with piano lessons, they need a good instrument to practice on at home. They will only sound as good as the instrument that they have to play on.

But I don’t own a piano and my child would like to take lessons!

Here are some suggestions:

Speak with friends and family – does anyone have an instrument that is in good condition and just might require tuning?

Check used piano listings but call a piano technician to go with you to see it – it might need a lot of work and could be costly.

A full-size 88 key keyboard with weighted keys and pedal will be fine for the first 2 – 4 years.

A small (fewer than 88 keys) without touch sensitivity will only result in frustration for the student, parents and teacher. If it resembles a toy, it will be treated as one. Students typically do not want to practice on a keyboard and most quit lessons after roughly two years– they will likely have repertoire very quickly that will use the full 88 keys, many don’t have pedals which are used in the first few lessons, the keys are easy to push down which makes it difficult to build finger strength and produce good tone, some students will practice at a table or on their beds which develops terrible posture, awkward playing and very poor technique. Students have a difficult time centering themselves at a full size keyboard.

An acoustic piano will last for years if taken care of. Please have a technician come in to tune it once a year and perform any other work that is needed. My Baldwin piano is over 50 years old and only now needs to have the hammers replaced. It will be done in the Fall, cost around $1000.00 but that is all I have spent other than yearly tunings in all these years. You can imagine how much this piano has been played in my 25 years of teaching.

Please consider getting your child the best instrument you can afford. This is something your child will enjoy their whole lives – they could still be playing in their nineties!

Happy playing!