Whenever I visit Costco, the first place I go is right to the keyboards. Its funny because I never actually like any of them, I play the same song on each one (a very cheesy love song). As of yet, I haven’t had a digital piano “wow” me and my overly sensitive ears. What I intend to tackle in this article is: When is a digital piano right for me? What advantages will I find in an acoustic piano?
The fundamental difference:
An acoustic piano uses hammers hitting strings to produce sound.
Technical bit: It is not considered a “string” instrument because you are not touching the strings. A piano is considered a percussion instrument.
The quality of the sound roughly narrows down to the quality of the key mechanism (how responsive the keys are — that is to say, the “touch”. Some pianos have very little expression in their touch, some have much more). The quality of the soundboard (perhaps considered the most important part, quality differs from kind of wood, to how the wood was cut and glued, to the direction and fineness of the grain). And the quality of the instrument overall (things like what the case is made out of, how well the parts were built and put together, etc).
A digital piano or keyboard has different features and characteristics that set it aside from the piano.
The sound of a digital piano is being reproduced by a digitally sampled sound for each note, taken from a real piano in high quality recording.
Technical bit: We’ll be referring mainly to when a digital keyboard is imitating the sounds of a piano. In truth, a digital keyboard can replicate often many different instruments, a feature we will discuss later.
The quality of the sound, like the acoustic cousin, has many factors. The key mechanism, like the acoustic piano, matters greatly. Some digital pianos have touch response, others do not. Likewise, some digital pianos have “weighted keys” whereas others are not at all. Quality of the key mechanism and type matter greatly in choosing a digital piano.
More important in the actual sound is the sample rate and overall quality. This differs on every keyboard, and unfortunately there is no number you can simply look for on the box before purchase to figure this out.
The speakers that come with the digital piano make a big difference as well. Once again, there is no set thing that you can simply look for.
When is acoustic right for me?
When you are planning to live in one place for an extended period of time.
When real sound makes a difference to your ears.
When you do have the money to purchase a piano, new or used, and can afford regular tuning. Or, if you already have access to an acoustic piano (eg: parents/grand parents have a piano they no longer want and are giving away) and the people to move it properly.
When is digital right for me?
When you are moving a lot, or playing in a live band and need an instrument you can take with you.
When you want a maintenance-free device.
When you want synthesizer sounds or an MIDI controller in addition to a piano.
I have kids learning to play piano, what should I look for?
If going digital, make should you have a sustain pedal and touch-sensitive keys. If going acoustic, make sure that everything works — all keys, all pedals, and that the hammer felts are not entirely worn. You should talk to your kids piano instructor about their thoughts as well.
Acoustic thoughts:
Acoustic pianos do require tuning. Tuning in the home environment should be done about once a year. Tuning costs vary by location and also by individual tuners. After moving a piano, you will likely need to get a pitch raise, and a full tuning a few weeks later. My tuner charges $70 for a pitch raise, and $90 for a tuning.
Used acoustic pianos can be found for free in many places; however, a free piano is not always a worthwhile piano. The best way to find out how good an acoustic piano if you are not a pianist is to find a pianist and ask them to go along with you to try the piano out. If you do not know a pianist, you can hire a technician to come and look at the piano, and give you an idea about the value and quality of the piano.
There are different kinds of acoustic pianos. The major categories are upright and grand. Inside those categories are even more sizes. Grand pianos can be divided into: parlor studio, baby, concert, and a few other sizes in-between. Upright can be “upright”, upright grand, console, and spinet. (Read here for more details about uprights). Upright grands are typically antiques built around the earlier 1900’s. How good they are depends on their past care and the quality of the builder. Antique pianos are worth less, pianos do not improve with time.
Get a real piano bench. A chair is not suitable for playing piano and will cause bad posture and interfere with proper technique. If a solid hardwood surface is too uncomfortable for you, consider using a small pillow. Do not use antique piano stools — they are beautiful as heck and make excellent decorations, and those claw-feet are marvelous to look at, but piano benches are impractical and do not allow for a full range of motion. Stools are not appropriate for a bench either.
Digital Thoughts:
Some digital pianos have no touch response — literally, no matter how hard or soft you press the keys, there may be no difference in sound. When searching for a digital piano, touch sensitive keys are a must — this allows for expression. Many cheaper digital pianos have unweighted keys, which feel significantly different from that of an acoustic piano. Weighted keys are expensive, but will make the transition between acoustic and digital pianos easier and allow for more expression.
Many digital pianos also lack pedals. In acoustic pianos, the middle-pedal in more expensive grand pianos does a complicated thing that is not so important in modern music. The sustain pedal, however, is used in most types of piano music and is very important to have. It holds out notes without the need to press keys. A left-pedal is nice, but not absolutely necessary (the left pedal, the “damper pedal”, softens the sound).
Digital pianos of higher quality take a “console” approach. These are built into stands with better speakers placed inside, and the pedals are permanently attached. Digital pianos of this type are often a level above the standard portable keyboard, but come with a price and less portability.
Read what I wrote about benches in Acoustic Thoughts again. Digital pianos often fail to come with benches, and even more, the stools that they come with seem to be at odd heights. There is no standard height, but playing and sitting at the piano should be comfortable for you.
