I love my digital. For my purposes, it's perfect. Otherwise I would never be able to practice because someone would always be sleeping, studying, etc. But, this last week I learned a clear advantage of an acoustic-it doesn't require electricity and you can play it in the dark! We've been suffering major power outages since last Wednesday so I suddenly had free time on my hands (no electricity, no phones, traffic lights all out, stores, restaurants and gas stations closed, etc.) but I couldn't play. I teased my husband about buying a generator to plug in my piano. My granddaughter, who has an acoustic piano, was able to practice. Candles weren't working too well but my daughter shined a flashlight over her shoulder for her to practice her new pieces.

I really can't complain though. A lot of people are suffering yet and actually, we've had it pretty easy.

Playing by flashlight? That is dedication. I think I would have suggested focusing on memorized pieces for a few days.

Also a good time to practice your pedaling.

Her lesson was on Thursday and she was worried about working on her new pieces. She's a very high-strung, intense child.

Without playing? I've never tried that. But I've never had any problem with pedaling. I guess I learned it as a child and it just seems automatic to me now.

Agilita, I feel your pain! I went without power for four days a couple of years ago...ugh! I was bored out of my mind and hot and dirty and that was before I took up the piano. Although, I only have a digital so I'd have been out of luck there too!

Hope your power is restored soon!

If you're playing from memory, on an acoustic in the dark, it's a great time to experiment with pedaling around the damper threshold. Especially for those who aren't familiar with advanced pedaling.

For most beginners, the pedal has only two positions, all the way up and all the way down. It's possible to achieve some amazing sounds from an acoustic by becoming comfortable with the pedal either just above or just below the damper threshold.

The damper threshold is the point where the damper just touches the strings. A hair above the threshold and the strings stop vibrating. Somewhere at the threshold, or just below there is just a subtle vibration and a kind of echo effect. Of course the farther down the pedal travels, the more freedom the strings have to vibrate.

So by practicing at the threshold, rather than all the way up or down, you can start to finesse the strings and pull some real color and resonance from them.

This can be called half pedaling and some digitals have it, but IMO, there's not much of a comparison to an acoustic.

it happened to me once as well, and i was just sitting there playing silent piano (good for doing finger exercise though)...

You plug yours in? No wonder I can't get enough volume out of this thing.

Seriously, I don't like waiting for the thing to boot up. I get a musical inspiration, I go over to my Kawai upright, and play--as natural as scratching an itch (I won't say where).

With the Yammy, even if it's setup, I've got to turn it on, turn on the amp, wait wait wait. When it's finally ready, I've forgotten why I started the process in the first place.

Digital pianos stretch the patience of us over-50 types, especially if we suffer from CRS.

Really? I push one button on my Roland, the little monitor screen lights up and it's ready. A matter of seconds.

Me, too. A button on the Casio, a button on the external speakers, and I'm good to go. I've never heard anyone say, "Give me a minute, I'm waiting for my piano to boot up."

my digital comes right on when the power is on...but then again i dont have an external amp..

however i am in love with my acoustic :3hearts:

there is no comparison

My upright M & H has sconces. No need for flashlights!