Hi everyone,

I am really, really keen on picking the piano up again. I used to play, lost interest, and now I am literally dying to get started (at the ripe old age of 24)! It's come to the point where I will do whatever it takes to get back into taking lessons! Every day that goes by is another day I am not practicing and I feel so guilty. But money is very tight at the moment, and I live with 3 other flatmates. I am effectively a beginner at piano (even though I began learning at aged 5), and since I intend fully to make this a lifelong pursuit, I want to get started the right way. Are there any long term consequences of starting out on a digital piano (regardless of how piano-like it feels) as opposed to a regular acoustic? I really like being able to practice in private (I feel self-conscious practicing in front of others, and I'd be worried about the noise level, plus I need to be able to practice at odd hours =/), but if that is at the cost of developing some long-term bad habits that could be avoided by starting out on an acoustic....I would definitely reconsider. Perhaps I could rent rent a couple hours' use of a piano from a local music school... I don't know!

And I wonder if there are any adult learners on this forum who share an apartment or home with other people... how do you go about practicing on your acoustic (I am assuming)?

Please help me out! Thanks!

Honestly, putting in the time on a good digital is 1000x better than nothing.

Most people will say you got to have an acoustic. There's some truth in that and there's a difference between an acoustic and digital. I don't think that beginners and even most intermediate level pianists can really bring out the nuances of an acoustic. I don't think bad habits are formed because of a digital. There are obvious pluses that outweighs the negatives especially for those with small children, crazy work hours, apartment dwellers, roommates, etc.

I started out on a Yamaha DP for my first 7 months of lessons. When I started searching for my acoustic it was a small adjustment that took literally minutes to work out. One good thing about the acoustic was that it was always in tune and when I went shopping I immediately knew which stores actually cared enough to keep their pianos in tune.

Most acoustic pianos have a practice pedal which may allow you to play while others are sleeping. I use ours after our children have gone to bed and are asleep. They've just gone to bed and aren't asleep yet, which is why I'm typing instead of playing.

The pedal has some limitations, though. If you hit some big bass notes, the piano will still make enough sound to disturb some. It depends on how close they are and how sensitive. Ours is underneath my older daughter's bedroom, and I can use it once she is asleep.

When everyone's awake, it's not a problem. I can go in the room where the piano is and close the door, and no one will complain. The TV is the family room, which is separated from the piano room by a half bath, and I can play without disturbing the TV watchers and they can watch without disturbing me.

Having said that, I don't think that having a weighted key digital for your first couple of years is a disadvantage. Left to my own devices, I would have bought a modestly priced stage type digital for our first piano. My wife had other ideas, so we have a 49 inch upright acoustic. The advantage of getting the modest digital at first is that you will have a chance to develop your skills before you have to make a buying decision on an acoustic, and you will be able to make a much more informed decision. I consider the acoustic we have to be a starter piano, to be replaced in a few years time.

I've never owned a digital and I'm not a teacher. But here is my opinion.
The important thing is to get (re)started. Lots of kids start off on a digital, maybe their parents don't want to invest in an acoustic until they are certain the child has a genuine interest in the piano.
Acoustics are expensive to maintain - if you play with a band in a CD, it will annoy you if your piano is out of tune. An acoustic piano needs tuning every few months for changes in weather conditions.
Digitals can be carried up stairs for your future gigs.
You can practice against different drum tracks on your digital.

I began recently as adult after 25 years of haven't touched a piano.

I can clearly feel the difference between my digital piano, a Kawai CN-32 and my teacher's 7 times more expensive acoustic Yamaha. However, that is to be excepted. In both my own and his opinion, a nice DP is great for a beginner.

Here are the three major benefits I see as a beginner myself in owning a DP compared to an Acoustic

1) Maintenance free and light of weight. Acoustics are heavy and require tuning. I live in a small appartment and value those traits.
2) You can play with headphones or low volume, still you can express yourself.
3) Record your playing and practice, for instance record your right and and play the left hand to your own speed.

Disadvantage is that you cant feel the sound in the same way as with an acoustic. It just sounds better and feels better, but not so much you are unable to be happy and progress greatly with the digital, as long as it has good keyboard action and proper sounds.

Agree to the above posts. A digital is very convenient! Make sure though that you get good quality digital piano including weighted keys, pedals, and so on, and not a keyboard. Go and compare a few in a shop and see if you think the sound and feel is good enough for you. A good digital can definitly be better then a poor acoustic.

Good luck!

Hi there!

As a teacher, I really think that practicing on the "right" digital is absolutely fine for beginners. I wrote a blog post with my thoughts on the subject:
http://fundamentalkeys.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2

Hope that helps!

Hi,

At one time I had a very good acoustic upright. I wound up trading that in towards a digital (classic) organ. (if you want to hear some high octane debates, go over to the Organ Forum and read some of the pipes vs digital dialogue!)

Anyway, for piano I now use a Yamaha Clavinova, and I agree with all that has been said. One of the main advantages I found with the digital piano is that when I am learning a piece, I can replay it back. I am about a level 5 for both piano and classic organ, and every piece I practice I will record and play back. It has been advantageous to listen to yourself you and pick up things that you don't realize when you are playing. (Some positive, some that need improvement). Sometimes I will wait for a couple days to listen to the piece and see if I can pick up any other nuances. For organ, I learn the piece on the piano, and when it sounds right on the piano (recording) then I will start playing on the organ. The ability to vary the temperaments and tuning make the instrument(s) sound even more realistic, which is something an acoustic cannot do.

Think of it this way... Technology is moving so fast and the improvements are miles ahead what the digital instruments were even 10 years ago. Additionally, there is an incredible variety of affordable software that can make your digital have the dynamic response, resonance etc., of an instrument 10-20x the price you paid for your instrument.

For a learning environment, I found the digital to be a great tool (and affordable).

Amateur Jerry

I have a Yamaha Digital piano for the same cause... You can attach a headphone to it and people can hear only key stokes. It is still disturbing as my wife says, better than hundreds of repetitions of same song