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I'm looking to purchase a keyboard for my 8yr old for her birthday; She has been practising on her grandads Yamaha PRS50, and has been getting quite proficiant with only a few hrs practice.

We have been looking at the Yamaha PRSE213, or are there other keyboards we should concider?

Our budget is approx. about £100 ($200)

Hi confusedad,

Welcome to the forums.

I'd really recommend saving more money for a digital piano that has weighted keys. That would be especially important if you want your daughter to start taking lessons and go through the ABRSM exam process. If you have a teacher that you plan to take her to, spend some time talking to that teacher to get a feel for their requirements.

The low end digital pianos that I would recommend is the Casio PX110 or maybe the older Casio CDP100 if you can locate one. In the US, this would be about double your budget for one you purchased online, maybe more if you bought it from a store.

If you decide that you just want her to play keyboards, then make sure that the ones you are looking at have touch sensitivity. The PRSE213 does not, but the next model up does (PRSE313).

Rich

A $200 yamaha keyboard would be fine for now but be prepared in a year or two to upgrade to something like a P60 for $1000 (88 weighted keys) if she takes to it. I'm not crazy about Casio and the cheaper Rolands have such poor touch sensitivity and sounds.

I second the Casio PX110 recommendation. That is the absolute minimum you should go for. 88 weighted keys, sells for about $400 in the US - unless you're looking for something used you won't find anything cheaper.

I own a Yamaha PSR-E313. I got it as a first learner keyboard. I've only begun piano-playing just a little over a month ago and find myself desperately needing to upgrade. That is what I'm working and saving up for now.

What you should be surprised to know is that learning the basics flies by extremely fast. These unweighted keyboards will only satisfy your daughter for a month or two, so you will find your daughter needing to upgrade very soon after a little progress.

A person should only study on an unweighted keyboard if that person expects to be a keyboard player. This includes arrangers (one-man-band keyboard players), synthesizer musicians (does the electric music), sequencer composers (those that compose through a computer), and some others.

If your daughter wants to learn how to play "piano", she needs weighted keys from the start. I've taken a piano class and received access to grand pianos in my university's practice rooms. Normally, I practiced and learned how to play songs nearly perfect at home on my PSR-E313. As soon as I tried playing the same songs on a real acoustic piano, I couldn't do it. Going from unweighted keys to weighted keys is like jumping from a 2-Dimensional image into a 3-Dimensional world.

I third the Casio PX110 recommendation. If you buy the PSR-E213 now, I guarantee that you will end up buying the Casio PX110 or more expensive models shortly after.