Please recommend a keyboard for Beginners

[eve.tham]

Hi,

I am totally new to keyboard but I will want to start learning it. I am asking around schools for their courses for beginners and will like to purchase one portable keyboard too. I saw from Yamaha website on these 3 keyboards:
http://www.yamaha.com.sg/Portable_Keyboard.html
is this good enough for a beginner like me? Which one should I choose?

Appreciate your assistance...

eve

 

[poladark]

My first answer would always be to visit a couple of music stores and try the keyboards yourself in person. It is important to bring a good set of headphones or (worst case) ask to borrow a pair in the store. Try out how the keyboards feel to play and see if you like the sounds. Bring a pen and notepad as well so that you don't forget your impressions.

Don't let any salespeople pressure you into anything. A cheap keyboard may be just as good for your needs as a more expensive one. Work out what you need from an instrument beforehand. If an instrument has extra features that you never considered in advance, they are irrelevant for your decision to purchase.

Different brands try to trick you into thinking that there's something special about their particular instrument by using different buzzwords for the same thing. Read up on how the instruments work so that you are not fooled.

If a salesperson offers you a "good deal", chances are you'll find just as good of a deal somewhere else. They all get their stuff from the same distributor at the same price.

Write down the model numbers of the keyboards when you try them and look them up online to see what different advantages and disadvantages they have.

I would kindly like to refer you to the three sticky threads in this particular forum.


The three keyboards on the page you link to have different advantages and disadvantages that may or may not be relevant to you. The PSR-E413 has a USB port for connecting to a computer but no MIDI ports. The other two have MIDI ports but not USB. The sensible thing would be an instrument with both MIDI and USB for maximum flexibility.

Connecting your keyboard to a computer or other musical equipment is perhaps something you'd rarely do with a beginner's keyboard though.

 

[Cheez]

Perhaps the first question is what genre do you intend to play. Classical/pop/jazz/contemporary etc. Next, I would enroll in the course of interest first, and see what keyboard they are using to teach you. That will give you a rough idea of what to get. The teacher/instructor may also give you suggestions (but careful - they may be biased towards the school they are teaching in, so it will be a good idea to check with us here in SOFT first).

And yes, as polardark said, check out the stickies.

 

[eve.tham]

Hey thanks Poladark and Cheez!

I am interested in pop. Will shop around to check it out. Please let me know if you guys got any recommendation that I can consider too.....

 

[porbista]

I agree with Cheez... it's better to purchase a keyboard for a particular genre that you're playing or planning to play since some keyboards are better suited for a particular genre... personally i go for a midi keyboard instead... since it gives you flexibility in terms of sound choices... hope that helps...