You want to learn to play a keyboard or maybe your partner or your children want to learn and you need to buy a keyboard but where do you start.
If you follow my recommendations, buying your first keyboard will be an easier experience. Prices for keyboards range from about 100 to 5000 pounds or more. In this article, we will deal with keyboards that are more than adequate for beginners. As a beginner, there is no point in spending thousands of pounds on a keyboard because you will not be able to use the more advanced features that are included on these keyboards because you can't play yet.
Before you go and buy your keyboard, you should consider that the keyboard you buy is going to be the first of many or the first and last keyboard you ever buy.
So the first thing you need to think about is budget. For a beginners keyboard I would personally not spend more than 500 pounds but would be looking in 100 to 300 pound range. Obviously, you need to set your own budget within this range. When you have set your budget, you need to decide where you are going to buy your keyboard.
I would defiantly recommend buying a keyboard from a music shop. I know you can find cheaper keyboards on the internet from various mail order companies and eBay but there are many advantages to buying from your local music shop. The first advantage being that you can hear and see the keyboard you are about to buy. Also generally, the sales staff in these shops know what they are talking about and can play the instruments and show you how they work. Many music shops can also offer keyboard lessons and provide sheet music, tuition books and song books to get you started.
When choosing your keyboard, it's important you like the look of it and like the sound of it. There are various manufacturers to choose from, the main ones being Yamaha, Casio and Roland. Many musicians have there own preferences as to which make they prefer, including myself, however, I would urge you to make your own mind up, after all you have got to look at it and listen to it.
So to recap:
Set your budget. This should be between 100 and 300 pounds.
Buy from your local music shop so you can see and hear a keyboard before you buy.
Make sure you like what you see and hear. Imagine what the keyboard of your choice will look like in your own home and listen to the sound of the keyboard from its own speakers and not from a connected amplifier.
In part two I will tell you what keyboard features you should expect for your money and maybe some features you don't need. |
