Buying a digital piano for your kids

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**Looking for the best digital piano for your kids but don’t know where to start?**

**This 2 minute read from piano teacher and LCM music examiner, Dr Chris Stanbury, will give you all the answers.**

How much should it cost?

A good beginner’s digital piano should cost you about £300 – £350. For this, you’ll get a great quality instrument that’ll support your child’s learning for at least 7 years. Avoid cheaper instruments from online sellers as these don’t tend to last and offer a poor quality sound. Invest in something worthwhile and it’ll maintain your kids’ interest and be more enjoyable to play.

What do I need to look for?

The piano needs to have weighted keys that feel like a real piano, so your kids can develop the right finger skills. The keys also need to be touch sensitive and full size, which means that they are the same shape and type as a real piano.

Is a digital piano better than a real piano?

From my experience, it’s very rare to find a good real piano under £1000. You also need to budget for maintenance – you’ll need to have the strings of a real piano tuned two to three times a year at a cost of £80 a time.

You get a lot more for your money with digital pianos. They take up a lot less space and don’t need tuning, plus you can plug in headphones for silent practice. This is perfect for busy households!

What other functions do you get with digital pianos?

If your kids love their gadgets, they’ll really enjoy connecting their digital piano to an iPad or a computer using the USB connection. We’ve all seen the ads for iPad apps and music learning games, and being able to use these with a digital piano makes learning a lot more fun.

What digital piano would you recommend?

I love the Casio CDP-S90. It’s light, very compact and has a great sound. Most importantly, it is excellent value for money and my eldest son loves using it with his iPad. Casio provide a free app, called Chordana, and free online lessons too, so you really can start learning right from when you get it delivered. It also has Casio’s excellent build quality and technical support if you need it.