The Various Types of Electronic Keyboards

The electronic keyboard is a suitable alternative to the acoustic piano for any beginner who wishes to experiment with a cheaper, portable instrument before fully committing to buying the more expensive digital or acoustic piano. In addition, the portable electronic keyboard is a fun instrument to play with thanks to its wide array of instrumental sounds and even special sound effects. This makes it ideal for composition of new music, or playing pieces meant for other instruments.

Portable keyboards have several features not found in an acoustic piano. As sound is produced electronically, no cumbersome tuning is ever required. In addition, most keyboards provide options for recording the music you play. Furthermore, headphone connections are available on the majority of keyboards, allowing you to play as loudly as you like without worry of disturbing your neighbors in the middle of the night. The 3 main kinds of portable keyboards are: digital piano, MIDI controller, and electronic keyboards.

The MIDI controller is a special type of keyboard which does not produce sound on its own. Instead, you must plug in the keyboard to your computer or a special sound synthesizer module. As you hit the keys on the MIDI controller, the appropriate tones will be output from your computer or the synthesizer. The MIDI controller is an excellent, affordable option if you do not mind the hassle of setting up the connection.

When most people mention portable electronic keyboards, they are usually referring to this particular class: a keyboard which features fewer than 88 keys (the number found on an acoustic piano), and typically does not have realistically-weighted keys, or even acoustic piano sound. For this reason, most piano teachers would recommend the digital piano instead of an electronic keyboard. However, if you are not even sure yet that you want to take piano lessons, then the electronic keyboard is absolutely perfect for trying out. As long as you remain aware that the keys on the digital or acoustic piano feel heavier, moving on from an electronic keyboard to a digital or acoustic piano should not be too much of an issue. In addition, popular brands of electronic keyboards such as Yamaha and Casio have keyboards specifically targeted towards beginners, both children and adults. These special keyboards have helpful built-in song lessons and sometimes feature lighted keys allowing you to play along to a song easily. You can check out the Yamaha EZ-200 electronic keyboard review and the Casio CTK 2100 electronic keyboard review for examples of great keyboards for beginners.

You can think of a digital piano as the higher-end of electronic keyboards. The main focus of digital pianos is to emulate the touch and sound of the acoustic piano as closely as possible. Thus, they feature the complete set of 88 weighted keys. The tones on digital pianos, especially the piano sound, are usually better than those found on the cheaper electronic keyboard. These two features combined make the digital piano substantially more expensive than the portable electronic keyboards, even if the latter features many more instrumental sounds!

An electronic keyboard is perfect if you are considering your first musical instrument to pick up, or if you are not sure the piano is suitable for you. It is a cheaper option than the digital piano, and if you choose a keyboard for beginners, can greatly accelerate your learning process with the built-in song teacher. In addition, it can provide much entertainment with its vast array of tones and voices, breaking the sometimes monotonous tone when practicing a particular piece over and over again.