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My grandma wants to get my grandpa a keyboard for Christmas and so she wanted me to find a good one for him. He was learning how to play the piano and enjoyed it. I would recommend the Yamaha one I have but you have to max out the volume for even me to hear it well enough. I found a Casio keyboard that looks promising, but I've never had a Casio piano before (I'm a Yamaha girl). Does anyone have a Casio? Are there any keyboards you would recommend for a grandpa? Posts: 1417 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Most keyboards will have a headphone or speaker jack you can plug a good set of computer speakers or a stereo into for better amplification and sound quality.
Pianos go for pretty cheap on Craigslist.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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A used piano will almost always be cheaper than a keyboard capable of producing the same sound. It's one of the reasons why I don't own a keyboard, even though it'd be a lot easier to mix if I did.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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One of the many reasons not to own a piano, though, is physical space. And the fact that if you buy one used you often have to move it yourself, something an elderly couple may not have an easy time with.
Also, you don't have to worry about keyboards staying in tune.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Since your gramps is an amateur, I would recommend a simple keyboard without the stupid synth frills that come along with alot of cheap ones. If you buy it from an actual music store, and you're a novice, they will try to sell you on the sound effects aspect of the keyboards in the store, and ignore the poor quality of the keybeds and the action of the keys. The important thing is that the keyboard replicates the feel of a piano as closely as possible, with properly weighted keys a sturdy build. This will generally also mean that the keyboard will be more expensive than a used piano, however buying a keyboard from costco for instance, (as my helpful mother once did for me) is not the best idea in the world. The keyboards you'll find for amateurs are not necessarily helpful for learning how to play the piano (keys are too small, action is all wrong, etc).
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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I grew up in my family home with the family piano and piano lessons and all. When I moved away from home, I let all that go, and it was years before I touched a piano again.
Then my Dad bought my son a keyboard to play with. I took it up enthusiastically, playing Bach and Purcell and all that crowd, and even trying some Liszt etudes. I pretty much taught myself to play again.
Then when I was visiting Ma, the old family piano was there, kept in tune and exercised regularly by Ma. I sat on the bench and tried to play it.
I could not. The action was much stiffer than the cheap keyboard my son had, the feel was all wrong, and the difference in sound quality totally threw me off.
I got ruined by the cheap keyboard. I'm sure that if I had a real piano, though, I could learn to do it the right way again, though.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
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