Many electronic keyboards will prove sufficient for piano lessons, at least at first. Anything you get should conform to the recommended specifications for equipment found in the Practice section of our piano lessons policies. Ideally, you’d get the most inspiring instrument your budget allows.
Several starter keyboards were reviewed in a roundup by Keyboard Magazine in June 2009. The article has been removed from Keyboard’s own archives, but you can still see it at Nxtbook exactly as it originally appeared in the magazine. All models reviewed conform to our recommended specifications, though some do not include a sustain pedal, which you can purchase separately.
While many more options can be found via the search box on our main Equipment page, for your convenience, all models covered in the Keyboard article and available at Amazon are linked below. Also included here are newer models from the same families as those reviewed in the article. Models are sorted from lowest to highest price based on Amazon pricing as of November 2011.
Though pricier digital and acoustic pianos will provide the best experience overall, if needed, a few keyboards below might conceivably satisfy you beyond the starter phase, through the longer-term. For a basic but solid piano experience, consider the Casio PX-130/PX-120 or the Yamaha P95/P85, all of which have 88 keys, weighting/action that makes them feel fairly like a real piano, and built-in speakers. If you need to spend less, consider the Yamaha NP30/NP31, each having 76 keys and a decent feel for the price. Some other keyboards below have additional features which can be fun if you’re interested but aren’t necessary for piano performance. On the other hand, getting fewer than 76 keys virtually guarantees that you will need to upgrade after a couple of years of lessons.
