Whether you’re an adult looking to pick up some jazz chops, or you’re shopping for a great keyboard for your child’s practice sessions, keyboards for beginners offer remarkable tool sets for learning piano. Most keyboards come with multiple voices that will let you flip from baby grand to harpsichord, as well as midi connections that can sync your keys with your digital audio workstation if you're interested in recording your music.
Some great beginner keyboards distinguish themselves with affordable prices and easy headphone in’s and out’s. Others come with advanced features like light-up keys that help you follow along, or keyboards that are easy to split into two zones and make it easy to play along with your instructor. Read on for a look at some of the best keyboards for beginners for all types of players.
A lot goes into making a keyboard special. Some of those qualities are universal and some are personal preferences. When researching this list we looked long and hard at keyboards from all across the market, diving into the specs, testing them out ourselves, and stacking the various benefits of each one against the next. Along the way a few criteria emerged.
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Keys, Voices, and Polyphony: While traditional pianos have 88 keys, our picks varied somewhat, including a few 88-key picks, along with some slimmer keyboards. We prioritized graded weighted keys where possible, as these feel the best and make for a better learning experience for those who are looking to segue to piano. We also considered polyphony , which refers to the amount of notes that can be played simultaneously. That measure varies somewhat across our picks, but 64-note polyphony is a good standard. We also looked for keyboards that feature at least a few voices. While keyboards with hundreds of voices can be appealing, we think that a few good voices are better for the average student, as larger voice libraries can be easy to get lost in.
Learning Tools: These features can improve beginner pianos dramatically. Some of the best keyboards for beginners feature innovative solutions, like keys that light up along to the music, giving you visual patterns to follow as you learn tunes. Built-in tunes to play along to can also be helpful for learners. Another useful tool is split keyboard settings which allow you to divide your keyboard into two zones, that can sometimes be equipped with different voices, allowing you and your instructor to play along together on the same melody, or to create harmonies with different voices.
Connections: Any good keyboard for beginners should have a headphone jack; two can be useful for working with an instructor. Quarter-inch headphone jacks can also be used to send signals to an amplifier, mixer, or pedals, though some keyboards also include la ine out for this purpose. Generally, the signal that runs through a headphone output is boosted to drive headphones , where a line out connection isn’t, though the specifics can vary on different hardware. A midi connection can be make-or-break for some users, as they enable you to use your keyboard to control your computer’s digital audio workstation. Midi signals can be equipped with various synths and samples on your computer to build electronic music. We specifically looked for keyboards that have good connection options.
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Why It Made the Cut: The LK-S450 makes learning piano as fun as “Guitar Hero, ” with light-up keys that walk you through lessons, a vast library of customizable tones that can be layered, light up chord books, and midi connectivity.
Specs: — Keys: 61 keys — Polyphony: 48 notes — Voices: 600, with 200 rhythms — Connection: Headphone jack, microphone in, pedal, midi, bluetooth — Weight: 10.14 pounds
Pros: — Incredible library of tones and rhythms — Lighted keys are very useful for learning songs — Easy to navigate the keyboard’s library — Sounds and feels good with semi-weighted keys
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Cons: — Does not include midi adapter and proves more difficult than some to connect — No quarter-inch line out for recording
While it’s certainly not a traditional electric piano, the Casiotone LK-S450 brings piano lessons into the era of “Guitar Hero” and wavetable synths. This keyboard features innovative light-up keys that glow, cueing you to your next move through a wide songbook of piano classics. But that’s not all; the LK-S450 is also a working library of voices, with 600 customizable voices that include everything from sine waves to string ensembles, as well as built-in rhythm settings with multiple parts, and a record function.
The LK-S450’s sound library is surprisingly replete for the price. When testing it out, I found a sine wave I loved, added sustain, and then used the layering function to pair it with strings for an ethereal synth tone. Then, dialing in a rhythm, I was pleased to find that as I played bass over the dance beat, I could trigger an intro dance beat or add a fill from the menu controls with my off hand.
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Taking my ethereal key tone with me, I started up a lesson, cueing up Nocturne 9-2 on easy. The rhythm counted off, and B-flat glowed red. Once I pressed it, the lesson commenced. With every note change on the right hand, the next key glowed red, allowing me to follow along at my own pace, with the left hand accompaniment firing off when I got to the correct part. I found myself enthralled, following along slowly, as the piano did half the work. With the glowing lights and the accompaniment playing at the right times, the experience made the piano lesson into something as addictive as a video game.
The LK-S450’s glowing keys make it a wonderfully compelling keyboard on which to learn music. Not only does the keyboard teach you all the songs in its library, but the settings menu features a chord library that works in the same way. A turn of the dial quickly illustrates the difference between a Csus4 or a C-diminished chord, and cycles between different keys, with all the standard chords provided for each. I had hoped that the LK-S450 would provide a way to turn on lighting for all of the notes in a scale to facilitate learning different keys. Though I wasn’t able to find this feature, the chord book still achieves some of the same results, helping students learn theory, and visualize how chords combine different notes in a scale or mode.
That said, I was a little let down by the connections on this keyboard. It has a midi connection, but it doesn’t ship with the proper midi cable. The standard midi cable I had didn’t connect to the device’s USB-A midi slot, and when I tried two other USB-A cables, neither connected the device to my computer so it could be found in the musical product software Ableton Live. There’s also no quarter-inch slot, so I wasn’t able to connect the keyboard to my computer this way either. Still, with troubleshooting I’m sure it can be made to connect. The keyboard also features a Bluetooth connection, as well as a sustain pedal, audio in, and mic in.
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All in all, I think the Casiotone LK-S450 is one of the best beginner keyboards out there. The light-up keys are not a gimmick, rather, they’re an exceptionally useful tool for learning piano, making the process addictive and fun. As far as its basic performance, the keyboard’s sound library is vast and fun enough to get you excited about experimenting with synth tones and effects, and its record feature works well. While the connectivity isn’t perfectly set up for recording, there are workarounds. For a true beginner keyboard, this is one of the best (and most fun) options you can buy.
Why It Made the Cut: With a bench, stand, and mic included, this 300-voice and 300-rhythm keyboard features a medium-length set of keys, and free lessons and learning supplements that will show your fingers the way.
Specs: — Keys: 61 keys — Polyphony: Eight notes — Voices: 300, 300 built-in rhythms — Connection: Headphone jack, microphone in — Weight: Nine pounds
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Pros: — Huge library of sounds and built-in rhythms — Microphone for singing along — Included stand and bench — Great software gets you playing along
The Alesis Melody is one of those all-in-one instruments that just has everything a young musician wants. With a wildly large arsenal of voices, pre-recorded tracks to follow along to, and built-in beats, this is a keyboard that’s chock-full of fun. Load up a synth, start up a pre-loaded samba and you’ll be blaring down the Miami strip like it’s ‘88. Switch over to organ and find yourself jamming right along to New Orleans funk. The Alesis brings all the sounds.
However, the Melody isn’t just a massive sound-bank. This keyboard also comes with some serious learning tools, including three free months of Skoove Premium and two free months of Take Live — two different approaches to music lessons that both give you real value learning tools.
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Altogether, the Alesis Melody is a true value pack for keyboard learners that’s crammed full of musical
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