Question for serious pianists: should I buy a digital piano?

[lousyplayer]

Guys, those who are serious pianists: Is it ok to buy a digital piano, like Yamaha CLP 300 series? or will I be murdering classical music? what are the differences?

PS - I think they're cheaper than real pianos.

Thanks

[robson]

if you are serious about piano playing go with acoustic, no question about it.
Later on you can add a digital for convenience practice or when on the move.
Even the most sophisticated digital pianos (and that would not be any CLP series)
are only estimation of a real sound you get from acoustic.

But if you really have to buy digital go with the top ones like yamaha avantgrand N1
or Roland HP or Kawai CA series. You'll need best possible action and feel to learn properly
as well as a sound. Forget about cheap digital.

[49410enrique]

if you only have room or  conditions that make it digital or no piano, then digital is better than no piano at all. as far as actions, kawai digitals have an action that is the closest thing to a n acoustic grand action you can get outside of an acoustic grand.

price point to get into kawai digitals though reflects this and even entrylevel models can be triple was an entry model in a cheaper more well known digi brand might cost you for admission.

if you can only afford so much, buy the best digi you can afford, i.e. if it's a casio or yamaha etc. you will be at a slight handicap over having a genuine instruments (i.e tone production, etc) but again consider the alternative if that's your only choice.

[newkidintown]

Nevermind, I was thinking of the wrong thing.

[dream_pianist1999]

If you are considering career as a pianist, I feel you should not get a digital piano, as you will not learn the proper technique of control and will not get the same texture and feel of a real piano. 

[hbofinger]

If you are considering career as a pianist, I feel you should not get a digital piano, as you will not learn the proper technique of control and will not get the same texture and feel of a real piano. 

He is right. I would go even further and say to get the real action feel I would go grand, no less than 6 feet.

But I also second some other opinions here. I stopped playing for years after selling the last grand I owned. I then started off with a digital Kawai. Now I have a big grand again, but I did not sell the digital. I use it when I want to try a different action, play with headphones, keep myself from being thrown out of the neighborhood. have less wrong notes to vacuum up from the floor after practicing on the grand (headphones keep them from falling out on the floor, instead I have to use Q-tips to wipe them out of the ear...)

[gvfarns]

You might need to quantify what you mean by "serious."  Serious pianists cough up serious money for their instruments.

In my opinion a nice digital is a good option for all normal players from beginner to very skilled.  If you are looking to be a professional or concert level classical pianist, then neither a digital nor a cheap acoustic will do as you will be expecting to perform on top-flight instruments, so you want to practice on them as well. 

A good digital will outperform a cheap (probably in poor condition) upright in many ways, but even at the highest end they are by no means perfect.  On the other hand, the notion that you have to have a perfect piano to become a proficient pianist is quite wrong.  And an acoustic that is priced the same as a digital will generally be far from a perfect piano anyway, so perfection is probably not a reasonable goal.

Digital main advantages: portability, always in tune, silent practicing.  This last thing is kind of a big deal because acoustic pianos are very loud.  Not to be played while children are going to bed, for example.  Also it is easy to be self-conscious when learning a new piece.  Much better to do it on the privacy of a digital.  If you have close neighbors or other household members to think about, silent practicing is a great boon.

Their main disadvantage is that their actions are not quite the same as an acoustic, and even the good ones are not quite on par with a new, high quality upright in terms of action.  That doesn't mean they aren't very good or aren't adequate, though.  In fact it doesn't mean they are not on par with typical acoustic actions.  Further, a good pianist must be able to play on a wide range of actions.  In my opinion even pianists with an acoustic will benefit from having a digital because there are many times when you can only practice if you don't bother other people in the household. 

In short, if I could only have one piano, it would be a digital every time.

[hfmadopter]

I own a 5'11" grand piano, it sounds great and the action while a bit worn but operative, functional, I'm used to the feel of etc. My wife and 5 cats live in the house and I could play full volume with the top up and not bother them. However, we have an attached apartment with one tenant and a dog. I, for that reason, try not to flood the guy out sort to speak and tend to practice when he is off the property ( which he is often), especially when starting new pieces of music. And or at least keep the windows shut.

I think this is a good case for owning two pianos, one a digital that can be put in silent mode. The second case is one day I will want that action rebuilt, I know the tech will have my action probably for weeks when that happens and I'll have a grand piano with a big open cave facing my living room ! A third reason is that it's good to play on another instrument from time to time. I've played out on different grand pianos, they all had different action, some better than mine but not by a whole lot and some much worse. I've played on Chickering, Baldwin, Steinway grands and a Steinway baby grand, a Bach upright and a couple of other uprights I can't recall the names of off hand. My own Grand is a Henry F Miller. I however have not played on digital. I'm looking forward to trying some out.

Anyone find fault with my thinking ?

[thalbergmad]

I bought a digital as I am in the strange habit of wanting to play at 3 o'clock in the morning.

When I was playing "seriously" and taking lessons, I would play for hours during the week on a digital and for 1 hour on a grand during lessons. I did not find it particularly difficult to adapt.

I would have thought that having an acoustic is not going to make a great pianist and having a digital is not going to destroy one.

Thal

[j_menz]

I bought a digital as I am in the strange habit of wanting to play at 3 o'clock in the morning.

When I was playing "seriously" and taking lessons, I would play for hours during the week on a digital and for 1 hour on a grand during lessons. I did not find it particularly difficult to adapt.

I would have thought that having an acoustic is not going to make a great pianist and having a digital is not going to destroy one.

Thal

Agree wholeheartedly.  I've played on both, and there is no more difference between a digital and an acoustic than there is between (even good) acoustics.

[hfmadopter]

Agree wholeheartedly.  I've played on both, and there is no more difference between a digital and an acoustic than there is between (even good) acoustics.

I guess I agree, haven't had a chance to get on a good digital yet just low end casios. The keys on those feel much like an accordian key board which was the first instrument I ever played as a kid. I need to get up to the city to where there are more choices  Most places around here seem to end the display pieces at around $250 keyboards. Playing my grand hasn't been a problem though.

As to playing at 3 am, between 1 and 3 am, that's when my brain storms hit about a piece of music, revelations if you will. I just mentally check mark them when that happens, make sure I'm awake enough to recall it later before I go back to sleep for a couple of hours.

Anyway, my point is two pianos, I don't worry about if they are different at this time in my life my hands are set the way are by now. But I love my grand, I will always own it or another one.

[cmg]

I bought a digital as I am in the strange habit of wanting to play at 3 o'clock in the morning.

When I was playing "seriously" and taking lessons, I would play for hours during the week on a digital and for 1 hour on a grand during lessons. I did not find it particularly difficult to adapt.

I would have thought that having an acoustic is not going to make a great pianist and having a digital is not going to destroy one.

Thal

Totally agree here.  I had to get a digital to keep the neighbors from killing me in NYC.  I take lessons at a place called Klavierhaus on West 58th in NYC, on "piano row."  This place sells only top line instruments and I play a different 9-foot grand every lesson:  Steinway, Fazioli, Beckstein, etc.  The adjustment from digital to these $160,000 acoustic instruments takes about 30 seconds.  Yeah, these pianos are amazing, but my Kawaii MP8ii is nothing to sniff at.  I love it.  Never out of tune, regulation once a year for $75, keyboard resistance matches all the acoustic grands I play.  Yes, the ultra-refined expression you can coax out of a good 9-foot acoustic grand tops it, but, heck, a BMW tops a Ford for thrills, but the Ford still gets me to the grocery store.   And no one hates my practicing because they can't hear me.