Is the Yamaha CLP-550 a good piano for a beginner?

[mat7]

Would you say this is a good piano for someone just starting to learn the piano?

Thanks for your help

[bronnestam]

I tried a CLP 5something in a music store about a month ago and I was delighted! I have the older version, CLP 465GP and it is good, but this one was even better.

So yes, as a digital choice it is excellent. Not the cheapest one, though.

[hfmadopter]

Would you say this is a good piano for someone just starting to learn the piano?

Thanks for your help

Should be pretty good. The only complaints I've seen on the CLP series of significance was on the CLP 440. The complaint was heavy action ( 90 grams of down weight to press the keys which is indeed high). That is fairly well documented online, we even have had a thread or two here on this issue. But the 440 seems to have stood alone on that issue.

[lhorwinkle]

Not a good choice at all. The CLP550 dates to the late 1980's. Ancient!

[hfmadopter]

Not a good choice at all. The CLP550 dates to the late 1980's. Ancient!

Oops !

[bronnestam]

Hahahaha, and I HAVE ONE. Sorry, didn't think of that. There are new models named CLP 565 etcetera, I thought it was that one. Still, I got a vague memory that my old Clavinova model ...

Yes, that is the one, and I had it for 20 years! When I bought my new baby grand digital 2 years ago, I was reluctant to leave my old friend but ... it had to move home to my sister's, where my young nephew has used it for fun sometimes. And the reason I upgraded was that my old Clavinova was not as good as I wanted it to be - especially not the loudspeakers. It was top class in the beginning of the 90's but time has gone by ... I had to realize, when I started to play seriously again, that I needed a better instrument. The new one is superior and it also looks nice.

So, mixed feelings. It was good THEN, but I wouldn't recommend it now. Buy a new piano from the 500 series, they are sooo much better.

[mat7]

But do you think it's worth getting for $250?, as it's just something to begin from.

[bronnestam]

Of course you can. At least my piano was in very good shape when I had it moved out from here, so the quality is very solid. But to be totally honest, I had not exactly worn it out either - I had this piano during the period when I played very little. And my skill deteriorated steadily. When I decided that I really, really wanted to work with piano practicing again, I also quickly found out that I needed a better instrument.

But, again - if your first goal is to learn the names of the keys and to learn your very first pieces and chords, then this digital will do. The keys are more "shallow" than on modern pianos/acoustics. But, well, I had no problems at all to play on my new piano when I got it. When I went to my sister's the other day and sat down at my old piano, I was surprised that it felt so strange. Not that I could not play it, though.

You might consider to press the price tag down a little bit more, though. If you can get it for 200$ or less, it might be a good start. You have to count on an upgrade rather soon, perhaps within a year if you are hooked then. Well, the difficulty is that it is more fun to play on a better piano, but a better piano will cost ... If I were you - which I'm not - I would try to get this piano for the low price, learn the basics, and ALSO try out other pianos in parallel whenever I get the chance. Acoustics as well as digitals. It is so old that it does not have a USB port, mind that, but there are MIDI/USB conversion cables that might be useful when you want to explore the possibilities of a digital piano. You will also need good headphones, as you probably will prefer them to the loudspeakers ... or connect the piano to external loudspeakers.