Keyboards

[MEC]

Daughter has come home from school today and announced she's enrolled in "Keyboard Club" which starts on Monday and she needs her own!! Mrs MEC and I are not at all musical but keen to encourage her so will get her one this weekend.

Just wondering what to buy - are they all much of a muchness at the lower end? Thinking something Casio/Yamaha for <£100. Something from Argos/Currys would be preferable so I can go and buy one!

Any thoughts?

[Hoofy]

I'd check with the school. The main things that might count:
-key size
-number of octaves
-touch sensitive
-polyphony

No point her rocking up with a £1000 Korg digital if they're happy for her to have a £50, though.

[singlecoil]

Is it something she needs to take to school with her, or just for home practice? If the former then portability is going to be an issue.

I bought a Casio for £32 from eBay, having checked to see what was in my easy picking up radius. It's five octaves full size, touch sensitive and has midi (handy for using with a computer) and a headphone socket. It's got built in speakers but sounds much better through a hi-fi.

I suggest you see what's available on eBay in your area.

[pauljoecoe]

http://www.dawsons.co.uk/yamaha-psr-e243-keyboard

this is your basic yamaha - full size keys, touch sensitive which imo is essential for learning properly.

[pauljoecoe]

http://www.dawsons.co.uk/yamaha-psr-e243-keyboard

this is your basic yamaha - full size keys, touch sensitive which imo is essential for learning properly.

[pauljoecoe]

http://www.dawsons.co.uk/yamaha-psr-e243-keyboard

this is your basic yamaha - full size keys, touch sensitive which imo is essential for learning properly.

[MEC]

Thanks Guys,

My daughter wants this one:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5...

I think she's being swayed by the light up keys which I think are a nice gimmick but probably not useful or even helpful in the long term if she wants to learn properly.

I'm more inclined to buy this:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5...

Seems like a decent starter keyboard and is a little cheaper than the one mentioned above - is there such a big difference? Also Argos want £159.99 for the one linked above and daughter wants it for Monday so mail order not suitable.

Re transportation etc, I take her in the car every day so it's not a huge problem I don't think. She's just 9 so whether she'll stick at it remains to be seen!

[singlecoil]

I only looked at the second one, it looks suitable to me. It has the all important (eventually) USB connection. If she keeps at it she will find that useful with a bit of simple software there's all sorts of things she will be able to do, such as record performances and, if the software is up to it, see it in notation.

[MEC]

Thanks guys, much appreciated