Digital Piano For Practice

Hi, My neighbour called me today and asked if we could reduce the number of hours we practice the piano the piano every day - I can understand her - especially when the same section is being practised over and over again. I was thinking of buying a cheap digital piano (like a Yamaha P-95), so I could do 80% of my practice on it and then switch to my acoustic upright. My only concern is that a digital piano would be "too forgiving" for bad habits and imperfect legato and I will actually develop more bad habits instead of improving my playing. What are your thoughts on this? Zack

Hi I have a digital at home and a grand in another place and do 70% of my practise on the digital. It works fine as long as you are aware that dynamics finetuning etc can never be satisfactory on a digital you need to constantly checkup on the piano.On the other hand I find it beneficial to practise on a digital The sessions become really efficient as you don't get "carried away" and also can eg record right hand and only play left etc. I have a Yamaha P? which I bought first then I bought a Roland which has way better sound but I prefere the slightly heavier action on Yamaha. Probably you'll get a much better action with a digital minigrand. Many pianists works like this among them Stephen Hough. If I only play on my digital for a long time I find it tiresome to play longer sessions on the grand. The weight of the key is heavier on the digital but the grand requires much more endurance but this is a minor problem. Be VERY careful with the volume on the digital it's very easy to get tinnitus and eardamages-it almost certain you'll get that if you try to play like you were in a hall. Personally I have the volume down and earplugs. Hope this will help.

If I only play on my digital for a long time I find it tiresome to play longer sessions on the grand. The weight of the key is heavier on the digital but the grand requires much more endurance but this is a minor problem. Are you quite sure about the weight of the key being bigger on the digital? I have a CLP370 and am rather disappointed by just how little resistance it puts up. You feel a reasonable weight to the key in quiet playing, but there's very little when you play loud. Real pianos offer a lot more resistance, when you play into them. While the weight is normall judged from what is just enough to depress a key, it actually varies considerably, depending on what you put into it. Why would the grand require more endurance, if you are working less hard?

Well i measured the so called "static weight" and to my great surprise it was less on my (new) grand probably an inadequate way of measuring I mean the grands key's are longer etc. I measured in the middlesection only. I'm actually looking for a better digital like a minigrand. Any tips?

Well i measured the so called "static weight" and to my great surprise it was less on my (new) grand probably an inadequate way of measuring I mean the grands key's are longer etc. I measured in the middlesection only. Yeah, I wouldn't base it on the static weight. There's no easy way of measuring what happens when you increase the pressure mid-strike, but that's what really matters. The tiny workings inside a digital just don't come back at you with a lot of extra force, compared to when you have the mass of a big hammer to keep accelerating against. The wood action on my CLP is supposed to be a higher end model, but when I play through the lowest A with real power, the key actually seems to become lighter, if anything. I can barely feel a trace of resistance. The feel of it turns into something resembling a toy piano. It's pretty useful for late night technical work in a mid-range, but useless for anyone wanting to push the outer limits of sound.

Thanks for the feedback - I guess it's time to go shopping. Zack

Point 1: Electric pianos In my class of students at the Academy there is one small but significant group that come back week after week and seem incapable of making the progress I demand of them. We work assiduously to get a really orchestral, colorful, rich, varied, incisive, ALIVE sound going and the next week it's all dull as dishwater again. I used to get really frustrated until I realized that these are the kids practicing on a Clavinova or whatever. Actually I am still frustrated but at least now I know why. As you can tell from the above, my experience with electronic keyboards is very negative. Point 2: seemingly heavier action of a good grand Then there is the large group at our Academy that elects to play their exam program on the Yamaha in the recital hall instead of the Steinway. I was mystified by this for the longest time - how could they when the Steinway is so much better, such a greater pleasure to play? Then I found out that they feel the Steinway action is too heavy. This is a totally subjective opinion, it is actually lighter than our Yamaha. Why then would they feel that way? They experience it as heavier because on the Steinway, you have to know how to make a piano SOUND in order to get its voice to speak. The Yamaha "sounds good" no matter what, but to unlock the heartfelt voice of a Steinway you really have to do the voice differentiations etc etc. I write about it in Chapter 1 of Craft, the fact that when I demand these things of my students, many of them simply feel they physically can't. It's not that the action is heavier, it is that the sonic demands are greater, and your hand needs to be in better shape to respond as necessary. Point 3: rhythmic practice on an electric keyboard. One of the best experiences I've had with an electric keyboard was to turn off the sound altogether. All you hear is the thumping of the key hitting the keybed. And all of a sudden it is brought to your ear's attention just how awful your rhythmic control is... When you get those little thumps going as they really should, your playing changes totally. Turning the sound off allows you to tune in to your rhythmic practice in a really fertile way. So overall I would say OK, practice on an electric keyboard, but not for long! Keep getting back to a real piano, it's infinitely better! And keep VERY aware of the potential dangers: listen for them and avoid them! AFF

The Yamaha "sounds good" no matter what, but to unlock the heartfelt voice of a Steinway you really have to do the voice differentiations etc etc. I write about it in Chapter 1 of Craft, the fact that when I demand these things of my students, many of them simply feel they physically can't. As much as I would have loved to own a grand Steinway, I only have an upright Yamaha. Even then I feel a huge difference between it and any digital - it is much more unforgiving for uneven touch and can sing much more beautifully when true legato is achieved, so I can somewhat relate to what you are describing. So overall I would say OK, practice on an electric keyboard, but not for long! Keep getting back to a real piano, it's infinitely better! And keep VERY aware of the potential dangers: listen for them and avoid them! AFF I would practice on a real piano whenever I get the chance, which is at least 30~60 minutes daily. The thing is that if I want to practice more it's usually late at night or on a weekend, when my neighbour wants to relax and have a quiet time. I think listening is really key here - when listening to the digital I have to imagine what it would be like on an acoustic. For example - there is a section in a piece I am working on that my piano teacher says should be more legato. On my acoustic - when I practise it slowly and carefully I can hear the piano sing, but when I play it quickly I just hear a bunch of notes being played. I tried the same thing on a digital piano - the slow careful playing is not as beautiful, and the fast "habitual" playing doesn't sound as bad, but the important thing is - THERE IS a difference between the 2 ways of playing. So this leads me to believe that if I practice the acoustic at least once a day, I can achieve some insight towards the correct touch even on a digital, I would just have to listen much more carefully as the differentiation of sound so much more subtle there. Thanks Alan, your post was helpful but it created a new problem for me - I think in 10 years or so I will have to move into a bigger house so I can fit a grand Steinway in it

There are silent pianos I found out uprights with some device that turns them into digital. Maybe that's better regrding the action? Practising with the sound off is really great! Good luck

Yes, the upright real piano that can be made silent/digital is a nice compromise - you get the best of both worlds - sorry I forgot about that possibility... living in the past... Of the 8 piano professors at our Academy, there was a period when at least HALF of them owned a digital piano and not a real one. Amazing! Goes to show just how poverty-stricken Serbia has been... I am glad to report that three of those four now do own acoustic instruments as well... I myself have a Korg keyboard at the summer cottage in PEI. But increasingly I notice how quickly it dulls my senses. I was using it to learn notes but it's getting to the point where it's a counterproductive endeavour - I always need to change and refine things so much when I get to the real piano that it's almost not worth it to practice on the Korg - especially when the beach is only 100 yards away! AFF