The Best Beginner Keyboard For 2024

"Which keyboard should I buy?" "Which digital piano is best for me?" "What features are important when choosing my first instrument?" These are some of our most-asked questions and are very important ones when you're getting started (or looking to upgrade) on the piano. The best beginner keyboard will be different for each person-- there are lots of things to consider like sound quality, feel, playability, & polyphony.

But don't worry! Your favorite cheery piano teacher Lisa Witt is here with keyboard-connoisseur @MRTUNA to help out and show you a few of the best pianos for new players in 2023! Let's get to it! 🙌🙌🙌

We'll be comparing digital pianos from Yamaha, Roland, Casio, & Dexibell

⚡️Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
0:41 - What to look for when considering a keyboard
1:54 - Yamaha P-45
3:31 - Yamaha P-125
5:17 - Yamaha comparison specs
5:29 - Roland FP-10
7:45 - Roland FP-30X
10:03 - Roland comparison specs
10:13 - Casio PX-S1100
12:20 - Casio PX-S3100
14:37 - Casio comparison specs
14:46 - Dexibell Vivo H10 (dream piano)
16:42 - Vivo H10 specs
16:48 - Roland GO:PIANO (portable piano)
18:16 - GO:PIANO specs
18:23 - Lisa's favorite
19:20 - Truman's favorite
20:13 - Closing thoughts

Deeper specs, prices, and accessories from our affiliates:

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ABOUT LISA:
Lisa Witt has been teaching piano for +20 years and in that time has helped hundreds of thousands of students learn to play the songs they love. Lisa received classical piano training through the Royal Conservatory of Music, but she has since embraced popular music and playing by ear in order to accompany herself and others. She is a songwriter and recording artist. Lisa’s contagious enthusiasm will have you excited to practice and return to the keys for your next lesson. Her teaching style focuses on you, making lessons encouraging and fun.

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ABOUT TRUMAN:
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and performer Truman Proudfoot is known in synth circles as the mysterious @MRTUNA (an anagram for his first name, he's stuck with that moniker now). As a performing musician and self-proclaimed 'gear-nerd', Truman has earned a following across his channels in the tens of thousands all while never leaving the comfort of his converted-barn music studio. Be sure to check out his music and step into the futuristic world of synthesizers and drum machines.

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*Some product listings may contain affiliate links. We may earn a small commission from the seller for any purchases made at no additional cost to the viewer.

#digitalpiano #keyboards #piano #pianoforbeginners

[islandtony]

FYI if you are considering the Yamaha P125, note that the newly released Yamaha P-125a is NOT an upgrade to the P-125; it is the exact same piano only with a MASSIVE feature removed; they took out the built in audio interface! This means you can no longer stream audio IN to the piano (to hear your Pianote lessons, or Youtube along with your piano through your headphones/speakers), and you also can no longer easily record audio with just a USB cable; including easily making piano performance videos to share! (now you will need audio cables and an external audio interface to do that). The P-125 is my favorite digital piano ever, but I would not recommend the P-125a

[VegasAlien]

I'm a 58 year old drummer who decided to start playing piano. I picked up a Roland FP-30x this week and absolutely love it. It has the same character as the piano I ignored in the house I grew up in. Luckily, my mother and sisters played so I got to enjoy it. I look forward to this bright new path in my life.

[richardkirchknopf]

I am a 67 year old complete beginner who decided to learn an instrument going into my retirement. I don't know how I will do. I chose the Roland FP-10 as it seems to have the most realistic piano experience for the price. I think that it is something that I will not outgrow in the short term even if I were to do extremely well (unlikely). And even very accomplished pianists seem to like it as something they can practice on with a realistic feel for an affordable price. It doesn't have very powerful speakers. But for me that is fine. I am not planning on "performing" on it it large venues. It is not overly heavy or bulky, which is important to me as I am using it in a very limited space. And I was able to get one on the local used market at a modest discount with an X stand and a seat. I have only had it a few weeks. But I still think it was the right choice for my situation.

[milesscott]

Love the advice, at 38 I've decided to take up learning to play as its something I've always wanted, I've been watching through your videos and it's made me feel more comfortable and confident to get started. Thanks, keep up the amazing work!!

[BaritoneUkeBeastLife]

Great video here guys, you did a fantastic job, but I need to mention some misleading things here. I had been shopping around for the last 2 months before choosing my absolutely favorite digital piano the Roland FP 30X.
First off it also has 2 headphone jacks, and the ability to split the keyboard. Second the optional stand with the 3 pedals, most people don’t purchase because it is very expensive and not really worth it. So most people will use an inexpensive keyboard stand like all the other pianos on your list. Also even if you had gone with the full cabinet with 3 pedals, you can lift it right off the same way as on a standard piano stand. The Roland doesn’t come with any stand and it only comes with a single sustain pedal out of the box unless you go with a special package that includes the cabinet, which by the way is also a separate purchase from the 3 pedal unit.
Next the 2 Casio keyboards you demonstrated here are a bit outdated and don’t directly compete with the Roland FP 30X but they did with the older FP 30. Casio’s answer to the 30X is the Casio Privia PX S5000. That is their new entry level digital piano to compete with big dogs: Roland, Yamaha, and Kawai.
This is the first time I have heard the term Key Velocity, as everywhere else I have heard the term Touch Sensitivity when referring to light touch making a soft sound and a more forceful press will produce a louder sound. Key action is what is typically used to describe the feel of the keys. Which brings me to an important feature on the Roland pianos that are not mentioned here. Only the Roland pianos have Escapement simulation on the key action to mimic a real acoustic piano.

[toastwest]

I chosen Roland FP-30X as my first piano. It is very amazing and close to grand piano voice! It also got a beautiful white color 🥰 Highly recommended !

[richardb]

I agree with Lisa's choice because I bought the Roland FP-30x one year ago and it is awesome! It has the sound and feel of an acoustic piano and so reasonably priced under $1, 000. It is the perfect keyboard and I highly recommend it for beginner or intermediate player like me.

[metilaful]

Wow. Reading thru the comments I can see it really is all about personal preference. I’ll put my experience: was frustrated with the lack of emotion from the P125–traded up a year later for the P515. Still loving it after 2 years.

[cirisirpula]

If you buy Roland FP30X, you will not get the stand or the 3 pedals. You will need to buy them separately if you so wish. So I think the part where you discuss how hard fp30x is to move is a bit misleading, because obviously you can use it without this wooden stand and then it is as easy to move as the rest of the keyboards mentioned in the video. There are similar wooden stands for Yamahas (and 3 pedals for 125), making them equally hard to move if you so wish

[tandago]

The Roland FP-30 can also be bought alone without the furniture part, if people wanna move it around for a gig. Also, you can adjust the key velocity on it to whatever you desire! That’s surprisingly something that not many find out before buying it.

[mbealhighjump]

Just bought my Roland FP30X from Sweetwater using your link. I was able to use their financing programs that lets me breakdown the payments over 6 pay periods at 0% interest. It’s great because I get to enjoy the piano now without incurring a huge monthly cc statement.

They have a great bundle going right now where they are throwing in the Keyboard, 2yrs of insurance, a stool, stand, & pedal all for the same price and the normal keyboard $899 ($1k after tax). I’ve been tracking the pricing for a while and it’s the best deal I’ve ever seen on this item. Thank you!

[kathyplate]

I played a piano when I was about 8-10 and have just taken it up again at 62. I bought a cheap Casio without weighted keys because I wasn’t sure how long i would stick with it. I had no strength in my fingers when I went to my lesson! My teacher thought I was crazy but I couldn’t hardly push the keys down. Luckily I broke it when I pulled the headphone out of the jack. I’m now sear for an affordable replacement. Thank you so much for your recommendations! I’m hoping the Roland FP 30 is on a Black Friday sale! 🤞

[Biozene]

The sound engine in the FP10 and FP30x may have the same name, but the FP30x is a newer model with an upgraded chipset that adds more complexity and dynamic range. Also, the FP30x definitely is designed as a portable piano. The stand and triple pedal board are entirely optional.

[TheUtuber]

I recently bought a Yamaha PSS-F30 keyboard and love it. Only 37 keys, but expandable to 7 octaves using the octave and transpose buttons.

[technomancermagus]

I have a Roland FP-30X and I love it. I've been tracking my play time with it and I'm at around 12 Hours of playing with 30 minutes every day at least, except when I'm on a business trip which is a day or two every other week. Great Piano, feels good, and sounds amazing.

My mom got herself a Yamaha P-45, and it's not as fancy, but she really likes it for how simple it is and the under $500 price tag.

[steveSDLdelong]

I bought my first keyboard in 2014 when I retired. Got it at Guitar Center, a Yamaha p125. Went back 1 year later and upgraded it to the Yamaha dgx650 which was a huge improvement. In January 2022 I upgraded again and got the DGX 670 for a net cost of $400. It’s fabulous with a ton of sounds and a ‘piano room’ which give several styles of pianos and various lid positions and room environments. Love it!

[mikepoland]

I went to a local music store and was very overwhelmed by all the different models of digital pianos. After commiserating over the number of keys, functions, brand name, I finally decided on the Roland FP-30X. Unfortunately, the store only had the floor model without a box and no instruction manual (yes, I know ~ can always download it, but I'm old school, need the book in hand lol). Any road, I thought about it and decided to wait and discuss it with my roommate, who also wants to take piano lessons as I do.

Today the two of us went back to that store, but this time I was taken by the Roland RP501R Digital Upright model, as was my roommate. While I am no expert on pianos whatsoever, the keys felt so nice and the sound was amazing, took the leap, spent the extra money, and will soon have a beautiful instrument for both of us to begin our journey on learning how to play the piano. Had I seen this before today, I would have purchased the FP-30X.

[caveymon]

Thanks to one of your previous comparison videos, I decided upon the fp-10. Main thing is that it had the most bang for the buck in that price range: great sound, and best feeling keys compared to the casio and yamaha’s in the same price range, space saving and portable. I’m coming from a standing yamaha piano on which I learned to play over 30 years ago now.

[ricklynch]

After all the searching and reviewing and playing pianos at the stores, the perfect one for me was the Yamaha DGX-670. Since I bought it, I've had nothing but an absolute blast on it! 100% satisfied with that beautiful machine! Thank you Yamaha!

[strykerace]

I picked up a Casio CDP S360 for $499 on Black Friday. Seemed to hit the right price target and had the weighted keys. I am new to piano, zero experience, so didn't want to pay more than $500 in case I didn't commit. Its been pretty good so far as I can tell and learning more every day.