The BEST Beginner Keyboard [in 2021]

What’s up my piano friends!! Today’s video we’re going to cover the absolute BEST keyboards for piano beginners depending on your price range:

$ Shoestring Budget
$$ Low Budget
$$$ Mid Budget
$$$$ High Budget

For each of these categories I’m going to rate the top keyboard in terms of Touch, Sound Quality, and Extras (the ‘bells and whistles”)

And if you’re really tight for cash stick around to the end where I’ll show you a cool trick to get a piano for dirt-cheap (or even free!) if you know where to look…

And remember - the biggest thing if you don’t have a keyboard yet is to just pull the trigger and get one!!! As long as it has at least 61 keys (and they’re “weighted keys”) you’ll be just fine - don’t stress about if the keyboard is “perfect” for you - any of these keyboards will be just great for beginners, and you can always sell yours and buy a different one if you feel like you’ve outgrown your current piano keyboard!

Don’t forget to download the Cheat Sheet!

CHEAT SHEET INSTRUCTIONS:
2. Sign Up with your name and email (yes, it’s really free lol)
3. Get your cheat sheet!

Happy practicing!

-Zach

OTHER HELPFUL LESSONS:

2. Simple-But-Mesmerizing Piano Pattern (Beginner)

3. BADASS Dark Chord Progression You Can Use Today (Advanced)

Or connect with me here:

Watch me play piano at my other YouTube channel here:

Thanks for watching and subscribe if you want more online piano lessons and tutorials!

-Zach Evans

[becomeapianosuperhuman]

Here's what we'll cover today:

PART 1: Criteria for Choosing the BEST Keyboard
PART 2: The Best MID-Budget Keyboard
PART 3: The Best HIGH-Budget Keyboard
PART 4: The Best LOW-Budget Keyboard
PART 5: Wierd Trick to Getting a Keyboard Dirt-Cheap (or even Free!!)

Hope you enjoy it, and happy practicing!!

[SimionOnea]

Hi! I recently bought a "Pearl River V-03" digital piano for my son. He is happy with it. It has 88 weighted keys and the sound is good. Just the lower register is a little bit too loud. Unfortunately it doesn't have an equalizer to compensate that. An advantage is that it has three pedals. As for other extras -- it has MIDI / USB / Bluetooth connections, recording, reverb, chorus, metronome.

[LBreanna]

This video made me feel so much better about the purchase I just made. I ALMOST bought a semi-weighted keyboard on Amazon but at the last minute decided it would probably be better for me to buy a weighted keyboard. I found one in my price range with full 88-keys and bought it. I’ll get it next week and I’m so excited to finally learn!

[socheeesey]

Just ordered my Korg B2 white edition. So naturally I'm binge watching your beginner lesson videos.

[TheSchwartzable]

Hey Zach, I see you updated for the yamaha p-125 as I recommended! Good stuff! I love mine, it's been great for me this past year and a half... I personally would give it a 9/10 for sound, but the feel is great. Can't wait till I can get the roland rd2000 :)

[stevekershaw]

Sound by far is the most important thing to me.
I just got a Roland Juno DS88.
I'm pretty happy with it so far

[nev]

Thank you for posting this advice.
I opted for a Roland FP 10 as my first piano keyboard. The weighted keys sold it for me. I now just need new fingers....As they told me, 'I'm playing the right in the wrong order!'.

[hugolager]

Hi Zach!
My name is Hugo.
I was just done with your 4 chords lesson. It was so good and I learned a lot(thanks). My question is: what am going to do now?

All the best Hugo

[quicdraw]

I actually went the shoe-string route back in September 2020 by snagging an OLD stand-up piano off from a neighbor (for and started teaching myself using your videos. Been absolutely loving it, except when I try to play along with something I can REALLY tell how out of tune this old piano is, lol

[King_Abhikhyashali]

Thank you
I give importance to sound and weighted keys

[ThatsFinn]

I'm really considering upgrading. Right now I just have some non-weighted midi controller that I plug into my computer. I just don't want to make a huge purchase before I'm set on learning piano, but I'm really liking it right now so I'm coming closer and closer to buying one lol.

[brecklyncongleton]

I started playing piano about 2 months ago, back in 2017 i took classes on the theory of music. But the teacher made me less inspired to play. So about 3 months ago I bought my first key board. The keyboard I bought is a casio ctk-3500. I know it's not perfect for playing on but it really is perfect for me.

[thkey]

Bro that add where you sing is haha 😂 thanks for the tips

[stkout]

I can vouch for the Yamaha P-125. It's a steal at that price as it sounds superb and has a great feel. The built in speakers are perfectly matched, no need to buy powered speakers. There are some hidden features for adjusting effects (see the manual.) I've since graduated to a Kawai MP11SE, for both the sound and feel. The warm wonderful sound more than makes up for it's lack of bells and whistles found on similar priced keyboards. You buy this one mainly for the PIANO sound alone, although it does have electric piano and a few synth sounds. The downside is it's HEAVY, so not idea to lug around for gigs. If you want organ and synth sounds, look elsewhere.

As for Craigslist, I've yet to ever find a bargain on anything, at least in Vegas. Just about everything is within a few dollars of new list price, and I'm not good at bargaining. Some items were selling MORE than the new price. I used to wonder if they either got ripped off or didn't know how to shop around.😛

[joewger]

P125, no bluetooth, usb thumb drive, poor action with sticking keys, The Roland fp30x smokes it.

[KennethGonzalez]

I'm currently playing a Yamaha YPG-235 -- a older, 61-key model. It's served me well and I'd recommend it. I've seen some used that seem very affordable. I'm looking at upgrading to an 88-key, as I sometimes find the range rather limiting. That said, it's got some great capabilities and was money well spent!

[timrowe]

Is the Roland FP-10 a good one? Just purchased and is on the way. I am excited to learn and watch your videos. Thanks

[joeellison]

Hi everyone. a couple years ago, I found a Casio Privia in a thrift shop for $50. Nothing wrong with it except that when I play I do a lot of sweeping across the whole keyboard and when I get about 2/3 of the way across, the thing "forgets" the lowest octaves I just played ( I trained myself, so excuse me for not knowing the right terminology.) No one notices it but me, but it is quite disconcerting :) I can't find a setting that gives me a real grand piano sound either, but again, people say I sound great. I downloaded the owner's manual to try to figure out how to make it remember more and sound more grand, but couldn't find anything. Any hints besides buying a new one?

[lifeismusicparnadonkers]

I want to invest in a rolland keyboard EXR 5. Its this a good key board to start whit? I don, t have a big buget. This video is so helpfull

[Telparion]

Sharing my own decision as a beginner.
I took a piano before finding this video.
Instead of the regular trademarks (Casio, Yamaha, ..) or the expensive ones (Roland), I chose a Woodbrass XP2 (88 weighted keys).

I checked many videos before picking this one and I picked it from the sounds I heard in the youtube reviews, especially compared to cheaper pianos.

I also had first to eliminate:
- lighted keys piano ; even if I thought lighted keys would be nice to learn songs (because they can lighten to show which keys to press next) ; the ones with lighted keys did not have the sound I looked for and I thought that lighted keys would be more of a bobo effect later and an extra not important at all. after all, I have to build my awareness of the keys I press without looking for any light!

- foldable pianos ; because actually, even if I like the idea to fold and transport a numeric piano, all of them I heard in videos had a worse sound ; and its not actually important because I don't move around ; I prefer when I move to test another piano I'll find somewhere than using my own!

Another reason for a XP2 compared to other trademarks at same price is because:
I also like the bluebooth (allows to connect it to learning apps and synchronize touch) and double headphones.
But most of all I picked this one over other cheaper piano (including the foldable piano) becase of its sound. it was my first reason. having a bluetooth piano was a second reason.

BTW thank you for these videos, your channel is very inspiring, practical, and your videos very well made. I am a new learner thanks to the accessibility of your videos.