Can I Start Piano Lessons with a Keyboard?

By Jo Ann Vick

 

I had an interesting question from a parent who wanted to start private lessons for her son,
but she told me she did not have a piano. She had a keyboard and she wondered if that was ok to start.

Beginning students can start on a keyboard provided that the keyboard has weighted full size keys.
You don't want small keys that can't be played easily. And you will have difficulty when you come
to a lesson and have to play the songs you have practiced on a full size piano.
Starting with a keyboard is acceptable if you are not sure your child will stick with piano lessons.

There is a wide selection of keyboards available and they range in price from $200 to $2000.
Get a keyboard with as many keys as possible the best being eighty-eight, which matches the number
of keys on a piano. Also try and find a keyboard with weighted keys. This will mimic the feel
of a piano keyboard and when you are ready to make the transition to a piano, it will be much easier.

If buying a piano up front is daunting, there is another alternative to starting out on a keyboard.
You could lease a piano from a local piano store while you watch the newspaper for a good used piano.
Norbert Lesjak from Frisco Pianos has a large assortment of grands and vertical pianos available for lease starting at only $39 per month.

Leasing gives the student what they need, a piano for practice. Leasing doesn't require a big outlay of cash,
and it buys you the time to find the right piano.


Jo Ann Vick is a private piano instructor with 20 years of training and performing experience
and has a home based studio in Frisco, Texas. Her mission is to develop in others, a love
for playing the piano. Her website is located at www.teachmethepiano.com