1. The Right Fit:
Digital Piano vs. Keyboard
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2. Where To Start?
• You're a piano player. The urge to play is in your
blood, and you need an outlet. You need a
piano.
• But you need something that doesn't put a
huge dent in your life savings or in your living
space like an acoustic piano would do.
• You’re down to two options: buy a digital piano,
or buy a keyboard. They are two entirely
different things, and this video will help you
decide between the two.

3. Digital Pianos
• Digital Pianos are designed to mirror
the sound and feel of 88-key acoustic
pianos.
• The two most important things when
looking at digital pianos are:
– sound quality and
– an authentic feel

4. Digital Pianos – Sound Quality
• The technology used in digital pianos to
mimic the rich tones of a "real" piano is
called sampling, and it involves taking high-
quality stereo recordings from the best-of-
the-best concert pianos.
• Yamaha has their Advanced Wave Memory
(AWM), while Cassio calls it AiF Linear
Morphing.

5. Digital Pianos – Sound Quality
• A very nice important thing to consider
when shopping for a digital piano is the
polyphony.
• Polyphony is the number of notes a digital
instrument can hold at one time.
• The best digital pianos include a very large
polyphony (a good size is 128 notes).
• A large polyphony means that you will never
drop notes in a dense passage.

6. Digital Pianos – Authentic Feel
• If you have ever played an acoustic piano you
have noticed that the keys feel quite solid and
heavy when you press them.
• You may have also noticed that the bass keys
give more resistance, and as you travel higher
up the keyboard the keys become more
sensitive.
• In order to copy this feel, digital pianos are
usually equipped with what is called Graded
Hammer or Scaled Hammer-Action Keyboards.

7. Digital Pianos – Authentic Feel
• Pedaling is another critical part to the feel and expression
of piano playing.
• Acoustic pianos usually have three pedals: a damper
(sustain) pedal, a soft (or una corda) pedal, and a
sostenuto pedal.
– The damper pedal is the most commonly used pedal
nowadays. It keeps notes sustained long after you have
released the keys, creating a legato effect.
– The soft pedal enhances the timbre of softly played notes.
– The sostenuto pedal is used to sustain certain notes while
leaving the rest of the keyboard unaffected.
• Most good digital pianos have developed a quality 3-
pedal system that is attached to the digital piano cabinet.

8. Digital Pianos – Extras
• Many digital pianos feature different voices
(anywhere from 10 to hundreds), including church
organs, electric pianos, guitars, and drum kits.
• Effects like harmony, reverb, transpose, and dual and
split voice are featured in many digital pianos as well.
• These voices and effects can be fun to play around
with, especially when the digital piano has recording
capabilities.
• If you are really into that stuff, and value it more
than the "real piano" set-up of digital pianos, I would
recommend a keyboard.

9. Digital Pianos – Bottom Line
• Digital pianos are the perfect option for
music lovers who value an authentic grand
piano sound and feel, and are content with a
minimal amount of voice, effect, and
recording features.
• There are some very elegant digital pianos
out there that offer a great piano experience
at a fraction of the cost of a large and heavy
acoustic piano.

10. Keyboards
• For those of you not so classically inclined
musicians who prefer to unleash your creative
side through hundreds of voices, styles and
effects, multi-track recording, and computer
connectivity, you are clearly in need of a
keyboard.
• Keyboards are also great if you are on a tight
budget or are living in a pretty tiny apartment
or dorm since they are so small and portable.

11. Keyboards
• Most keyboards have 61 or 76 keys, a couple
scales short of an acoustic or full-sized digital.
It's not impossible to find 88-key keyboards;
they are just usually a bit more expensive.
• Be aware that the keyboard doesn't care much
about giving you an authentic piano feel. It is
more concerned with giving you all the digital
features you could ever want.
• Don't expect to play concert hall quality
classical music on a keyboard, but prepare for
tons of fun.

12. Keyboards
• Keyboards are great learning tools. Many of them
come with preloaded songs and lessons that you can
play along with.
• They are also an excellent way to break into music
recording. The best keyboard workstations feature
multi-track recording.
• The sounds that come out of your keyboard are
highly customizable through effects, layering, and
EQ adjustments.
• Besides a learning and recording tool, keyboards are
just as functional in a band setting.

13. Shopping Time
• I hope you have gained some knowledge on
digital pianos and keyboards.
• This video highlighted the basic functions of
each.
• Figure out what kind of instrument best fits
who you are and where you are in life.
• Choose the features you need, and find a
piano that provides them.

14. More Information
• For In-depth digital piano and keyboard
reviews,
• And to get a FREE Digital Piano and
Keyboard Buyer’s Guide featuring a
collection of articles and information to
equip you to pick your perfect piano,
• Visit:
http://digitalpianosandkeyboards.weebly.com/