Keyboard for a 12 year old beginner.

[surfergirl]

My half sister wants to learn to play keyboard. My boyfriend and I want to get her one for Christmas. We don't know anything about keyboards. We would like to pay around $500.

Thank you for any suggestions.

[GovernorSilver]

Jeremy See's 2022 best for beginners video

 

 

His channel has a lot of good reviews of keyboard products in the $500 or less price range

[Doerfler]

You are very welcome. 

 

Checkout this online school founded by Quincy Jones. (Disclaimer, I have a lifetime subscription that I paid for with my own money.)

 

https://www.playgroundsessions.com/

 

Big Black Friday sale going on, nice one sorta in your price range. Then you could get a keyboard and lessons. 

 

Any questions just send me a PM

[Farfisakid]

My recommendation would be to get a keyboard with a weighted action and 88 keys rather than what most beginners usually start with which is a 61 key/synth action type keyboard and then having to upgrade later when they want to be able to play piano more properly. The Kawai ES 110 is a really great board that is being replaced by a newer model so you may be able to get it new in your price range in the U.S. Good luck with it ...

[ElmerJFudd]

Yamaha P45

[stillearning]

Another thumbs up for a Kawai ES 110. I have a handful of keyboards, but I bought the Kawai for my wife to play. Great piano sound and feel. A bit over $500, but worth it imo.

[allan_evett]

27 minutes ago, ElmerJFudd said:

Yamaha P45

 

A great choice!  Also the Casio CDP-S160 is worth a look.  Both are street-priced at $525-$550.  Another option is the Amazon-branded P-71, which is basically a Yamaha P-45.  The teaching studio where I work has one, and it's worked out well for students.  

[NKB4691]

Part of the decision depends on what she leans toward musically.  If she specifically wants to play piano, then lean towards something with "hammer-action" and 88 keys, which is going to be more expensive for something with decent quality.  If she leans more toward a mix of piano/organ/electric piano/synthesizer, then something with synth-action or semi-weighted keys will be a good choice.

 

I play the mix noted above.  My preference is 76 synth/semi-weighted keys.  I don't like hammer-action keys for organ/synthesizer.  61 keys is a little limited.  It's hard to find synth action in an 88 key board, so 76 unweighted keys is the sweet spot for me.  I have a 61 key Yamaha, a 76 key Casio, and an 88 key Casio digital piano (in addition to still having the accordion my parents bought new for me in 1973, lol), so I have most of the bases covered.

 

Make sure you get something with velocity sensitive keys.  i.e. if you hit the key harder (faster) it's louder, softer (slower) it's quieter.  Something without velocity sensitive keys is closer to a toy than a true musical instrument for learning and will probably discourage her due to the lack of dynamics.

 

Also, make sure you get a good quality board like something you'll find on Sweetwater (Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Casio, etc.) vs. the generic stuff you might find on Amazon or eBay.  Jeremy See's recommendations are probably a good guide.  Also, spring for the AC adapter if the board doesn't come with one.  You can burn through batteries pretty quickly.

 

I started off on organ when I was young and then my parents put me in accordion lessons (cringe!).  Playing on a real piano or a digital piano has never been a problem for me.

[mpn_user7629]

You did not say what kind of music it's for....but

 

CASIO CT-S1  seems to be a great piano/keyboard to learn with and play (also posted in the video above).

 

Comes in three colors: Red, Black and White.

[AnotherScott]

Picking up from what NKB4691 said, I think a lot of posters here aren't differentiating between wanting to "learn to play keyboard" and "learn to play piano." Things like ES110, P-45, CDP-S160 are recommendations that make sense if the focus is on playing piano, less so if there is more interest in a wide variety of sounds and possibly the ability to manipulate those sounds. Or play to auto-accompaniment. In fact, some people interested in keyboard have little-to-no interest in traditional piano playing. So the $500 budget may be better applied to something that trades off the 88 weighted keys of those models to instead have other capabilities of interest. Do you have a sense of more specifically what she'd like to do?

[rickzjamm]

Casio PX-1000, a smigen over $500.00 but weighted keys, light weight, battery powered & sounds great!!

Casio PX-S1000

[surfergirl]

Thanks again for all of the recommendations, very much appreciated. 

We have decided on the Casio CT- S1. We wanted something she could take with her to Hawaii when she comes to stay with us, so 61 key seemed more practical.

 

[Docbop]

If for traveling have you thought about the folding piano.    

 

https://www.amazon.com/Carry-Foldable-Digital-Closed-Back-Headphones/dp/B09M7S3YK3

[Ivan May]

I own a Casio Casiotone keyboard. It's a very good 88 key keyboard.

[surfergirl]

48 minutes ago, Docbop said:

If for traveling have you thought about the folding piano.    

 

https://www.amazon.com/Carry-Foldable-Digital-Closed-Back-Headphones/dp/B09M7S3YK3

We're going to plan B or maybe C. I had looked at the folding one and decided against it.

I read the thread on flying with a 61 key keyboard and it sounds like an issue, especially since she is traveling alone most of the time. Her mother and our father were going to buy a case for travel. A good case costs more than a keyboard, so plan B may be we get her the Casio CT-S1 to keep here and they buy her something to keep at home.

[Coker]

The Roland that they sell at Costco (FP1?) is really sweet, with a great action and piano sounds.  I think they are running a sale at $550.

[AUSSIEKEYS]

2 hours ago, surfergirl said:

 so plan B may be we get her the Casio CT-S1 to keep here and they buy her something to keep at home.

That is a brilliant idea. You just saved so much headache. 

[o0Ampy0o]

2 hours ago, surfergirl said:

….so plan B may be we get her the Casio CT-S1 to keep here and they buy her something to keep at home.

A plan which avoids the burden of traveling with it, extra points. Hopefully all the pieces to the grand plan match and retain her interest.

 

Edit: I was composing as Aussiekeys posted same feelings from the opposite side of the planet. 😄

[NKB4691]

Depending on how long she'll be visiting, you could buy her a nice one for home and a used one locally off Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for less than $100 that would allow her to stay engaged while she's visiting.

[surfergirl]

On 11/19/2022 at 5:01 PM, NKB4691 said:

Depending on how long she'll be visiting, you could buy her a nice one for home and a used one locally off Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for less than $100 that would allow her to stay engaged while she's visiting.

I looked at used and only one on Craigslist and it didn't look like it was worth a 30 mile drive to look at. We have changed from the Casio to a Yamaha PSR- E373. I feel comfortable with the Yamaha brand. My mother has a Yamaha acoustic that has survived 25 years of beach parties and our lead guitarist has two Yamaha's.

[stoken6]

2 hours ago, surfergirl said:

I looked at used and only one on Craigslist and it didn't look like it was worth a 30 mile drive to look at. We have changed from the Casio to a Yamaha PSR- E373. I feel comfortable with the Yamaha brand. My mother has a Yamaha acoustic that has survived 25 years of beach parties and our lead guitarist has two Yamaha's.

In the sector/price bracket you are looking at, Yamaha and Casio are comparable. One advantage imho of the Casio CT-S1 (not necessarily other Casio models) is no auto-accompaniment. Yes, you read that right - the lack of auto-comp is a benefit in my view for the beginner, as it avoids the distraction of instant gratification.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

The PSR 

[AnotherScott]

1 hour ago, stoken6 said:

In the sector/price bracket you are looking at, Yamaha and Casio are comparable. One advantage imho of the Casio CT-S1 (not necessarily other Casio models) is no auto-accompaniment. Yes, you read that right - the lack of auto-comp is a benefit in my view for the beginner, as it avoids the distraction of instant gratification.

OTOH, accompaniment can be something a 12 yo might have an awful lot of fun with. The more fun it is, possibly, the more they use it. Ultimately it depends on what her goal is and her dedication to it, I guess.

[bill5]

She's 12. Nothing personal against her of course, but again: 12. I wouldn't exactly hold my breath about her having a real clue what her goals or dedication to this is and so would err on spending less, not more. 

[Mighty Motif Max]

7 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

8 hours ago, stoken6 said:

In the sector/price bracket you are looking at, Yamaha and Casio are comparable. One advantage imho of the Casio CT-S1 (not necessarily other Casio models) is no auto-accompaniment. Yes, you read that right - the lack of auto-comp is a benefit in my view for the beginner, as it avoids the distraction of instant gratification.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

The PSR 

OTOH, accompaniment can be something a 12 yo might have an awful lot of fun with. The more fun it is, possibly, the more they use it. Ultimately it depends on what her goal is and her dedication to it, I guess.

^^ I can confidently say that, had I not had the opportunity to jam with auto-accompaniments and such on my family's Clavinova growing up, that I wouldn't have had a whole lot of interest in other styles of music beyond whatever material was covered in lessons (i.e. stuff from the Faber books at that time). Honestly, being aware of that music is part of what made me want to keep playing; certainly not the questionable piano teacher I had at the time. I may well have given up if the only music I knew of playing (as opposed to hearing on the radio with the disconnect) was the lesson material. Especially if one isn't a big classical listener (but I didn't even have that to work with at that point in time).

 

I would not see that as an issue of instant gratification, but rather a way of letting a kid use their imagination and experiment in different genres of music, before they might be at a level where the idea of trying, say, a jazz tune, would even occur to them.

 

1 hour ago, bill5 said:

She's 12. Nothing personal against her of course, but again: 12. I wouldn't exactly hold my breath about her having a real clue what her goals or dedication to this is and so would err on spending less, not more. 

Yes, but also at 12 she's going to have at least some idea of what she's getting into. I'm 20...I wasn't all that much different 8 years ago in terms of being interested in music. I mean, I was gigging but that's a whole different route. It's different by that point than the younger ages, where you might see music as "fun" but not necessarily want to apply yourself a ton with challenging material. By 11-12, you start taking things more seriously IMO. That said, there's no need to go overboard for the keyboard, given that with today's tech you can get some pretty decent stuff in your price range that sounds more than good enough.

[bill5]

2 minutes ago, Mighty Motif Max said:

Yes, but also at 12 she's going to have at least some idea of what she's getting into. I'm 20...I wasn't all that much different 8 years ago 

Yeah but that's you, not the average 12 yr old per se. She may be similar, but maybe not. That's why I'd err on the side of caution. I've seen more than a few parents buy expensive instruments for their kids who "knew what they were interested in" only to find they lost that interest and it was wasted money. Again nothing on her or any kid, it's just human nature at that age. 

[Mighty Motif Max]

10 minutes ago, bill5 said:

Yeah but that's you, not the average 12 yr old per se. She may be similar, but maybe not. That's why I'd err on the side of caution. I've seen more than a few parents buy expensive instruments for their kids who "knew what they were interested in" only to find they lost that interest and it was wasted money. Again nothing on her or any kid, it's just human nature at that age. 

Yes, I have also seen that, but you have to give kids a chance, or there's no point complaining about less and less kids getting into music. Like I said, with today's tech you can get a perfectly suitable keyboard for $500 or less, even new, which is on the reasonable price range for this type of situation IMO...you don't want to give someone a bad/excessively cheap instrument that will turn them away from playing, but you certainly don't need a workstation board or something for this type of thing. Just don't get garbage. And let's face it, kids do like to enjoy what they're doing; so if a keyboard sounds and feels like crap, it's going to be way less engaging than we would hope (I'm thinking of the low-low end Casios, department store keyboards, Alesis stuff, and the whole assortment of off-brand stuff on Amazon/eBay, for example, or anything non-touch-sensitive for this purpose). If the idea is to encourage someone to try music, they need a good starting point.

 

The PSR model mentioned is a good option, as is the Casio CT-S1. Another possibility might be a Casio CTX-700. All under $250 new, so well under $500 even.

 

Edit: I mean, heck, I used to gig with a YPG-235 that was in that price bracket when I was starting out.

[surfergirl]

Bill5, you are the reason I don't post on the football pages anymore because you know everything.

I'm 22 and started the band I'm in now at 12. I know my half sister better than you. I'm going to stay in my lane, guitar forum from now on.

[Jose EB5AGV]

1 hour ago, surfergirl said:

Bill5, you are the reason I don't post on the football pages anymore because you know everything.

I'm 22 and started the band I'm in now at 12. I know my half sister better than you. I'm going to stay in my lane, guitar forum from now on.

Jenny, keep calm... I would also suggest a decent keyboard, with plenty of sounds and functions, to add some interest to the playing. Although at home and for gigs I use a Montage, for most rehearsals I go the light way and use a Casio CTX-5000. And, despite a non stellar keybed, it does its job (sidenote: I know a MODX+ would be better to share settings, but it was what I had readily available)

 

Also, that CTX-5000 is what I use for casual musical meetings with friends, as internal speakers are loud enough to play along other people in small settings.

 

Good luck finding what she needs!

 

Jose

[Al Quinn]

I started playing at 8, caught the bug at 12, and am still loving it at 64. In light my personal experience I don’t subscribe to counting any 12 year old out. Just saying’

[Al Quinn]

The Yamaha NP32 is a nice 76-key keyboard with a good piano sound for under $500 new.