Keyboards Vs. Pianos

“A keyboard can be a better purchase when compared to an old, cheaply-made, severely beat-up piano.  In this case, a keyboard might provide improvement in these areas: fairly even action feel, basically in tune, needs no maintenance, no squeaks or buzzes.”

· Where a keyboard fails:

When compared to any given new or used, average to high quality piano - a keyboard simply cannot replicate or improve upon a variety of intrinsic aspects of pianos.

            ® Dynamic range - the best keyboards available today have only 4 recorded dynamic

     levels, whereas a pianist can produce an immeasurable palette of rising and falling  

     dynamics on a piano.

            ® Voicing - the only voicing (tone quality) available on the keyboard is that which was

                 Present on the original sampled instrument.  In a real, live piano, the beauty that

                 emerges is a result particular hammers striking strings.  These hammers may be

                  deliberately tailored by a technician to achieve a general tone quality (lush, dark,   

                  mellow, or bright, clear, powerful and sustained).  Note also that repeated strikes on

                  a piano will impact the strings in-motion, creating changing musical colors.

            ® Biofeedback - in a piano, string vibrations course through the soundboard, into the

                  keybed, through the action and into keys, and down through the lyre into the pedals.

                  These palpable vibrations follow the intensity of the dynamics, allowing direct sensory

                  feedback into your feet and hands.  The piano resonates with playing and this can be

                  felt.

            ® Harmonics – with physically vibrating metal & copper-wound strings,

                  sympathetically resonating and amplifying wood structures, natural sheep’s wool felt

                  on the hammers – a piano is deliberately and finely crafted to produce all the musical

                  emotions the pianist desires to create.

            ® Friction/Weight/Resistance - with some 20 points of variable friction per key,

                  Precisely weighted keys, dampers mechanism, a few springs and various wooden

                  action parts; the piano’s action cannot be duplicated in a keyboard.

            ® Dampers - The piano dampers become a great artistic tool to the pianist by offering

                  him control over the sustain of notes.  The pianist can dictate pauses, silence, clear or

                  blurred voicing & phrasing. 

One more reason not to get a keyboard :

• Value: Keyboards have no resale value.  Not unlike computers, technology’s rapid changes make keyboards obsolete and outdated within months of purchase.  Finding some to repairs keyboard issues is nearly impossible. (Note that even a 100 year old piano can still be sold, purchased and completely rebuilt to challenge its modern counterparts).