<p>I want to buy an electric piano/keyboard on Black Friday but I have no clue which brands/types are good. What is good? What makes them different? What things should I look for? What should I stay away from?</p>
<p>Also, I'm a piano beginner but I've been playing the violin for 12 years.</p>
<p>I’m definitely not an expert on this subject, but I know a little bit about keyboards. I have a few friends that are musicians and they seem to like Nord for stage keyboards. All of my former piano teachers have Yamaha keyboards. I have a Yamaha as well. </p>
<p>Definitely look for one that has an LCD display that shows you the keyboard AND the musical staff so you can see where the note you’re playing is on the staff. This helped me SO much when I was learning to play. I still use it to learn new music. </p>
<p>My keyboard also came pre-programmed with a few well-known piano songs and had a lesson feature where you could teach yourself the songs by watching the notes on the LCD screen. You could also break it up into left and right hand and increase or decrease the speed. Pretty cool.</p>
<p>Also, look for keyboards with more sensitive keys. Most of the ones I’ve played on have been pretty sensitive so you can play louder or softer just by changing the force with which you hit the key. However, I’ve played on some that weren’t very sensitive and the notes all seemed to be at about the same level no matter what I did. </p>
<p>I know I probably didn’t help much, but that’s basically all the advice I’ve got for you. Best of luck. : )</p>
<p>The term you’re looking for is weighted keys. That means they somewhat reproduce the feeling of the hammer striking the string, instead of feeling empty and uniform all about.</p>
<p>I was on a budget, so I went with a Casio px130. vest cheap weighted keyboard when I was shopping. My budget also allowed for the Yamaha P85/P95 and the Korg SP500. If you have more cash to spend, explore the higher end options. Check the polyphony, or the number of notes that can be played simultaneously.128 is getting to be the standard with newer ones. Consult pianoworld.net for more info.</p>
<p>I don’t buy into that lcd stuff. I grew up without it, as have millions of others. Then again, I have perfect pitch, so it made learning for me a bit easier.</p>
<p>I have a second hand Casio CDP 100. The weight of the keys is slightly off but it works as a low end hammer action keyboard. I think it was the lowest priced one I could find. It doesn’t have a snazzy LCD and its features are limited to a few preprogrammed tunes and a few instruments to choose from, but I like it.</p>