<p>Our son is a piano player and songwriter, and we were thinking of giving him a decent-quality portable digital piano as a graduation present so that he could compose in his room and have something to do coffeehouse or rock gigs with if the opportunity arose. However, we're a bit concerned about space issues in a dorm room, especially as a freshman where he might wind up in a forced triple. I guess he could keep it under his bed, or maybe standing up in his closet? </p>
<p>I'd appreciate any advice, especially from other parents of keyboard-playing kids who've been through this.</p>
<p>We got our son a keyboard when he began taking music theory. He is not a pianist. It is not the full-size model, but a few keys down. Hopefully you understand what I am saying because I don’t know how to describe it otherwise. He just put it next to his dorm room desk like an “L” extension and it did not seem to take up much space. If necessary, it could easily be stored under the bed and the “X” type stand took up no space.</p>
<p>Son’s freshman dorm room would have been tight, his apartment style suite had room, but he never brought it. Finally brought it the last year when he was in an off campus studio apartment. Saved him the trip back to campus to use the pianos. He utilized it mostly for theory and some transposition work, and just “fooling around”.</p>
<p>Ask the roommate please. Those rooms are generally pretty tiny. Also you’re going to need roommate cooperation to make sure nothing spills, it doesn’t become a responsitory for clothes, beverage cups, etc. etc. If the roommate is good to go then you have your answer. Your son should also look into facilities at the college, most even the smallest colleges have practice rooms with pianos, some have dorms with pianos, etc. etc. if the roommate says no go.</p>
<p>violadad, thanks for that link–I searched “college life” and didn’t find anything specific enough, but didn’t think to search the music major forum (duh!).</p>
<p>I just had this conversation with my son the other day. He is not planning to take his digital piano with him to school. He’s going to wait and see if there is room first. He plays for his own enjoyment; he doesn’t want to play out, so it’s not urgent. He’s also thinks there will be pianos available to play.</p>
<p>Buying your son a digital piano is a great graduation gift. If he is a pianist, you’ll probably want a full keyboard (at least that is what piano players told us when we were ready to purchase). You may also want to take him with you to pick one out. I know that ruins the surprise, but the touch/sound from piano to piano can vary and what your son prefers may be different than what you prefer.</p>
<p>Other than that, I agree he should check with his roommate and also try to get his dorm room dimensions if they’re available on line.</p>
<p>At my college they had pianos in each student house and several in the student center as well as pianos available to be used in the practice rooms in the music building for anyone who wants one. You might be surprised by the availability of pianos outside of the dorm room setting. I’m generally against anything percussion or brass being kept in the actual room. Strings are okay in moderation.</p>
<p>My D took a full size keyboard to college from day one. She bought it herself upon HS graduation with a local scholarship she won (which we did not make her put toward college as it wasn’t that significant in terms of tuition dollars). Best investment she has ever made (in fact, I ran into someone the other day from the organization who gave her the scholarship at her HS graduation and told her all that my D has done and accomplished where this keyboard played a significant role…she is one year past college graduation currently). She uses this keyboard daily. While she trained in college as a musical theater actor, she is also a singer/songwriter and so has written songs and has solo gigs in clubs in NYC. She also was the musical director for an acapella group in college and used the piano to arrange their songs. She also has many jobs as an accompanist and as a musical director for pay. She uses it now, as well, as a coach, when clients come to her apartment. She has written a musical which is currently being produced and this piano has been a key factor in her daily composing and rewrites. In fact, she is traveling tomorrow to where her musical is being workshopped for two weeks and she is taking her keyboard with her to have to work on revisions.</p>
<p>Freshman year at college, she lived in an apartment style dorm and the bedroom was tiny and so the keyboard was in the living room. Sophomore year she also had an apt. style dorm but fit the keyboard in her bedroom, which she preferred. From that point forward, she has lived in apartments and has had the keyboard in every bedroom she has lived in. It is a “requirement” for her that it fits where she lives. It is on a stand. One summer it did not fit in her summer housing bedroom and she opted to have it on the desk without the stand. </p>
<p>As far as sound affecting roomies…she uses headphones. </p>
<p>Her dorms always had practice rooms with piano and in fact, she often still used these practice rooms even though she had her own piano…for times she wanted no distractions in her room or else wanted to sing (she is a singer) full out and not bother anyone. She also has used piano practice rooms at the college (not in a dorm). Still, she would never ever give up having her own piano with her at all times. </p>
<p>If your son uses a piano frequently, I think taking his own keyboard is a good idea. He can try to get information about the dorm room set up ahead of time, if possible. I suppose if it did not fit his space, he could keep it under a bed and take it out when he wants to play and store it when not playing (not ideal but better than not having it).</p>
<p>My S has always had a full keyboard in his dorm room. One possible storage space is under the bed if it’s lofted. He did not take the stand but played it on the bed with headphones.</p>
<p>Ditto for my daughter, who is a composer, and takes a lot of theory. Keyboard fit under the bed, she took it out as needed, and used headphones. No problems.</p>
<p>We bought my D a really good one
in 2nd grade before investing lots of $$$ in a good upright (were advised to see if she’d stick with it before investing thousands of $$).</p>
<p>Nine years later, she is a serious classical singer and also a very proficient pianist who continues her piano lessons (piano skills are a singer’s best friend).</p>
<p>It has proved very helpful over the years when staying at grandparents while I’m on business trips, and also for practicing in her room when she just doesn’t feel like heading downstairs where our piano is.</p>
<p>Fits under bed fine, travels well, she will definitely take to college (with headphones, as soozievt points out.</p>
<p>We have a digital piano at home. My son always uses headphones late at night, but even upstairs in bed I can hear him “playing” the keys. Just to be aware that even if the roommate can’t hear the music, the sound of the playing of the keys could be distracting to some.</p>
<p>oh…mine will so miss the piano. Does anyone know if colleges still tend to have pianos available to non-music majors for just casual play? My school had one in several of the dorms.</p>
That’s odd. On my daughter’s you can’t hear her press the keys unless you’re standing right there. With her headphones on, even just a few feet away I can barely hear it – certainly less than the clicking of laptop keys. I can’t imagine it would bother a roommate. It must depend on the brand.</p>
<p>
About half of the schools we’ve visited (small LACs) do have pianos in some of the dorm common areas. Almost all allow non-music majors to use practice rooms (much higher quality and better cared for instruments), although at some, music majors do get priority for sign-up times. But your child should have no trouble finding a piano for occasional play.</p>
<p>@nemom–from what we heard on the tour trail, it varies quite a bit. At some colleges we were given the impression that even music majors may have trouble finding a practice room when they want one; at others we were told that there were plenty of rooms and access was not an issue, even for non-majors. If this is important to your child, make sure you ask about it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, everybody! This is very enlightening. We’re headed down for summer orientation on Tuesday and hopefully we will find out more about the dorm situation, though I don’t think we’ll know who the roommate(s) is(are) for a while. The school’s facebook page for admitted students is rife with rumors of forced tripling. I think their yield may have surprised them this year.</p>
<p>nemom, my S’s school (Dartmouth) has pianos in dorm common rooms. (As did mine. Of course, you have to be willing to play where other people can hear you. Not being willing is what ended my piano-playing back in college.) They also have practice rooms with pianos, and one does not have to be a music major to use them. My S actually took up playing the piano for the first time in college, auditioned for free lessons after the first year, and seems to practice every day. A keyboard would not have fit in his dorm room, except under the bed with the violin and the guitars. :)</p>
<p>Several years ago I gave my son a nice 88-key keyboard/digital piano as a high school graduation present. As someone who has trouble finding gifts, I am pleased to say that this gift was a big success! He took it (along with a pair of headphones) to college for all four years, where he kept it on a folding stand. We bought a computer locking kit, so that he could lock the keyboard to a radiator or a heavy desk. Though my son did not become a professional musician, playing the piano is the way that he relaxes every day, so the keyboard contributed to his happiness at college.</p>
<p>One option to consider is that if a decent piano is hard to find or restricted to music majors only, AND if the player’s chops are good enough, consider approaching a house of worship within easy distance of the campus. You can sometimes smooze your way in to access to a piano (or even an organ) under the right circumstances. </p>
<p>Might require a gratis service or two, but again it’s an out of the box option for those who might wish to explore it.</p>
<p>The piano access does vary a lot from college to college. Once your student has a list of interesting schools, you could post the question on specific college threads. Also ask tourguides if they have piano info. </p>
<p>Piano access was a concern of ours too, especially in schools with music majors. We toured mostly colleges offering Engineering. I was surprised by the number of math/musician geeks out there! Case seemed to offer many interesting music options … from music clubs to classes to minor to double-major. They said that engineering/music was their most common double-major.</p>