| Buying Your First Digital Keyboard | | | | so make sure you check! |
| The beginning keyboard buyer is bombarded with a | | | | Touch Response |
| slew technical jargon when shopping for a digital | | | | You'll definitely want touch response in a keyboard, as |
| keyboard. The main purpose of this guide will be | | | | it allows adjustment of volume on the fly. Touch |
| helping you digest these features and make an | | | | response mimics real acoustic pianos, so the harder |
| informed choice. | | | | you press the louder the sound will be! |
| Features of Digital Keyboards: | | | | Hammer Weighted Keys |
| Here I will outline and explain some key features you'll | | | | Weighted keys are available on some high end |
| encounter when looking to purchase your keyboard. | | | | keyboards. If you've been trained on piano then you |
| Amount of Keys | | | | may want the feel of weighted keys to assist in your |
| The amount of keys on the keyboard is fairly | | | | playing. |
| important. For a general purpose keyboard you'll want | | | | Light Up Keys |
| at at least 61 keys. 77 or 88 is preferred, but 61 is all | | | | Many beginning digital keyboards have light up keys |
| that's required for playing most pieces. | | | | nowadays. These can help you learn lessons, but I feel |
| Polyphony | | | | they make the keyboard look cheap and gimmicky. |
| A keyboard can have 88 keys but be completely | | | | Still, kids tend to love them! |
| useless if it doesn't have decent polyphony. Polyphony | | | | Sounds and Beats |
| is basically the amount of keys that can be pressed at | | | | The last thing you'll want to look for is the amount of |
| one time and still have the keyboard produce the key's | | | | sound samples and beats that the keyboard includes. |
| sound. Most keyboards on the market have 32+ key | | | | Memory is cheap now, so most keyboards have |
| polyphony which is more than enough. | | | | hundreds of quality sounds. On some you can even |
| MIDI Input and Output | | | | download more! |
| If you want your keyboard to be able to communicate | | | | Now that you've gotten the gist of digital keyboard |
| with other electronic instruments and software, then | | | | features you can make an informed decision when |
| you'll definitely want to make sure it has MIDI input and | | | | shopping! |
| output ports. Many lower end instruments lack these, | | | | |