Piano for a music school student

The instrument at home is the basis if you are serious about effective music education. The biggest barrier faced by people taking up this topic is usually finances, which often make us try to replace the piano with a cheaper equivalent, e.g. a keyboard. And in this case, unfortunately, we cheat ourselves, because we will not succeed in such a maneuver. Even the one with more octaves cannot replace the piano with the keyboard, because these are completely different instruments with completely different keyboards. Each of them works differently and if we want to learn to play the piano, don’t even try to replace the piano with a keyboard.

We have a choice of acoustic and digital pianos on the market. An acoustic piano is definitely the best choice for learning. No one, even the best digital, can fully reproduce an acoustic piano. Of course, the manufacturers of the latter do their best to make digital pianos resemble acoustic pianos as much as possible, but they will never be able to achieve 100% of that. Although the technology is already at such a high level and the sampling method is so perfect that the sound is really hard to distinguish whether it is the sound of acoustics or a digital instrument, nevertheless the work of the keyboard and its reproduction is still a topic on which individual manufacturers conduct their research and introduce improvements. In recent years, hybrid pianos have become such a bridge between the digital and acoustic world, in which the full keyboard mechanism is used, such as that used in acoustics. Despite digital pianos becoming more and more perfect to learn, an acoustic piano is still the best. Because it is with the acoustic piano that we have direct contact with the natural sound of the instrument. It is with him that we hear how the given sounds resound and what resonance is created. Of course, digital instruments are packed with various simulators that are designed to reflect these feelings, but remember that these are digitally processed signals. And the most important feeling that is of great importance when learning to play the piano is the repetition of the keyboard and the work of the entire mechanism. This is virtually unattainable with virtually any digital instrument. The force of pressure, the work of the hammer, its return, we can fully experience and feel it only when playing an acoustic piano.

As it was said at the beginning, the price of the instrument is a big problem for most people. Unfortunately, acoustic pianos are not cheap and even, let’s say, budget new ones, usually cost more than PLN 10, and the cost of these more reputable branded instruments is already two or three times higher. Despite the relatively high price, as long as we have the opportunity to buy an acoustic instrument, it is really worth choosing one. First of all, because learning such an instrument is more effective and definitely more enjoyable. Even in such the cheapest budget acoustic piano we will have a much better keyboard and its repetition than in the most expensive digital one. The second such more down-to-earth argument is that acoustic instruments lose much less in value than is the case with digital instruments. And the third important element in favor of an acoustic piano is that you buy such an instrument for years. This is not an expense that we will have to repeat in two, five or even ten years. When buying a digital piano, even the best ones, we are immediately condemned to the fact that in a few years we will be forced to replace them, for example because digital piano weighted keyboards usually wear out over time. Buying an acoustic piano and handling it properly, in a way guarantees a lifetime of use of such an instrument. This is an argument that should convince the most thrifty ones. Because what pays off better, whether to buy, say, a digital TV every few years, for which we will have to spend, say, PLN 000-6 thousand, or to buy acoustics for, say, PLN 8 or 15 thousand and enjoy its natural sound for many years, in principle as we will want it and all our life.

The acoustic instrument has its soul, history and a certain uniqueness that is worth associating with. Digital instruments are basically machines that have rolled off the tape. Each of them is the same. It’s hard to have any emotional bond between the digital piano and the musician. On the other hand, we can literally become familiar with an acoustic instrument, and this is very helpful in everyday practice.