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Hello all, I had a fairly surreal experience at my son’s options evening when I got talking to his music teacher.
It transpires that he has some talent on the piano; he mentioned that he’d like to learn a couple of years ago, but has never pushed it. I sort of thought he’d lost interest and moved on but he brought it up again and asked if he could have lessons. I said “shall we see how you’re doing in music?” And wandered over to chat with his teacher who’s first words were “it seems we have a bit of a prodigy here… Noah has done very well this year & i’d definitely recommend he continued music in some form, probably on the piano.”
I was a bit surprised because he hasn’t mentioned it (in fact, what happens at school is a mystery to us… it’s like the best kept secret).
Anyway, after a chat he recommended I try to get hold of a keyboard; preferably touch sensitive for pressure & weighted & then get him some proper lessons.
I’m not against this; I’m from a relatively musical family, which in my case seems to have skipped a generation. He said Casio & Yamaha do one for around the £250 mark but that’s all I can recall him saying.
So, what would Singletrack World Pianists do or recommend in terms of kit/keyboard & then lessons.
Are school lessons (£10 = 20 mins lunchtime with 1 other student) worth it or are private lessons more worthwhile?
Shared lessons are a total waste of time in my (very) extensive experience as a peripatetic teacher. Also £10 for as shared 20 minute lesson is really expensive! They should be that much for an individual lesson.
If he's not been having formal lessons at all and is choosing his options now, then he's going to find GCSE music quite hard imo.
Keyboards come in different lengths, so you want to get one that is as long as possible so it comes close to matching the length of a real piano. My daughter gets frustrated that hers doesn’t have a pedal. If he gets into it, you may find that a cheaper option needs to be upgraded, so I’d look for compatibility with a pedal even if you don’t buy one to begin with. Check out second hand options - there are usually lots of decent deals to be had.
As for lessons, it probably depends who the other student is and what their ability is, but you’ll likely be looking at £25-£30 per half hour for a private lesson. I’d try school lessons first for convenience.
I’ve got a Roland FP 20 electric piano, which is more than good enough for home use at a beginner level. Think it was about £500 though. Can’t give advice about lessons, I just wing it, which might be why I’m not that great 😀
If he’s not been having formal lessons at all and is choosing his options now, then he’s going to find GCSE music quite hard imo.
Well that’s what I thought, but according to his teacher he’s easily working above the level he needs to be at to take it as an option (exceeding expectations??). That said, he wants to study medicine so has to take triple science, which ultimately means he can’t take music, so it’s kind of a moot point.
I’m more looking at it from the point of view of a hobby/outside interest.
No space for an actual piano? They do come around cheap as they are bulky and hard to move
Actually we have a perfect spot for an upright, but we also have underfloor heating, which I’m told causes tuning issues (something about the frame expanding & contracting a lot pull it out of tune very quickly).
An actual piano will be best to learn on, and as above, come up quite cheap secondhand. Korg SP250 aren't a bad electric stage piano and are about £200 in reasonable condition secondhand.
Definitely go for individual lessons for him I reckon. It's a brilliant skill to learn, and if he does well at it, looks very good on uni applications etc.
Incidentally two of the most able music students that I've ever encountered went on to study medicine. Both were Grade 8 on 2 instruments by Year 12 I seem to recall!
Edit, yep underfloor heating and an upright is a bad combination
Incidentally two of the most able music students that I’ve ever encountered went on to study medicine. Both were Grade 8 on 2 instruments by Year 12 I seem to recall!
I used to work with a bloke who was a bit of a self taught multi-instrumentalist (funny story when he took an accordion off a drunk busker & proceeded to play like a pro); his dad was a concert pianist so I guess it was in his blood. His theory was that anyone good at maths and languages will be good at music.
I'm shite at both....then again I'm fairly average at music 😂
Worthwhile?
Definitely. Children who play an instrument develop visual, spacial awareness, language and mathematical skills better than those that don't. Quite apart from that it's a pleasure.
There is a risk though. Junior despite making it to Science Po Paris prefers making a living on skis and as a DJ. He's half of Blame the Mono. That Telecaster I bought him has got a lot to answer for.
I've got a Casio electric piano, it's fine and makes lots of non piano sounds too, but it's unused because Telecasters.
If he’s learning actual piano then 88 hammer action weighted keys are essential as is a sustain pedal.
If you have the budget (a shade under 500) the Roland FP10 is impossible to beat quality and feel wise.
More budget but still decent is the Casio CPD-110 (about 350) really anything below this is false economy as it won’t play or feel like a piano and as he progresses will need replacing. Buy cheap buy twice applied to digital pianos a lot.
Just to say don’t discount 2nd hand electric/stage pianos. There are loads out there bought by people who don’t use them or whose kids gave up. Your budget could probably stretch quite a bit further. Bear in mind some of them could be shagged though.
I’m interested to hear the feedback re lessons as my kids (9) have started expressing an interest in learning - I think it’s just a fad right now though as neither have much interest in music up until now but will monitor and see.
I did pick up a used electric piano a while back though just to have around so they can play around on it and see if they develop an interest.
It’s a Yamaha P45, cost me £200 in mint but dusty condition and feels and plays just like a real piano - nicely weighted keys, touch sensitive and sounds convincing. I’d highly recommend it.
They seem to go to about £280-300 used but I just took a look on FBook marketplace and there are a few around £80 ish. Not sure why those ones are cheap mind.
We've recently embarked on this journey with Flying Ox Jr Sr. 9 years old, expressed an interest in learning the piano out of the blue. We got him a couple of tester lessons (£15/30 mins btw, so £10/20 mins group lesson is pricey imho) and the teacher said he had some innate ability so we've gone all in and he's a) loving it and b) picking it up very quickly.
In terms of the keyboard our tutor said best to go with a full-size weighted hammer action because it's as close to a real piano as you'll get and would set him up with the correct muscle memory from the start. She recommended Casio or Yamaha but in the end we got him a Kawaii, chosen based on features, feel and sound. This was after trying numerous keyboards to see which one "felt" right. I'd say do that over just going for a particular brand or model based on recommendations from here or from the tutor. There's likely a keyboard shop somewhere relatively close to you and they're generally very helpful in our experience.
Casio CDP-S100 is what we got. I’m not an expert, I did a few grades when I was younger, on an old upright then later a Clavinova (my mum plays quite seriously) and I’m really impressed with how good a cheap digital piano is these days. Good weighted feel, nice sound, easy to hook up an iPad or whatever for playing with apps like GarageBand. Can even stick AA batteries in and play away from the mains.
It’s about the cheapest decent 88 key weighted piano, can be had for about £280.
Good weighted feel, nice sound, easy to hook up an iPad or whatever for playing with apps like GarageBand.
I'd have thought this was a useful feature for a youngling. It means they can muck around with different sounds including drums / electronicy stuff and try some recording.
I'm not familiar enough with the featureset of current electric pianos. Perhaps they all do this. Ours has MIDI outs so a simple £8 USB-to-MIDI adaptor connects it to PC / iPad.
Yep, avoids the need for a MIDI adaptor - just a regular USB lead, plus a USB to lightning dongle for iPad. Some these days also do Bluetooth MIDI so no need for a cable at all.
Get on Gumtree and have a look for electric pianos. I'm sat in front of a Casio Celviano that I think cost me 250 quid last year. Much nicer than a keyboard.
We bought our child an SDP4 from Gear4Music which has been excellent, and a bargain at £299. https://www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/SDP-4-Stage-Piano-by-Gear4music/16B5
Casio Privia is a good call. I advise getting the best one you can in good used condition. Minimum a PX110 (Mrs P is learning on one of these, the key action is very good) or you may find a PX170 or similar with the included pedal/bar. Theres a PX-730 (and a 760) currently on the ebays look like they may be a good buy? Try and get something with a stand/cabinet and pedals included.
Thread here
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/anyone-know-anything-about-digital-pianos/#post-12169542
My lad has been using a loaner from the Hampshire Music Service for school lessons but has shown some promise and enthusiasm so we recently upgraded him to a 'Roland Go: Keys' which has traditional piano and the usual orchestral sounds but is a basic synth as well. He is really getting his Mark Rebillet on with it already!
Got it from Gear4Music.