piano lessons scarborough, cours de piano en français

Summer 2024 session starts on Monday, July 3, 2024 and ends on Monday, August 21, 2024

Studio is closed on the following dates:

Canada Day week, June 24 to July 2

Civic Holiday Monday, August 7

Piano or Keyboard?

Let’s be honest. Purchasing a piano or keyboard these days can be a gruelling experience. You enter a music store whose walls are lined with keyboards, guitars and electronic gadgetry and find a few pianos in the corner, then try to extract information from the ex-rock’n’roller/salesperson who probably knows next to nothing about an acoustic piano and wants only to steer you to the keyboard with the most bells and whistles – and the highest price tag.

Advantages to the keyboard are obvious: they are easier to move, do not need to be tuned, and their volume can be controlled -- a great benefit in some situations. But because of the higher profit margins in keyboards, many people are not told the many advantages of the acoustic piano. In order to make a wise decision, you must consider the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Sound:
The sound consideration is undeniable: the piano is the real thing, while the keyboard is, to a greater or lesser degree, an imitation (not that an imitation is always bad). Genuine piano sound is the result of over 200 strings vibrating across a soundboard, and as such, it results in a very complex sound pattern. This sound cannot be reproduced electronically. Digitized sound has come a long way, to be sure, but it can never replace the real thing, especially when considering the complex harmonics created by many notes being played together. It might be said that true piano sound is “alive,” while digital sound often sounds artificial or sterile.

Touch:
Accuracy of “touch” is something most piano teachers consider a very important aspect of piano instruction. Again, the acoustic piano sets the standard: the touch is the combined resistance (created by springs, friction and gravity) of the many parts of the piano action working properly together.

The action on the acoustic piano builds finger strength, and allows for more fine control of the sound. In addition, there is really no experience quite as magical as playing an acoustic piano.
While many keyboards claim to simulate piano touch, even the best are a poor substitute according to virtually all of the best piano teachers. Thus, while a keyboard may be a way for a beginner to “get started” without a piano, they pose the risk of encouraging bad habits that may be hard to break later on. In addition, no keyboard can match the dynamic range and flexibility and touch-response that a good piano action offers.

Stability of Your Investment:
You will also want to consider the stability of your investment, whether or not you and/or your child continue to play the piano for the long term. What few keyboard vendors will tell you is that no electronic technology will retain its value over the long term (just try to get rid of a computer only a few years old!) The piano, on the other hand, is one of the most long-lived technologies in history, having remained almost unchanged in a hundred years.

A keyboard that develops a problem may often be considered “disposable.” On the other hand, a piano built in 1910, 1930, 1960 or 2006 uses essentially the same parts, and is repairable by any competent technician (not to mention the remarkable fact that a well-maintained eighty year-old piano may still be in good playing condition). For this reason, a good quality piano has exceptional resale or trade-in value and in many cases may actually be worth more than one paid for it. A good piano, indeed, can last a lifetime.

Conclusion:
It may be impossible to calculate the relative effects of a piano versus a keyboard on your child’s interest in continuing with piano playing. It has been suggested that a real piano will reinforce one’s commitment to playing and learning, while a keyboard, with all of its nifty gadgets, may seem more like a toy or a novelty item, only to be abandoned once the child is no longer amused by its different sounds and rhythms. Only you can weigh all of the above considerations when making the choice of a piano or keyboard. But when the choice is made, you may at least be able to comfort yourself in knowing that you have done your homework before taking the ultimate test: the purchase of a fine musical instrument that may indeed outlive you and be passed on to the next generation.