Hi, I'm a classical piano student, and I've played a fairly good
quality acoustic upright piano for around 10 years. This year I'll be
doing my diploma exams.But I've just moved into an apartment, and I
can't fit my piano into it, so I've been looking at buying a digital
piano. Do you think this is a good choice? Will I be able to develop
skills using a digital piano that I can transfer onto the grand piano
I'll be playing in the exam?

I've never owned a digital piano before, and I've never played any
keyboards apart from low-end toys. I hear that digital pianos are now
very good at replicating the feel and sound of acoustics, and that they
even surpass some cheaper upright pianos. That's what I'm concerned
about the most. I want a piano on which I can practice and enhance my
technical skills, not just something I can play tunes on. Bells and
whistles are not nearly as important to me.

In article <1169870379.320954.320300@k78g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
athanatis@gmail.com wrote:

Good luck to you, and as you're implying a piano performance major,
nothing will substitute for *you* spending time in a number of piano
stores and learning this for yourself, your skills, and your taste.

Hi Helen,

I'm 52 year old amateur pianist and have been playing all my life. I enjoy
classical as well as popular.

I had been searching, as you are now, for a good
digital for practice and recording. I finally purchased a Yamaha p-250
this past summer. This piano is amazing. Not only
does it have great sound, nothing compared to the
keyboard for genuine acoustic grand piano feel.

The 250 piano was recently upgraded into a newer model
the cp300. I am told it is essentialy the same, however
it has a few more bells and whistles I did not find that important.

I bought mine from Kraft Music for $1750.00 . Unfortunatly, I don't think
they
have any left, but the carry the cp300 for $2200. Here is a link.
http://kraftmusic.com/catalog/digitalpianos/homepianos/index.asp?product=5182
Kraft was great to deal with, and they really took a lot of care makeing
sure I was happy.

In article comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
Just Another noplaceville.com> wrote:

Jacques removethisword.jacques.vispa.com.invalid> wrote:

I agree. Particularly for a full bodied classical piano [imitation]
Kawai is hard to beat.

Avoid 'home' models and get the most solid stand you can find. Nothing
is more distracting than a piano keyboard bouncing around.

Good luck.

In your shopping for a digital, check out how many levels of dynamic
sampling the keyboard has. Cheaper keyboards may have only one level and if
that's the case, then you're right, loud/soft is the only distinction you
get. Better keyboards have multiple levels of dynamic sampling, so that as
you play harder or softer, you're actually triggering different original
samples recorded at different key velocities. For example, the better
Yamaha Clavinovas have three- or four-level dynamic sampling, and are quite
good.

Having played more extremely poor and out-of-tune uprights (and grands,
for that matter) than I care to remember, I'd definitely be among those
who would disagree - there are *many* acoustic pianos that make me wish
I was playing on a decent digital instead. On the other hand, I don't
consider this particularly strong praise for the digital - we're talking
about some *atrocious* acoustic pianos. Assuming one has the option of
choosing the acoustic piano, then there is indeed no contest. It is
always possible to find an upright that will outperform any digital -
assuming one is willing to spend a little more. But the sad fact is
many of the pianos in venues where I perform are terrible. I'll play
them anyhow because I hate the *hassle* of setting up my digital.

In article comcast.com>,
"Marc Sabatella" outsideshore.com> wrote:

You can get a stage piano which is 133 cm long, whereas it's hard to
find an 88-key acoustic that's much under 140 cm. It doesn't sound like
a big difference, but in a small apartment every centimetre counts. I
just about have room for my Yamaha P-150, but I'd have trouble squeezing
an acoustic in.

I live in an apartment. I have an acoustic piano and a digital YAMAHA P-120.
The only reason I bought the digital was that the neighbours hired Jimmy
"The Tulip" Teduski to silence me.

I've been in a lot of those practice rooms, and believe
me, If I would have had my p-250 in my apartment
I would have done my work there. Many of the
pianos you find in the rooms are junk.

In fact I've seen a few with bullet holes from
Jimmy the T.

JMHO