
The piano has the ability to excite, move and inspire;
whether you’re playing Chopin’s Scherzos or the intro
to a pop classic. The only obstacles are learning how
to play in the rst place, and then practising enough
to play well. Enlisting a qualied piano teacher gives
you the best start for establishing good techniques
and avoiding bad habits, while the innovative features
found on digital pianos can help make learning more
fun and enjoyable.
A digital piano is designed to accurately simulate an
acoustic piano. Instead of hammers and strings, there
are strategically-positioned speakers which produce a
convincing and organic piano sound. Weighted keys
recreate the feel of an acoustic keyboard for a realistic
playing experience, while the ability to change the
sounds ensures that learning is varied and interesting
– and some digital pianos let you create your own
sounds to suit your taste.
1. PRACTISE IN PEACE WITH HEADPHONES
Most digital pianos let you plug in headphones, which
can benet both the learner and the people they live
with. As well as avoiding distraction, headphones can
block noise nuisance leaving you free to concentrate
on private practise. Twin headphone sockets allow
student and teacher to listen closely, spotting mistakes
more accurately.
2. USE A CLICK TO DEVELOP YOUR
SENSE OF RHYTHM
Timing is essential to playing the piano well; it’s often
an issue for beginners as they are still developing
muscle and mental memory, and may need to
slow down or speed up depending on the level of
difculty. Metronomes help develop your rhythmic and
timekeeping skills and you can ick between settings
and tempos on the inbuilt metronome, slow pieces
down to learn and master them, or even tackle time
signatures which are more advanced.
3. RECORD AND LISTEN TO YOUR
OWN PERFORMANCE
Recording your performance helps analyse exactly
what’s going on in your playing so you can recognise
your strengths and weaknesses. The record features
on digital pianos allow you to play back, perfect and
pick out any problems, nipping bad habits in the bud
before they become ingrained. Listening back to a
recording can resolve issues with timing and melody,
and if you have a good musical memory but struggle to
read music, you can learn a piece by ear and study the
music while listening back to your recording.
A digital piano allows you to transfer your performance
to a computer, edit it and print out a score – the written
piece of music also known as sheet music – so others
can read and play it too. This is also useful if you’re
interested in composition as you can quickly record
ideas as they come to you.
4. PLAY WITH DIFFERENT SOUNDS TO
KEEP PRACTICE INTERESTING
Digital pianos are often equipped with a huge variety
of sounds – ve to 10 types of piano, electric pianos
from the 70s and 80s, strings, harpsichord, church and
electronic organs – some even have synth sounds for
even greater versatility. It’s great to be able to learn
Scarlatti pieces using a convincing harpsichord sound; a
change in tone can inspire you and help recapture the
passion if those ngering drills are becoming tiresome.
Younger children also love experimenting and mixing
sounds to make learning more exciting.
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6 BENEFITS OF A DIGITAL PIANO 6 BENEFITS OF A DIGITAL PIANO
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5. USE APPS TO IMPROVE YOUR
PLAYING ABILITY
Take advantage of any apps that can help liven up
practise and improve your playing. Apps for sight-
reading skills ask the pianist to identify written notes,
Flashcard-style apps help with understanding music
theory while aural training apps develop abilities such as
listening for particular scales or intervals. A tablet device
is particularly useful here as it allows quick access to
electronically stored sheet music. When linked to your
digital piano, some apps display a piece of music and
listen to you play, before moving to the next page when
you reach the last bar. Kids apps include fun games
to learn a song, play together or freestyle to make
practising a pleasure rather than a chore.
6. SETTING TIME ASIDE TO PRACTISE
It’s always difcult learning something new so it’s crucial
to put in dedicated time and effort. Just 20 minutes piano
practise a few days a week can help develop your skills
and techniques. And if you’re struggling with motivation,
playing with others and even making mistakes together is
a great way to stay motivated. Digital pianos are packed
with features that maximise your practise time, so you get
more done in a shorter space of time.
Taking the next step
Learning the piano involves dedication and discipline
but master it and the rewards are endless. A digital
piano can offer a variety of sounds, useful practise
features to help you improve and integration with the
latest apps, all without the worry of ongoing tuning
and maintenance costs.
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