Absolute beginner

Hi

I would like to learn to play the keyboard. I have no previous musical knowledge .
I am looking for some advice on buying my first keyboard. Unfortunatly my local music shop has not been very forthcoming.
I was thinking about the yamaha psr 290 or the dgx 300 which has a floppy drive or even the psr 350 but they seem, to be difficult to get hold of here in the UK.

Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated

Jus

jus,
One thing I think you should plan on....whatever you buy now, you'll probably trade in for something better a year from now. You'll get better by then and the boards you mentioned probably will not be adequate then. So buy with a couple of thoughts in mind....you will not get much for it to trade it in on a better one and so don't buy too much now budget wise, so you can't afford to step up down the road. Most of the boards you'll look at in your budget are all pretty ok, so pick out what sounds good and seems to be user friendly to you without the salesman's help. If you can sort of figure it out by yourself a bit, probably means you'll have an easier time with it.
Terry

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 09-10-2002).]

Hi Jus,
Terry is right, I have my keyboard for about a year now, and I'm not satisfied with my keyboard anymore.
I think the psr-350 is a nice keyboard to begin with, but if you want something more I would recommend a Gem WK1 or WK2, They have a lot of features, The WK2 even has an optional hard drive, there are about 400 xtra styles (accompaniment rythems) on the WK2's hard drive, a lot of my music teachers students have a WK2, it's really a popular keyboard here in Holland.
Good luck with your lessons!!!

Greetz,
Marcel

Here's a link: http://gem.generalmusic.com/en/products/index.html#AK

concerning what keyboard to buy, I personally always recommend at least PSR550 as starter, if you can PSR1000. Now this is assuming that you are hoping to get to acceptable professional level of musicship one of these days.

PSR350 is good, but for serious music, you need eventually to get something better.

If you want to play music seriously, here is what I recommend:

1) learn the basics of music theory by either teaching yourself or taking some lessons

2) Avoid the temptation of "transpose" button

3) When practicing, avoid Auto-accompaniment.

4) Practice scales, chords and appregos...

5) Listen to perfomances by professional people in this forum and ask them afterwards about chords and technics...

6) for added bonus, talk to scottyee about some special chords...

Unless you want Oriental sounds and styles, I do not recommend the WK2.

It is amazing that the oriental sounds and styles of WK2 are superb; however, the regular sounds and styles are extremely lacking.

GEM has the keyboards, but they really, really, really need to update sounds and styles. GEM are you listening?

eeeeeekkkkk!
sk880user, try my mantra.....
the transpose button is my friend....the transpose button is my friend

Seriously though Jus I would agree with sk880user in that you should buy the best keyboard your budget will allow. The PSR1000 would be a good place to start and at least that way when you do want to move on to bigger things you might get a half decent return on it. With pro's like Scott Yee and Don M happily using the PSR2000 professionally you could do a lot worse. Also you will find that these mid range boards have many more features for you to get to grips with before you would even start to think of an upgrade.

Whatever you decide I hope that you enjoy making music. You have come to the right place to start and this forum is packed to the rafters with people who will be happy to help you whatever your choice of keyboard eventually is.
Good luck in your choice.
Tony (also in UK)

The new Yamaha PSR292 (not PSR290) and DGX202 are both the same keyboards but one has 76 keys and the other has 61 and the 76 has a pitch bend wheel. No disk drives in either one.
The DGX300 and DGX500 both have lightly weighted piano keys compared to the others with synth light keys. I like the 300 and 500 alot. If you want a very good piano sound and all the other styles and voices and don't want to spend too much, these are very good choices. Even in a year or so, these are so reasonably priced that you shouldn't loose much when you go to sell them. They both will record 6 tracks and both will play back 16 track midifiles. You can't record your own rhythms but you can load a custom one to play from disk.
Other choices like the PSR550 are very good, but these keyboards are a little more difficult to operate especially to record songs compared to the others.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

Hi jus,
I agree that a KB (keyboard) that is "user friendly" would be the way to go.
As a beginner , you`ll want to spend your time "practicing and playing" so the easier the KB the better , But your choice should be based on what sounds your looking for and style of music you play as well. Most KB`s will be a good choice so have fun , your gon`a love playing!
O-BTW , "Welcome to our family and the best corner of the web" ! We are here for each other , so any questions just "post"
jedi

Thank you all for the warm welcome and for the good advice.

I am looking forward to getting started and I' ll let you know how I am progressing.

Jus

Hi Jus, Welcome well, here goes another opinion. I would stay away from all the bells and whistles and concentrate on learning to the play the keyboard. As Sk880user recommended, Lessons, theory, scales,....good basic piano fundamentals. It seems painful at first, but in a short amount of time, you'll pick up so much that will help you later on. I'm not saying buying a keyboard with the extras is necessarily bad, but the problem is, we all have a tendency to use the stuff if it's there, and at your stage, you need to concentrate on playing, not entertaining, not sequencing and arranging stuff, not tweaking sounds...but PLAYING. I realize that some of the technology today enhances learning, as with lighted keys you can follow, that displays chords and their variations, and some of the bells like a drum machine to making practicing fun ..CAN be helpful, but I still think the best way to learn is to emphasize the fundamentals, and learn to play basic keyboard. Then the PSR will become a great musical tool that will enhance your talents, instead of hiding your weaknesses. I'd buy the most basic keyboard in your budget, 88 keys 0r 76 perhaps, no synth feeling keys, hammer action or the next closest thing. used P-80's or technics, or other comperable boards will do nicely. If you have a college or church near by, you can practice using theirs from time to time ...to get the feel of it, then select what keyboard is right for you. many ways to slay this dragon...seek a teaching aid, live or computer based, or video series...stick with it, concentrate on the basics...and HAVE FUN....Good Luck Brian

Alternative opinion:
One reason we buy arrangers is so that we can quickly start making music WITHOUT taking piano lessons for years.
I would encourage you to learn the full fingered chords (no single-finger). It's just as easy to learn the full chord, and that will let you progress, where 1-finger chords limit your development.
Sure, if you have time, learn and practice the basic scales, left hand runs, etc. If you just want to make good music the "easy" way, learn chords and right--hand melodies.
DonM

I am a fan of the transpose button (used to change keys that you're playing). For example, you can play Amazing Grace in the key of C and use the transpose button to the key of F so your voice can reach all the notes.

This is the EXPRESS way to learn keyboard skill. Just concentrate in the key of C which is the easiest because then you can avoid all the "black" notes (or minimize them). This way, you can learn all the basic chord progression and rhythms. These are the essence of keyboard playing and develops your fingering (piano skill) and sense. Soon, you will be playing at the pro level without worrying too much about the key. You can pick up that skill later after you master the keyboard essentials.

Using the auto accompaniment is also helpful but nothing replaces piano playing skills with your hands for comping.