When most people talk about a digital piano, they’re referring to a keyboard with at least 76 keys and some kind of weighting in those keys.

Conversely, many digital keyboards feature non-weighted keys (they are very light to the touch in comparison to a real piano). Many have 61 keys or less. They do often have many more functions on them, such as accompaniments, bigger range of sounds, and so on.

Having said that, the lines are constantly blurring.

I think it might be difficult to buy an 88-key weighted digital piano new for $300, though I did see some heavily discounted new on Amazon, so it could be done.

Longer term, and particularly for classical, jazz and some other styles of music in particular, an 88-key weighted digital piano would be very useful. At the moment, a 76-key version (which might be slightly cheaper) would suffice.

How does your son get on with whatever keyboard he is currently playing on? The weight does vary considerably between keyboards (as in fact it does between traditional acoustic pianos). While he is still quite young, it might be worth buying a keyboard that doesn’t have a very heavy feel to it. Having said that, I started playing real pianos with fairly heavy keys at a very young age.

Of course, if you want to get something you and your son like the feel of, then you will have to go to a dealership rather than buying online. This could be more expensive, or you could always negotiate a deal or just find the instrument you like and then buy online later.

My personal preference for digital pianos is Yamaha, though Roland and Casio also have decent offerings.

I hope that helps a bit. You might also like to ask his piano teacher what they recommend.

Much gratitude,
Alison

You’re right. These two keyboards are near identical. In fact the only difference I can see (from looking at the specifications) is that the PSR-E323 is silver and the YPT-320 is “champagne gold” in casing colour!

As to the education features, I haven’t actually tried out Yamaha’s latest system directly, but here’s what Yamaha says of it:

“Song Lesson feature “Keys to Success”

You can practice the preset Songs using these lesson functions: “Keys to Success”, “Listening, Timing, Waiting” and “Phrase Repeat.” Keys to Success helps you master a Song, whereas Listening, Timing, Waiting helps you first master the timing then playing the correct notes. Phrase Repeat lets you select and repeatedly practice a specific phrase in the Song. In the “Keys to Success” mode, you can practice individual phrase separately. Each time you finish a specific Step, your score is shown in the display. Passing one Step (with a score of 60 or better) lets you go on to next one automatically.”

I hope that helps a little.

This is a very helpful website. I am looking to buy a keyboard for my 7 year old who seems to be very interested in piano, but I’m confused! Can you tell me what the difference is between the PSR323 and the YPT320? They seem to be the same but the price is slightly different. Can you also explain the education feature further?

Thanks so much…

Sorry for the delay in answering, I was away last week.

To be honest, I haven’t investigated in depth the different educational software built in to each instrument. I’m not sure that the lighted keyboards offer a huge advantage, though perhaps they might be useful for younger children.

Kit