Mention Amstrad to anyone of a certain age in the United Kingdom and they will almost certainly recall the cheeky cockney rags-to-riches (Sir) Alan Sugar and the business empire he built from packaging up cheap electronic components into crappy hi-fis or reasonable-but-strange home computers and word processors. What most people […]
keyboard
30 posts
Part of our 101 Colourful, Cool, Weird, Novelty, Vintage Toy Instruments gallery is this bright green mini-keys keyboard from Russia. Seemingly manufactured in at least the 1980s and possible 1990s, the label says “?????” which is a diminutive term for “little boy” or “child”. Before seeing this translation I thought […]
Updated for 2021. Are you looking for a music keyboard for your child? Read our guide: Choosing Your Child’s Keyboard Instrument Here are my ten recommendations of piano books for kids. They will help your child learn how to play the piano and keyboard, including identifying and playing notes and […]
Introduction The Apple iPad is quickly becoming a go-to portable music device for many musicians, whether they’re composing, sequencing, performing, DJing, notating, or crafting sounds. Thanks to the iOS 4.2 upgrade, MIDI is now very much a feature of all iOS devices. There’s now a huge range of apps available, […]
Keyboard instruments come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and while the basic layout of the keys remains the same, their size, weight and feel varies significantly between instruments. This guide will help you pick the best keys for your playing needs. 1. Keyboard Options The three main factors […]
With so many iPad music creation apps available, it would be nice to have something physical to play notes on. While it is possible to hook up external keyboard controllers, how about this product — still in development — which combines a protective case and a musical keyboard. The C.24 […]
Fancy getting your hands on a vintage piece of Hohner kit? The Hohner Bass 2 Keyboard is from the 1960s. This auction offers up one in very good condition and fully functioning. Seller ringobellini says that they run it through an SVT with a tube driver to get a great […]
Yamaha has updated its EZ-200 lighted keyboard with the introduction of the EZ-220. Compare EZ-200 and EZ-220. It includes 100 preset songs designed to help beginners learn to play the keyboard. It features 392 built-in voices including realistic acoustic instruments including drums, plus synths and sound effects. There are 100 […]
The answer to this question boils down to how authentic you want your piano-playing experience to be. On the surface, there really isn’t much difference between an acoustic piano, a digital piano, and any of the multitude of music keyboards and synthesizers. This means it’s possible to play the same […]
Looking for the latest Yamaha digital pianos and music keyboards? Try our Keyboard Finder database. If you’re enamoured by the range and quality of Yamaha keyboards, you’re not alone. Laden with features and available at attractive prices, Yamaha instruments are a great buy whether you’re new to keyboard playing or […]
Bit late off the mark on this one. In January, Alesis announced its latest controller keyboard. The QX49 USB/MIDI keyboard offers four octaves (49 keys) of controller goodness. It’s got most everything you could want from this kind of controller keyboard: velocity sensitive keys, drum pads, rotary knobs, long-throw faders, […]
You love your piano or synth, right? But what else can you do to show your appreciation apart from playing it (naturally), taking it on gigs and talking to everyone about the latest pieces of music you’re playing or sounds you’ve created? Wear a themed T-shirt of course! We present […]
Feeling patriotic? Have an event where it would be good to play the United States’ National Anthem music? Here are some simple free piano/keyboard arrangements for The Star-Spangled Banner. Introduction The Star-Spangled Banner is written here in B-flat major. This is the key I’ve most often heard it played in. […]
If you love the Nord style get excited, because the company have used Musikmesse 2011 to unveil their latest offering: the Electro 3 HP. It features a 73-key hammer action weighted keybed and is designed to pack in a whole gamut of authentic vintage sounds, accessible via a live-performance-friendly interface, […]
You’ve just bought the perfect keyboard. Now it’s time to accessorise! Forget the bling factor that normally goes with fashion accessorising. These accessories are all practical additions to your stash of equipment, helping you to play better, sound better and protect your prized instrument. Read on to see why you […]
Casio has unveiled four new keyboards at this year’s Winter NAMM show. The WK-6500 and CTK-6000 are replacements for the heralded WK-500 and CTK-5000 models. The new additions offer new tones and rhythms, a larger backlit LCD display and a new 17 track sequencer with editing tools for creating new […]
Christmas Carols & Songs Sheet Music Free Downloads Check out our complete series on mastering Christmas Carols on Piano and Keyboard. Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions As part of our mastering Christmas carols on piano and keyboard series, here’s our guide to playing […]
Christmas Carols & Songs Sheet Music Free Downloads Check out our complete series on mastering Christmas Carols on Piano and Keyboard. Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon. How to play Away in a Manger […]
There are many different chords, but the basic major and minor are probably the most frequently used, and also form the basis of many other chords. Here are all 32 major and minor chords, each shown in their three inversions. They are displayed on the treble clef staff, with keyboard […]
I love little instruments like this. OK, so I can’t use it to play much Chopin on, but the GAIA SH-01 is a great portable compositional and sound-generation tool, equally at home in the studio. This three octave beauty offers a huge range of virtual analog synth sounds and a […]
