Acoustic & Electronic Instruments, Musicians, News, Tutorials, Videos & Interesting Finds
Acoustic & Electronic Instruments, Musicians, News, Tutorials, Videos & Interesting Finds

Yamaha Keyboard Buyers Guide

Looking for the latest Yamaha digital pianos and music keyboards? Try our Keyboard Finder database.

Yamaha Keyboard

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 a seasoned pro.

We’ll save the range of Yamaha’s digital pianos for another article. Here, we’ll take a look at the main categories of keyboard and make suggestions as to which is best for you.

Types of Yamaha Keyboard

Yamaha Portable Keyboards

These might be considered Yamaha’s entry level keyboards, but in fact they don’t skimp on features.

Recognisable by their PSR or YPT product codes, they generally consist of five octave (61 key) keyboards with a light touch that’s sensitive to playing pressure. They usually include a wide range of natural and synthetic sounds, including acoustic pianos, auto-accompaniment styles and built-in speakers.

As well as Yamaha’s current line up you’ll also find a range of discontinued models. If you can find a good quality used model it can be a very inexpensive way of getting into keyboard music making.

Yamaha Piaggero Series

The Piaggero keyboards (NP Series) offer a bit more keyboard real estate. They feature a 76 key keyboard (about six octaves), plus improved built-in speakers, sounds and accompaniments. They cost a bit more as a consequence but are more suited to styles of music where a wider range is useful. See the current range.

Yamaha Lighted Keys

Just one Yamaha keyboard features lighted keys. The EZ-200 can make it easier to learn pieces of music by lighting up which keys should be played.

Yamaha Synthesizers and Workstations

Yamaha’s synthesisers and workstations are great when you want to take your music making and creation further than is possible with the standard keyboards.

Available in a range of sizes, they usually have more advanced features such as the ability to edit sounds, record on multiple tracks at once, and have more real-time control over playing.

They are generally a lot more expensive.

Yamaha Arranger Workstations

Yamaha’s arranger workstations include the Tyros series and a few higher end PSR keyboards. They’re really useful when you want more advanced control over performance or want to build multi-track compositions from the single instrument.

They are usually expensive.

Choosing the right keyboard

My keyboard buying guide is a useful read. It’s not limited to Yamaha keyboards, but you can simply narrow your search. It tells you what features to look for and what types of keyboard are best suited to the music you want to play.

If you’re buying specifically for a child, read buying a child’s first electronic keyboard instrument for advice.

After that, you can use our keyboard finder to pick out current models which match the features you want.

Yamaha keyboards are high-quality instruments that can give you many years of enjoyable music making. If you have any questions, leave a comment below.

Looking for the latest Yamaha digital pianos and music keyboards? Try our Keyboard Finder database.