Gospel Hymn Lyrics- A B C D E F G H I J K L M O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

4 Comments so far

1. Mike C on October 11, 2009 12:07 am

   Here’s some points to try to answer this question:
   (1) On keyboards vs. acoustic: Do you ultimately want to play keyboards, or an acoustic piano? If you want to play well on an acoustic piano, you need to learn on one. An EZ150 (or any keyboard) won’t have the feel of a real piano, and even though you’ll learn where the notes are, you won’t be able to control your dynamics (volume level) properly on a real piano because you won’t train your brain to know how much force you need to use when you strike the key. This is a serious problem because once you learn the wrong way, unlearning it is almost impossible. That means you really can’t learn on a keyboard and then switch to a real piano. Even the weighted keyboards don’t work well because only the most expensive electronic pianos even come close to replicating the feel of a real piano (and only some of those go so far as to simulate the more subtle things like let-off, which advanced pianists DO feel and use to help them control their playing). On the other hand, if you just want to play keyboards,or don’t expect to progress much past beginner’s level, then by all means learn on one. It really won’t matter.
   (2) On 88-key vs. 61 key: Do you expect to play at an advanced level eventually, particularly where you will be playing without music? If so, you need an 88-key keyboard. If not, you probably don’t. A 5 octave keyboard is probably enough for any beginner’s music (heck, Mozart wrote for one, his piano had only 5 octaves.) However, here’s the more esoteric problem. When you are playing without music, your brain will be finding the notes on the keyboard in two ways. One way is by the individual keys themselves, either by looking at them and aiming directly (the beginner’s way), or by the distances between them when you learn to play really well and have internalized how far apart the keys are so you can find them without looking at them (more advanced, and the only way to play quickly). The other way, one not so obvious to those who are not advanced players, is by the EDGE of the keyboard. That is, when you make a big jump, you will know you are approximately over the right key by seeing the distance of your hand from the edge of the keyboard. And therein lies the problem. If you are used to playing on a 61-key keyboard, and you suddenly switch to a full 88 key instrument, you WILL end up with a kind of cognitive dissonance every time you jump your hand to a different part of the keyboard. One part of your brain will say “hey, I moved my hand the right distance to get to the key I want!” Another part will say “Wait! I’m too far away from the edge of the keyboard, I must have messed up!” And you will freeze. Trust me, this happens — I have the same problem in reverse when I play an instrument that DOESN’T have 88 keys, and so I have to close my eyes every time I play a 5-octave harpsichord to avoid it. Again, though, this is only an issue if you expect to progress pretty far in your playing. If you just want to play for fun, then 5 octaves is probably fine.
   (3) On the lighted keys: Forget it. It’s a waste of time. You need to learn to play by training your fingers to find the notes without watching the keyboard at all (what we call “muscle memory.”) You don’t play by consciously looking for the key. You can’t, because, leaving aside the fact that once you are playing at any kind of speed you won’t have time to do it, you also can’t watch all ten fingers at once! Furthermore, it’s the wrong way to learn — the light up keys train you to look for the light before you play the note. That’s not how you play. And it solves a problem that doesn’t exist, which is: how do you know which note to play. Well, it isn’t hard to recognize which note is which, heck, those groups of two and three black notes aren’t rocket science to figure out. If you want to learn to improvise, learn chord structure and how the notes of the scale fit with the different chords. If you want to learn to play from music, learn to read music and which notes on the page go with which notes on the keyboard. Either way, learning where the notes are, which is what the light-up notes are supposed to teach you, is really the easy part. The hard part is learning how to actually do it, meaning how to actually play smoothly. The light up notes won’t help you a bit in that regard, AND you’ll have to unlearn playing with them when you play without them. I’d avoid them if I were you.
   SO… in sum, what do you want to do? Play for fun or advance to a higher level? Play keyboards or play a real piano? Depending on your answers, you will know if you want a keyboard, or a piano.

2. William T on October 11, 2009 12:42 am

   I play guitar mostly but I play piano some. I personally would get 88 weighted keys.

3. L H on October 11, 2009 1:25 am

   If I were you, I find someone to teach you to play. If you want to play hymns and such go to your local church and see if the organist will teach you. I play the piano and have for years and yes you do need 88 keys to play such songs properly.

4. Lord_of_ on October 11, 2009 2:05 am

   61 keys should be plenty for beginners, also the resistance feel probably isn’t going to be all that big of a deal. I know that you can rent upright pianos. Once you’re comfortable with not looking at the keys (so you don’t need the lights) get one of those to work on the finer skills of volume control (which electric keyboards just don’t give you).