Spring RTS Engine

I wish to learn to play the piano, and I do go through the books quite quickly, but that then means I go home and forget most of it and have to start over next time I'm round one.

I cant afford a proper piano right now, and I dont want a cheap tacky thing but I dont have a lot of money. I want something I can plug into my computer/macbook/garageband if I can thatll be decent but I dont need all the fancy business the expensive things have or little touch screens etc

Does anybody reccomend anything?

buy a guitar

Play Spring.

Try checking your local thrift store or pawn shop. Almost all keyboards have midi output, if thats what your looking for.

I read I need a usb output but a midi to usb converter is apparently quite cheap. I dont want a keyboard with an awkward number of keys or a convoluted setup and a vast array of nursery rhymes built in

If you are learning keyboard to play piano, I would really suggest you make the investment into one with weighted keys and touch sensitivity. Touch sensitivity is a must, weighted keys are much much nicer to play.

Do you want it to sound good? I am very happy with my kurtzweil (shit im sure I spelled that wrong). Its old and heavy, but its the best sounding keyboard I have ever played. If you just want to dick around, go to your local toystore and pick something out.

You mean pressure sensitive keys?

I want to be able to move from a keyboard to a full piano eventually with minimal transition so something from toys-r-us will not suffice.

I have NO idea about the cost of a piano, but if you want a good keyboard to start with I can recommend you the PSR-S500. I have it and it's great, the sound is very good and if you want to mess around theres hundereds of instruments.

The keys are pressure sensitive ofcource, they're not weighted though.

I don't know if you should take lessons, I didn't. I just read how to read notes and what key is what on the internet, once you know that you can get started.

And if you want to get started right away instead of learning how to read sheet music, try this: http://www.synthesiagame.com/, there are a few midis included but you might want to search for the midi of the song you want to learn.

I got someway into learning the cornet as a child so I have a vague knowledge of sheet music already given some refreshment.

The PSR-S500 though is somewhat pricey, if I had that much money Id have bought 2 replacement iphones by now lol, the cheapest google shopping says it can find is around the £325 mark, and Id want to spend under £100, maximum £150 with the intention I would buy an upright piano after Ive graduated in a year or two.

Since whenever Id be using it itd be plugged into my macbook, Id be hearing it through garageband or whatever other program Im using so Im expecting the keyboard itself would be muted. I just want something I can learn on that feels right, proper nubmer of keys, pressure sensitive, something thatll set me up good for an actual piano without teaching me horrible bad habits

edit

Get a kurtzweil. Also get a full size keyboard. Press the keys on a real piano somewhere (grand piano not upright) to understand how it SHOULD feel, then test out the feel of keyboards. Dynamic range is also important, probably second to keyboard feel. Im no keyboard expert, but after nearly 20 years of playing the instrument, I can tell you that these are fucking important if you want to transition to an actual piano, and enjoy whatever you pluck out of the instrument.

my yamaha portable grand is nice...
for a beginner, getting the nicest piano right away probably isn't the best idea unless you have an insane amount of surplus money.

+1 @ http://synthesiagame.com - I'll post a zip of my midi collection for it if anyone wants it

for features:

• usb midi is very convenient (yamaha's usb midi is nice - has 32/64-bit drivers for win/linux/mac)
• you definitely want touch-sensitive keys, but those are normal in most keyboards
• a sustain pedal is a must for playing it like a normal piano
• although weighted keys are nice and provide a more realistic feel, they cost more and you can play fine without them...
  they *do* increase your accuracy when playing and reduce the chance of accidentally hitting the key adjacent to the one you're trying to press, but learning without them will simply make you better at hitting the center of the key.
  I've learned songs on a non-weighted keyboard and performed them for decent groups of people on a real piano without issues.
• you definitely want at least 76 keys.
  I find it's rare for a song to use the extreme ranges of the piano, so you can survive perfectly fine without the few extra keys.

if your power isn't clean, plugging a usb/midi cable might cause interference with the audio output (only line out, not internal speakers)

my keyboard is the dgx-220 and I'm very satisfied for the price. I'm probably going to invest in a >$1k keyboard sometime in the future when I have more time to put toward playing. (I also have an upright piano)
the synthesia learning pack is a good investment for learning to play imho.

Alright, i've been playing piano since I was 6 and the only thing i have against you is just the elitism that's been injected into me by the old purist farts of Canada's half-assed conservatory's hivemind telling me to tell you to get an upright piano as your first piano. Considering that if you want to really learn an instrument, you never ever ever want to get a shit instrument or an instrument cause it's cheap. You want something that will last.

Don't worry too much though about the transition from a keyboard to an acoustic piano. There isn't too much difference so long as you get a more-or-less full sized keyboard. The only difference will be depending on the piano you eventually get, ie if the keys are are rigid and resistant.

The NP-30 isn't that bad, i've screw around on it at my local music store for kicks every now and then.

http://www.yamaha.ca/content/electronic ... atures.jsp

It doesn't have really any of the bell's and whistles of the DGX series as aegis early mentioned BUT tbh i like it alot because it's just a fucking simple keyboard. All though it's a tad expensive like 191 Euros, or 300 CAD. BUT too be honest it's a nice 76-key keyboard.

And don't worry too much about the range as the only real nice music that ever extends to the further reaches is basically music from the Romantic and Impressionstic Period, and that's the advanced stuff from like Chopin and Liszt.

Anyways good luck with your piano endeavours. It's just about practice. Slow and steady practice.

Edit: Also get a private teacher. Even if you just go once a month or something, a private teacher will help alot more in the beggining than a book. A book won't check for all the little errors in alot of the technical stuff that is extremely important to correct within the early period of learning a peice.

+1 @ practice is a huge part of learning... I've spent so many days just sitting at a piano for hours...

Does your university's music department have pianos for the students to use while you're looking for one? I used to use my university's pianos.

AF wrote:I wish to learn to play the piano, and I do go through the books quite quickly, but that then means I go home and forget most of it and have to start over next time I'm round one.

I cant afford a proper piano right now, and I dont want a cheap tacky thing but I dont have a lot of money. I want something I can plug into my computer/macbook/garageband if I can thatll be decent but I dont need all the fancy business the expensive things have or little touch screens etc

Does anybody reccomend anything?

Get a Casio from a music store, full 88 keys, fully weighted. You can get one for about 300 bucks. I actually bought my mom one for her birthday last year. Excellent stage piano, and very much more than adequate for garageband or recording. You gotta love a baby grand sound that actually sounds like a baby grand.

I might hold off then and ask my parents to get me a better one for my 21st in july (the 12th, inquire within where to send gifts )

Play Spring.