Calling any piano players!

[pisspants]

Hi there
Dd is going to be starting piano lessons shortly and we only have a crappy keyboard at the moment. I will leave it a couple of months to make sure she wants to carry on before making a decision but assuming she does carry on with it I think a real piano is out of the question really as we are a small mid terraced house. So I am going down the route of getting an electric piano, something like a clavinova.
I do not have a big budget (lone parent) but could possibly stretch to buy a new one if could get it on finance but am at a bit of a loss as to what route to go down
To get a new clavinova the cheapest model is £1100 approx.
Yamaha also do an Arius keyboard which I gather is only any good for a beginner and they are about £700 new. It seems to make more sense to buy something better which is a bit more money that will last as long as needed so have discounted this option I think.
The other thing would be to go for a cheaper brand but it is hard to know what is decent.
Or to get something second hand. but I dont know what spec to go for and a lot of them seem ancient. How much has technology moved on over the years with these pianos? would a 10 or 15 year old one be noticeably worse than a new one assuming there are no tech problems with it?
If anyone had any advice on good models, makes etc then I would really appreciate it as I am going round in circles a bit. Thanks in advance

I'd wait and see how she goes, she may hate it. I did and my parents had bought an upright!

We have this one DP-10X Digital Piano by Gear4music + Accessory Pack Matte Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IISTQQ0/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_mjw3CbWDM7430

Ds1 is doing grade three next month and it's been perfect for us. I feel like I e had my value for money from it, ds2 is using it too. I'll replace it with a real upright once he finishes G4.

The stool was better back when I bought it but it looks the same otherwise. I think at £400, replacing it won't sting too much. We've had it 3.5 years with no problems so far.

I’d ask around for people trying to get rid of an upright piano - we got ours free and only paid for the transport; and it fit very nicely into our tiny mid terraced house!

If you're going electric (good as you can use headphones), I'd definitely buy used, because if it works, it works, and is going to keep on working, whereas a strung piano might have hidden issues eg be untuneable. You'll save a load of money too. See if there's a local dealer near you.

The main thing that matters is fully weighted keys - that means that it feels the same as a real piano rather than light like keyboard keys. Personally I’d go for second hand recognised name / model and not worry too much about the technology. We have the cheapest clavinova you could get £10 years ago, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, and nothing I would want added technology wise. I’m sure there are electric ones that can do fancy things, but at the end of the day all you want is something that feels and sounds like a real piano. If DD sticks with the piano the teacher will likely be able to help with recommendation. I think Kawai are also good if you’re looking for other makes.

Sorry to disagree with pp, but I'd go electric keyboard that is new. The technology improves so much that you can usually get a better piano for new than a second hand one at the same price. I found second hand ones cost a lot as people obviously paid so much for them initially. I'm a moderately good pianist, and bought a Roland fp30. It was £600, cheaper if you don't get the wooden stand. To me it feels really piano like, the keys are responsive and it's not plasticy. You can get cheaper ones that will still be good, this is really a piano, has some sound effects but not lots, so not good if you want to play with all that stuff. Worth going into a good music shop and having a look.

Try Facebook market place or buy from costco as they have a good return policy if your little one changes their mind.

My dd plays piano, we bought an electric yamaha one. It has fully weighted keys, pedals & volume control! It's fabulous.

We bought it second hand for £100 & honestly it's brilliant.

Is there a piano dealer / music shop anywhere reachable for you? Go and play the pianos there, you'll soon see which ones are good and which aren't. Lots of music shops also sell second-hand clavinovae and acoustic pianos.

I was fixing some malfunctioning notes on our pre-historic 1991 yamaha clavinova last weekend; there's a note on the bottom of it in my Mum's writing, saying she paid £925 for it. Those things are well made, so buying second-hand is probably fine. Don't buy second-hand without playing first though!

A professional pianist of my acquaintance swears by the Yamaha stage pianos for beginners FWIW; they're around £300ish, have the weighted keys etc, but don't look as nice as the home digital pianos (need a separate stand etc); he's got a ~£50k Yamaha grand piano and is pretty fussy in these matters, so I was surprised to hear him say that. Might be worth a look - I've not heard them myself so won't comment further.

Other digital piano manufacturers are available - Casio, Roland and Kawai most obviously.

Don't buy any piano unless someone in your family definitely wants to be a semi-serious pianist!

We bought an older (15 years) electric one from ebay when my daughter started learning, which was great - it took her to grade 2 and when we got a newer one we sold it on ebay for the same amount!

thanks people thats given me a few more makes and models to look that I know will be good. it's so hard looking online as you think you've found something good but then there'll be a bad review or you xant quite tell the spec...
@JurassicGirl and @Merrow can I ask what models you have? thanks

We bought a new Yamaha P115 for DS when he started. Probably the sort of thing that footchewer mentions. It was about £600 all in, including headphones, stand, seat. It is tucked away under the stairs, hardly takes up any space.

My daughter's piano teacher recommended this. It's fantastic and I love playing it myself. I bought the proper wooden stand for it too.

Yamaha P-45 Digital Piano - Black https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UBJ4L32/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_zhx3CbWE9139E

It has weighted keys which she said are very important.

We got a junior digital whilst DD figured out if she liked it - like a smaller Clavinova and about £150 but she was 5 at the time so very little.

There will be Yamaha electric pianos with slightly lower spec than Clavinovas that are cheaper. Look for one with weighted keys and pedals (so that when you play a piano it feels the same) as has been said, and a headphone socket.

I bought one at Costco as an expat a few years ago for £450ish.

I tend to recommend the Casio CDP entry level digital pianos for beginner pupils. You can get them for around £200 if you shop around.

They will be fine as a practice piano easily up to Grade 5 as long as the pupil takes the opportunity to play a real acoustic upright whenever the opportunity presents itself (at school, at friends/relatives' houses, in train stations (!) etc.) so that they gain experience playing an acoustic instrument too (and learn that there is a big variation between weight and response of keys and pedals amongst strung pianos).

I've got an Arius digital piano and it has weighted keys, full length keyboard - I think it's fine, I play to grade 8 standard and my son's had lessons on it. It cost about £600 eight years ago or so. Maybe they have lower spec models that don't have weighted keys? Mine's def an Arius though, my parents have a Clavinova but I couldn't afford one.

My DD initially used a keyboard and when she was fully committed we got her a Yamaha U3 through an assist to buy type scheme and paid it up over the year. Friends however chose to simply rent a piano instead.

Ask the piano teacher for a recommendation - my son's teacher was really helpful with suggestions.

I bought a Casio CDP and to a novice it feels and sounds pretty good. Admittedly I'm basing that on playing a real piano as a small child, I'm essentially a total beginner now.

But I researched lots and was happy this was the right mix of you'll-probably-never-stick-at-it cheap, and you-might-be-a-secret-virtuoso quality The weighed keys feel great & real, pedal probably not so much but figure this is less essential, should certainly be able to go a fairly long way with something like this?

(Just need to learn how to play the bloody thing now )

I live in a tiny 2 up 2 down.

With a massive former school piano in the living room!

We are a multi piano household. Dh’s 2nd favourite is the Roland RD800 that they don’t make any more. He also rated Yamaha highly.

I also have a Yamaha Arius piano - a model YDP161. I bought it brand new, complete with stool, for £800.00 about seven years ago. Admittedly, I don't know if this particular model is still made but there should be an up to date equivalent. It was the best I could reasonably afford (for a novice) but I'm still pleased with it.

BTW, my teacher was/is a real find. She is now fully subscribed so I'm glad I found her when I did. She is also a singing teacher so clearly understands music .

A keyboard is a different beast from a piano. If your DD wants to play the piano, get an electronic one with weighted pedals. Obviously, nothing beats a real, beautiful grand, but you need room, tolerant neighbours and a really good tuner who has to come every 6 months at a minimum and it costs!

I bought a Clavinova. I got it in a sale, which was great. I had also been fortunate enough to play every single electric piano in that studio a few months before when helping to buy an electric piano for the church that I was then organist for, so I knew what I wanted and had a budget for it.

The advantage of the electric piano is headphones, so that you don't have to listen to the repetition of practice. The downside to headphones is you don't know for sure they are doing the practice. You need to practice a minimum of 30 minutes a day. If your DD doesn't want to do that, then an instrument is not for her.