Digital Piano for a 6 year old

[livealittlemore]

Hi everyone
6 year old DS is showing interest in learning piano. I have been thinking of starting lessons since last year but wasn't sure if he was ready. I feel now is the right time to start.
I have been searching for pianos (digital) to buy, but not sure if I should invest right away in the good branded ones like Yamaha, Roland etc., which are pretty pricey, but will last us a long time or if we should start at lower end (such as gear4Music own brand DP-6 or equivalent)- It'll still be around £350-£400 but we can use for a few years and if he really enjoys it and is good at it, sell and upgrade to a better one.
I have looked at second hand ones too, but the good brands are still pricey but without the guarantee, so not sure if it'll be risky...
Interested to know what any of you have done when your DC started learning Piano.
Also any other recommendations for good starting digital piano will be great.
Thank you 😊

Chat to some local teachers first, they will give you good advice. A good teacher should be happy to let your child use their piano (digital or otherwise) for a couple of lessons before you invest.
There’s a strong market in second hand digital pianos so worth a look.
Do look for fully weighted keys and for 2 pedals. Gear 4 music equipment is absolutely fine and their customer support is brilliant.
We started our DS’s on an old dodgy keyboard with one key that didn’t work for 6 months. We now have an upright piano and a midi keyboard hooked up to a laptop for composing etc! My eldest adores it.
Don’t discount an upright if you have space, ours was being given away for free and tuning isn’t that costly and it really is the best thing to learn on.
Good luck and I hope your DC lives it and it brings your family as much joy as it has ours.

@OrchidFlakes Thanks for your response. I have messaged a few local teachers enquiring about classes…but have managed to do only 1 trial class as most of the teachers have no availability unless we travel a bit further. But the search is on and I am planning to ask for recommendations after a few conversations / chats
I have seen a few 2nd hand ones that i liked on fb marketplace/gumtree etc., but good ones get snapped very fast! Will keep looking and if nothing good comes up in the next month or so, will go with the gear4Music one. They had good reviews...so should be good
Ah how wonderful that your children and you are enjoying it. I used to play a bit of the keyboard, so I will probably learn too. Looking forward to it actually. Would love a proper classic upright Piano, but space is a problem now…so will go with a compact digital one now..

I wouldn;t go with the Gear4Music one, their own brand instruments are not good.

For just slightly more £440 you can get a Yamaha P45 package. Its got hammer action weighted keys and a nice tone. Its a really popular digital piano to learn on.

www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/Yamaha-P45-Digital-Piano-X-Frame-Package-Black/18XM?_gl=1qskba7_upMQ.._ga*NDY2Mjc1MzI2LjE2NDMyOTM3ODQ.&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-Nen0n6wZdsHicPZbZ8K6g6ebvgVP7a_KgzeZonqZdGqE_8rz3eQiUaAmJzEALw_wcB

second the yamaha. it can also be played with headphones (and when dc wants to can be attached to latop/gadgets etc)

you can sometimes get good deals second hand.

Oh that's a good shout @Comefromaway @purplesequins I didn't realise I'll get a Yamaha in that range. Will check it out. Thank you

Buying a second hand digital should be fairly straightforward, but I would be very, very wary of a buying a second hand acoustic piano unless you know what you are looking at and be especially wary of any being given away free. We have a friend who is a piano tuner and restorer and one of his favourite phrases is "There's no such thing as a free piano".
Of course there are some good old pianos to be had, but a lot that are being given away with the owner saying "it just needs a bit of a tune" aren't really salvageable, or if they are, will cost a lot to sort out. I would definitely get a tuner to look at any acoustic piano you might be tempted by before you get it, even if it's free, or you might end up with a white elephant taking up a lot of space in your house.
I love our "real" piano and think my children have been very lucky to have it, but I think it's definitely better to have a decent digital than a poor acoustic, plus you don't have to bother about stuff like temperature and humidity in your house with a digital. Personally I would probably opt for a lower down the range instrument from a good manufacturer over something that is higher spec'd from a less well known maker, as if nothing else, the well known brands hold their second hand value better and who knows how long a 6 year old will stick at anything!
Good luck, hope you find something suitable and your DS enjoys it.

agree with avocet

acoustic pianos are great but it's easy to get a duff one if not careful.
a piano is basically a harp, i.e. a metal frame that holds strings that are then hammered by a complex mechanism of felt covered hammers.
the frame is sensitive to temperature and humidity changes. and of course if it's dropped or sat on the frame can lose it's form or even break making it impossible to tune.

we have an electric piano at home and dc have access to real pianos at mudic school and they can use music rooms with real pianos at school to practice as well.

yamaha is s good brand, it's almost the 'gold standard'.

Always go with Yamaha is my advice and you can never go wrong.

In order they rate as Yamaha best, then Roland, then Casio. Casio are much cheaper than the other two.

I got the Casio PX 770 in white. I'm a grade 7 pianist and I think it's great, the keys are slightly textured to resemble ivory, so there's a nice feel to it.
. My daughter has a digital yamaha and my normal upright in the UK is a yamaha.

I'm in Portugal, I bought it online from Germany, Thomann.de
It's worth a look

.... My daughters yamaha digital was second hand. Yes, if you're buying second hand, then go for the yamaha. Yamaha are probably easier to sell on if you need to sell it in the future as well

My family bought a Yamaha Clavinova when I was 8 years old. I will turn 43 this year and it still looks and works just like new.

To be fair, all that tells you is the ones built in the 1980s were reliable!

My husband and I bought a Yamaha Arius a couple of years ago and are very happy with it so far.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Looks like Yamaha is the best option. I'll look for what's available in the second hand market. Hopefully something good will come up... The clavinova looks so good...does it matter how old the model is? I saw a CLP-560 for sale but on researching found that it's a very old model and people were suggesting not to go for it...should it matter?