I have a 9 year old granddaughter who has expressed an interest in playing a piano.
I know these interests often don't last so I am searching for a sensible purchase for her.
I want it to have built in speakers with a headphone jack but not have dozens of features with all kinds of buttons to confuse her -basically - just a good 88 key piano.

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Deane

Yamaha P-45.... $449!!

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/...5BoCMV8QAvD_BwE

I agree with Jonathan - wise choice.

Gary

That one has poor polyphony, and the line out shuts off the speakers .... making it harder to resell if they advance.

Where it comes to keybed action and good sound..

May i advise Kawai..
Also Roland high end keybed ph-50 is very good..
Both these keybeds are used by classical concert pianists to train at home..
And the keybed and soun in general is favored above upright piano’s
That have a very different touch in the first place..


If you could state your budget..
And if you want a mobile piano or furniture piece


With jus a little more info i could advise you a specific type of brand..
Not only based on my own opinion, but also on general conensus on the piano forums i visit daily



Money wise, its best to choose a used one in good condition..
Many other kids stop in the first year..so choice enough
If you have to resell it, you will get allmost all your money back..
And if she keeps playing, you will not have to upgrade in the first years to come..
Buying the cheapest isnt allways wha costs you less money in the end..

Witouth a good teacher, chances are high she will quit..
A good teacher learns her a lot, but will also keep her motivated and make sure she is having fun playing the piano.. the last part is extremely important.. because learning piano often quickly turns into a chore..

For piano training Yamaha’s GHS keybed isn’t the best choice in this price range..
Same goes for the actuall piano sound quallity
Kawai es 110 and or Roland fp30 make more sense and are conceived better choices in his price range

This answer is not only based on my personal opinions, but also on questions asked and answered on the piano players forum. Almost everyone there gave this advise, including piano teachers..

He could also try and find a used kawai es100, which offers nearly identical sound to the es110 and the keybed is even perceived better..

Roland Pianos have a free app that could make the piano learning a lot of fun for the young kids that embrace technology.

It even tracks your practice hours, key presses and how hard the keys are pressed.



Regards,

Jerryghr

Thanks to everyone for the input. Keep in mind this is for a 9 year old who might or might not even like the experience once started and no one else in the family plays therefore resale value is important too. I don't want a piece of junk but also do not want to spend a fortune on the keyboard and do not need a "furniture" piece.

One of the problems with young children is finding a knowledgeable teacher who know how to keep them interested and not try to turn them into a concert pianist while at the same time teaching them the basic fundamentals. They want to learn how to play songs and have fun learning.

Deane

I said in another thread the Roland Piano Partner App sold a few FP30s in my local music store. Great learning tool especially for kids. I use the Rhythm Section with my FP90 and it does a good job.

Kraft Music always has bundles for the same price of a digital piano whether it's a Yamaha, Casio, and etc. https://www.kraftmusic.com/digital-pianos-and-keyboards/sale#/sort:final_price:asc

For home, I'd look into the Casio PX160 with a wood finish stand. The PX160 features 128 polypony, more powerful speakers than the Yamaha P45. I am classically trained on the piano, and I like the Casio PX series keyboard action.
Digital Pianos At Kraft Music from the Lowest Price

The Roland piano app, or the Yamaha piano partner app, can be of great help here, to keep things fun, i agree with that..

It comes with the FP30 of Roland, which should be an awesome buy for resale vallue, espescially if you can buy a used one..

This is what might help keeping the fun for them



Also there are many many nice ipad apps, that aim to teach kids piano in a fun way.. which might help a 9 year old a lot..

https://musicadvisor.com/10-piano-apps-help-learn-play/

take some time to read into these, there are quite a few good ones, that not only learn to play, but also teach sightreading in an easy engaging way..

nothing beats a good teacher, but i guess these apps help to keep it a lot of fun..



There are quite some piano teachers supporting methodes like this on top of their more traditional approach.. this really works well for kids as its what they are used to when playing games..

Thanks Bachus, this is very helpful. I will look into these.
FYI, I should be getting my SD90 in about a week. I loaded it up with the
larger SSD drive and all three of AJ's gold packs. Very excited!

Deane

I can understand the excitement
Looking forward to hear how much you like it.