General
If the youngest among us would like to start playing keyboard, they can of course pick up one of those tiny (toy) keyboards, with small keys. But, actually, it is better to train the fingers on normal keys. A keyboard with such a keyboard doesn't have to be that expensive. So if you take the musical aspirations of the youngest seriously, you skip that tiny keyboard and go for this Yamaha PSR-E283 keyboard, for example. The nice thing about this model is that 't really does have something going for it. It plays well, but we wouldn't call it a toy.
Features of the Yamaha PSR-E283
There are more than 400 sounds, which is quite a sound palette, with pianos, strings, horns, guitars and so on. The keyboard also comes with effects to make the sound extra nice. By the way, those sounds have a polyphony (polyphony) of 32, which is a number you can play with more than just fine. And then: 150 rhythms and accompaniments, again all kinds of styles and tastes. Those who don't want to play for a while but want to hear the keyboard can have fun with 122 built-in demonstration songs. A nice bonus is the built-in teaching method, the keyboard holds a quiz, for example - really! And so you learn to play the keyboard in a playful way.
Quick and easy
The keyboard operates quickly, there's no getting lost in menus. That means the keyboard is very direct, and functions are eventually memorised using arm and hand gestures (in English, this is called muscle memory). Of course there are built-in speakers, headphones are of course recommended to keep the peace. A sheet music stand is present to place your first keyboard books on. An aux-in is present to connect an external sound source, such as an MP3 player or (more realistically) a smartphone. This allows you to play along with other music on the keyboard, which is another way to learn! For this money? Fine keyboard, more than fine!
Tips or comments about this product
- Please note that the keyboard stand shown in the images is not included.