After hours of testing, we found the best keyboards for children, from toddlers to teenagers.
Our choice for the best keyboard for kids (overall) is the Hamzer 61-Key Digital Music Piano Keyboard. The Rockjam 61-Key keyboard has 61 keys and an interactive LCD screen. Topping it off, this model comes in at a great price.
Rounding out our top 5 keyboards for kids are these excellent models:
- Best Kids Musical Fun Keyboard: RockJam 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard
- Best Learning Keyboard for Kids: Casio LK-265
- Best Toddler Piano: Goplus Classical Kids Piano
And don’t forget our runners-up! In more piano keyboard reviews, we also cover 16 additional keyboards that cover a range of needs, all at very reasonable prices.
Let’s take a look at our favorite keyboards for kids…
Best Keyboard for Kids: Summary Table
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Best Keyboard for Kids: Reviews
Best Keyboard for Kids (Overall): Hamzer 61-Key Digital Music Piano Keyboard
With the Hamzer 61-Key Digital Music Piano Keyboard, kids can have a complete professional music studio setup in one convenient bundle, at an affordable price. The keyboard comes with a durable x-style keyboard stand that has 7 levels of height adjustment to fit them as they grow.
It also comes with keyboard stickers, so you can label the keys to help with learning to play and reading music. When they know the notes by heart, you can simply peel off the stickers, with no residue, for a more grown-up looking instrument. Finally, it comes with a microphone with a 4 foot cord, so kids and their friends can sing along while they play.
The Hamzer 61-Key Digital Music Piano Keyboard not only allows kids to sing along with their favorite songs, but the keyboard will record and play back your performances so you can share them with others. It has 61 standard size keys, perfect for learning, and has 255 instrument tones, 255 rhythms, 61 keyboard percussions, and sound effects like ensemble and vibrato.
Play or sing along with the 24 demo songs. You can control tempo and other settings, program and edit your own rhythms, and independently control the master keyboard volume and accompaniment volume. It can be used with a power adapter or powered by batteries, and has ports for the microphone, headphone, and other accessories.
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The Hamzer 61-Key Digital Music Piano Keyboard is perfect for young aspiring musicians and rock stars. With the microphone, piano keys, and so many keyboard percussions and instrument voices, kids can explore the whole world of musical expression, in a way that is fun and engaging. The long microphone cord and onboard recording capabilities make this an instrument that will entertain not just one child, but the whole family.
Best Kids Musical Fun Keyboard: RockJam 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard
The RockJam 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard is a portable keyboard that makes learning to play piano fun and engaging for kids of all ages. Unlike many other keyboards in its category, it is compatible with Android and iOS tablet computers, to open a new world of learning and education and simplify piano learning.
With the award-winning Piano Maestro app, you can expand the keyboard’s built-in song library, or access fun piano lessons and musical education games. Piano Maestro will give feedback on your playing, track your progress as you learn, and motivate you to practice.
The RockJam 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard has 54 full size keys, powerful stereo speakers, and an easy to read and use LCD screen. It has 100 instrument tones, 100 rhythms, 8 percussion effects, vibrato, sustain, and other settings.
The built-in library has 8 demo songs, or you can use Piano Maestro to download 30 more free songs that come with the keyboard, or pay for access to the thousands of songs in the online library. The keyboard also lets you record and playback up to 41 notes, and it has ports for a microphone and headphones or external speakers.
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The RockJam 54-Key Portable Electronic Keyboard is a fun keyboard that makes learning an instrument into a game. The playful design, powerful app compatibility, and exciting instrument voices, songs, and effects make it appealing and engaging for children.
Best Learning Keyboard for Kids: Casio LK-265
The Casio LK-265 has keys that light up along with the notes to be played, so learning to play songs is as simple as following the lights. It’s the simplest and fastest way to learn to play the piano, and once you have learned the songs, the Casio LK-265 lets you turn off the lights and play by memory. It’s a great way to get started on the piano, removing the intimidation of memorizing and learning to read music.
The Casio LK-265 has 61 full size, touch sensitive keys. It comes with 400 instrument voices, 150 rhythms, 48 levels of polyphony, and a variety of effects. It also has 60 built-in songs and the Casio Step-Up lesson system that helps you quickly learn to play.
Dance Music Mode with customizeable dance rhythms adds more fun ways to create and share music, and it’s compatible with the popular Chordana Play app that adds more functionality and fun ways to learn piano. It can be powered with the included AC adapter, or battery powered to take anywhere.
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The Casio LK-265 with its full size, touch sensitive, light up keys is the best and fastest way to learn to play songs on the piano. It’s great for kids or adults who want to learn to play quickly, or take up the piano after a long absence. The big range of voices, effects, Dance Music Mode, and other great features make this a highly capable instrument for beginners and intermediate learners.
Best Toddler Piano: Goplus Classical Kids Piano
The Goplus Classical Kids Piano has all the classic style and presence of a grand piano, but scaled down small for children 2-7 years old. It is made of sturdy materials that will last for years, even with rough play.
MDF and wood construction in the body are strong and durable, and ABS keys are durable and easy to clean. The piano has rounded edges and is painted with non-toxic materials, so it’s safe for kids of any age.
The Goplus Classical Kids Piano comes with a music stand, a bench, and has a lid that really lifts like a grand piano. The 30 keys are scaled small for little hands. Like a grand piano, sound is louder with the lid open, to replicate the effect of playing a regular piano. This piano doesn’t require any power and is easy to assemble, and plays a charming, bell-like sound.
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The Goplus Classical Kids Piano is a toy piano with the charm, fun, and classic presence of a grand piano, but redesigned for children, with small keys, non-toxic materials, and rounded corners. The small size and fun design make it appealing for toddlers and small children, and it is durable enough to last for years.
Runners-Up
RockJam RJ761
The RockJam RJ761 61-Key Electronic Interactive Teaching Piano Keyboard is a complete music studio in one bundle, that includes everything kids need to learn, practice, and play the piano. Complete with the keyboard, a sturdy adjustable-height keyboard stand, a padded x-style bench, headphones, and even a sustain pedal, it has everything a kid needs to learn and explore the world of music.
The RockJam RJ761 61-Key Electronic Interactive Teaching Piano Keyboard has 61 full size keys, with 200 instrument voices, 200 rhythms, and a 30 song onboard library. Navigate functions and settings with the touch display panel. It also has teaching functions, along with record and playback capability, and can even export MIDI files to other devices.
The keyboard can be plugged in or operate off of batteries for portability, and it’s compatible with a wide range of apps to make learning and playing the piano fun.
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The RockJam RJ761 61-Key Electronic Interactive Teaching Piano Keyboard is a great way to create a music education studio in your home, with everything a kid needs to learn, practice, and enjoy the piano. The headphones allow it to be enjoyed quietly, or use the built-in stereo speakers to entertain others.
Yamaha P37D 37-Key Pianica
Pianica is Yamaha’s name for an instrument that is also called a melodica. Working with your breath and the keys, it operates on similar principles to the bagpipes, but without the distinctive bagpipe sound.
The melodica is a popular instrument in many genres of music, and it is played throughout the world. It is often used in early musical education, because it combines the properties of a wind instrument with the properties of a keyboard instrument, while still being simple to play and learn.
The Yamaha P37D 37-Key Pianica is a new redesign of Yamaha’s earlier iconic pianica model. This update has improved many features of the pianica, including the sound resonance, build quality, and material feel of the instrument. New organic materials produce a fuller and more resonant sound, and the more sophisticated style makes it appeal to players of all ages.
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The Yamaha P37D 37-Key Pianica is a redesign of their earlier pianica model that was loved by professionals and amateurs alike. This new design improves the materials and sound of the instrument, while maintaining its appeal and simplicity.
This is a great instrument for children as their first instrument to learn, but also popular among professional keyboard players and musicians who appreciate the unique sound of this little instrument.
Roland GO:KEYS Music Creation Keyboard
The Roland GO:KEYS Music Creation Keyboard is a beginner-friendly keyboard with great style and rich features that even advanced musicians can appreciate. As you would expect from a Roland, this keyboard goes well beyond the simple capabilities of a piano, enabling a whole suite of digital music creation, sharing, and editing capabilities for aspiring composers, DJs, and rock stars.
With advanced connectivity to the world of digital devices, this keyboard can even go pro.
The Roland GO:KEYS Music Creation Keyboard has 61 box-shaped velocity-sensitive keys with an ivory feel that resists slipping and is luxurious to play.
It has 500 instrument sounds, including the voices of Roland’s famous synthesizers, 554 tones overall, and 128 levels of polyphony. Loop Mix function lets you quickly build loops, add instruments, and filter, adjust, and control your mixes.
You can record and play back music from the keyboard, or use USB or Bluetooth 4.2 to connect to external devices for advanced mixing, sharing, and other functions. You can even simply connect the keyboard to your music player and listen to or play along with your favorite songs. All this in a keyboard that weighs just 8.6 pounds, and can go anywhere you need to go.
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While it’s easy to learn and use for beginners, the Roland GO:KEYS Music Creation Keyboard is also perfect for digital musicians, aspiring DJs, and creative types of all kinds. It has a huge number of features for creating music, with voices, effects, and loops of all kinds.
With this keyboard, you can wirelessly connect to a world of apps, and create your own songs, music, even videos and games. It’s an incredible music creation and appreciation station.
Plixio 61 Key Electric Music Keyboard Piano
The Plixio 61 Key Electric Music Keyboard Piano is a portable and fun keyboard that can also be used as a karaoke and party machine, to create share your favorite music with family and friends. The whimsical music stand and appealing buttons make it easy to use and learn. The compact size and battery power lets you enjoy this keyboard anywhere you happen to go.
The Plixio 61 Key Electric Music Keyboard Piano has 61 full-size keys, with 40 instrument tones, 100 rhythms, 8 percussions, and another 61 keyboard percussions. It also has sound effects, chord and transpose features, along with tempo controls. It weighs less than 9 pounds, so it’s perfectly portable. It has ports for optional headphones or a microphone, so you can sing and play along with the 60 demo songs.
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The Plixio 61 Key Electric Music Keyboard Piano is designed to appeal to kids, making learning and practicing the piano fun and engaging. It is simple to use, with a good number of demo songs, instrument voices, and rhythms that will introduce kids to a lifetime love of music.
Alesis Melody 61 MKII
The Alesis Melody 61 MKII bundle has complete home music studio setup all in one box. In addition to the keyboard, it comes with an adjustable x-style keyboard stand, a comfortable padded x-style bench, padded headphones, a music rest, a power adapter, and even a microphone.
With this keyboard setup, kids can create and explore the world of music, and share their love of music with others.
The Alesis Melody 61 MKII has 61 full-size keys, along with 300 different instrument voices and 300 built-in accompaniment rhythms. It has 40 built-in demonstration songs, and kids can record and playback their performances, including singing into the microphone, directly into the keyboard.
It also comes with 2 months of unlimited online piano lessons so kids can learn and advance at their own pace.
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The Alesis Melody 61-Key Portable Keyboard is perfect for kids and young people who want to sing as well as play piano. The included microphone and big library of songs make it easy to learn, play, perform, and even record performances to share them with others.
Two months of unlimited online lessons help to make learning easy, and the keyboard is fun and easy to use.
Casio SA-77 44-Key Portable Keyboard
The Casio SA-77 44-Key Portable Keyboard is small, portable, colorful, and fun to play. The compact keyboard has small keys perfect for young fingers, and the drum keys add a second dimension to a child’s musical education and exploration. Although it is designed for kids and is just 3 pounds in weight, it has surprisingly good sound quality and more advanced features than you would expect.
The Casio SA-77 44-Key Portable Keyboard has 44 compact, touch-sensitive keys. It’s driven by Casio’s LSI sound engine for great sound quality and clear piano tones. It has 100 instrument tones, 50 rhythms, 8 note polyphony, and 10 built-in demo songs.
It has a 5 button drum pad to create your own rhythms, with an easy to read and use navigation and LCD screen. The Melody Cut Rehearsal System offers piano lessons right from the keyboard, so kids can learn to play at their own pace.
It has a simple button that changes from organ to piano tones, the most popular instrument voices. It also has a headphone jack for quiet practice.
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The Casio SA-77 44-Key Portable Keyboard is perfect for young kids who want to learn, play, and explore their first piano, with sound quality that exceeds what you might expect from a toy. Built-in lessons, drum buttons, headphone jack, and a good range of voices make this tiny keyboard fully functional and fun.
Alesis Recital
Many piano teachers recommend starting even small children on a full size, 88 key keyboard so that kids learn correct hand and finger positions before they pick up any bad habits.
The Alesis Recital is a full-size keyboard designed to start young learners off right, with full-size, semi-weighted, touch responsive keys so that every lesson teaches the hand and body mechanics that children will need as they progress to bigger and better pianos.
The Alesis Recital 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano not only has the correct keys that mimic a classic piano. It also has 5 high quality instrument voices, reverb and chorus effects, and 128 max levels of polyphony.
It has keyboard split and layer functions, perfect for sharing during duets or lessons, and comes with 3 months of premium online music lessons. The built-in 20W speakers deliver clear sound, or use RCA outputs for external speakers. It has headphone, sustain pedal, RCA, and USB connectivity.
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The Alesis Recital 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano is a full size piano keyboard designed for beginners. It is simple, with only a few voices and functions, but has good audio and a realistic keyboard that creates the finger strength and techniques necessary to play a traditional piano.
Many piano teachers prefer that even young children begin their musical education on a full-size, realistic piano keyboard to make it easier to progress in the future, and this is a great choice.
Casio CTK-3500
The Casio CTK-3500 has great sound and a lot of advanced features and capabilities packed into a compact, portable keybaord. It can be powered with an AC adapter or by batteries, and has a simple, easy-to-use interface.
The CTK-3500 is compatible with Casio’s popular Chordana Play app, which offers a whole new way to learn, play, and enjoy your keyboard while learning how to play the piano. With Chordana Play, you can access keyboard lessons that give feedback and track progress, or play games that help you learn the instrument, or even practice the keyboard right on the screen of a tablet or smart device, so there’s no excuse to skip piano practice.
The Casio CTK-3500 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard has 61 piano-style keys with two levels of touch sensitivity, or you can turn off touch sensitivity. It has 400 different instrument voices, 100 built-in rhythms, 48 max levels of polyphony, 60 demonstration songs, and a good number of different sounds and effects.
It has Dance Music Mode, which makes it easy to select from one of 50 dance rhythms, and then edit and layer sounds to make your own dance songs. It also has a pitch bend wheel and built-in lesson capabilities. It also has a USB port and audio inputs for an MP3 player.
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The Casio CTK-3500 61-Key Touch Sensitive Portable Keyboard is versatile enough for young beginners, who will appreciate the easy operation, lesson features, and Chordana Play app. But it also has good sound, USB connectivity, and a broad range of features that will impress intermediate musicians as well. And the pitch bend wheel and Dance Music Mode are popular with everyone, making this little keyboard into a party music machine.
Joy JK-63M-KIT
The Joy JK-63M-KIT comes in a bundle with a 61-key keyboard, a sturdy height-adjustable keyboard stand, a padded x-style bench, and a pair of comfortable padded headphones. The complete keyboard setup is stylish and classic, suitable for children or adults who want a complete music station in their home.
With audio inputs, the keyboard doubles as a music player, so you can connect your MP3 player and enjoy your music through the powerful keyboard speakers, or play the keyboard along with all your favorite songs. It is compatible with a wide range of keyboard companion apps, including popular apps like Simply Piano or Piano Maestro, so you can expand your song library, find new ways to practice and learn, or share your music with the world.
The Joy JK-63M-KIT has 61 standard size keys, so you can play with your choice of 255 instrument voices, 255 rhythms, 61 keyboard percussions, 50 demonstration songs, and a wide range of effects and controls. It also has built in piano lessons, and recording and playback capability.
The LED screen makes it easy to navigate and choose your settings and functions. You can easily control and customize accompaniment styles, master volume, tempo, keyboard percussions, and more.
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The Joy JK-63M-KIT is a complete piano setup designed for beginners, and it’s perfect for novices of all ages who want a keyboard and music station with a more classical style. The included headphones keep practices private, without disturbing others, and the stand and bench are durable and comfortable.
Connect the keyboard with a wide range of apps to expand its capabilities and learn more over time.
Yamaha PSR-E263
The Yamaha PSR-E263 is a small, portable keyboard with Yamaha’s premium instrument voices and famous sound quality. You can connect your MP3 player and play your music through the keyboard’s speakers, or play piano along with your own favorite songs.
The keyboard can be powered by an AC adapter, or with batteries, and it weighs just 11 pounds, so you can easily take this quality keyboard on the road or to practice.
The Yamaha PSR-E263 61-Key Portable Keyboard has the Yamaha AWM Stereo sound engine for piano voices, and Ultra-Wide Stereo sound in the speakers for surprisingly good audio in a beginner keyboard. It has 384 instrument voices, 16 drums and effects, 130 preset styles, 32 levels of polyphony, and a built-in library of over 100 songs.
You can track your progress with onboard recording and playback capabilities, and it has built-in lesson and learning functions. Split and layer keyboard functions allow you to play two instruments at once, or share it for duets and lessons. It has an aux input and a headphone jack.
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The Yamaha PSR-E263 61-Key Portable Keyboard is a portable keyboard designed for beginners of all ages, with the lessons, features, and songs that help anyone learn to play the piano. It has the famous Yamaha sound that makes this keyboard stand out from other beginner keyboards, and makes it a great choice for players who love classic acoustic pianos.
Casio CTK-2550
The Casio CTK-2550 is a full-featured keyboard that can be battery powered or plugged in, so it’s easy to use at home or even outdoors. It weighs just over 7 pounds and has Casio’s popular Dance Music Mode, so it is ideal for taking to parties, practices, and performances, where you can create and share all kinds of music. It’s also compatible with Casio’s Chordana Play app, which provides lessons and practice, tracks your progress, and has fun musical activities. With Chordana Play, you can even practice the piano right on the keyboard of a tablet computer, polishing your skills no matter where you are.
The Casio CTK-2550 has 61 full size touch sensitive keys. It has 400 instrument voices, 100 built-in rhythms, 48 max levels of polyphony, and 60 built-in demo songs. Dance Music Mode uses 50 dance music rhythms and effects to let you quickly create and play your very own party and dance songs.
It has the Casio Lesson Lite system built-in, or connect the keyboard to the powerful Casio Chordana Play app for lessons, music games, and recording and sharing your music with others.
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The Casio CTK-2550 is a portable keyboard with a lot of features to love. You can learn to play the piano, follow the demonstration songs, or make your own music with Dance Music Mode. The Chordana App makes learning to play easy and fun for beginners of all ages.
RockJam 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano
The RockJam 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano has a sleek, classic design in a full-size keyboard. With a minimal, streamlined interface, players don’t have to waste their time with a lot of button pushing or navigation, or be distracted by a busy screen. It’s a great way to simply focus on the music and learn, practice, and play to your heart’s content.
The RockJam 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano is a full size 88 key keyboard. It has velocity-sensitive semi-weighted keys, for more dynamic, expressive play. It comes with 10 instrument voices, 10 tones, 10 metronome settings, and 10 demonstration songs.
The keyboard can be split for lessons or duets, and it has two powerful built-in speakers. It also multiple ports to connect with accessories like optional pedals, a microphone, or headphones, along with USB connectivity. It is compatible with a number of 3rd party apps to expand the song library, enhance learning, and share your progress.
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The RockJam 88-Key Beginner Digital Piano is a great piano for beginners to learn, share, and practice their music. It’s compatible with popular apps like Piano Maestro and the Simply Piano app that helps motivate beginners to learn and practice.
The range of ports for accessories allow this keyboard to grow along with your skills, so you can easily add headphones, pedals, and even a microphone.
Yamaha EZ-220
Lighted keys remain one of the easiest and fastest ways to learn to play piano, even if you’ve never played before. Simply follow the lights and learn the songs you love. The Yamaha EZ-220 is a light up keyboard that is compatible with a whole range of apps that do everything from simplify learning, expand your song library, share your music, and even enhance performances. Even though it’s a light-up keyboard, it’s a sophisticated instrument.
he Yamaha EZ-220 61-Lighted Key Portable Keyboard Package has 61 full size, light up, touch sensitive keys. It has 392 instrument voices, 12 rhythms, 100 preset songs, and a number of effects and controls.
It comes with the built-in Yamaha Education Suite onboard learning system, and is compatible with several Yamaha iPad apps that expand the capabilities of the keyboard itself. With built-in connectivity, you can connect to many Yamaha piano apps wirelessly, or use the USB port to connect to digital devices.
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The Yamaha EZ-220 61-Lighted Key Portable Keyboard Package was designed for kids and young learners, with a light-up keyboard and onboard lessons that make learning the piano fast and easy.
However, it also has great sound and advanced features that will also appeal to adults who want to learn new songs quickly. USB and wireless connections to apps give this keyboard even more potential to grow with a player as they develop more skills.
Korg TinyPiano
Click image for more info
The Korg tinyPIANO is a tiny, child-sized piano with grownup sound. While the piano is small enough for children ages 2-6, it has authentic grand piano sound and audio quality that impresses even professional musicians.
It has been designed to be durable enough for children, with sturdy construction, simple operation, and few moving parts, so it can last for years. Korg has made this instrument quieter, to not damage young ears.
The Korg Tiny Piano is battery powered, with 25 touch sensitive keys. It has 25 instrument voices, and 50 demo songs. A child can play along with the songs as they learn, or simply play they automatically as a music box. This little piano has perfect pitch, accurate tones, and the wooden body creates resonance, for exceptional sound in a child’s piano.
The piano is available in different colors: red and pink
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Adults love the Korg tinyPiano, even though it was made for kids. The team at Korg believes that early exposure to high quality instruments with accurate pitch and tones goes on to help children have greater appreciation of music and makes it easier to learn. They made this tiny piano with all the craftsmanship and attention to detail they bring to the high quality, professional instruments the company is known for.
The Benefits of Piano Lessons for Kids
It is a sad time in education, considering that many kids are no longer being taught music in schools. This is why it is important for parents to get their kids involved in music lessons. This doesn’t mean that they should be forced to attend lessons and practice, since this is going to actually turn them off playing any instrument.
But, there are so many benefits to playing an instrument, including the piano that parents really do need to encourage their kids to take lessons. Some of the many benefits of piano lessons for kids include:
Piano Lessons Help with School
Many people do not realize that piano lessons can also help children to do better with their school lessons. Many studies show that children who play a musical instrument tend to score higher on standard testing, as well as spatial cognitive development testing.New studies are showing that kids who play the piano do better in math than kids who do not play an instrument.
Piano Lessons Increase Self-Esteem
There is a lot of hard work that goes into learning how to play the piano, and it takes a lot of dedication. When kids are able to master a technique, a song, etc., it is going to help to increase their self-esteem just as much as winning an award at school or for sports.
Piano lessons also help kids to learn how to remain positive, even with they are faced with difficult tasks, and they will have the confidence to do these tasks.
Piano Lessons Help with Coordination
It is a well-known fact that playing a musical instrument can help to improve hand-eye coordination. In addition to this, playing the piano can also help to improve fine motor skills, because both hands must work independently of one another in order to play songs.
One hand may be moving quickly while the other hand is moving slower. Your kids will have improved coordination, and will have more complex thought processes.
Piano Lessons Improve Concentration
It is a well-known fact that playing a musical instrument can help to improve hand-eye coordination. In addition to this, playing the piano can also help to improve fine motor skills, because both hands must work independently of one another in order to play songs.
One hand may be moving quickly while the other hand is moving slower. Your kids will have improved coordination, and will have more complex thought processes.
How to Choose a Keyboard for Beginners
There are many things to consider when choosing a keyboard for beginners, especially kids. For instance, many people say that it is best to have a full, 88-key keyboard to learn on. But, this isn’t always the best idea for smaller kids who may become overwhelmed by a huge keyboard. Also, many also say that the keys should be full-size.
This is fine for older kids and teens, but if you have a toddler or preschooler who is learning how to play the instrument, smaller keys are often better because their hands are smaller. Here are a few tips that will help you to choose a keyboard for beginners.
> Effects
If you want to keep kids interested, their keyboard should have a number of effects that they can play around with, including sound effects, tempos, drum beats, etc. Make sure that there aren’t so many effects and features that they end up being distracting to the beginner, but also that there are enough to keep them interested.
> Stands
If the keyboard you choose does not come with a stand, get one, along with a padded piano bench. It can be difficult to learn how to play the piano when it is sitting right in their lap, and a stand is going to help them to learn how to sit properly at the keyboard so they can reach the full range of keys when they move up to a full keyboard.
> Weighted Keys
While this is not the most important thing for toddlers and small children, older kids and teens can benefit from using a keyboard with weighted keys. This is going to let them get the feel of playing on a real acoustic piano, which they will eventually move onto at some point once they have started learning to play.
Commonly Asked Questions
When it comes to kids learning the piano, the most important thing is to engage them, inspire them and make it exciting (as noted by Piano Teachers Connect – a group of elite, highly qualified piano teachers).
The keyboard you choose can have a big impact on the enjoyment that your child gets out of their lessons. Here are some tips for buying a keyboard for your child, no matter their age:
What should parents look for when buying a keyboard for their toddler?
The piano is a great instrument to get toddlers engaged with music. It can be played by anyone, doesn`t require strong breath (like a wind instrument), or a lot of movement.
So, if you have a toddler and want to introduce them to the world of pianos what should you be looking for?
According to the Hoffman Academy, the most important thing with toddlers is to get them interested and enjoying the piano. So, it’s up to parents to decide what they think is most appropriate. For some toddlers it might be plink-plonking on a traditional piano, but others might prefer a colourful plastic keyboard.
What is important though is that the instrument has a set of keys with a `piano` action and range of notes, to give toddlers an insight to how a piano works. It also helps for parents that the `sound` of the note is pleasant to listen to!
What should parents look for when buying a keyboard for their young child (i.e. ages 5-12)?
Between the ages 5 and 12 is an excellent time to start children with piano lessons. According to Piano Wizard Academy, it helps that children are able to read as well as used to having “lessons”.
Kids’ music teaching specialists Let`s Play Music suggest that the most important aspects to buying a keyboard for young learners is that they have as close to 88 weighted or semi-weighted keys as possible, has an adjustable stand – enabling the height to move as children grow, while keeping the right posture, that it is touch sensitive if possible and that there aren`t too many effects and extra features to make it confusing.
What should parents look for when buying a keyboard for their teenager?
If you have a teenager who is looking to start to learn to play the piano, one of the beginner keyboards above will be adequate. For teenagers, however, a range of difference voices or effects might help them to engage with the instrument, as might a microphone to enable them to sing along.
What are the best brands for kids’ keyboards?
If you’re looking for an established brand, you can’t go wrong choosing a Yamaha or Casio. There are also some more “fun” pianos which are suitable for younger children and a lower price, and are sold on Amazon.
What are the best resources for children to get started playing songs on their keyboard?
- There are fun games and good resources at My Fun Piano Studio
- Piano for Kids with Dan Delaney offers a course of lessons (some of them free) with a mixture of videos and games, led by Dan Delaney – a piano teacher with over 25 years` experience
- The Hoffman Academy offer a good set of beginner piano lessons for kids
- Little Kids Rock gives kids the chance to learn and practice songs they love as well as learn techniques in a fun way
- Piano Song Download on YouTube gives kids an easy, visual way to learn their favourite songs
- Baby Joy Joy is another great resource to get young children interested in learning the piano
- Talent Playground also has some good online lessons for young children
Wish List: Portable Keyboards for Kids
Conclusion
If your child expresses an interest in learning how to play the piano, it’s important to give them the support and encouragement they need to learn.
One way to do this is to make sure they have a decent keyboard to learn on. Any of the keyboards reviewed in this guide is a great choice, and even though they are small, they have more than enough features to help kids learn the basics, and then they can move on to other keyboards and acoustic pianos.
