UPDATED REPORT – July 20, 2026 – “Finding the Right Digital Piano – Shopping Guide” | It’s a “Jungle” Out There! – There are few things that can be more exasperating than shopping for a costly product when there are so many (seemingly) good choices! All the sellers and makers of their products want you to believe they have the best thing that’s just right for you, and to make matters more confusing, all of them have products in a variety of price ranges from low price to high price. With all of the possibilities it seems like there is no end to the choices that are available to you in many products out there, including digital pianos.
It’s really like being in a jungle…you keep going and the further you get inside the jungle the easier it is to lose your way and become lost because there are so many directions in which you can go. As you keep researching digital pianos and maybe even going to some local stores to see some of them, you start realizing that if you personally don’t know much about playing piano and/or digital pianos themselves, then the information you are getting can just make things even more difficult to understand.
If you make the wrong choice in this digital piano jungle you may wind up stuck in quicksand, and cannot get out of it. Maybe you get tangled up in some poison ivy (something that looks good but is bad for you) or perhaps you may get bitten by a snake (questionable salesperson or store), or maybe you see a low price on what appears to be a good digital piano but then find out after you have it for awhile that you or your child don’t like it because that piano cannot actually play at all like a real piano, and now there is nothing you can do about it. I know it’s not easy to make that big buying decision so that’s why you need to do your homework and also talk with experts like us.
As I said, it really is a jungle out there when shopping for a new digital piano. Imagine having to choose among at least 6 or more brands including Yamaha, Casio, Roland, Kawai, Korg, Kurzweil, Williams, Artesia, Donner, and more with a combined total of up to 100+ potential models with close to 50 of them selling for under $2000. When you add up the new digital pianos which sell for more than $2000 the total amount of available new digital pianos on the market today can be overwhelming. Some piano stores will tell you that you need to spend over $2000 to have a good piano playing experience, or maybe over $5000. But maybe you want to stay under a certain price and don’t know how far down in price you can go and still get a good piano that will musically satisfy the needs of your child or yourself.
Perhaps your school or church needs a new digital piano and it’s difficult to know for sure unless your are a trained pianist with years of experience in playing acoustic pianos along with the knowledge of what makes for a good digital piano playing experience. It is true that if you don’t play piano at all or you don’t know what to look for, then you may be happy with just about anything to start out on, and that may be OK. But it will also be easy to outgrow that model or get into poor playing habits if you purchase the wrong one, or if you (or your child) start progressing in your musical ability and playing skill level.
Then there is all of this new digital piano technology and whether it will be meaningful for you to have in your new digital piano. This could include many instrument sounds, multi-track recording, rhythm training patterns, Bluetooth connectivity, MIDI-USB connectivity, General MIDI song record & playback, LCD display user interface, synthetic ivory touch keys, triple digital sensor key touch, escapement/let-off feature, plastic keys, wood keys, hybrid key action movement, wood soundboard, 12, 14, 16, 24, 26, 30, 40, 60, 100 watts or more of audio power, 2 speakers, 4 speakers, 5, 6, 8 etc, physical modeling piano sound technology, and sampling piano sound technology.
Then there is combination of physical modeling & sampling sound technology, small LED display screen, small LCD display screen, large color touch screen, no display screen. Then there is iPad or Android app function control screens, grand piano key action, upright piano key action, half-damper pedaling, continuous detection pedaling, and the list goes on and on. Trying to figure out what digital piano technology you need or don’t need takes a lot of time, effort, and research and then you can just get more confused than ever. It really is a big jungle out there because you can get tangled up in jargon and explanations by these manufacturers that try to convince you that you need all this stuff when in fact you may not need most of it.
Yes, if money was no object then you would just buy the best most expensive name brand digital piano and be done with it, right? Maybe not because the most expensive digital piano you could get ($15,000 and up) may not have the features you really want or need. Some of these digital piano manufacturers and dealers can be like lions, tigers, and bears along with jungles full of quick-sand and they’re making a lot of noise trying to get you to look their way so they can pounce on you and get you buy what they are selling. It can make things scary for a lot of people who really just want to spend the right amount of money and get a very good piano playing experience based on their musical needs, their piano playing experience for themselves or their family members, and be able to have something for many years without necessarily growing out of it.
Now we do know there are a number of digital piano shoppers who have a very limited budget and cannot spend more money than what they have, and that’s fine. But even in the lowest price range under $500 or under $1000, there are a lot of options now, some good and some not so good, and a few that are just downright bad. Also. I find there are many people driven towards certain brands because they like the the cabinet on that digital piano and the way it looks. But as we all know, looks can be deceiving and if you are not careful that so-called nice looking instrument may be a can of musical “snakes” in the jungle that will slither around and not play good or sound good, but maybe they looked good to begin with. I call that a “PSO” which stands for piano shaped object and that is something which looks like a piano but doesn’t come anywhere close to playing and sounding like a piano. Be careful of those traps because they can definitely come back to bite you when you least expect it.
How about servicing and repairing digital pianos? Some of them do have a bad track record for needing service and repair, especially some of the no-name brands and/or older used digital pianos you may find on the internet or Craigslist, or Market-place. There are people who even want to give their older digital or acoustic piano away for free and all you have to do is come and get it. That’s pretty much like playing roulette and gambling, that it will all turn out good, when actually there is a better chance that it will all turn out bad. I have seen this happen many times to people who were once again, drawn in by the pretty cabinet. Unfortunately the capability of many used of off-brand instruments do not come close to replicating (even at minimum standards) what it is like to play a real piano.
OK, being a long time piano teacher and pro piano player I know that giving a child a chance to learn to play a piano is one of the greatest things you can do for them so giving them any keyboard or digital piano, regardless of condition or ability is better than having nothing…that’s for sure. So I do believe in giving every child an opportunity to learn and practice. But as a parent of piano student child or an adult who wants to learn for themselves, please understand that as the student continues to progress in their playing skills it becomes vitally important to eventually (sooner than later) get a digital piano which allows the student to have good expression on the instrument, good tonal dynamics, smooth playing key action with correctly weighted keys, proper pedal response, and other needed musical feedback in the instrument so that they will not develop bad playing habits.
So do yourself a favor…when shopping for a new digital piano or really any digital piano, consider all these things because having (good) music in your life is something that is an awesome experience for anyone who loves music, especially a child, and having a quality instrument, regardless of price range, is the kind of thing that every shopper of a digital piano should strive towards. With the maze of digital pianos available today including used ones, along with the jungle wild animals (the manufacturers and sellers wanting your attention),we encourage you to reach out to us, Tim Praskins or my son Erik Praskins, Digital Piano Consultants & Experts.
Let us know what you are looking at, what you need, and what your budget is, and we will help you decipher what is going on out there in understandable ways so that you can make an informed and confident buying decision which will lead you to many happy musical years for yourself, your family, or for whoever would use the piano. We don’t charge a fee to speak with you and playing & teaching music is our passion and that’s why we do what I do. That’s what playing and listening to music is all about…happiness, joy, meaning, passion, fulfillment, a hobby, or for some people, a life’s work that keeps on giving to you and the people around you for the rest of your life!
If you want more info on new digital pianos and LOWER PRICES than internet discounts, please email us at tim@azpianowholesale.com or call direct at 602-571-1864.
