difference between a keyboard and a piano?

Question

what are the differences between a keyboard and a piano? I am asking because i am going to start studying either and i can't decide which one to learn. can anyone tell me which is better and also which is costlier??

Answer 1

A piano is a complete instrument of which a part of it is the "keyboard". It is complete and stands alone. The sound is produced mechanically via hammers hitting wires of varying diam., length, and tensions. These are tuned to all the notes and the keys are attached to the hammers individually. Quite amazing piece of machinery in my opinion. A "Keyboard" is essentially a piano at heart except, it is generally electronic and reproduces sound via synthesizers and amplifier of some sort. Without which it makes no music of its own. I do believe they are functionally the same however. For a twist check out a harpsichord!

Answer 2

piano will definately cost more but if you can take piano lessons then do it. I play keyboard by ear and really wish that I had been forced into taking piano lessons I have an average sized keyboard and i can play along with a lot of my cds. I am not reallly good enough for a band but i really enjoy it. my advice take piano buy a keyboard. i dont know which lesson will cost more. I taught myself on one of those pocket keyboards. Ya know tink tink
until i could play every Christmas song I knew without looking. this impressed my girlfriend so she boought me a small keyboard. soon I was playing beatles, elton John tunes, some pink floyd (itaught myself comfortably numb and i can do the guitar solo ya know not to shabby) well anyway I kept progressing until she got me my final keyboard and I have been jammin ever since. but, and i'm sure many keyboard players will tell you. you just cant pass up the opportunity to sit down at any piano you encounter and that is when you discover what the difference is. thats also why I strongly encourage piano lessons first. hope this has helped and practice every chance you get.l

Answer 3

O.K. people: A keyboard is NOT just an electronic reproduction of a piano. What about a bell lyre, vibraphone or marimba? These each have a keyboard sounded by a striker which is hand-held. But there are no electronics.

We are talking about different things here! A keyboard could be on many different instruments. If you can play one, you can theoretically play any other because the tonal array is the same. All keyboards have keys and the "black" or "half-tone" keys are in a slightly different position than the whole tone ones. An opposite instance happens with a clarinet and a saxophone. They are both woodwinds with reed triggers but the tonal array is very different on each. The keys are different and learning one, though similar, is not the same as the other.

Now, the questioner IS asking about these electronic piano knock-offs. But none of you have told him the whole truth.

It is true that the piano is the "entire" package with the "action", the pedals and the sounding board as well as the keyboard. But the action is the main thing here. The sounds are made by hammers striking strings rather than by electronic sampling or other source as in the electronic knock-offs. The "action" allows the pianist to control the volume and the duration of each note by his finger strength. As with the vibraphone, the piano pedals may come into play for the duration of the sound.

This finger control is why many teachers don't want their students playing on keyboards! You have to spend a LOT of money for an electronic keyboard to simulate the control which your fingers exert over a piano. Almost as much money as a real piano costs.

This is NOT to say an electronic piano is no good. It is just a different instrument. It does a lot of the work for you. I have a top-of-the-line Roland keyboard that simulates finger volume control with weighted keys, has pedals and an enclosed sound system. It is made to look like a spinet piano and I have used it on gigs, but it is VERY HEAVY! The Roland sounds (and others) or great and sound very natural. But my brother, piano snob that he is, refuses to play my Roland. He has two grand pianos at his house! He is so used to his fingers doing all the work, that he can feel the springs in the Roland keys pushing back on his fingers!

You can learn to play, and play VERY WELL, on a keyboard. But it is a different thing from a piano. It is an electric simulation. If you pay enough money you can get VERY close to the real thing. But it won't be a piano and your teacher might not want you to do it!

Answer 4

yeah there is a big difference. pianos are always better than keyboards in terms of sound quality (unless you have an extreeeeemely bad piano XD). most keyboards also dont have the same feeling, since the keys arent weighted. if you learn on only keyboards, then it'll probably be tough to get used to a piano later on when your fingers are already adapted to a keyboard. other than those two things, keyboards and pianos are basically the same (same notes, same technique used to play them, etc.). if u cant afford your own piano, then i guess itd be best to keep practicing on your keyboard at home and then try and find a place where you can practice for free on a piano to get used to it at the same time. u can probably do this at a local school or maybe a college. good luck :)

Answer 5

they are essentially the same thing. A piano is the full package, it has the keys, and when you play them, hammers hit strings that make a certain pitch. They have to be regularily tuned, as the pitch of the string depends on how tightly it is wound. A keyboard is just the electronic version of the piano, it is much smaller, and when you play the notes, the computer inside coresponds the note you hit with a preset sound, these never go out of pitch. In terms of price, keyboards are way cheaper, you can get a good one for 50-100 dollars, where as pianos are thousands of dollars. However, if you are studying piano, you will eventually need all the features the piano has, which include such things like volume control, over individual notes, and the pedals. Which are the damper pedal, which aides in playing the notes longer with out holding down the keys, the sostenuto pedal, which helps keep those notes that you played, using the damper, it keeps those notes going while your finger are free to play other notes, and the una corda pedal makes the sound softer. You are unable to get these with a keyboard, or at least not one cheaper that a thousand bucks, so then you might as well jkust get a piano. If you get a keyboard to practise on, make sure you have access to a piano as well, so you can utilise the features of a piano

Answer 6

A piano is the large, wooden piece of furniture with 88 keys we are all familiar with. A keyboard is an electronic device that plays music in much the same way.
With a piano or a keyboard, you learn the same basic information. So if you take the piano, you should be able to learn the keyboard very quickly, and visa versa.The keyboard can have extra keys to mimic the sound of other instruments -even drums.
The price of both vary according to style and manufacturer. The keyboard can be very fancy, and have lots of extra "tools" you can add to it depending on what kind of music you are playing. I haven't personally seen an attractive keyboard, but pianos can be breathtakingly beautiful.
You will usually see pianos in Symphony performances, and keyboards in rock bands. Both of them can be used either way. The keyboard is easily portable, and the piano is really not portable.The cheapest new keyboard, not a kids toy, can be picked up for a few hundred dollars. A new piano will be much more. Look in the newspaper for used items, you can get some good deals on either one.

Answer 7

The piano came first and the keyboard is a digitial offshoot of the piano. If you'd like to study the piano it might be best to start with that.
1. Piano may cost more but there is quality there
2. Keyboard, cheaper and in wide variety either will be a bit of a hastle.

Answer 8

Learning both is the exact same. The only difference is that a keyboard is electronic, while a piano is not. I personally prefer learning on a piano than learning on a keyboard, just because a piano sounds better.

you could always take piano lessons, and then buy yourself a keyboard to practice at home - that would definitely be cheaper than buying yourself a piano to practice on! but as for the lessons, they should be exactly the same (it's just the instrument configuration is a little different), so they should cost about hte same.

Answer 9

The weight of the keys is different in a piano. They tend to be larger also.

The main difference is that a keyboard is electronic and has different effects, voices etc - also things like single finger choirs so you can play a chord with one finger - ie you can "cheat" and pre programme the left hand so you only have to play the right hand, or play the chords with one finger.

You can't do that with a piano, you have to actually learn how to play properly. Its harder but more more rewarding.

In terms of cost keyboards are much cheaper, lighter and more portable and also you can either teach yourself or get by with a few lessons once you've mastered all the programming. If you want to buy a piano you're looking at a much bigger and more expensive instrument and if you want to play it properly, years of lessons and hard work! But much bigger rewards!

Answer 10

All pianos are keyboards but not all keyboards are pianos.

Learn the piano first because the great keyboard literature was created primarily for that medium, and not for electroinc keyboard instruments.