Top 5 Best Kids Pianos & Keyboards

Learning how to play piano should be an enjoyable experience for children. If we enjoy what we’re learning about, or take an active interest in our instruments, chances are we end up sticking with it and becoming musician. So when we’re choosing the best kids pianos and keyboards to learn on, we need to make sure they’re fun to play – this way little ones are less likely to become discouraged in continuing to learn. Now as a general rule, if you’re going to be looking at a first piano or keyboard for your little one, children aged 8yrs and above can generally handle the full-size pianos and keyboards. For those under the age of 8yrs, we’d recommend smaller keyboards with anywhere from 25-35 key pianos as it becomes more about the sound and learning how a piano works rather than learning full scales etc. However, this entirely depends on your child and what you think is best. By all means, if you start a 6yr old on a full-size piano, they will be more comfortable when it comes to learning more complex scales later on in life. So today, we’re going to look at our top 5 Best Kids Pianos and Keyboards for little ones and those with smaller frames. These will allow your child to sample a variety of sounds, and provide them with a solid foundation. In addition, some of these options have lessons built-in or come with some sort of educational angle – ideal for beginners.

The Yamaha PSR-E263 Black Digital Keyboard is an ideal Yamaha keyboard for beginners and one of the best kids pianos available. You have 61 keys to play with, meaning your child will have a greater understanding of scales and octaves, but it’s the built-in Yamaha Education Suite Lesson functions and variety of different sounds that really make this a great option to learn on. There’s 3 different lesson functions built in to help with learning. The first is the “Listen & Learn” mode which plays an isolated passage of a chord progression or melody for you to listen to and then encourages you to play it back, helping children to learn songs and how keys interact with each other. A “Timing” mode encourages correct timing and the “Waiting” mode shows you which notes to play on the display during a song and pauses until you play the correct note – all whilst matching your tempo without ever rushing you. There’s over 400 instrument sounds built-in and a Duo Mode that splits the keyboard in half so your child can play along with a teacher and play exactly what they’re playing.

For those who want to start their children off with the more classic sounds of a piano, the Yamaha Piaggero NP12 Portable Digital Piano is a fantastic choice. This portable piano is one of the best pianos for kids due to the fact it offers a superb foundation to learn on, but can be used for decades afterwards as it’s super high quality and features a selection of extremely realistic and responsive piano sounds – it might be good for beginners but its also relied upon by accomplished musicians too! The Yamaha Piaggero NP12 Portable Digital Piano, which is available in black or white, also features iOS connectivity which allows you to download a number of apps to your iPad or iPhone and connect to the piano via optional extras such as the Apple Camera Connection Kit or Yamaha's Bluetooth wireless connector. This means kids can learn at their own pace with a great piano that sets them up for life. In addition, there’s also a range of great features such as a recording feature, which allows you to capture performances to listen back to later, or create a loop to practice over. With sounds carefully sampled from the likes of Yamaha’s acclaimed grand pianos and an array of different voices such as Piano1, Piano2, E.Piano1, E.Piano2, Organ1, Organ2, Strings and more, there’s a world of enjoyment at their fingertips.

If you’d like your child to start off with weighted keys so they’re used to the feel of an acoustic piano, then the Casio CDP-S100 Compact Digital Piano is a fantastic option, easily making our ‘Best Kids Pianos’ list thanks to its budget friendly price tag and great playability. Weighted keys can offer a more “realistic” playing experience overall, helping players who learn to play on portable and digital pianos transfer their skills to acoustic pianos easily. This is why the Casio CDP-S100’s new Scaled Hammer Action II keyboard is a favourite amongst players of all levels as it emulates the feel of a “real” piano by utilising hammer action instead of springs, offering a more responsive feel and playing experience overall. In addition, there are 10 different tones to play with, so your child can enjoy a variety of different tones and sounds including pianos and strings – both of which can be layered to create really interesting music. The fact that it can be battery powered with 6xAA batteries or via the included AC adapter makes it particularly portable and a great option for taking to lessons.

 If you want a smaller sized, budget friendly way to learn piano that won’t take up too much room and won’t cost you the earth, then the Roland Go:Piano GO-61P Digital Piano is an ideal choice. This entirely affordable piano features a 61 note keybed as well as a selection of acclaimed Roland Piano, Electro Piano, Organ and Drum sounds to play with. You can power it via battery or ac adapter, so it’s totally portable – ideal to take to lessons, and the compatibility with iOS tablet and smartphone apps make it easier to learn to play anywhere and at any time. You have access to a variety of beginner friendly tools that support practice such as a metronome for timing skills as well as a convenient on board recorder which allows you to record what you’re playing for listening back later on. In addition, with each purchase of a GO:PIANO you get three months access to Skoove absolutely free. Skoove is a great service which provides lessons and tuition in a fun and easy to digest way – ideal for all ages, especially children. This program which can be used on iOS devices provides a visual cue of how and where to place your hand and finger and even provides real time feedback on your performance by listening to what you’re playing via your devices' microphone. The Roland Go:Piano GO-61P Digital Piano has been designed for people who want to learn to play piano, and provides an easy and enjoyable way to do so. We think it’s one of the best kids pianos available today and we think you and your little ones will love it.

 The Yamaha P-45 Digital Piano Keyboard is widely regarded as one of the best 88 note digital pianos available, and its actually one of the best-selling options in our stores nationwide. This popularity can definitely be attributed to the fact it is a highly expressive piano with superb feel and an array of great sounds built-in but also due to its budget friendly price tag – which is impressive considering it’s a full size, hammer action 88 note keybed piano! The Graded Hammer Standard Keybed (GHS) features 88 keys that are not only comfortable to play, but also provide a realistic representation of acoustic pianos and a more responsive playing experience thus encouraging children to learn about playing dynamics. Its actually quite rare to find such a feature in digital pianos anywhere close to this price point! The lightweight construction (11.5kg) ensures the Yamaha P-45 is easily transportable, which is especially handy if you need to take it to lessons with you. We feel the Yamaha P-45 firmly makes our “Best Kids Piano” list due to the fact it utilises Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) technology to create its lush sound library. This means each of your sounds have been digitally sampled from stereo recordings of real acoustic instruments to provide hyper realistic sounds. This focus on high quality sound will be appreciated by players of all levels and really encourage younger players to play more thanks to the high-quality sounds on offer. If it sounds good, you’re more likely to want to play it! At around £350, this is still a seriously affordable piece of kit that won’t break the bank.

Shop a full range of both acoustic and digital pianos for kids and over at PMT Online, or call in to your local PMT store to speak to one of our piano experts about the best option for your child.