These are 2 top questions that I get when students start piano lessons. In our opinion, practicing at home is as important as attending the lessons themselves. If you are going to invest in lessons, it will go a long way if you reinforce the learned concepts regularly, especially practicing right after the lesson.
Having said that, it’s a great idea to get a digital keyboard. Besides the benefit of saving space and more portability compared to an acoustic piano, they don’t require tuning or continuous humidifying, so are much lower maintenance, and nowadays, they make keyboards that feel and sound like a real piano. If you live in Canada, I would start at Long & McQuade music store. They have a great selection of both new and used instruments. They have fair prices and warrantee on their used gear. They don’t make commission, have amazing service, and fair prices. I deal with them every time I need an instrument, new or used. I would call a branch and tell them what you need, which brings me to the topic: What to look for!
Look for a basic full sized (88 keys) keyboard with weighted keys and hammer action (that makes it feel and sound as much like an acoustic piano as possible). A great beginner keyboard is the Casio CSF-10, which is a Costco exclusive version of the Casio CDP S-160, which is a package deal with the bench and pedal. You can also ask for it used at L & McQ, or new, if they carry it. This ZHRUNS digital piano is also up there for beginner keyboards. It has . its own “stand” and pedals (all 3 pedals too) as it’s a digital piano, not just a keyboard, making it one of the best value based on quality and price. It doesn’t come with a bench, but you can get one new for under $50, like this Greenpro cushioned bench.
Most keyboards come with at least a few extra bells and whistles (different sounds, modes, MIDI, etc, but unless you’re looking to record, they’re not essential to our purposes for piano lessons). Check that it the keyboard you choose comes with at least 1 pedal (the damper pedal). If not, I’d recommend buying one in addition to the keyboard. If they’ve been playing some songs with pedal, they’ll really miss it if they don’t have one!
Costco has some decent (new) digital pianos, and their usual Costco return policy means that if anything breaks down, they’ll take it back / exchange it for you. Places to shop for a used keyboard include Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and Craigslist. I’d choose Long & McQuade (or a music store) over FB Marketplace and Kijiji because it’s more of the wild west that way - and because of their warrantee on used instruments.
Once you find your basic keyboard, you should be set up for quite a few years! :) If you have any further questions, as always, feel free to reach out to me!
If you’d like to see how to set up for online lessons, read —> this blog post!
~Kimberly
Owner
North Peace Piano