Song Contest Part XVIII, Host: eth-dog, Theme: Worldvision, Votes Due: Sunday 11pm AEST

[Ulahoopski]

Hai!
Im needing some advice from you musical nerds.

My six year old kid has fallen in love with the piano, he plays it for literally hours a day, loves it as much as Minecraft (which he seems to enjoy like a junkie enjoys smack).

Of course when I say piano I mean a cheap Casio keyboard piece of sh*t.
Now although hes not a prodigy he seems like he has a bit of a knack for it- knows all the notes, has taught himself songs from listening to them and creates his own tunes that only sometimes make me want to stab myself in the ear with a fork.

In essence he has shown enough interest and aptitude that I thought I would be remiss if I didn't put my hand in my pocket and get him something decent.

Then I went piano shopping...

Wow.
Im NOT dropping $10k+ on a something he might decide is 'pooey' next week.

Which brings me to my question.
Digital pianos- any good?
Any suggestions?

ChappyUK
raskolnikov

@Anyone???

You can pick up 2nd hand real pianos for next to nothing these days. Some people just give them away to make room. Or old school organs.

 

[Raveneyes]

5. Love Me Two Times - The Doors
4. Fly Into The Sun - Gold Key
3. Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
2. Long Distance Calling - Metulsky Curse Revisited
1. Miles - Mother Mother

Billy - Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol

 

[Genghis Tron]

5: Fia - Corpo-Mente (Goddamn that's ******* fantastic!)
4: Whole Wide World - Wreckless Eric
3: Fly Into the Sun - Gold Key
2: The Girl - City and Colour
1: Love Me Two Times - The Doors

Billy: Fable - Robert Miles

HMs: As the Crow Flies - TJW; Homeward Bound - S&G; Wish You Were Here - Charlie Collins; Long Distance Man - Neil Young Big Bang;

Glad you enjoyed it. Whole album is a treat.

 

[DapperJong]

Hai!
Im needing some advice from you musical nerds.

My six year old kid has fallen in love with the piano, he plays it for literally hours a day, loves it as much as Minecraft (which he seems to enjoy like a junkie enjoys smack).

Of course when I say piano I mean a cheap Casio keyboard piece of sh*t.
Now although hes not a prodigy he seems like he has a bit of a knack for it- knows all the notes, has taught himself songs from listening to them and creates his own tunes that only sometimes make me want to stab myself in the ear with a fork.

In essence he has shown enough interest and aptitude that I thought I would be remiss if I didn't put my hand in my pocket and get him something decent.

Then I went piano shopping...

Wow.
Im NOT dropping $10k+ on a something he might decide is 'pooey' next week.

Which brings me to my question.
Digital pianos- any good?
Any suggestions?

ChappyUK
raskolnikov

@Anyone???

I’m not knowledgeable about pianos, more synthesizers. A cheap synth will be great to further learn music theory and they are fun as hell, but you miss out on things like weighted keys and usually they don’t include a full key bed.

If you own a computer, another cheap route to go down is to by a MIDI keyboard and you can play a software based piano.

But I think if being a piano player above all else is important it’s best to stick with something physical.

 

[William Wonka]

You can pick up 2nd hand real pianos for next to nothing these days. Some people just give them away to make room. Or old school organs.

Considered this.
Unfortunately they seem to fall into two groups.
1. Japanese imports that even though they are decades old look brand new and still cost $6k+
2. Ancient things that would look at home in the Adams family mansion and may or may not sound about as in tune as hitting cat with another cat.

Im sure there are bargains around but having zero knowledge on the subject im not going to find one unfortunately.

I would have thought your advice would be "Get him a guitar".

 

[Cdog71]

Considered this.
Unfortunately they seem to fall into two groups.
1. Japanese imports that even though they are decades old look brand new and still cost $6k+
2. Ancient things that would look at home in the Adams family mansion and may or may not sound about as in tune as hitting cat with another cat.

Im sure there are bargains around but having zero knowledge on the subject im not going to find one unfortunately.

I would have thought your advice would be "Get him a guitar".

One of the things I used as a parameter in setting up my kid with her music was being able to link up with her buddies to play a bit together online which also gives you the ability for remote lessons.
Three things I’ve noticed with my daughter
1. It can take the place of the bball ring in the driveway, just a time filler and something occupy for fun
2. Practice
3. Play

I think trying to play with others breaks new ground and they learn quicker with their peers and learn to get along.

Dunno if that helps but ...just sayin

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Considered this.
Unfortunately they seem to fall into two groups.
1. Japanese imports that even though they are decades old look brand new and still cost $6k+
2. Ancient things that would look at home in the Adams family mansion and may or may not sound about as in tune as hitting cat with another cat.

Im sure there are bargains around but having zero knowledge on the subject im not going to find one unfortunately.

I would have thought your advice would be "Get him a guitar".

Even old pianos can be tuned up. To be honest, the cost of a tuner coming is a couple of hundred bucks and it is super easy to find pianos for free online or for token amounts of money. I once bought a piano off Gumtree for $50 to play at a gig, during which we absolutely destroyed it by jumping on it and pulling out a sledgehammer. The piano tuner who came to the venue said that it was the worst piano he had ever tried to tune, but it still got to the point where it sounded great for the show (before the destruction, of course).

But the advice others in the thread have given is really good. There are a stack of digital pianos that sound really great and have weighted keys, so it's as close to a piano as the real thing as possible. And you can get second hand ones for relatively cheap.

One question though - does your kid like playing just the piano sound? Or do they like playing lots of the different built-in sounds on the keyboard? If that's the case, you might be better off investigating a synth like DJ suggested. I guess it also depends if you want them to get lessons, in which case a digital piano (or real one) would be the way to go.

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Also, I'd add that getting the right piano teacher (if that's what you're going to do) is incredibly important. One of the best decisions my parents ever made was when I was 10 and hated going to piano lessons. Instead of letting my just quit, they found a younger piano teacher who was happy to teach me without focusing on grades and got me to play music I wanted to play. I fell back in love with it and have never stopped playing a quarter of a century later.

 

[MWPP]

Aww all of this piano talk is nostalgic
I had multiple teachers due to multiple moves so never really had much continuity but I’ve missed my piano more than I expected to over the last year
I will be reunited with it tomorrow

 

[MC Bad Genius]

Aww all of this piano talk is nostalgic
I had multiple teachers due to multiple moves so never really had much continuity but I’ve missed my piano more than I expected to over the last year
I will be reunited with it tomorrow

My parents downsized a couple of months ago, so I now have a piano jammed into our bedroom in a relatively small 2-bed apartment (with two kids). I'd give away almost anything else before the piano!

 

[William Wonka]

Even old pianos can be tuned up. To be honest, the cost of a tuner coming is a couple of hundred bucks and it is super easy to find pianos for free online or for token amounts of money. I once bought a piano off Gumtree for $50 to play at a gig, during which we absolutely destroyed it by jumping on it and pulling out a sledgehammer. The piano tuner who came to the venue said that it was the worst piano he had ever tried to tune, but it still got to the point where it sounded great for the show (before the destruction, of course).

But the advice others in the thread have given is really good. There are a stack of digital pianos that sound really great and have weighted keys, so it's as close to a piano as the real thing as possible. And you can get second hand ones for relatively cheap.

One question though - does your kid like playing just the piano sound? Or do they like playing lots of the different built-in sounds on the keyboard? If that's the case, you might be better off investigating a synth like DJ suggested. I guess it also depends if you want them to get lessons, in which case a digital piano (or real one) would be the way to go.

He mucks around with the other sounds a bit but its piano 95% of the time.
He sulked for half a day when I gave money to a busker cause he was playing a guitar and not a piano.
Was only molified by my suggestion that giving him some money might enable him to buy one.

Also, I'd add that getting the right piano teacher (if that's what you're going to do) is incredibly important. One of the best decisions my parents ever made was when I was 10 and hated going to piano lessons. Instead of letting my just quit, they found a younger piano teacher who was happy to teach me without focusing on grades and got me to play music I wanted to play. I fell back in love with it and have never stopped playing a quarter of a century later.

Yeah he ******* loves his piano teacher.
(Have a slight crush maiself it must be said)

 

[ChappyUK]

He mucks around with the other sounds a bit but its piano 95% of the time.
He sulked for half a day when I gave money to a busker cause he was playing a guitar and not a piano.
Was only molified by my suggestion that giving him some money might enable him to buy one.

Yeah he ******* loves his piano teacher.
(Have a slight crush maiself it must be said)

Keep ya pianist in your pants.

 

[William Wonka]

Keep ya pianist in your pants.

It's not a good patton of behavior.

 

[Ulahoopski]

I would have thought your advice would be "Get him a guitar".

Start with the basics.

 

[raskolnikov]

Are possessive pronouns ok or does it have to be an adjective?

 

[Loonerty]

Are possessive pronouns ok or does it have to be an adjective?

Should be fine

 

[Loonerty]

20 in so far, plus mine.

 

[NaturalDisaster]

When i win this round, the theme will be, music instruments youve learnt to play. And i mean actual lessons, not just learning how to play Wonderwall to impress some chick.

if youve never learnt one,you can pick one you would like to ( and as above, actually learning how to play, not just learning how to play one song)

 

[Loonerty]

When i win this round, the theme will be, music instruments youve learnt to play. And i mean actual lessons, not just learning how to play Wonderwall to impress some chick.

if youve never learnt one,you can pick one you would like to ( and as above, actually learning how to play, not just learning how to play one song)

Ah, a free for all.

 

[omgfridge]

When i win this round, the theme will be, music instruments youve learnt to play. And i mean actual lessons, not just learning how to play Wonderwall to impress some chick.

if youve never learnt one,you can pick one you would like to ( and as above, actually learning how to play, not just learning how to play one song)

Ready

 

[NaturalDisaster]

Ready

View attachment 1040555

I'll start thinking of different ideas.

 

[The Filth Wizard]

Ready

View attachment 1040555

Great, I can do Mary Had A Little Lamb.

No!

London Bridge Is Falling Down!

 

[Loonerty]

I can do "Get Ready For This" (or, that one basketball song) on a baritone.

Or could, in year 8.

 

[spookism]

When i win this round, the theme will be, music instruments youve learnt to play. And i mean actual lessons, not just learning how to play Wonderwall to impress some chick.

if youve never learnt one,you can pick one you would like to ( and as above, actually learning how to play, not just learning how to play one song)

In.

 

[PMBangers]

When i win this round, the theme will be, music instruments youve learnt to play. And i mean actual lessons, not just learning how to play Wonderwall to impress some chick.

if youve never learnt one,you can pick one you would like to ( and as above, actually learning how to play, not just learning how to play one song)