Thanks to its straightforward playing mechanics, repeating layout, and a massive range spanning seven octaves, piano is one of the most unique and immediately rewarding instruments to learn. Whether you’re a newcomer to music or you’re a musician looking to branch out and expand your skillset, a piano’s highly visual and intuitive design offers a foundational reference point that’s directly applicable to other areas of music. However, a piano is no small investment. If you’re looking to start playing piano and don’t have the budget or space for the real deal, the best beginner keyboards can deliver everything you need to tackle the basics and help you build your skills.
Some designs feature built-in learning tools, lessons, and play-along tracks, and most include banks of sounds for added flexibility and easy musical experimentation. We’ve looked at some of the best beginner keyboards on the market according to their unique feature sets and are excited to share our top recommendations and key considerations.
How we selected the best beginner keyboards
Shopping for the best beginner keyboard for your needs doesn’t have to be a mystery, but there are a few key factors to keep in mind when making your purchase. Here are some of the details we looked at when compiling this list:
Features. Whenever possible, we selected beginner keyboards that come with dedicated lesson and coaching functions to help users hone their skills and grow accustomed to playing piano. The picks that don’t include lesson functionality made the list due to their ability to emulate the feel and sound of a real piano, which is an incredibly helpful factor for honing precise skills.
Price and value. Keyboards come in a wide range of prices—stretching into the multiple thousands. We built this list with keyboards that are priced in a reasonable and accessible price bracket to ensure that users get the most value out of their purchase.
Brand and reputation. Each of these beginner keyboards is manufactured by reputable and longstanding brands with extensive experience in the musical instrument market. Going with an established manufacturer typically ensures that years of research and development support a product’s design.
Things to consider before buying a beginner keyboard
How accurately do you want your keyboard to emulate the sound and feel of a piano?
When it comes to its design and construction, piano is a notoriously complex instrument that contains hundreds of strings and creates plenty of complex overtones. Many keyboards aim to accurately model this sound, but not all beginner keyboards are equipped with high-quality sounds or keybeds with realistic resistance and feel. If you’re looking for a beginner keyboard that’s great at emulating the sound and feel of a traditional piano, the 88-key weighted Donner DEP-20 is a good choice.
Do you need portability?
If you want to pack your beginner keyboard for mobile play and practice, battery functionality is a must-have feature. The Alesis Recital is a great 88-key option that runs on D batteries and, if you want a smaller option, the Recital 61 runs on AA batteries.
Do you need USB compatibility?
Not every beginner keyboard comes with USB connectivity, but it’s a fairly straightforward and affordable interface that can be found on certain designs. If you need a pure MIDI controller, the Novation Launchkey Mini is a fantastic beginner MIDI keyboard that’s loaded with features. If you want a hybrid design that can act as a standalone keyboard, the Alesis Recital and Donner DEP-20 both fit the bill.
The best beginner keyboards: Reviews & Recommendations
Best keyboard piano for beginners: YAMAHA YPT260 61-Key Portable Keyboard
User-Friendly Interface
The YPT260 has a built-in nine-step lesson system and a digital display to teach users melody, harmony, and proper technique.
Why It Made The Cut
This lightweight 61-key keyboard is a feature-rich learning tool that hosts an easy-to-use lesson system and an auxiliary input for jamming along to your favorite songs.
Specs
- Number of Sounds: 400
- Lessons Included: 9
- Touch Sensitive: No
Pros
- Intuitive interface and built-in lessons with a visual component
- Includes hundreds of accompaniment and song tracks
- Compatible with auxiliary audio equipment for customizing practice
Cons
- Keys aren’t sensitive to varying touch force
- Sounds aren’t as realistic or dynamic as professional models
The YPT260 is a relatively compact portable keyboard from Yamaha that’s designed with beginners in mind. It features an LCD display, a whopping 400 built-in instrument voices, and nine lesson programs that guide users from learning proper technique to memorizing basic melodies and chords. Its interface is very open-ended and allows users to harness the keyboard’s features for their own style of learning, making it a great basic keyboard for becoming acquainted with the layout and feel of a piano.
Because the YPT260 is the best keyboard piano for beginners, it lacks features that might appeal to intermediate-level players, like touch-sensitive keys and realistic sounds. It’s a great tool for basic learning and for creative experimentation, but if your aim is to become accustomed to the feeling and sound of a real piano, a keyboard with some form of weighted and touch-sensitive keys like the Alesis Recital may be a better choice.
Best 88-key keyboard for beginners: Alesis Recital
Adjustable Touch Response
The Recital is a stripped-down full-size keyboard that offers battery functionality and 128-note polyphony.
Why It Made The Cut
The Alesis Recital offers a robust emulation of the piano-playing experience thanks to its five premium voices and 88 touch-adjustable keys.
Specs
- Number of Sounds: 5
- Lessons Included: 60
- Touch Sensitive: Yes
Pros
- Offers mobile operation using six D batteries
- Toggle between standard, lesson, and two-hand split modes
- Packs bonus MIDI connectivity via USB
Cons
- Full-size 88-key design may be too bulky for small spaces
- Robust customization options are hard to access
Many beginner keyboards are scaled down to make them easier to store and play but if you want to grow accustomed to the size and feel of a standard piano, an 88-key keyboard is the best way to get acquainted without committing to an actual acoustic piano. The Alesis Recital is the best 88-key keyboard for beginners because it performs particularly well at this role thanks to its true-size keys, premium sound banks, and user-adjustable key tension, all of which are aimed at offering a playing experience as close as possible to that of a standard piano.
Beginning pianists will appreciate the Recital’s ability to operate using six D batteries for easy mobility and operation in spaces without wall power. It also packs three distinct operation modes that include a lesson mode that splits the keyboard into two identical zones for working alongside a piano teacher. As a bonus, users can connect the Recital to a computer via USB and use it to send MIDI information like a dedicated MIDI controller.
As an 88-key keyboard, the Recital measures 50 inches in width, which may be too large for some spaces. If your space is particularly small, you may want to consider the Recital 61, which offers a similar feature set in a smaller package. One other drawback to the Recital’s design is its control interface, which allows access to all of its lesson features but isn’t super intuitive to use.
Best MIDI keyboard for beginners: Novation Launchkey Mini
Compact Production Powerhouse
The Launchkey Mini offers simple hands-on control of popular DAW software like Ableton Live.
Why It Made The Cut
As the best MIDI keyboard for beginners, it includes beginner versions of Pro Tools and Ableton Live, making it a user-friendly tool for entry-level producers and beatmakers.
Specs
- Number of Sounds: N/A
- Lessons Included: N/A
- Touch Sensitive: Yes
Pros
- USB bus-powered for portability
- One-touch chord mode, arpeggiator, and more
- Velocity-sensitive keys and pads capture nuance of every performance
Cons
- Rich feature set brings learning curve to advanced configuration
- No MIDI cable included
Unlike standard beginner keyboards, MIDI keyboards generally lack lesson modes and learning tools. Since its primary use is for beatmaking and virtual instruments within digital audio workstations (DAWs) and other music production software, the best MIDI keyboard for beginners should be easy and intuitive to use, offer plug-and-play functionality, and pack a host of flexible tools like sampler pads, programmable knobs, and transport controls. The Launchkey Mini from Novation includes all of these beginner-friendly functions and packs them into a compact 25-key form that’s entirely powered via USB, which means that it requires no extra equipment or adapters apart from a computer to function.
Other unique features of the Launchkey Mini include a dedicated arpeggiator mode for creating lush textures and unique patterns, an automatic one-touch chord mode for quick recording of musical ideas, and a panel of 16 velocity-sensitive pads for precise beatmaking. Much of these features are easy to access and use right out of the box, but the Launchkey Mini also offers users the ability to tweak and customize an abundance of other advanced settings. This makes it a great all-around choice for beginners and professional producers alike, but accessing the keyboard’s advanced features requires a bit of arcane maneuvering due to its dense, compact design.
MIDI keyboards are slightly different from standard keyboards in that they’re meant to control sounds within a separate unit, and because of this, they don’t include any sounds of their own. If you’re a beginner pianist looking for an all-in-one learning solution, a MIDI keyboard is probably not the best first choice since it can’t produce any sounds of its own. However, if you’re looking to get involved in DAW-based music production or synthesis, the Launchkey Mini sports one of the best feature sets for budding producers.
Best weighted keyboard for beginners: Donner DEP-20
Hundreds of Sounds
A simple and streamlined user interface, three pedals, and a full bed of weighted keys make the Donner DEP-20 a great semi-permanent fixture for home practice and play.
Why It Made The Cut: The DEP-20 is a stylish and affordable fully weighted 88-key keyboard that will fit right in with any living room.
Specs
- Number of Sounds: 238
- Lessons Included: N/A
- Touch Sensitive: Yes
Pros
- Three heavy-duty pedals offer realistic feel and response
- Includes wooden furniture stand for easy blending with decor
- USB port sends MIDI information
Cons
- Larger and heavier than other beginner keyboards
- No dedicated lesson mode
As the best weighted keyboard for beginners the Donner DEP-20 offers an accurate piano-playing experience in a stylish and understated design without the cost and bulk commonly associated with acoustic pianos, making it a good choice for use in homes of beginners and professionals…