My personal preference is for a real, acoustic piano, however a lot of people who are interested in learning to play the piano just don't have the space or budget for a really good acoustic piano. As music is one of the most important things to me I have made a lot of sacrifices in terms of space and budget in order to accommodate a real piano in my home. Understandably, for a lot of people wanting to learn piano just as a hobby, it is not their number one priority. Added to that is the fact that a real piano has to be tuned regularly - proper maintenance is very important. These factors can put some people off even trying lessons, because they don't want to make such a commitment before they are even sure that they will want to continue. This is where digital pianos come in useful. They tend to take up very little space compared with a real piano, and a decent digital piano tends to cost a lot less than a decent real piano.
If you are considering buying a digital piano or electric keyboard you need to make sure it has touch sensitive keys - this means they respond to pressure - more pressure results in a louder sound, less pressure results in a quieter sound. This is very important for achieving dynamics. See my article on dynamics.
You also need to ensure the keys are full sized. If the keys are not the standard size this can adversely affect your technique because you will become accustomed to reaching shorter distances between keys and you will be unable to adapt to playing on a different piano.
It is ideal if the digital piano has 88 keys, as this is the standard number of keys on a real piano and you will be restricted in what music you can play if the range of the piano is too small. It will also be difficult for you to learn music for graded exams if the range is too small. A lot of music written for piano makes the most of the wide range of pitches that the piano is capable of sounding. It is also ideal if the keys are weighted or hammer action. "Weighted" means that the keys require more force when struck, so they will feel heavier, just like on a real piano. Electric keyboards without weighted keys tend to have very light keys which can make it difficult to adjust to playing an acoustic piano. When a keyboard has hammer action keys, this means that the mechanism replicates the action found in an acoustic piano even further. This imitates the feel of a real piano and ensures that you develop the technique necessary to cope with playing a real piano, after all you may practise on a digital piano but you could end up doing performances or exams on a real piano, and you need to be able to adapt.
A distinct advantage of owning a digital piano to practise on is the ability to practise with headphones. This ensures that no one else can hear your practice. Not only is this useful if you are concerned about disturbing your neighbours or other residents, but it is also a very attractive feature for students who feel self conscious about how their practice sounds. Adult students frequently say to me that they don't want everyone hearing all their mistakes and stumbles when they're learning a new piece, and the thought of people hearing them can actually put them off practising. Using headphones solves this problem and enables piano students to practise as much as they like without the distraction of worrying about what other people think. Then, when they have practised enough to feel a bit more confident, they can perform without headphones.
For children, the fact that many digital pianos have the option of changing the tone or voice, can make practising more fun. I have taught many young children on their own digital pianos, and often they like to perform their practised pieces to me using different tone options such as "church organ", "vibraphone", "choir", "electric piano", "harpsichord" etc. before switching back to the standard piano sound. This is often highly entertaining for children learning piano, and frequently encourages them to play the piano more than they would otherwise, in my experience.
Over the years I have had many pupils who have owned and learned on digital pianos. Due to the fact that for many years I used to visit pupils in their own homes, and now teach all pupils online; I was/am able to see first hand how they get on with learning on their own pianos, including digital pianos. Often digital pianos are preferable to a poorly maintained real piano - if a piano is very badly out of tune it can be hard to hear if you are playing the wrong notes and practising aural tests in preparation for exams can be tricky. I have had many pupils achieve excellent exam results after having lessons and practising on digital pianos.
If you are considering buying a digital piano or electric keyboard you need to make sure it has touch sensitive keys - this means they respond to pressure - more pressure results in a louder sound, less pressure results in a quieter sound. This is very important for achieving dynamics. See my article on dynamics.
You also need to ensure the keys are full sized. If the keys are not the standard size this can adversely affect your technique because you will become accustomed to reaching shorter distances between keys and you will be unable to adapt to playing on a different piano.
It is ideal if the digital piano has 88 keys, as this is the standard number of keys on a real piano and you will be restricted in what music you can play if the range of the piano is too small. It will also be difficult for you to learn music for graded exams if the range is too small. A lot of music written for piano makes the most of the wide range of pitches that the piano is capable of sounding. It is also ideal if the keys are weighted or hammer action. "Weighted" means that the keys require more force when struck, so they will feel heavier, just like on a real piano. Electric keyboards without weighted keys tend to have very light keys which can make it difficult to adjust to playing an acoustic piano. When a keyboard has hammer action keys, this means that the mechanism replicates the action found in an acoustic piano even further. This imitates the feel of a real piano and ensures that you develop the technique necessary to cope with playing a real piano, after all you may practise on a digital piano but you could end up doing performances or exams on a real piano, and you need to be able to adapt.
A distinct advantage of owning a digital piano to practise on is the ability to practise with headphones. This ensures that no one else can hear your practice. Not only is this useful if you are concerned about disturbing your neighbours or other residents, but it is also a very attractive feature for students who feel self conscious about how their practice sounds. Adult students frequently say to me that they don't want everyone hearing all their mistakes and stumbles when they're learning a new piece, and the thought of people hearing them can actually put them off practising. Using headphones solves this problem and enables piano students to practise as much as they like without the distraction of worrying about what other people think. Then, when they have practised enough to feel a bit more confident, they can perform without headphones.
For children, the fact that many digital pianos have the option of changing the tone or voice, can make practising more fun. I have taught many young children on their own digital pianos, and often they like to perform their practised pieces to me using different tone options such as "church organ", "vibraphone", "choir", "electric piano", "harpsichord" etc. before switching back to the standard piano sound. This is often highly entertaining for children learning piano, and frequently encourages them to play the piano more than they would otherwise, in my experience.
Over the years I have had many pupils who have owned and learned on digital pianos. Due to the fact that for many years I used to visit pupils in their own homes, and now teach all pupils online; I was/am able to see first hand how they get on with learning on their own pianos, including digital pianos. Often digital pianos are preferable to a poorly maintained real piano - if a piano is very badly out of tune it can be hard to hear if you are playing the wrong notes and practising aural tests in preparation for exams can be tricky. I have had many pupils achieve excellent exam results after having lessons and practising on digital pianos.