Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Teachers Forum Would this be a good DP for Grandparents?

We have a 5'7" G2 Yamaha grand piano that my son uses at home. When he's at his grandparents, he uses a Yamaha DGX650 which he loathes. He says the key weighting is ridiculous and the sustain pedal is useless. He only spends a few weeks a year at his grandparents so we haven't worried too much about an upgrade. However there is someone about an hour away from us that is selling a Yamaha Clavinova CLP820 for $375. I'd be happy to buy it for him if it would truly be an upgrade. I don't care that it's old. I just want something that is solid in terms of key weighting and pedal and sounds okay and not too expensive given that it will only be used a few weeks a year.

In terms of my son's level, he has been playing for almost 5 years. I feel like he's perhaps on the cusp of being intermediate level as that's what he tested in the spring for Guild.

Asking piano teachers who may have experience with their opinions before I make the trek. Thank you!

It is a 20 year old DP, I doubt it is any better than your DGX650.
You might get more responses (and more technical responses) if you ask in the digital piano forum.

I wouldn't buy at any price (unless I am collecting stuff for a museum)

Casio PX 160. Best feel/sound to price value around. They're also built well and reliable. I like Yamaha digitals but for $50 or so dollars more the Casio has a significantly better sound and feel than the Yamaha P-115. If you really need cheaper, a good condition used Px-130 or 150 are fantastic for the price and to me still better than Yamaha P-45 or 115. for about $20 dollars you can get a piano style sustain pedal to go with it. if the pedal goes on carpet, the stiffer side of velcro glued to the bottom will keep it from sliding around.

Have your son play whatever unit you might want to buy. And have him play some others also.

One of the big problems I've had with students who had Casios is that the cheap ones were not upgradable. Among other things, they could not replace the cheap flat pedal, the thing that has no feel. If this one will use the better pedal, that's an improvement.

Will it take a soft pedal?

I talked with my ILs and I have been outvoted anyway. They don't want anything bigger than the keyboard anyway at their house anyway. They told me that it's probably good that he plays on it for a few weeks because it will help him appreciate his grand at home . My husband had the same thoughts as The Monkeys- it's 20 years old . Thank you though.

Rather than asking your son to practice on an inferior instrument, why not ask him to do some pencil-and-paper work on music theory and composition?

Or give him a Youtube listening project. Explore different genres of music or different composers' works. Listen to 10 different sonatinas in their entirety and compare them.

My personal opinion is that any of the above activities is better than practicing on a piece of junk DP. Practicing on a bad instrument makes you worse! I am not kidding.

Not the guy you were talking to, but Casio has a wide range of keyboards, from the cheap toy-like models (probably the ones you mentioned) to proper digital pianos with 88 weighted keys and optional 3 pedals. The PX-models mentioned is from the Privia line, their mid-range/portable digital pianos.

That is a great idea! I am wondering how many students have been advanced to the level to play sonatinas without having listened to the sonatinas other than the ones they are playing.



DGX650 is not a bad DP even by today's standard, just it is not for serious classical piano, no DP is. But It is a fun instrument for playing pop songs and jazz. It has tons of features to play with if you are into it. It could actually encourage teenagers to spend more time making music.

If the pedal is a major concern, you can consider replacing it with this:
https://www.long-mcquade.com/10308/...a/LP-7A-Pedal-Unit-for-DGX660-DGX650.htm

I give my students Youtube assignments all the time, but only a few kids bother to do it. They are mostly too busy with their 59 extracurricular activities.

They continue to listen to the garbage music that kids listen to. They have time for that.

Mine listen to classical music on the radio now that we have a parakeet. Evidently- it's good for the parakeet .

Thanks Monkeys! I do have to admit that my son loves fooling around with classical pieces using different sounds (bells/machine gun) while he's at his grandparents. Every time he comes home though, he complains vehemently about the lack of touch and pedal.

AZN- My son's teacher said he did well last week despite spending a week at his grandparents and using the inferior instrument. He's still at a level he can learn it's just he has to compensate a lot when he gets home. I like your idea but I'm not sure my son is mature musically enough to handle such an assignment.

Being a grandmother myself, a thought that has been niggling at me ever since reading the title is ... what do the grandparents want to have in their own home?

What? Does that matter?

To the grandparents it might.