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Hello,

i am actually in the phase of buying a piano for my seven year old sun (and me) who is learning piano since one year now. Actually he is playing on my keyboards.

Now a sales man in a big piano store (digital and mechanical) explained me that for a young beginner the keyboard mechanism is very important. Starting with the wrong mechanism (that of a digital piano) will not allow the young beginner to become a classical pianist - if he has the capability for that of course. Reason is the different feeling of the action.

Than he demonstrates me the mechanics of a mechanical and of a graded hammer effect digital piano (both models Yamaha). Indeed you can see and feel that there is a difference in the action.

Now i am a little bit confused, because i prefer a digital one because of sound quality, space and costs. The teacher of my sun has no preference.

What do you think about that? Is that difference really important? (of course the probability to become a classical pianist is very low)

Gruesse
Christian

Some salesman will try to sell you an acoustic vertical over a digital piano, because digitals are eating the vertical piano market.
Personally, I preffer the heavier action of my Yamaha digital than that of a 3,000 dollar vertical piano.
But pay attention to the teacher: she/he has no preference. The first thing that a kid needs to develop is hand/eye coordination, which involves sight reading and correct fingering. That's why there's no real difference between an acoustic or a digital, he's just learning how to move his fingers on a keyboard and relate this movements to sounds. And the consistency of good tone and action that a digital offers won't harm him. A digital certainly will not impede your son to become a concert pianist. But it has to be a weighted keyboard because he will need to develop the necessary strenght to strike a real piano keyboard.
If he is good and decides he wants to be a pianist, then consider an acoustic grand.

I think you are asking about real acoustic pianos as opposed to electronic digital pianos? However it surely matters a great deal about "which digital piano model" did you compare? There are huge differences possible.

The good weighted keys are very important to learn to play piano. Your son surely needs to be able to walk up to any real acoustic piano and play it, like at his teachers or at a recital hall, etc.

But better digitals (models actually called digial pianos, instead of being called keyboards) do have very similar weighted keys as real acoustic pianos, and these models sould be fully equivalent in that regard. These are very popular in that regard. I've been taking lessons a year, and I bought a Yamaha P90 ($1000 class digital piano) which does have very good weighted keys. It is not any issue at all to me, and I cant imagine it beoming an issue.

However before that I first bought a $300 Yamaha keyboard which did not have weighted keys, and it was only about 2 months into my lessons before it became very objectionable in that regard.

For some more insight look at this thread!
http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/ubb/ultimatebb.php?/topic/6/495.html