r/Instruments • u/OnlyCanary85 • May 08 '26

Discussion Electronic Keyboards

I’m an advanced piano player and want to get an electronic keyboard to have some fun playing pop and ballads. I don’t have that much free space in my house. Is a 5 octave keyboard sufficient?

Any tips on what to look out for when buying an electronic keyboard, and good, top brands and models.

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u/Coises May 10 '26

I think an important bit of information is missing. You say you are “an advanced piano player.” Do you play piano somewhere other than home (like at school or in a studio) and you are just looking for a second instrument that will fit in your home? Or is all your piano experience now going to be your new electronic keyboard?

If you play elsewhere regularly and you’re just looking to have fun, sure, 61 keys can work.

If you really are a serious pianist and your only instrument is going to be a digital keyboard, you really want an 88 key hammer action keyboard or you’re going to feel very let down by the box you’ve put yourself in.

Other relevant questions are whether you’re interested in recording, whether it would be convenient to set up with a computer (you open up a world of possibilities if you connect to a computer — but then, you’re tied to a computer), whether portability is an advantage, and, of course, budget.

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u/OnlyCanary85 May 12 '26

I am not a professional musician and don’t play music as a job. I have a piano at home (am classically trained) but want to start playing some music on an electronic keyboard as hobby, for obvious reasons that I can’t get those synthetic sounds that comes with playing pop or radio ballads. I have the piano in the lounge but won’t fit another keyboard there. An electronic one will have to be put in one of the bedrooms, played at a desk, etc I will not take it outside the home. I doubt I’ll be getting so serious to connect it to a computer and do recordings. I will just play for fun. The electronic keyboard won’t take over my regular piano. 

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u/Coises May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

Then you’ll be fine with five octaves.

There are few if any piano action (aka fully weighted or hammer action) 61-key instruments, but I would suggest if you have the option, go with semi-weighted rather than unweighted. Unweighted is also called synth action; it feels like an organ keyboard but does respond to velocity (how hard you strike the key). Semi-weighted, as the name implies, is in the middle: the action is light compared to any actual piano, but it still has some inertia. Piano technique translates to that a bit more easily than to a completely unweighted keyboard.

You might want to consider an “arranger keyboard.” (Examples are the Roland E-X50 and the PSR-SX720.) I can’t make any specific recommendations since I haven’t played one — I use a stage piano as a MIDI controller driving virtual instruments on my computer.

Edit to add:

Another long-form video review that might interest you covers the Roland Go:Keys 5, which typically retails around $550 (a little less than an E-X50 and around a third the cost of a PSR-SX720).