Recommendation for a decent electric piano/ Keyboard for a kid to learn on?

[matmosphere]

I'm homeschooling this year because I'm either crazy or paranoid or some combination of both. I'm trying to make it as decent as possible for the kids and try to do some stuff they may not otherwise get to do, in other words.. no boring recorder this year, these kids are gonna learn to ROCK!!! Crank the Marshalls to 11!!! More cowbell!!

In all seriousness, we have decided to give them the option to pick an instrument to learn instead of recorder. The middle son ( wants to learn ukulele which should be manageable for me to teach him, but my older son (10) wants to learn piano.

I don't mind spending a little bit to buy something decent, maybe up to $250ish or a little more, because with three kids I'm sure it will get put through it's paces at some point. As much as I'd love to buy him a Behringer D, or a real Moog, I think something nice and minimalistic (less distractions) with weighted keys and a good piano sound is in order.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Time to expose him to some Chopin and Bach, and maybe a little Thelonious Monk.

[Thewintersoldier]

I have an upright piano in the basement and it's fun to let them rip on that sometimes, but I have a couple midi keyboards and let them play on those for when headphones are appropriate. Plus there are so many programs they can play and have access to different sounds. Bonus they can record to if they want to track progress

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[Bio77]

My daughter played piano from age 6 to 15.  A cheap Casio style keyboard was only sufficient for about six months. It might be something to consider though, in case it doesn't work out.  After that I bought a used Yamaha Clavinova (with the weighted keys) on CL for $350. That worked for a lot years before we transitioned to an upright.  If you go that route, make sure you check the functioning of every key.  Ours had a sticky b-flat that didn't matter in the beginner stages but we found out a year or so later when she started using those upper octaves more.  She actually learned to raise the key with her other fingers when she played and the songs sounded fine .  I've seen a weighted key Korg that was really compact and sounded good.  I'd definitely check the used market, lots of parents end up stuck with them when their kids lose interest.  Since they are big, people usually are motivate to let them go cheap to make space.

[jkokura]

My recommendation is two fold:

- get an electric piano that you can plug headphones into
- Get something with weighted keys that is oriented to a piano type experience, not a keyboard meant for fun sounds/synth stuff

Jacob

[skyled]

Something like a used Yamaha Clavinova or a Roland RD-series would probably be good. Maybe a Casio. I would not recommend an acoustic piano at this stage, especially not one of those free shitty Wurlitzer uprights. They sound awful.

P.S. an electric piano is short for electro-mechanical piano, i.e. a Fender Rhodes, Clavinet, Wurlitzer 200a, etc. What you're thinking of is an electronic piano 

[thesmokingman]

I bought mine a used clavinova off fb marketplace for $75 ...

[LaceSensor]

ive got a Yamaha digital piano with weighted keys, great for a beginner