Yamaha P71 Compact Lightweight Weighted Keyboard Piano

The design of an acoustic piano includes hammers and strings, and when a hammer strikes the strings, they vibrate. This is what makes the full, deep sound we associate with an acoustic piano. If you want your keyboard to sound just like an acoustic piano, you need a weighted keyboard piano.

In order to recreate this type of sound and feel in a digital keyboard, manufacturers must replicate the feel of the hammer hitting the strings.  If you hit the keys hard when playing an acoustic piano, the sound is louder than when you tap them softly. The weight and resistance that affect the piano strings when they connect with the lever system of the piano keys create the difference.

With a weighted keyboard piano, there are no hammers or strings, just a computer and keys that produce samples — pre-recorded audio of the way an instrument sounds, which is upgraded by physical modeling that enhances the sound and makes it more natural. The computer can detect how hard or soft you hit the keys to create the right kind of sound. However, some pianos also have weights built into the keys which help create the same feel and sound as you get with an acoustic piano.

Weighted keyboard pianos create a realistic resistance, making it easier for pianists to transition from an acoustic piano to a digital one and back again. In addition to mimicking the sound and feel of an acoustic piano, weighted keyboards also help pianists work on their finger strength and technique.

There three different types of weighted keyboard keys. Semi-weighted keys offer more resistance than an unweighted keyboard and offer a responsive playing experience. Hammer-action keyboards actually have a lever mechanism to replicate the hammer hitting the strings in an acoustic piano. Graded, weighted keyboards offer more resistance in the lower range and less resistance in the upper range, similar to an acoustic piano.

• How many keys should your weighted keyboard piano have? Most acoustic pianos have 88 keys, while digital ones can have 61, 73, 76 or 88 keys. To play modern piano pieces, you will need at least 73 keys. If you play more classical pieces, then it’s best to get one with all 88 keys.
• The term “polyphony” refers to how many sounds, or notes, a keyboard can play at one time. You can find digital keyboards that play 64, 128, 192, or 256 sounds simultaneously.  You may think you don’t need too many, as you only have so many fingers to play chords, but modern digital keyboards layer sound in complex ways and require quite a bit of sophisticated polyphony.
• Digital pianos also often have “tones” or “voices.” These refer to the samples of different instruments and percussion styles available that you can layer together.
• To record your work, look for a weighted keyboard piano with a built-in audio recorder. This allows you to save the recording on a flash drive and share it in various ways — such as on social media.
• With a tuning function on the weighted keyboard piano, you can shift the pitch of the keyboard in 0.1- or 0.2-hertz steps. This is useful if you want to match the pitch of another instrument or a recording.