The 5 Most Important Features to Consider When Buying a Digital Piano Keyboard

When talking about a piano’s action, we are describing how the keys respond to your touch. In an acoustic piano, pressing down a key causes the “hammer” (a felt-covered, mallet-like lever) to strike a string or group of strings, producing sound. Many digital pianos attempt to recreate the feeling of this mechanical action by adding “weight” (resistance) to each key.

The best digital pianos are made to have fully-weighted hammer action, and graded action. “Graded action” or progressive action, indicates that the keys at the lower end of the keyboard have slightly more resistance than the keys at upper end, mimicking the action of a real piano. Many cheaper digital keyboards are unweighted or semi-weighted, meaning they will not feel similar to an acoustic piano.

When playing an acoustic piano, touching a key with more force causes the hammer to strike the string with greater speed, creating a louder sound. Digital pianos recreate this effect using a feature called “velocity touch.” Typically, keyboards with weighted keys will also have velocity touch.

While semi-weighted keys might be okay for students interested in learning to play pop songs or simple tunes, fully-weighted hammer action and velocity touch are necessary to learn classical repertoire with proper technique and develop the finger muscles and coordination required to play a real piano.

Key Phrases:

“fully-weighted keys,” “progressive action,” and “velocity touch”