Music Shops

[Tia Maria]

My 8 Year old son is about to start learning Keyboard and we're not really sure what is a good starter keyboard.

The prices seem to range from $200 to $1000, we'd rather keep costs down as you never know how long kids are going to be interested, however, we want to buy something that sounds good. What features should we be looking for and what extras should we consider?

Would this be something that would be OK to buy second hand on TM or would that be a bit risky (can much go wrong with a keyboard, would it be better to have a guarantee?)?

Finally are there any good shops to buy from in Auckland?

Cheers

Tia

[Flutterby]

i have no idea, but i had to get rid of my keyboard before i left the UK it was huuuuuuggge!

[Arwen]

Hi Tia

If I were you I would buy something second hand from Trademe or the like. At this stage, your son is just 'testing the water' and children, as you mentioned, are notorious for wanting all the kit and then leaving it to gather dust.

My daughter is adamant that she wants to learn to play guitar, so I picked her up a cheap Spongebob guitar from our local music shop. It does the job.

When I was looking for my first piano, I bought a second hand one from Trademe and asked to try before I buy. If the seller is genuine, this should pose no problem.

I browsed Trademe instruments for sale (Auckland) and spotted this ad. Something like this should be ample for a beginner keyboardist.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Music-instr...-263711887.htm

[JandM]

I agree. The touch-sensitive feature is good if there's a chance he may want to carry skills over to a piano at some later stage.

[Arwen]

Absolutely JandM.

[Dave in NZ]

Hi Tia

You may find this site useful. It reccomends the best keyboards depending on what you need from different makes.
http://www.know-your-keyboard-piano....ard-piano.html

Being a amateur keyboard player and being brought up on Yamaha I can only say that I have had several Yamahas and not once have I had a problem with any of them I have had my PSR 3000 5years and its as good as new and the same can be said down the ranges. Even the cheap models are very reliable so buying 2nd hand should not be a problem. There are several yamahas on trade me in the North Shore area but whatever make you buy 2nd hand the modern keyboards are really quite reliable
Mainline musicworks in Takapuna is a good place to look. They have 2nd hand as well but you can try them out and see what you like then u can look on trade me for a simialar thing. The advantage with a store is of course the guarrantee. But as I said earlier I have never had a fault with any of my machines

Hope this helps

Dave

[Arwen]

Tia, I just had a thought. Would your son be able to borrow one from his school by any chance?

A friend of mines son learned to play the keyboard at school and was allowed to take one home on loan to practice. This was back in the UK though.

[Beetle]

Hi Tia,

If you he's planing to take piano lessons, then I would recommend you to buy him a standard 88-key keyboard with 'weighted keys'.

Yamaha would be the best choice.

/Beetle

[Tia Maria]

Thanks for the tips everyone, one thing I ahve learned is that Mainline Music stores aren't open on Sundays (I guess that's musos for you. ), so I'll let you know how it goes once I actually get inside a shop....

Cheers

Tia

[Familyofmonkeys]

There is a good little music shop about 3/4 of the way up Queen Street on the right side when you are heading uphill. The guys in there are really knowledgable and are happy for you to spend AGES trying stuff out. The prices are also very good and as always will do a good discount if you pay cash. We bought our daughters Ukelele there last year.