👋 Thanks for watching! Purchase The ULTIMATE Beginner Piano Keyboard For 2024 HERE! 🎹 ▪The Donner DDP-300 is only available via Amazon: amzn.to/3QqWr6e ▪Browse Other Donner Keyboards and use the promo code KAITLYN to get 10-15% OFF: us.donnermusic.com/ ▪Watch my free training here: www.try.piano.ly/free-training
6 months ago, I bought my 86 year old mum a Yamaha P-125 with the Yamaha stand and triple pedals. She absolutely loves it and plays it every day. I've been a guitarist for most of my life, but watching my mum playing the piano again gave me the itch. So I treated myself to the Yamaha DGX-670, also with the Yamaha stand and triple pedal set. So far, I've taught myself all of the chords and inversions, with some arpeggios. I'm really enjoying learning a new instrument at the ripe old age of 62.
I have the DGX-660. Donner is, I agree, a decent starter piano, but the DGX-670 is not that much more expensive, and it does a whole lot more, and has a lot of very nice voices, including electric pianos, organs, clav. I concede that it isn't as "dressy" or "looks like a real piano" as the Donner.
i have a Yamaha P-105- the precursor to the P-125 (i’ve been staring and stopping learning the piano for a few years now). It sounds and looks great; the piano sound was more realistic than the other keyboards in its price range. But i do have two issues with it: I wish it had a metronome with more intuitive controls: you hit a combination of a button and a piano key to select a rhythm pattern or tempo, and i never know what exact bpm i’m playing to. Also, no aux in. it would be nice to play along to spotify or my own tracks. My Roland GO:Keys is not an ideal keyboard for learning the piano (61 non-weighted keys, no metronome ) but it has an aux jack and bluetooth , so i can play along to my phone app’s metronome. if i were to start over, it would be something like my Yamaha P-105, but with an AUX jack and/or bluetooth.
A most interesting overview. As far as choices for beginner piano keyboards, in addition to the Casio, Yamaha and Donner models cited, there are some other good choices among instruments by Roland and Kawai. While all of them are at least "usable", I've not found the Donner piano sounds to be as "convincing" as some of the others. I'm glad to hear your warmly understated but solid view of the Yamaha P-125 (perhaps in deference to the Donner instruments ...). I have a P-125 and have found it to be more than suitable for my purposes -- primarily practice (I'm an intermediate level pianist). To me, the P-125 is the upper-middle sweet spot with respect to price, features, quality of build (durability and reliability), and authenticity of action and sound. I refer to the "action" as the perceived touch-response ratio -- where, given the approximate keypress as would be used on an acoustic instrument, the resulting sound is very close to the sound that would be obtained from the same acoustic instrument. What I have found on the P125 is that I can adjust the "action" (i.e. the perceived touch-response ratio) using the three available levels of touch sensitivity: soft (PIANO/C6), medium (PIANO/C#6) and hard (PIANO/D6), and adjusting the volume: - the soft setting changes the sound to a brighter timbre and makes the action (perceived touch-response) feel very light; it also makes it difficult to obtain a wide range of nuance. - the medium setting gives a somewhat darker timbre and makes the action feel a bit heavier -- more like a moderately light action on an acoustic instrument -- and allows for a wider range of nuance; I typically use this when practicing classical pieces (Beethoven). - the heavy setting gives a slightly darker timbre and makes the action feel a slightly heavier -- like a typical action on a Steinway grand. It also allows for a wider range of nuance, giving softer pianissimos when used with a lower volume setting. For technical practice (scales, arpeggios, etc.) I prefer to practice with a "heavier" action since it helps to build up finger strength and makes playing an acoustic piano actually feel easier. So I set the touch to heavy and set the volume level slightly lower so that I have to play with a bit more force to get a response that approximates what I would want on an acoustic piano. If I set the volume too high, then I have to hold back and play much more lightly to generate an authentic response. Also, the lower volume setting tends to allow for a greater dynamic range, whereas with the higher volume setting everything sounds too loud. An additional bonus of the P-125 for me is that, as an organist, I can also practice organ pieces as well - at least the manual part. This is additionally beneficial because the P-125 weighted action is better to practice on than the unweighted organ keys and makes playing the organ more precise. The P-125 also has a most delightful harpsichord -- makes playing Bach Inventions a lot of fun. Finally, I also enjoy jazz (I love the bass and ride cymbal, and the rhythm accompaniments are also very well done), and some synthesizer effects as well. Donner has certinly made some interesting pushes into the market -- it will be interesting to see how the Donners hold up.
Hello.... I just got the DEP 20 a few months ago and I think it gives you the most for your money, the keys are weighted on the heavier side which i think is better, I'm planning on upgrading to a better one in the future, may be a Roland FP 30x but for now I think it's a good piano, greeting from Nogales Sonora México......
Glad you to hear praises about donner! I bought a Donner DEP 20 just 3 months ago as my first piano. I didn't find many reviews, but those I found were positive. What convinced me it's that it was "complete" (weighted keys,stand and 3 integrated pedals) and the price was unmatched by anything else. Glad to know they have also long durability, because that was something I was worried about. Thanks!
I hear you talking about the sustain pedal, and all shown pianos also have una corda and sostenuto. If these come anyway for the same price, it may be interesting to spend a few words on that. Even if total beginners don't need them. Same for key repetition. If a keyboard has that on top of weighted keys and good key feel, i think it adds value. Since digital pianos are the subject, i really wouldn't skip polyphony either. Very important if one of going to use that sustain pedal. And since second hand digital pianos may be a good starting place for beginners, a remark that digital pianos are electronics and should financially write off as electronics. Digital pianos should become cheaper fast, and often too high prices are asked - buying new may give more value for money as the piano may be used much longer (better sampling, better polyphony, less wear, etc)
Your videos are educational and fun! Question: I have a Kurzweil MPS10 with fully weighted, hammer-action keys, and the kind of pedal you recommend. But, when playing, I often hear a soft "click" when a key is released, especially if I play at a lower volume. Have you noticed this with any of your keyboards? I had it inspected by a professional, who could find nothing wrong with it.
For someone near retirement age, wouldn't it be better to get "non-weighted" piano keys to start learning on? Just in case arthritis starts becoming an issue? Thank you!!!
I love my Yamaha P-225, although I've only had it for a couple of months. I bought it because the beginning group piano class I took at my community college used Yamaha P-125 pianos, and I figured if they can hold up to being played every day by students that it's probably a good piano.
I recently picked up learning the piano and did a bit of research before buying my first one. Including watching your CZcams videos, which are great. The reason why I got a piano was I've always wanted to learn, but what got me to push the button was my 6 year old who on a recent holiday played some old piano that was some tank musem and loved it. He kept going back to play again and again. Initially I looked the Donner DP-80 due to it's pricing and looked pretty nice. A number of the online reviews raving about it were given them for free so felt they weren't fully truthful. Other reviews I read were they were bad quality. I then looked at Roland and Yamaha around they same sort of price. The Yamaha P-125 seemed popular but has been replaced with the P-225. Rolands seemed good and had full Bluetooth someone that Yamaha lacked which only has Bluetooth midi but requires USB for connection. The Roland that I looked at was fully app driven. As this was for both myself and my son to enjoy, I wanted him to be able to fiddle, try different sounds etc so in the end opted for the Yamaha P-225 and so far really enjoying it (although finding it hard learning). Initially I had some driver issues connecting to PC but managed to resolve them. I still would love to some day have a proper old acoustic, sadly our home isn't big enough and they are pretty loud. Which is a shame as very often seeing people giving pianos away for free.
I have an fp30 including the 3 pedal stand and really like it. This has a very good keyboard with weighted keys with actual hammer mechanics and even has repetition in the keys so mimics a grand piano really well. There is a difference with the real grand piano I play on with lessons and random locations, but every piano will play differently. That's just something any pianist will have to learn to work with.
Great video! What are your thoughts on narrow keys keyboard? I have smaller hands and would love to purchase one. I don't think this topic is covered enough anywhere.
@@pianoly I am surprised you haven't heard of narrow keys keyboards. There are some available out there, but not enough, but I think more and more people are requesting them for people with smaller hands. It makes sense for those of us who cannot reach octaves and beyond. It would make life so much easier to play on piano.
The piano iPlay now my favorite out of five is a Kawaii digital piano PN 60 it was made in 1973. I think I found it on the street kind of an out of all my keyboards I like playing it the most. I don’t wanna know much about Kawai.
Like many here, I'd never heard of Donner, so it was a good watch. I noticed that all of the pianos had the 3-pedal option installed, which begs the question: if you are not playing classical piano, do you need anything more than a sustain pedal?
probably not ... the second-most used pedal in classical music is the left una corda ("soft") pedal, and least used is the middle (sostenuto) pedal -- neither of which are particularly well-implemented in digital instruments. On the Yamaha P-125, the middle pedal is used to activate some special effects in some of the voices -- such as the rock organ vibrato; that may also be the case in other instruments.
Thanks for all this lol I want a piano really really bad as a beginner and found a Donner DEP-20 should i purchase it? Im not doing it yet but will do soon depending on the replies.
Great video and super informative. Question: can the Donner be taken to gigs, or is it fixed in that cabinet stand? I’m looking for a good keyboard that looks nice at home, but can also be taken to live shows. 🎹
@@michellemonet4358 the P-121 is essentially the same as the P-125 (an excellent keyboard with real line-out jacks) only with 73 keys instead of 88 -- fits in cars much easier - 🙂
I am glad that you have found an instrument you enjoy playing. As with so many things in the end it boils down to personal preferences and expectations. Before I bought the P-515 I had compared it with different models by a variety of producers (including Kawai), and I am very happy with my choice and the P-515 considering all factors including sound and production quality.
@@aBachwardsfellow Yes, exactly. A small difference in size, a small difference in weight, a certain difference regarding the prize tag ... It took me a while to conclude this choice.
![The Prettiest BEGINNER Piano/Keyboard [REVIEWING DONNER'S DDP-60]](/img/n.gif)
👋 Thanks for watching!
Purchase The ULTIMATE Beginner Piano Keyboard For 2024 HERE! 🎹
▪The Donner DDP-300 is only available via Amazon: amzn.to/3QqWr6e
▪Browse Other Donner Keyboards and use the promo code KAITLYN to get 10-15% OFF: us.donnermusic.com/
▪Watch my free training here: www.try.piano.ly/free-training
6 months ago, I bought my 86 year old mum a Yamaha P-125 with the Yamaha stand and triple pedals. She absolutely loves it and plays it every day. I've been a guitarist for most of my life, but watching my mum playing the piano again gave me the itch. So I treated myself to the Yamaha DGX-670, also with the Yamaha stand and triple pedal set. So far, I've taught myself all of the chords and inversions, with some arpeggios. I'm really enjoying learning a new instrument at the ripe old age of 62.
Great to hear!
I have the DGX-660. Donner is, I agree, a decent starter piano, but the DGX-670 is not that much more expensive, and it does a whole lot more, and has a lot of very nice voices, including electric pianos, organs, clav. I concede that it isn't as "dressy" or "looks like a real piano" as the Donner.
i have a Yamaha P-105- the precursor to the P-125 (i’ve been staring and stopping learning the piano for a few years now). It sounds and looks great; the piano sound was more realistic than the other keyboards in its price range.
But i do have two issues with it:
I wish it had a metronome with more intuitive controls: you hit a combination of a button and a piano key to select a rhythm pattern or tempo, and i never know what exact bpm i’m playing to.
Also, no aux in. it would be nice to play along to spotify or my own tracks. My Roland GO:Keys is not an ideal keyboard for learning the piano (61 non-weighted keys, no metronome ) but it has an aux jack and bluetooth , so i can play along to my phone app’s metronome.
if i were to start over, it would be something like my Yamaha P-105, but with an AUX jack and/or bluetooth.
Wow. No love for Roland here? I always thought Roland's dp10 and 30 made for some awesome starter kit
I purchased the Fp-10 ACR package(12/23), and love this keyboard. It has weighted keys +the sound is “grand” quality.
I do love Roland. A Roland is what I usually film with.
I love my Roland.
A most interesting overview. As far as choices for beginner piano keyboards, in addition to the Casio, Yamaha and Donner models cited, there are some other good choices among instruments by Roland and Kawai. While all of them are at least "usable", I've not found the Donner piano sounds to be as "convincing" as some of the others.
I'm glad to hear your warmly understated but solid view of the Yamaha P-125 (perhaps in deference to the Donner instruments ...). I have a P-125 and have found it to be more than suitable for my purposes -- primarily practice (I'm an intermediate level pianist). To me, the P-125 is the upper-middle sweet spot with respect to price, features, quality of build (durability and reliability), and authenticity of action and sound.
I refer to the "action" as the perceived touch-response ratio -- where, given the approximate keypress as would be used on an acoustic instrument, the resulting sound is very close to the sound that would be obtained from the same acoustic instrument. What I have found on the P125 is that I can adjust the "action" (i.e. the perceived touch-response ratio) using the three available levels of touch sensitivity: soft (PIANO/C6), medium (PIANO/C#6) and hard (PIANO/D6), and adjusting the volume:
- the soft setting changes the sound to a brighter timbre and makes the action (perceived touch-response) feel very light; it also makes it difficult to obtain a wide range of nuance.
- the medium setting gives a somewhat darker timbre and makes the action feel a bit heavier -- more like a moderately light action on an acoustic instrument -- and allows for a wider range of nuance; I typically use this when practicing classical pieces (Beethoven).
- the heavy setting gives a slightly darker timbre and makes the action feel a slightly heavier -- like a typical action on a Steinway grand. It also allows for a wider range of nuance, giving softer pianissimos when used with a lower volume setting.
For technical practice (scales, arpeggios, etc.) I prefer to practice with a "heavier" action since it helps to build up finger strength and makes playing an acoustic piano actually feel easier. So I set the touch to heavy and set the volume level slightly lower so that I have to play with a bit more force to get a response that approximates what I would want on an acoustic piano. If I set the volume too high, then I have to hold back and play much more lightly to generate an authentic response. Also, the lower volume setting tends to allow for a greater dynamic range, whereas with the higher volume setting everything sounds too loud.
An additional bonus of the P-125 for me is that, as an organist, I can also practice organ pieces as well - at least the manual part. This is additionally beneficial because the P-125 weighted action is better to practice on than the unweighted organ keys and makes playing the organ more precise. The P-125 also has a most delightful harpsichord -- makes playing Bach Inventions a lot of fun. Finally, I also enjoy jazz (I love the bass and ride cymbal, and the rhythm accompaniments are also very well done), and some synthesizer effects as well.
Donner has certinly made some interesting pushes into the market -- it will be interesting to see how the Donners hold up.
I LOVE my kawai Es920 Unbeatable piano sound.
Great video! Did not know about Donner keyboards. Good to hear your experience!
Glad it was helpful!
Hello.... I just got the DEP 20 a few months ago and I think it gives you the most for your money, the keys are weighted on the heavier side which i think is better, I'm planning on upgrading to a better one in the future, may be a Roland FP 30x but for now I think it's a good piano, greeting from Nogales Sonora México......
I love to hear that! Enjoy!
Glad you to hear praises about donner! I bought a Donner DEP 20 just 3 months ago as my first piano. I didn't find many reviews, but those I found were positive. What convinced me it's that it was "complete" (weighted keys,stand and 3 integrated pedals) and the price was unmatched by anything else. Glad to know they have also long durability, because that was something I was worried about. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy it!
I hear you talking about the sustain pedal, and all shown pianos also have una corda and sostenuto. If these come anyway for the same price, it may be interesting to spend a few words on that. Even if total beginners don't need them.
Same for key repetition. If a keyboard has that on top of weighted keys and good key feel, i think it adds value.
Since digital pianos are the subject, i really wouldn't skip polyphony either. Very important if one of going to use that sustain pedal.
And since second hand digital pianos may be a good starting place for beginners, a remark that digital pianos are electronics and should financially write off as electronics. Digital pianos should become cheaper fast, and often too high prices are asked - buying new may give more value for money as the piano may be used much longer (better sampling, better polyphony, less wear, etc)
What are your thoughts on the Yamaha YDP-145?
Your videos are educational and fun! Question: I have a Kurzweil MPS10 with fully weighted, hammer-action keys, and the kind of pedal you recommend. But, when playing, I often hear a soft "click" when a key is released, especially if I play at a lower volume. Have you noticed this with any of your keyboards? I had it inspected by a professional, who could find nothing wrong with it.
For someone near retirement age, wouldn't it be better to get "non-weighted" piano keys to start learning on? Just in case arthritis starts becoming an issue? Thank you!!!
5 stars for beautiful PIANOLY, but ONE start for any Donnner. Thank you for opinions.
Yamaha Clavinova 635 with Boesendorfer sound. The best.
I love my Yamaha P-225, although I've only had it for a couple of months. I bought it because the beginning group piano class I took at my community college used Yamaha P-125 pianos, and I figured if they can hold up to being played every day by students that it's probably a good piano.
Hopefully so -- I'd be interested to hear what you think over time as the P-225 has a different build than the P-125.
I recently picked up learning the piano and did a bit of research before buying my first one. Including watching your CZcams videos, which are great.
The reason why I got a piano was I've always wanted to learn, but what got me to push the button was my 6 year old who on a recent holiday played some old piano that was some tank musem and loved it. He kept going back to play again and again.
Initially I looked the Donner DP-80 due to it's pricing and looked pretty nice. A number of the online reviews raving about it were given them for free so felt they weren't fully truthful. Other reviews I read were they were bad quality.
I then looked at Roland and Yamaha around they same sort of price. The Yamaha P-125 seemed popular but has been replaced with the P-225. Rolands seemed good and had full Bluetooth someone that Yamaha lacked which only has Bluetooth midi but requires USB for connection.
The Roland that I looked at was fully app driven. As this was for both myself and my son to enjoy, I wanted him to be able to fiddle, try different sounds etc so in the end opted for the
Yamaha P-225 and so far really enjoying it (although finding it hard learning). Initially I had some driver issues connecting to PC but managed to resolve them.
I still would love to some day have a proper old acoustic, sadly our home isn't big enough and they are pretty loud. Which is a shame as very often seeing people giving pianos away for free.
I just started to learn piano and bought a Roland FP30X. I hope this was a good purchase.
I've heard very good comments for the Roland FP30x
I have an fp30 including the 3 pedal stand and really like it. This has a very good keyboard with weighted keys with actual hammer mechanics and even has repetition in the keys so mimics a grand piano really well.
There is a difference with the real grand piano I play on with lessons and random locations, but every piano will play differently. That's just something any pianist will have to learn to work with.
Hope you enjoy it! I love Roland.
Great video! What are your thoughts on narrow keys keyboard? I have smaller hands and would love to purchase one. I don't think this topic is covered enough anywhere.
I have honestly never heard of that. But my thoughts are you should always get a keyboard that feels most like a real piano.
@@pianoly I am surprised you haven't heard of narrow keys keyboards. There are some available out there, but not enough, but I think more and more people are requesting them for people with smaller hands. It makes sense for those of us who cannot reach octaves and beyond. It would make life so much easier to play on piano.
The piano iPlay now my favorite out of five is a Kawaii digital piano PN 60 it was made in 1973. I think I found it on the street kind of an out of all my keyboards I like playing it the most. I don’t wanna know much about Kawai.
I've been thinking about replacing my old Yamaha. I'm not too familiar with the Donner brand. Thanks for letting me know about it!
Like many here, I'd never heard of Donner, so it was a good watch. I noticed that all of the pianos had the 3-pedal option installed, which begs the question: if you are not playing classical piano, do you need anything more than a sustain pedal?
probably not ... the second-most used pedal in classical music is the left una corda ("soft") pedal, and least used is the middle (sostenuto) pedal -- neither of which are particularly well-implemented in digital instruments.
On the Yamaha P-125, the middle pedal is used to activate some special effects in some of the voices -- such as the rock organ vibrato; that may also be the case in other instruments.
If you're not playing classical, I think you can skip out on the other pedals.
My keyboard : KAWAI KDP 120
Norhin like kawai imo!❤
I have a Roland FP10😊
If I have about $600 what is the very best electric keyboard I can purchase to learn piano on?
Thanks for all this lol I want a piano really really bad as a beginner and found a Donner DEP-20 should i purchase it? Im not doing it yet but will do soon depending on the replies.
7:27 The keyboard in the box on the right looks like something Bach would have practiced on… (or like a harpsichord in a stately home.)
That's true!
Thank you just in time 🙏🏼
Doner cool
Great video and super informative. Question: can the Donner be taken to gigs, or is it fixed in that cabinet stand? I’m looking for a good keyboard that looks nice at home, but can also be taken to live shows. 🎹
I check the Donner dep20 is best for gigs
Not got many makes of piano to choose from!
Yamahas are good. I’ve had one for over 10 years.
What to get if you do want all the bells and whistles?
I watched your lessons while you were sitting at your piano and thought you were a 20 year old girl ...lol...wow. Very impressive. ❤
🤣 I'm a good 15 years older than that. 😅
Is it good for wooly bully
What are your thoughts on the Kawai es120 keyboard? Is that a good one to start on?
I have a Casio with weighted keys that is really compact. But I have that busted “button” pedal :(
Be sure to check out the link in the description for the correct sustain pedal. :)
Donner comes from China?
Are they regular piano still good to purchase?
Regular real pianos are always a good option, most people these days do opt for keyboards though.
Yamaha P-515 with full set of pedals (3).
And for travelling I own the P-121 by Yamaha ...
P515. Keys way too heavy plus doesnt sound as good as my Kawai Es920.
@@michellemonet4358 the P-121 is essentially the same as the P-125 (an excellent keyboard with real line-out jacks) only with 73 keys instead of 88 -- fits in cars much easier - 🙂
I am glad that you have found an instrument you enjoy playing. As with so many things in the end it boils down to personal preferences and expectations. Before I bought the P-515 I had compared it with different models by a variety of producers (including Kawai), and I am very happy with my choice and the P-515 considering all factors including sound and production quality.
@@aBachwardsfellow Yes, exactly. A small difference in size, a small difference in weight, a certain difference regarding the prize tag ... It took me a while to conclude this choice.