Many piano teachers will answer plainly and strongly, “Acoustic, all the way.” I have a different attitude which is totally biased.
In the 80s, my parents bought an acoustic upright for my brothers and me to learn piano. They didn’t come from musical families (though I have an uncle who used to busk on accordion in the streets of a village in the Andes). My parents believed that a holistic education included music, so one by one, my brothers and I took piano lessons.
When I married, I took the piano with me into my husband’s home. We had children who learned on the same instrument. I played piano for a church that moved to a location that already had a piano, so the congregation gave me the instrument. We had two acoustic pianos in our home. How rich!
The South Florida humidity and insect population didn’t do much kindness for our two pianos. Eventually, felts unglued, strings rusted, and wooden keys swelled. We were struggling to practice on these acoustic instruments. Soon we acquired an electric keyboard, which really was an upgrade because all the keys played the right tone, but it didn’t have the feel of a piano nor the necessary range.
I have to add that having a keyboard was really helpful in that anyone who wanted to practice could do so without affecting the volume of the household. With seven people living together in a modest house, the volume of an acoustic piano competes with watching a football match on television or listening to a podcast while doing chores. The electric keyboard allowed the pianist to plug in earphones and practice quietly.
Enter the Digital.
One Christmas morning, we woke up to find a digital piano sitting in the living room, just waiting to be played. This machine is a beauty! Full weighted keys. Full 88 key range. Damper pedal. EARPHONE JACK! It is so light, too, in comparison to an acoustic. We easily moved it from room to room, depending if we wanted to rehearse singing in a bedroom or singing carols together by the tree. Talk about an upgrade!
Now, when asked, “Acoustic or digital?” my answer is, “Yes.”
We can’t have an acoustic in our current home. We certainly can’t have one if we move into an RV. If we ever live in a sprawling house with great, many rooms, I’d probably like to have a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert Grand in one or two of them.
Whichever route you’d like to go, acoustic or digital, take into consideration your family’s lifestyle, the size of your home, how the ambiance of a played piano will affect other family members, and the cost of maintenance. Above all, be sure to play the instrument.
