Important Features of The Casio Digital Piano

Welcome to our Casio digital piano website. Here you will find a variety of digital pianos with the features and sizes you need to extract the ultimate pleasure of creating music. You will also find several useful articles including important features to consider, how to select a digital piano and more. On this page, we will focus on the Casio digital piano line.

 

When considering the purchase of a Casio digital piano (or any brand digital piano), there are several major things to consider first:

• Number of keys
• Physical size
• Touch sensitivity
• Synthesized instruments.

Standard pianos includes 88 keys (52 white keys and 36 black keys) to cover 7.3 octaves of the musical scales (12 semi tones per octave). Most lower cost electric pianos include 4 or 5 octaves with approximately 48 to 61 keys. These 4 or 5 octaves always include the middle octaves of the standard set of 88-key set, and it is sufficient for most people. However, if you want the freedom to play anything and everything (especially classical or jazz music) … including the highest and lowest notes … and especially if you want to enable 2 people to play on the same keyboard … you will need a digital piano with the full 88 keys. Fortunately, digital pianos today are so inexpensive compared to the original wood and string pianos, you can get a full-featured Casio digital piano with all 88 keys for as little as $500 (and maybe less).

Obviously, a full 88-key electric piano will be larger than a 48 or 60-key piano, but even if you get a full 88-key version, there are dramatic differences in physical size. For example, you can get a fairly compact table-top version that is essentially no bigger than the keyboard itself, or you can get a full-size piano and stool approximately the same size as the original wood and string upright or grand piano. The resulting sound will be different (generally better with the full size), but portability and “where you’re going to put it” may also play an important role.

Most low-cost keyboards do not have a “touch sensitive” keyboard which means you get the same sound no matter how hard or how softly you push the keys. More expensive, touch-sensitive models will play more loudly if you hit the key strongly and more softly if you lightly press the keys. Touch-sensitivity is often paired in an electric piano with “weighted keys” where the keys feel like they are heavy like the original wood and string pianos.

Also if you have a digital “piano”, the sound will fade away eventually (like a real piano) if you hold the keys down. However, with an electronic organ, the sound will continue as long as you hold the keys down. One of the benefits of many “digital pianos”, however, is you can select “piano” mode versus “organ” mode. Thus, you get both in one inexpensive instrument.

A final consideration is “Do you want to play sounds besides those of a piano?” A digital piano that can play organ sounds, computer-generated sounds, guitar sounds, etc. when you press the keys is a “synthesizer”. Many Casio digital pianos are actually synthesizers as well.

Casio offers a full array of electric pianos including both table-top and full-size upright versions, low cost good quality and high cost high quality, full keyboard and sub-keyboard varieties. I will discuss a couple of them here.

Example Table Top Casio Digital Piano: Privia PX-100

Here is a description of a popular Casio electric piano with weighted keys.

Key Features

• 88-Key scaled “hammer action” keyboard with touch sensitivity
• Sound rivals the sound quality of a traditional grand piano
• Includes auto-accompaniment providing realistic background multi-instrument rhythms for pop, jazz, rock and more.
• Complete orchestral accompaniment option
• Can synthesize strings, pipe organ, and more (10 total).
• Includes the 88-key digital piano, a User’s manual, and warranty information.

This table top Casio digital piano is slim, lightweight, portable, and compact.

It easily stows away in a closet, under the bed, or in a corner. The Casio PX-100 employs a new feature called, “New Sound Source”, which actually rivals the rich sound quality of a grand piano. Turn on the auto-accompaniment for pop, jazz, or rock, or the “complete orchestral accompaniment” feature, and become a one-man (or one-woman) band.

This Casio digital piano can also play the sounds (i.e., the “tones”) of string instruments, a pipe organ, voices, and more with the quick press of a button. You can even “layer” 2 different tones simultaneously for a deeper, richer sound, or “split” the keyboard so one side plays one tone (strings for instance) while the other side plays another (e.g., voice).

The Casio PX-100 includes lesson functions to improve your practice session and an onboard metronome with adjustable tempos and beats. The PX-100 also includes 4 reverberator settings and 4 choruses.

This particular Casio digital piano includes a built-in library of 30 pre-loaded tunes (with memory storage for 10 downloadable songs) to help you learn and develop coordination as well as the ability to record and playback your own sessions. The 30 pre-loaded songs includes Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu Op.66, Satie’s Gymnopédies 1, Beethoven’s “Für Elise” and Sonata Op.27-2 “Moonlight” (first movement), as well as classic songs like “Over the Rainbow,” “Someday My Prince Will Come,” and “Let It Be.”

Here Are A Few Customer Reviews For The Casio Digital Piano 

 

I’ve had this keyboard for a couple years. Actually, I have the PX-110 which is not listed on the site, but this should be close enough. I’m not an amazing piano player, but I’m at the level where purchasing a weighted keyboard is a need, not a want. The first time I turned it on and played a few notes, I knew it would suit me well. The piano sound is very lifelike – I gotta admit, the sound is almost better than my “real” upright piano.

By Zorak

I am very happy with this product. It fits easily in the corner of my tiny dorm room and stores easily under my bed. The key action is great, and the sound is high quality. The “split” feature is perfect for jazz pianists; you can walk the bass guitar with your left hand, and play with your right. The pedal is a little flimsy, but serves it’s purpose.

This piano is easy to move, easy to store, and fun to play. (not to mention it’s VERY cheap)

By Corbin

I love this piano. It has a beautiful, real sounding tone, and the keys are weighted perfectly. It was a great value! It doesn’t have a lot of features (some of the keyboards now days are more like computers than instruments) which is part of the reason I wanted it. I just wanted a piano – and this is extremely close to the real thing at a fraction of the price.

By Watkins

Positives: If weighted keys are important to you, this is an excellent step up from a keyboard without weighted keys (especially if you originally learned how to play on a real piano like myself). I live in a small dorm room and this piano tucks neatly into the corner having a width of less than a foot. The included sustain pedal also works very well.

This piano comes with a wonderful music book with the music for 29 classic piano songs and some fun songs to play or listen to. These songs are already built in to the piano and sound like they were recorded by a real musician. It is wonderful to be able to see the beat displayed and be able to slow or speed the tempo of these songs in order to learn them and play along with them. The easily recognizable songs are Beethoven’s Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata, Bach’s Menuet, Debussy’s Arabesque, and Satie’s Gymnopedies. Also the demos but not sheet music are provided for Over the Rainbow, Let it be, Happy Birthday, and a few other modern songs. My favorite out of them all and a real challenge is Chopin’s Fantaise-Impromptu.

Negatives: It is a step down with features though as this keyboard only has a few. There are only 8 tones, but the grand piano tone, which is really the only necessary one, is excellent. Many of the features are utilized by the control key and depressing different notes on the keyboard to change things like Piano Key (F# to C to F), keyboard touch (Off, weak, normal, strong), chord mode, reverb type and chorus type. There is a handy quick quide sheet for this and is not too big of a deal. The only major negative I would give this piano is the speakers which are not quite powerful enough and don’t produce too great of a sound. They are sufficient though. To make up for that the keyboard can easily be plugged into any speakers through the convenience of having two headphone jacks.

The biggest positive which was not mentioned above is the price which easily justifies all the negatives making this a superb value. If you need a small, 88-key, piano-like keyboard for the lowest price, this is the product you are looking for.

By Scheffer

If you are in the market for an electric piano, the Privia PX-100 Casio digital piano is great choice to consider.