With a piano, you only have one type of instrument that you can play...the piano itself. Electronic keyboards allow you to mimic the sounds of dozens of different instruments. Some more expensive models can mimic the sounds of hundreds of instruments and allow your to lay tracks...right on the keyboard!

When you learn how to play the keyboard, you are learning all of those instruments without having to take additional lessons. Sounds can include:

Many types of pianos (grand piano, electronic, etc.)

Percussion instruments

Organs of all kinds (even harmonica!)

Stringed instruments (violin, viola, cello, contrabass)

Brass instruments (trumpet, tuba, trombone)

All of the Woodwinds (clarinet, flute, saxophone)

Sitar

Banjo

Bag Pipe

The piano sounds that come from a keyboard can include grand piano, electric piano, honky-tonk and many, many more! There may even be special effects available like bird noises, telephone rings and other novelty sounds.

When you learn how to play the keyboard, you'll also get to choose from a variety of background sounds that can accompany your main melody. You can normally choose from one of the following:

Pop

Dance

Rock

Jazz

Latin

Hip-hop

More advanced keyboard models may have more choices.

Learning play the keyboard is perfect for beginning music students. There are keyboard models that will show you each note that needs to be played next. It is an easy method of learning that guides students into a better understanding of music.

Playing with a keyboard is also more portable than playing a piano. A keyboard, if it is small enough, can go anywhere with you. This makes it easy to practice in different environments.

Keyboards are easy to find. While pianos can cost thousands of dollars, you can find a keyboard for as low as in the classified ads.

There are more complex keyboards that cost much, much more. But for a small investment you can decide if playing the keyboard is really right for you. In the future, you can upgrade your keyboard choice to a more featured model.

Learning play the keyboard is one of the easiest and most fun ways to get into music. There are plenty of songs available for the keyboard, and with practice there is no limit to what you can play! You can experiment a lot with the keyboard; and even create your own one-man band, complete with drums, piano, horns, string instruments and possibly even your own voice. Who knows? You may even produce a demo that you could send to a music executive. The possibilities can be endless!