watch?v=OHHm_LFskuEPianos: Electronic Or The Real Thing?
The differences between an electric piano, also known as a digital piano, and a regular piano can dwindle as the price of the electric piano grows, because the electric pianos are made in an attempt to imitate the real thing. The differences can also grow with the cost as the bells and whistles that are included exceed the abilities of a traditional piano. An electric piano ranges in price from $300 to $3,000, where as regular pianos range from an upright for $3,000 to a concert grand piano for $140,000.

Depending on how much one cares to spend, electric pianos have several advantages over regular pianos. To begin with, electric pianos take up a lot less space, especially compared to a grand, or even a baby grand piano. Even if the electric piano is extravagant, it is not going to exceed the space taken up by even an upright piano. Secondly, the electric piano provides a range of sounds in addition to the sound of a piano. For example, the electric piano can be made to imitate bells, chimes, drums, other musical instruments, and even a solo human voice or an entire chorus, including the harmonies. With the technological advances, such as digital recording and the ability to perfect and manipulate recorded material, the result can be so exact as to beg the question of if it is the electric piano or the real thing.

Unfortunately, with less expensive electric pianos, the sounds, even that of a piano, will only be so realistic. Secondly, most electric pianos will not be sensitive to the pressure being applied to the keys. For example, striking a piano key sharply to accentuate a note produces a very different sound than that of a key pushed down slowly and gently. This is not true of most electric pianos. Another disadvantage of electric pianos are the possible repairs. A traditional piano, even an old one, usually doesn’t need more than to be tuned once every year or so. Even if a string snaps, which is rare, it is a simple, single visit repair. If anything goes wrong with the electric piano, the repair will be more involved and, therefore, more costly.

Although some smaller electric models are portable, it must be to a place that has a suitable outlet within a decent distance from the electric piano. In addition to that, if the model is small enough to run on batteries, they, of course, will need to be replaced occasionally or frequently, based on how often the instrument is used. If the electric piano is small enough to be portable, it will have the restriction of either fewer keys than the 88 found on a traditional piano or the keys will be thinner. Thinner keys are tricky for anyone trained on full size keys, since their practiced reach and hand movements have to be modified. There are no such restrictions with a traditional piano. The downside to this for regular pianos is that they are not very portable.