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The New Coffee Room

  1. TNCR
  2. General Discussion
  3. Cheapo keyboard

Cheapo keyboard

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  • George KG Offline
    George KG Offline
    George K
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    G2 turned 5 in September.

    I'm wondering if it would appropriate, for Christmas, to get him a cheapo keyboard to see if he has any interest in music.

    Any thoughts, recommendations?

    MUST. BE. CHEAP.

    MUST. HAVE. HEADPHONE JACK.

    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

    AxtremusA 1 Reply Last reply
    • Doctor PhibesD Offline
      Doctor PhibesD Offline
      Doctor Phibes
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      No real recommendations, but is a keyboard the best starting point? I'd hesitate to suggest buying any family member a recorder, but that's what a lot of kids start on.

      I grew up in a house with a piano, and never really learned to play it, but I did learn how music 'worked'. But I was amazed and overjoyed to learn when I got a saxophone at age 12 that I pretty much already knew where all the notes were.

      I was only joking

      1 Reply Last reply
      • George KG Offline
        George KG Offline
        George K
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        Good points. I never played anything until age 10 - when I convinced my parents I wouldn't give up on piano (I was right, LOL).

        "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

        The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

        1 Reply Last reply
        • jon-nycJ Online
          jon-nycJ Online
          jon-nyc
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          I think it’s a great age

          Thank you for your attention to this matter.

          1 Reply Last reply
          • George KG George K

            G2 turned 5 in September.

            I'm wondering if it would appropriate, for Christmas, to get him a cheapo keyboard to see if he has any interest in music.

            Any thoughts, recommendations?

            MUST. BE. CHEAP.

            MUST. HAVE. HEADPHONE JACK.

            AxtremusA Away
            AxtremusA Away
            Axtremus
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            @George-K said in Cheapo keyboard:

            MUST. BE. CHEAP.

            Have you considered a kazoo?

            MUST. HAVE. HEADPHONE JACK.

            You want the girl to make music then not share it? Gasp!

            Age 5 is suitable to start piano lessons, so yeah, get her one. 🙂

            1 Reply Last reply
            • Aqua LetiferA Offline
              Aqua LetiferA Offline
              Aqua Letifer
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              We have one for the kiddo. But no headphone jack. She'd never use them anyway.

              Please love yourself.

              1 Reply Last reply
              • George KG Offline
                George KG Offline
                George K
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                I'm thinking something like this:

                Screenshot 2023-11-03 at 8.58.15 AM.png

                "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                kluursK 1 Reply Last reply
                • 89th8 Offline
                  89th8 Offline
                  89th
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  Way too cheap, but something to consider, and yes you're going to laugh. When our kid was like 2 a neighbor bought her a present of a cat piano (like this). It's annoying as shit, and no headphone jack, but recently our 5 year old asked me how to play songs like Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So I wrote out the notes on paper and she LOVED learning it. I wrote the notes like you see below (for row row row your boat...)

                  So perhaps not a cat piano, but a similar "toy" piano might work for the next year as they learn the very basics of what note letters mean and how to play a simple song or two.

                  7cc80905-bba9-42ec-9862-2cf8e7bc2c53-image.png

                  George KG AxtremusA 2 Replies Last reply
                  • 89th8 89th

                    Way too cheap, but something to consider, and yes you're going to laugh. When our kid was like 2 a neighbor bought her a present of a cat piano (like this). It's annoying as shit, and no headphone jack, but recently our 5 year old asked me how to play songs like Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So I wrote out the notes on paper and she LOVED learning it. I wrote the notes like you see below (for row row row your boat...)

                    So perhaps not a cat piano, but a similar "toy" piano might work for the next year as they learn the very basics of what note letters mean and how to play a simple song or two.

                    7cc80905-bba9-42ec-9862-2cf8e7bc2c53-image.png

                    George KG Offline
                    George KG Offline
                    George K
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    @89th said in Cheapo keyboard:

                    Way too cheap

                    I'm not looking for a durable instrument. This is an experiment to see if it piques his interest. If it does, we can move to something more durable. For $50, I think it's worth the experiment.

                    "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08

                    The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.

                    CopperC 1 Reply Last reply
                    • 89th8 89th

                      Way too cheap, but something to consider, and yes you're going to laugh. When our kid was like 2 a neighbor bought her a present of a cat piano (like this). It's annoying as shit, and no headphone jack, but recently our 5 year old asked me how to play songs like Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So I wrote out the notes on paper and she LOVED learning it. I wrote the notes like you see below (for row row row your boat...)

                      So perhaps not a cat piano, but a similar "toy" piano might work for the next year as they learn the very basics of what note letters mean and how to play a simple song or two.

                      7cc80905-bba9-42ec-9862-2cf8e7bc2c53-image.png

                      AxtremusA Away
                      AxtremusA Away
                      Axtremus
                      wrote on last edited by Axtremus
                      #10

                      @89th said in Cheapo keyboard:

                      ... recently our 5 year old asked me how to play songs like Happy Birthday or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. So I wrote out the notes on paper and she LOVED learning it. I wrote the notes like you see below (for row row row your boat...)
                      ...
                      7cc80905-bba9-42ec-9862-2cf8e7bc2c53-image.png

                      Consider using Arabic numerals rather than Latin letters for melodic lines, for the following reasons:

                      1. Helps develop her sense of scale, much friendlier to learn key transpositions later.

                      2. Music notation using Arabic numerals is a real thing. Even if she never learns to read the 5-line staff notation later, there is a large library of musical scores notated using Arabic numerals that she will be able to draw from.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      • 89th8 Offline
                        89th8 Offline
                        89th
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        I almost switched to Arabic numerals but was too busy scolding her for playing Happy Birthday in syncopation!

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        • George KG George K

                          I'm thinking something like this:

                          Screenshot 2023-11-03 at 8.58.15 AM.png

                          kluursK Offline
                          kluursK Offline
                          kluurs
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          @George-K Can't add anything to the discussion other than to say that looks pretty cool. I may get that for our neighbor kids for Christmas.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          • George KG George K

                            @89th said in Cheapo keyboard:

                            Way too cheap

                            I'm not looking for a durable instrument. This is an experiment to see if it piques his interest. If it does, we can move to something more durable. For $50, I think it's worth the experiment.

                            CopperC Offline
                            CopperC Offline
                            Copper
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            @George-K said in Cheapo keyboard:

                            I'm not looking for a durable instrument. This is an experiment to see if it piques his interest. If it does, we can move to something more durable. For $50, I think it's worth the experiment.

                            28 Casio options $50 - $500

                            https://www.casio.com/us/electronic-musical-instruments/portable-keyboards.filter.K84vKnGqtC0oykxO9ckv98hMzwAA/

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