I am using the Roland Go-Piano for airline travel. It weights around 8 lbs and can run on batteries. It has 61 keys. What I like about it is that it has a width of only 34.6 inch (87.8 cm), thus it fits perfectly into a duffle bag within airline luggage dimensions. And there are no buttons to break off.

Not sure if it has been mentioned already, but some of those keyboards including the Roland Go-Piano can shift octaves. I have used that feature occasionally and it works as long as the overall range of the song fits within those 61 keys. It took me a while to adjust to the shifted middle C, but it works alright.

Cheers,

    MandM Both your Go-Piano and my Casio CT-S1 were on my shopping list on top-left position. I almost geared to the Roland because it has 4 cm less of width. Then I realized that all the cheap available transport bags are eating up that advantage. 🤔

    I totally understand what you like about it. The octave shift is of course a no-brainer feature for 61 keyboard. I use it quite often on mine. I just realized, Casio released my keyboard as 76 key version, too. Would I change if I could? Probably not, for practicing purposes 61 is still good enough, and I like the size. The 76-key version with 115 cm width would not fit that easily into the trunk of my car. I would need to transport it diagonal, eating too much space when I go for holidays with a lot of other luggage.

        cheeeeee Thank you very much for posting this pictures.
        Mozart's has 68 keys, ranging from F to C and
        Beethoven's has 72 keys, ranging from F to E. (Can't see if the top note is E or F)

        It is also interesting, that Mozart's has the modern white/black key scheme, while the picture above shows the colors inverted. (In the Mozart movie, he also played the black keyboard.) I did a short search on the internet, when this color scheme has changed but found nothing about it. Looks like in early Mozart days there was the black scheme, but in his later days it swapped. As Mozart didn't get that old, I can now narrow this down to about 1775 to 1790.

            WieWaldi

            Nice detective work 🙂. The music museum in Prague which I visited later also houses many historical pianos, including one that was used in the Mozart movie.

              WieWaldi It is also interesting, that Mozart's has the modern white/black key scheme, while the picture above shows the colors inverted.

              The instrument in the painting looks like a harpsichord to me. Even today a reversed color scheme seems very common for harpsichords, from my personal unscientific experience.

                  candela Or maybe it is a piano. The middle one shown in this video looks similar.

                    WieWaldi think 88 keys is maybe too much for a traveling keyboard. I have a 61 key Casio that weights about 5 to 6 kg including bag and all accessories

                    May I ask how you like about the action of this Casio keyboard? I’m considering the Casio S160 for traveling purposes but the Casio CT-S1 seems a more practical choice. Is the action as good as the regular models with 88 keys? Thanks.

                        I should've mentioned, that I brought my keyboard on a road trip in my car, and not a plane. Thus, easy to take with me. Otherwise, I would've brought nothing 🙂

                        cheeeeee Is the action as good as the regular models with 88 keys?

                        No way. The CT-S1 and all other CasioTone models have a spring loaded action. The CDP-S160 uses a hammer action and plays in a different league.

                        Just think about it:

                        • CT-S1: 61-keys = 4.5 kg
                        • CT-S1: 76-keys = 5.3 kg
                        • CT-S1 (88-keys theoretical) = ~6.0 kg (or 13 pounds)
                        • CDP-S160 (88-keys) 10.5 kg

                        I think this gives a good description about all spring loaded key actions in this price range:

                        HeartKeys M-Audio Keystation 88. Terrible action but weights only 13 pounds, and powered by USB. And hey it’s 88 keys.

                              WieWaldi

                              Thank you so much! This is very helpful for my decision.

                                MandM The GO: Piano is a very nice cheap and portable instrument. For people who like more variety in sounds there's also the GO: KEYS. Very comparable to the GO: Piano, but with less piano sounds and many more other sounds, such as e-piano, organ, strings, synths, marimba etc. Plus it has a fun built-in accompaniment mode and recording options. I think the keys of the GO: Piano are better weighted than those of the GO: KEYS though.

                                    Sorry for the thread drift, but I have a question about this:

                                    Bellyman Bosendorfer did extend that lower octave on down to the C below, which is kinda cool. Mostly, I see that covered up so that you can't play those notes.

                                    Do you mean the keys that are all black? They're aren't covered up, right? As seen here:

                                    Unless you're talking about a different piano?

                                        ShiroKuro , yes, that's the piano. I've never seen one in person. I do recall of pictures where they had one of these on a stage but a little cheek block extension lookin' thing that covered them up and made it look like they weren't even there.

                                          Yeah, I don’t think they’re covered, but I don’t know why those keys are all black. I will make a thread in the acoustic piano sub forum (so I don’t derail this thread anymore!)

                                          Oops, sorry, a little more thread jacking …

                                          @Bellyman you were right, those extra keys used to be covered!

                                          The extra keys, which are all at the bass end of the keyboard (that is, to the left), are colored black so that the pianist can tell them apart from the normal keys of an 88-key piano. They were originally covered with a removable panel to prevent a pianist from accidentally playing the extra notes.

                                          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_B%C3%B6sendorfer#:~:text=The%20extra%20keys%2C%20which%20are,accidentally%20playing%20the%20extra%20notes.

                                          Interesting! I guess the black color makes sense, but it doesn’t make sense to cover them! Like, are you going to flip that cover off in the middle of playing?

                                          Ostinato Hi Ostinato,
                                          I agree the GO: KEYS has more variety in sounds. I wish I could compare the action of the GO: Piano with the GO: KEYS. But I unfortunately own only the GO: Piano so I cannot compare. What I can say though is that if I had to rank the keyboards that I own, it would be GO: Piano (Spring) < Fantom-07 (Spring with better sensors ?) < Fantom8 (PHA-50). I might be wrong, but mechanically the Fantom-07 feels like the GO: Piano (both springs), but for me the playing experience is better on the Fantom-07. I am just guessing it could be better sensors on the Fantom-07.

                                          The other thing that I did not expect is that initially I had a tough time playing the spring GO: Piano. Like being able to control the volume when I hit a key. Particularly the black keys were difficult for me to play since they are shorter (closer to the pivot point) and would sometimes be either too loud or too quiet. However, having played the spring Fantom-07 for about 2 years, it has become much easier to play the GO: Piano. Also switching between spring keyboards and the weighted Fantom8 (PHA-50) takes me now only little time to adjust.

                                          Wish you a good week,

                                            Yamaha PSS-A50 review from a music teacher. What kind of music can people play with just 37 keys?

                                              5 days later

                                              WieWaldi Hey, Wie, I've been thinking about getting the CT-S1, but then saw the CT-S400, and wondered if I'd actually use the extra features in the 400 at the expense of the better sound of the S1. Did you try the 400 before getting the S1? I had hoped I could find a video of someone playing jazz on the 400 using the accompaniment feature, but never found one. Any thoughts?

                                                  PianoMonk I was just comparing Roland GO:Piano to CT-S1, and I didn't think very much about other Casiotones than the CT-S1. My only information was forums-content, YouTube clips, spec sheets and availabe transport bag sizes and their pricetags. After the Casio won over Roland, I had a short look to the other Casiotones and thougt, CT-S1 is the most minimalistic one: no display, only few sounds, and I like the look with the fabric on top. This is where I get the most piano-like experience for my money. And I thought it is the slimmest one with lowest weight. Ok, on last point I was wrong.

                                                  Jeremy See claims, CT-S1 has better piano sound over CT-400. And JPS did play them side by side. Not Jazz, but still, listen by yourself:

                                                  After using it for some time when I am at my parents place my conclusion:
                                                  Would I buy it again? yes.
                                                  Would I buy another one instead with my today's information? no.
                                                  Are 61 keys enough? Often yes, sometimes not.
                                                  Would I go for 73/76 key now? No, not worth the added bulkyness.
                                                  Is there a feature I am missing? Yes, a small display to see the bpm of the metronome. That's it, basically.

                                                      thepianoplayer416 Yamaha PSS-A50 review from a music teacher. What kind of music can people play with just 37 keys?

                                                      And the keys are NOT full size, they are 20mm mini keys. Or accordion keys if you want. A no-go for practicing piano.