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.
My traveling practice keyboard setup!
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WieWaldi
Agree.
Not sure why a teacher would recommend a keyboard with 37 keys to a student when travelling. It's like the plastic toy keyboard I had at age 5 with barely 3 octaves. Even for composing music on computer, you need to octave up & down when notes are out of range. Anybody who would use this keyboard for practice would be a beginner.
After using a Piano de Voyage from France away from home, I wouldn't use anything else. Comes in 4 modules about 3 kg that fits into a suitcase which isn't all that heavy.
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at around the 12 min mark, she does acknowledge that it's pretty crappy for conventional practicing (scales, arpeggios, licks, dynamics, etc.), but can be useful for things like practicing chords, theory, or just plain fun.
WieWaldi Hey, Wie. I've seen that video, don't care for that reviewer, and didn't really cover what I was looking for. On the CT-S1, is there a way to record a piece, save it to a USB stick, and play it elsewhere, or load it into a DAW via midi? Not being able to save a recording to export is a deal breaker for me in either case.
PianoMonk It has only a single headphone out and a micro USB-jack "USB to host", that allows to record digitally with a laptop (or a smart device). It has a USB-A port labelled as "USB to device" but I can't store my recording onto a USB stick. This is meant as port for wireless for MIDI & Audio. (buy an extra casio adapter).
I can see the appeal of that 37 key Yamaha, because at that size and weight it would be easy to transport and comfortable to have on your lap for an hour or two - something that might not be the case for slightly larger, heavier keyboards. The reviewer was very clear that it would not be suitable to practice grade 3 pieces on, but for a person like me, who is hovering between grade 1 and grade 2, it might be a fun size keyboard to use while on holiday, sat on a beach or in a villa somewhere. It has limitations but is a convenient way to practice while away from home, and the sound effects might be fun to experiment with. It also has 32 note polyphony - something lacking on toy keyboards. A nice extra to have, for someone who travels a lot (like Nav, who mentioned that he has a similar size keyboard which he takes on his travels).
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Nightowl The big downside are the mini-keys with 20 mm of width (white keys are 20 mm, whereas white keys on a full size keyboard are almost 24mm wide). This means if you practice there something with an octave, your muscle memory would hit a seventh when you are back on your main piano.
It is as she said, you can teach music theory, test chords and harmony, compose new melodies.
But I disagree to her about sight reading: If your eyes locked on sheet music, your fingers must be able to rely on equal distances between the keys.
WieWaldi If your eyes locked on sheet music, your fingers must be able to rely on equal distances between the keys.
You know, it always amazes me how fast the brain adjusts though. The other day I played a friend's piano. Hers is probably close to a century old and used to teach, so probably got banged around a lot. Our Clavinova has super heavy action and hers is feather light, so she probably thought I was trying to hammer a nail in! But my point is, it took me 30 seconds to make mental adjustments to lighten my touch and sound "normal".
Same with my kitty keyboard - any time I play it, the first 3 seconds I will hit the wrong note, but then again my brain adjusts to the smaller keys. I'm not dismissing what you said 
I'm just saying that it's probably a little less of a problem that it seems at first. For non-serious playing around I might add 
I still want another keyboard too... a little more serious one that is. The kitty keyboard is adorable but it can only sound two notes at once - quite useless for anything but a few meow meows!
WieWaldi The big downside are the mini-keys with 20 mm of width (white keys are 20 mm, whereas white keys on a full size keyboard are almost 24mm wide). This means if you practice there something with an octave, your muscle memory would hit a seventh when you are back on your main piano.
I wish acoustic and digital pianos come in multiple sizes that can fit small-handed people like me without compromising sound quality and features. At standard size, an octave spans 6.5 inches (165mm, or 23.6mm per key). I read that Hailun makes narrower ones at 6.0 inches (21.8mm per key), and 5.5 inches (20.0mm per key).
There is also a fascinating video of one guy in Pennsylvania that retrofits grand piano with narrower keys.
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I'll allow you that illusion... for now 
The truth will come out eventually anyway...
13 days later
Has anyone here tried, or do you own, the Yamaha PSR e383?
