Key action for newbie? - 11/29/21 06:19 PM
Hi! I am a 57 year old guitar player (40+ years), songwriter, home recording-type guy. I have a cheap MIDI keyboard controller (Roland PC-180), and I am considering getting a better keyboard and trying to learn to increase my keyboard skills rather than just plunking about.
As a musician and gearhead I can figure out most of the features I want/need, but in there is one characteristic that I don’t know how to decide: what kind of key action.
Every piece of advice I have found online says learn on weighted (hammer?) action, and better yet graded action, because otherwise you won’t be able to play a real piano. There is also a suggestion that weighted action will cause you to develop better finger strength.
But here’s the thing: The odds of me ever wanting (much less needing) to play a real piano are very, very small. I don’t care if I can play a real piano. There is a good chance that whatever keyboard I buy will be the only keyboard I will play, unless miraculously it somehow turns out that I am a natural pianist and never should have picked up the stupid guitar.
Given my goals, what would you say the pros and cons of different kinds of keyboard action would be? What kind of action is likely to be most useful to me in improving my keyboard skills with the least effort and frustration? Will semi-weighted be pretty much the same as my cheap midi controller? Also, which is most versatile? Is it “better” to try to play organs and synths with a weighted keyboard, or “better” to try to play piano sounds with a semi-weighted keyboard?
And, if the answer is to get a weighted keyboard, is there any reason to want a graded action (remembering that I am unlikely to play a real piano, ever)? Would I be correct in believing I would want a lighter action?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!
As a musician and gearhead I can figure out most of the features I want/need, but in there is one characteristic that I don’t know how to decide: what kind of key action.
Every piece of advice I have found online says learn on weighted (hammer?) action, and better yet graded action, because otherwise you won’t be able to play a real piano. There is also a suggestion that weighted action will cause you to develop better finger strength.
But here’s the thing: The odds of me ever wanting (much less needing) to play a real piano are very, very small. I don’t care if I can play a real piano. There is a good chance that whatever keyboard I buy will be the only keyboard I will play, unless miraculously it somehow turns out that I am a natural pianist and never should have picked up the stupid guitar.

Given my goals, what would you say the pros and cons of different kinds of keyboard action would be? What kind of action is likely to be most useful to me in improving my keyboard skills with the least effort and frustration? Will semi-weighted be pretty much the same as my cheap midi controller? Also, which is most versatile? Is it “better” to try to play organs and synths with a weighted keyboard, or “better” to try to play piano sounds with a semi-weighted keyboard?
And, if the answer is to get a weighted keyboard, is there any reason to want a graded action (remembering that I am unlikely to play a real piano, ever)? Would I be correct in believing I would want a lighter action?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!