Hammer Action vs. Graded Hammer Action

How important do you think is the Key action of a Digital Piano? Should it matter much to a beginner if a Digital Piano has hammer action or graded hammer action? Is the extra cost justified if a beginner wants to go in for a graded hammer action digital piano and NOT a hammer action one?

There is no straight answer to these questions but I will try.

Are you used to playing on Synth Action? - The touch of a keyboard is a relative thing and depends on the proficiency of the player. Any player who has practised on a musical keyboard (synth action type) will find it difficult to play on a hammer action piano but may be not on a weighted action piano.

Hammer or Graded? - Anybody who plays on a hammer action piano should be able to play on almost any piano. He/she might have to make some adjustments to play on a graded hammer action piano.

For instance if you have to give some piano exam or if you have to play for your school function and the piano there has a graded hammer action then you will have to practice for some sessions on that piano. Now, having a graded hammer action will help in this case but you can still manage without it if you can have some practice sessions as mentioned before.

Concert pianists - Lot of Concert pianists practice on graded hammer action and if you ask them to play on a hammer action, they will complain as they have got used to it and probably they may not be able to play some of the pieces with ease. Again, with some adjustments they can still mange on a hammer action piano but they have reached that level of proficiency that they do not want to compromise; and since they are getting paid for their performances almost everybody has a graded hammer action piano.

Explore various models - A beginner may not appreciate the difference between graded hammer and hammer action and it may not affect his playing for quite some time. I know a lot of people will be tempted to go in for the best but I think you can definitely explore other models which are cheaper.

You can even explore the possibility of going in for a slightly cheaper stage piano instead of models like the Clavinova and give yourself around 5 years to prove that you are really serious about your piano playing. And if you show enough potential, you could always consider selling this one off and buying yourself a graded hammer one. This is just my suggestion. You may not like the look of a stage piano at all. Proper digital pianos add to the aesthetics of the house so you will have to do some thinking here.

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