Yamaha EZ-200 61 Full-Sized Touch Sensitive Lighted Keyboard Bundle

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List Price: $379.88
Sale Price: $189.99
Today's Bonus: 50% Off

• 61 Full Size Keys
• 32 Notes of Polyphony
• 367 high-quality tones
• Learn to play the "EZ" way instructional method
• Stereo Speakers

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Now, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about buying a keyboard via the Internet, as I have never owned one beforehand. However, I wanted to learn how to play the piano and had heard that this was a good one to start with from several different piano teachers. Wow, this is quite the bargain. The keyboard comes with a stand, headphones (in case you don't want to run off all of your family and friends as you're learning to play), and also a power adapter. I was surprised to find out that the keyboard does not normally come with these features, (as they are traditionally sold separately), but this package comes with all of these features!

The keyboard comes with about 100 built-in songs, (a part of the Yamaha Educational Suite), which you can learn to play along with. (Personally, I have found it easier to buy the Bastien learning series books, as the songs that are included with this keyboard are in small print. This is just my experience, but since I am teaching myself to play, I have found these starter books to be a wonderful guide for an absolute beginner. I am already starting to play songs that I never dreamed possible! Wow, so cool...)

One thing that I really like about this keyboard is that it's piano voice sounds just like a high-quality grand piano. Best of all, the keyboard is very simple to use -and not complicated.

One thing that I am disappointed in is that it does not come with a USB connection. Instead, I had to buy a MIDI-connector for $40 dollars, so I could connect it to my Mac. I wanted to record my playing, but quickly discovered that Apple's Garageband couldn't seem to work with it. Yes, I have read the instruction manual and followed its directions step-by-step, but still no results. Garageband claims that its connected, but no results.

Overall, this is a great keyboard for getting started. If you are hoping to record your music, you might want to check into a more expensive Yamaha model with a USB connector.

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I read many reviews of this keyboard before I purchased it, both good and bad, and I agree with a number of the comments others have made -I love the keyboard, hate the stand.

First, I love this keyboard and the teaching system. I have found the multiple teaching methods to be very handy and clever. You have the option of learning by following along with a demonstration while the keys light up, or you can just sit and watch and learn, or you can practice tapping out the rhythm on any key just to get the pacing right, or you can use the "wait" method, where the keys light up and the song plays along with you, but if you stop or get the wrong key, the system waits for you, holds the song at that point, lights up the correct key(s) to hit, and does not proceed until you get it right, then continues. I like that you can turn off the demonstration at any point, and you can turn off the lighted keys if you like and just play the instrument like a regular piano.

You can also learn by following the diagram of the two hands in a window just above the keys, which shows which fingers on both hands are used to play each note. If you are a slower learner and prefer to learn one hand at a time, you can program the instruction to mute the left or right hand so you can concentrate on just one.

You can also learn by looking at the staves that picture each note and where it appears on the lines or spaces, which is great if you do not read music yet and have no idea how the black and white piano keys relate to the notes on the page.

I love the feature that allows you to set the tempo, and I have learned many a difficult passage by slowing down that particular section, then using the repeat feature to automatically run through that part over and over until I tell it to stop, then returning to the next section, at either the normal tempo or continuing in a slower tempo. I love the feature that allows you to have chords automatically accompany you using just one finger of the left hand while you focus on learning the right hand melody, OR, if you want to play the keyboard like a regular piano, you can turn off the auto-accompaniment and play the full chords yourself.

There are hundreds of voices and styles and tunes to choose from, and the instruction booklet that comes with the keyboard teaches you how to use all those features. One of the most amazing aspects is how the voice called "Grand Piano" makes your electric keyboard sound like just that -like having a baby grand in the living room. Or you can make yourself sound like a church organ or violins or brass or woodwinds and on and on. You can add drumbeats and other backgrounds in absolutely any musical style you can think of. A legend printed above the keys offers numerous short-cut suggestions for choosing the style and voice you want. A keypad lets you choose which song you would like to learn, and those numbers correspond to the songs in the songbook that comes with the keyboard, and these songs are programmed into the listen-and-learn built-in songs. My only complaint with the song book is the notes are printed so tiny I have to squint. I guess they did that to squeeze in the songs on the fewest pages to save printing costs and to keep beginners from having to turn so many pages.

I've had my keyboard a little over a month, and I am already sight-reading and playing Chopin and Beethoven pieces, but I must admit I already had some musical background on a different instrument, and that helped some. But if you want a system where you can be playing a tune the very next day after your package arrives, this is the keyboard for you.

All in all, I love this keyboard.

Now for the downer: all the bad things that other reviewers said about the stand that comes with this keyboard are true -this stand simply DOES NOT fit this keyboard. If you put your keyboard on top of this stand, your keyboard will slide off and crash to the floor. I knew this before buying and decided I wanted the keyboard anyway. I have to set my keyboard on a separate table, but it is not really the right height for proper keyboard hand position so I have to put pillows in the chair to bring me up to the right height. That's rather pesky.

If it weren't for this ridiculously wrong stand, I would have given this product five stars. What could Yamaha be thinking when they packaged this stand with this keyboard when it CLEARLY does not fit it? I'm amazed a company with as good a reputation in the musical instruments world as Yamaha has would risk their reputation this way. Shame on them for not fixing the problem, now that they know about it. (Numerous buyers have alerted them.)

Now back to the keyboard: I also wish to point out that once I got the hang of the Yamaha lighted keyboard system, which only took a day or two, I also ordered two more things separately. I bought the book offered on Amazon called "How to Play Keyboards" by Roger Evans, and I really learned a lot from this little book (under ten dollars). I'm glad I bought it because he offers some techniques that are a bit more advanced, and he has some great tunes in his instruction book. The book is a paperback and tightly bound so it does not lie flat on the music book stand that comes with your Yamaha, but I use two bean bags to hold my pages down.

The other thing I purchased (from ) was Will Barrow's "Learn and Master Piano" instructional package of 14 DVDs, 5 play-along CDs, and a 100-plus page lesson book, This is one amazing instructional method. It's much more advanced than the lighted-key method, but if you want to learn piano in a more complete way, this is one fantastic system. It isn't cheap, but you get a lot for your money. Note that there are one or two spots where your 61-key keyboard will leave you a bit in the lurch, since this system assumes you will be seated in front of 88 keys, but I did not find this to be too pesky, and it did not come up that often. He doesn't start with childish tunes like so many teaching methods do; he gives you Lennon-McCartney tunes, well-known rock piano segments (Lean on Me, Louie Louie, and so on), as well as classical pieces. The video instructor, Will Barrow, comes across as pleasant, knowledgeable, highly professional, and patient (not to mention that he is painfully good-looking, but I digress).

You don't have to buy that extra system to learn to play electronic keyboard; the Yamaha book will give you enough to teach you what you need to know and have you playing tunes in no time. You DO have to practice, though, to become proficient so set aside time to work on your techniques. You can plug in the headphones that come with your Yamaha so you won't disturb other family members while you are learning.

I hope you found my review helpful, and if you get one of these keyboards, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I am enjoying mine.

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This is my first real keyboard and I got it to learn to play piano. I've only had it a few days but I'm really impressed by it so far. The keyboard seems to be really good with teaching songs, not only do the keys light up but it tells you which fingers to use and it can teach one hand at a time which is nice for a beginner. I really wasn't expecting much but this thing sounds like a real piano and even the stand and headphones are pretty good quality.

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For someone looking for instant gratification, this keyboard offers just that. Open the box, read the simple instructions and begin playing even classical pieces because the keyboard will tell you where to put your fingers exactly! From there you can memorize the piece yourself so you can play without needing the assistance. Great Idea

--This was purchased for my daughter to have something to practice on while taking piano lessons, and I have been teaching myself as well. Granted, this is an "electric" piano so it does not have the sound of a real piano, but neither does a $2000 Yamaha. If you want a real piano just buy one, if your testing the water or if you need something small and easy to practice on this will certainly do.

--Mine worked right out of the box and has had no problems. It comes with a song book and a detailed but easy to read instruction manual. The power supply is stamped Yamaha and contrary to other reviewers experiences I have had no problems. The stand also has worked fine for me. We have 2 large energetic dogs and they have not knocked it over yet. True, the keyboard does not snap or screw into the stand but so far it has been fine for us.

--The touch sensitivity works really well considering the price, I can count about six degrees of loudness depending on how firmly the key is played. The keys are about the right size and they play well but again they are not "weighted" and they don't feel like a real piano but they don't feel cheap or poorly made either. There are 2 Grand Piano voices and a couple others and they sound authentic at first but the more you play the more acutely you become aware of the subtle "electric" sound, especially with any sustain.

I'll update this if any major defects surface.