Leo Nicholson studied at the Purcell School, the Junior Royal Northern College of Music, and with Douglas Finch and the late Yonty Solomon at Trinity Laban.

If you’re looking for your very first instrument to buy, we have many articles on that – including this great article called ‘Digital Piano Buyer’s Guide’. Or perhaps you’re looking to buy a real acoustic instrument, in which case read our ‘Best 11 Acoustic Pianos For Beginners’ guide. Because a digital piano relies on sampling, it can produce a range of other instrument sounds. For example, musicians can choose from such instruments as flutes, harpsichords, strings and percussion, making a digital piano an adaptable device. If nothing else, learning to play piano should be fun. The tools to develop your playing further are all here, including a metronome. Practise different time signatures and keep your timing sharp - because as any musician can tell you, if it’s not in time, it won’t sound like music! The DP-10X comes with a range of connection options - so as you develop, your piano keeps up. It's even great for performing on stage, thanks to its RCA stereo output. The DP-10X also includes an auxiliary input, so you can easily play along to music from your phone or sound system. The DP-10X digital piano is good around the home too. Its sturdy, wooden stand is lighter and more portable than an acoustic piano, and easily blends into any room. The DP-10X comes in a sleek, all-white finish, with expertly crafted keys and an uncluttered array of buttons. Underneath the keys, a convenient holder stores your headphones tidily and out of the way. There's also a retractable dust cover to keep your piano clean and protected. Connections and ToolsTwo 15 Watt speakers turn your home into a concert hall, with refined stereo sound. Alternatively, simply plug in your headphones to practise in total silence. Because no one else has to hear it, you can get more practise in. The Split, Layer and Twin modes allow you to customise your sound, in addition to built-in reverb and chorus effects. You can even record your own compositions thanks to the two onboard memory banks. Grows with Your Playing The DP-10X also makes it easier to learn your favourite songs. A transposing function lets you can take a song you want to learn and move it into an easier to play key. In Learn Mode, you can play along with any of the demo songs at your own pace, helping you study new pieces and improving your playing. Designed for the home Premium sounds: 12 voices (Incl. acoustic piano, electric piano organ, synth and bass), built-in FX: Chorus, modulation, reverb and two built in 20 W speakers for clear, room-filling sound The rubber feet on the this keyboard bench allows you to play without any movement on any surface type whilst protecting this from damage

After beginning our tests, there were a number of features that really stood out for us. First of all, there is the adjustable touch sensitivity. With this, you are able to control how loud or quiet the notes are played by how hard you play them. This essentially eliminates the need for a sustain pedal.Once you’ve done all of this, you’ll know the basics, have a great instrument and be on your way to improving your skill levels. At this point, you’ll probably want to start private piano lessons. This keyboard stool is made from steel and this allows you not only the peace of mind in supporting up to 24 stone but it will withstand the rigours of everyday life The USB-to-host connection works with both Mac and PC, so you can record your playing or control a DAW of your choice. It also becomes an exceptionally usable MIDI controller - the 5-pin MIDI output can be connected to sound modules and synthesizers for limitless sound possibilities. Two 15 Watt speakers turn your home into a concert hall, with refined stereo sound. Alternatively, simply plug in your headphones to practise in total silence. Because no one else has to hear it, you can get more practice in. The Split, Layer and Twin modes allow you to customise your sound, in addition to built-in reverb and chorus effects. You can even record your own compositions thanks to the two onboard memory banks. Grows with your playing

He was a consistent prize-winner at Trinity, winning both the John Longmire Beethoven Competition and the Alfred Kitchen Chopin Competition, and graduated with First Class Honours, the TCM Silver Medal (Keyboard) and a Silver Medal awarded by the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He continues to work as a soloist and performs with the Birmingham based contemporary group Thumb. For customers in outlying areas of the country, the price of the Extended Warranty may be marginally higher, due to the potential for higher collection and redelivery transport costs. If, for example, you want to learn to play the piano, and you choose a beginner piano tutorials course, you can be sure that nothing will be too difficult to grasp. If you’re looking to concentrate on music theory or how to improve your sight reading, they’ll have classes for that too.

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You are provided with a number of accessories including headphones, a stool and much more. The only thing that we didn't really like was the quality of the headphones as they don't seem to match the high quality of the piano itself. We were also a little disappointed that there was no cover or lid to protect the keys. At first glance, we were initially a little concerned that the piano would feel cheap compared to the other two on the list, but fortunately this was not the case at all. We were really impressed with the quality of the piano. Something that really impressed us with this model is how lightweight it is. It is perfect for performing live. Leo has a fondness for Musical Theatre, and has worked on everything from small fringe shows (Belle Canto’s Opera Hour, and the Crowd (wept) and Hamlet! The Musical) to large commercial productions (Jekyll & Hyde UK Tour). What I always look for (or listen out for) in the sound when I test a digital piano is the richness and earthiness of the bass, and the brightness as I move up the piano. Also, how harsh does it sound when played loudly and does it allow the performer to play extremely softly too. Some digital pianos struggle to maintain an authentic sound the more you listen to them, mainly because of the quality of speakers. But this doesn’t struggle at all. It sounds great and has a modern tone to it that I’ve noticed more and more digital pianos are taking on in recent years. MusicGurus is an online platform that provides music education from first-class, passionate musicians worldwide.

This digital piano has all the expected features, like chorus and reverb effects, and split and layer functions that allow you to play two instruments at the same time or split the piano. But there are also some extra features which you don’t always see on a model of this price, like 3 pedals (although most players only need the sustain), recording functions, transpose function, and 24 voices. Typically you only see around 8-10 extra instruments on a digital piano, like strings, organs, electric pianos, vibraphone, and so on. So having 24 is a bonus, but not everybody would care for this. The DP10 also features a reverb unit and chorus effect. There are four different presets for each, with no further control possible. While some may find this a bit limiting, we found the presets to be well judged, offering a useful spread of possibilities. The addition of more fine tuning controls would only add unnecessary complexity to the impressively straightforward DP10. The number 1 spot on our list of the best digital piano for the advanced pianist is the Gear4Music DP-6 Digital Piano. Gear4Music has a fantastic reputation for affordable musical instruments and we have never been disappointed by them in the past, so we were not surprised to find that we were incredibly satisfied with this model. With 88 weighted hammer action keys, you really do get an incredibly realistic piano playing experience. We tested out the notes of polyphony. Whilst we were impressed with the previous model, we found that the notes on the DP-10X had the tendency to lag on the odd occasion which was a little frustrating although it didn't cause any problems when playing. Alongside these audio connectors is a USB port. This enables you to send MIDI messages from the DP10 to your computer and vice-versa and means you could use the DP10 as a master keyboard in a studio. We'd like to have seen old-school MIDI ports as well as - or instead of - a USB port. MIDI ports are ubiquitous and would have enabled the DP10 to control other keyboards and synthesizers.

A digital piano is an electrical musical instrument which is designed to serve primarily as an alternative option to their traditional, acoustic counterparts. Unlike an acoustic piano, it has no strings, hammers and no soundboard. Instead, it has electronic sound chips and speakers, which can be used to duplicate the sound and feel of playing a traditional piano. The USB-to-host connection works with both Mac and PC, so you can record your playing or control a DAW of your choice. It also becomes an exceptionally usable MIDI controller - the 5-pin MIDI output can be connected to sound modules and synthesizers for limitless sound possibilities. Expand your Playing The DP-10X also makes it easier to learn your favourite songs. A transposing function lets you can take a song you want to learn and move it into an easier to play key. In Learn Mode, you can play along with any of the demo songs at your own pace, helping you study new pieces and improving your playing. Designed for the Home You should get an instant answer on whether your application has been successful, though in some rare cases Klarna or V12 may need to look at the application in more detail.