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I am being pestered to buy a harmonium. by my mother.. She wants to teach her grand child, all of four years. ;-D

Without going into good or bad of starting at that age, I feel that she (the grandmother) does deserve one.

But I feel that it may be better to buy an electronic one, rather than the acoustic ones, which require "pumping". (Hope I got the term right).

Though purpose is teaching a kid, mother is fairly good player of harmonium, so I am not looking at entry level ones. She is currently using a triple reed one (that is the kind used by professionals).

Some search on the net shows that reasonable looking ones are available for around 5K, but I am clueless when it comes to parsing the specifications. Some models from Casio are priced at 2/3K, but they look like toys.

The questions:-
a. How do I know if a particular model has harmonium or not?
b. Will I need to buy speakers / amplifiers separately?
c. What about powersupply?

Any specific models suggested?

I am very flexible on budget - but not anything over 10K.

Thanks in advance.

CASIO MA 150 is the best choice : should cost you around 2.5 to 3k. Buy it with the adaptor and cover. It's got 4 octaves, polyphony (multi-key pressing at the same time for chord effects). May not need further speakers/amplifiers. Has got harmonium like sounds.

The other option in the 8 to 10k range is the CASIO CTK IN series, which has Indian instrument tones like Sitar, Harmonium, with better sound quality.

Go for the latter if your budget permits.

Importantly, you MUST take your mother to the shop and have her play on both these models, before deciding.

Hope this helps, and Wishing you happy musical times!!

Answered in bold . Hope it helps

I personally prefer Yamaha to Casio. I have a Yamaha PSR-E403 which used to be 14.5k with bill and warranty which you may get for around 10-11k without bill and warranty. It has even got a pitch bend wheel usually found in much higher end models.

And about your specific questions:
a. How do I know if a particular model has harmonium or not?
If you are looking for the harmonium sound - you can check the manual for the list of sounds that can be played with the instrument.

b. Will I need to buy speakers / amplifiers separately?
Lower priced (2-3k) models come with integrated mono speaker(s) and the higher priced (8-10k) ones usually come with stereo speakers. These are good enough for home practise/use. You can then connect this to a home theatre system or an amplifier/speaker setup.

c. What about powersupply?
You need to buy a power adaptor specified by the keyboard model. Most of the dealers would give this to you for free.

There are some very good musical instrument shops in Kochi, Aluva etc. I do not have the addresses with me, but you should be able to find them easily.

Yamaha has a new keyboard with 30 Indian voices including harmonium single, double and triple reeds and also some Indian styles. Take a look - https://www.yamahamusicindia.com/pro...px?ImageId=163

It is beyond your budget at MRP given on the site. But you might get it 2-3k cheaper without bill and warranty.

Wish this model was there when I bought mine :(

Can anyone shed some light on Casio CTK 5000 vs Yamaha PSR-i425? Is the Yamaha worth ~6k extra?

It would be better to play both the keyboards to see which sounds better in terms voice quality. You can then compare the specs and decide which gives better value for money. Pick the one whose voice samples you like better.

My daughter will be going for keyboard lessons soon. There's a lot of debate (seems age old infact!) between Casio Vs Yamaha, I'm finally of the opinion that the Casio entry level one (5 Octaves, 61 Keys) should be good enough for now. The teacher recommends Casio CTK-2200. Looking around for this, I also found some stores having CTK-2300 which is a newer updated model with same features and also same price. Am I on the right track buying either of these ? :D
EDIT: Wow, TBHP was definitely not the place I expected a discussion on this subject, TBHP rocks!

I am a keyboardist. Been playing since around ten years. I was initially using a Casio CTK 810IN, and now graduated to a KORG :D

Pardon me for not knowing prices. After using a Casio, I can assure you that the Yamaha has better samples. Casio does have good chord pattterns and a good set of indian accompaniments. But when it comes to outright SQ, it is the Yamaha that scores. If there is a Yamaha available for the same price, then go for it. Else you will have to stick to the Casio. Also one more thing is that Casio has this very aggressive attitude of updating features regularly so it is better you opt for the new variant.

Let me be frank. Many do not pursue lessons after some time. This can be due to various factors. But for those who are really interested(I am no way eligible to judge your daughter, but telling my experience) then it is better you buy a keyboard in the 15k range now itself. If keyboard lessons go well and your daughter will grasp it fast, then she will require a better Keyboard to improve her skills. Hence you may have to upgrade too.

Another important feature between the Casio and the yamaha is that the style of keys. The CTK series come with 'Piano-style' keys whereas most Yamahas come with 'Organ' style keys. Both have its own merits and demerits. Theoretically I know nothing. But having played on both for years, I would prefer organ style keys for playing Indian music, like Classical, Movie songs and light music. The piano style keys are best used for playing tones like the grand piano wherein you can express sound in a better way. However, when it comes to playing notes quickly, like say an ARR song which has lots of variations, my hands glide freely over my Korg which has organ style keys rather than the casio. Also, organ style keys have lesser travel which will help play notes easily.

Check out my youtube channel where I have done a very few songs: http://www.youtube.com/user/sanshrinand

I have been playing a PSR i425 for last 3-4 years and would recommend it to anyone with 20k budget. It has everything that PSR E-403 has plus it has Indian voices. The harmonium sounds as authentic as a real one. The only missing feature is tracks recording & sequencing.

Yamaha sounds better than Casio anyday.

Thanks a ton for your valuable feedback :thumbs up This is in line with what some friends (keyboardists) told me as well, so here's my line of thought:
Yes, the SQ and keys are different/better with the Yamaha but for a starter these should not be an issue. The Casio seems more VFM at the moment given the price point, the cheapest Yamaha would be ~3-4K more. Also, the song bank in Casio is being used during the course.
Coming to the sustained interest levels, we can't say at this moment and I definitely will leave that for her to decide.
If it goes well, then we can buy a better one - maybe a Yamaha or even a KORG or Roland, who knows, maybe one of those models that support Indian instruments as well :D
At this point, I don't even know if she'll focus on Indian Classical, popular/light or Western classical/popular genres.
Given this, it's not a bad idea to start off with one that is not too expensive on the pocket, can always be used for practice and carrying around.
So CTK-2300 seems like the one we'll get. Thanks again!
And your rendition of 'Kurai onrum illai' is very nice!

Thanks for the appreciation. I do agree that CASIOs are VFM. Whats the budget btw? Sorry I have no idea of costs. Only recent purcgase that I made was for a kid cousin whom we got a CTK1100. Decent enough for what he is learning and playing. Indeed for western and Indian light music it is very good and the accompaniments are nice. As you are making an informed purchase I dont think you will regret not buying a Yamaha. Yeah buy a Korg for her. It is by far the best investment I made. We make sounds out of it rather than playing whats given :D wish the best of luck to your daughter. As a parent please do your best in encouraging her and to continue the course. Music will be a great thing to spend time with.

I would suggest going for Casio at this age. Model/features do not matter that much for a 5 year old. My nephew started with Casio MA 120 and later we got Yamaha PSR-I455 for him once he started showing interest.

It took him 2 years to outgrow bare-bones Casio.

Thanks a ton for the words of wisdom and encouragement. We got the Casio CTK 2300 and a bag for Rs.7k together.

Nice to hear that you purchased the Keyboard. Also consider getting a stand as that will be useful in providing a proper standing or sitting position compared to a stool, table etc. They arent so expensive and I remember paying 1500 for a stand more than five years back. That was for a self locking version which is very easy to use. The manually locking stands are even cheaper I guess. Not sure about the recent rates as I have been using it since then and wherever I go, the setup will be ready and assembled before I lay my hands on it.