If you are a beginner or you are going to get a keyboard for your children, then you don’t need to spend a a lot of money to pick up a first-rate quality, seriously featured electronic piano keyboard. For a used beginner's music keyboard, anything up to fifty pounds will do and if you wish for a new midi keyboard then one hundred pounds will do it.

These days musical keyboards at a price range of up to a hundred pounds have lots of functions and if you are in the market for a new keyboard, you will almost certainly get what you require as a beginner. If on the other hand you are buying a second-hand keyboard then you should check out some useful features your keyboard should have. I have listed a some of these features below and they can make the learning process a little bit easier.

Velocity Sensitive Keyboard

Using a velocity sensitive keyboard means you can add a bit of light and shade to your playing. By adjusting the force you apply to the keys will control whether the sound is loud or soft. Press down hard and the sound is loud, press delicately and the sound is soft.

Full Size Keys

Again, most contemporary piano keyboards today possess full size piano keys. Some older electronic piano keyboards may have half size keys. These were introduced to aid young children with smaller fingers to play the musical keyboard more effectively. This of course is more marketing than fact and having half size or mini keys offer no useful assistance to learning whatsoever and I recommend you avoid these types of keyboards if you are serious about learning to play.

Adjustable Keyboard Stand

If you purchase a secondhand portable keyboard, you might be lucky and get a keyboard stand with it. When buying a new keyboard, stands are classed as an optional extra. Still, it's worth the additional expence to get one and if you have youngsters of various ages and sizes, the fact that it's adjustable comes in very handy.

Of course, there are lots and lots of features available on new digital keyboards, some you will find useful some you probably will never use. The great thing is that portable keyboards in the hundred-pound range are specifically designed for the novice and if you take some private or online piano keyboard lessons, you will get a good start.

If you want to buy an electronic keyboard for yourself, how do you decide which brand to choose.  You need to consider the price of the keyboard, obviously its got to suit your budget and you also want a good make, not a toy and its got to be easy to use, so you don't want a workstation keyboard or a synthesizer.

The ideal solution, especially if you are a beginner is to opt for a used Casio Keyboard. You can easily pick one up for less than a hundred pounds; they are a respected brand and are very easy to use.

You should be looking for a minimum of 61 keys on the Casio keyboard of your choice; in fact some of the older WK Casio's have a 76 key keyboard. All Casio's have a generous amount of sound presets including Piano, Brass, Organ and String sounds. They also come with over a hundred Drum Styles and an automatic chord recognition computer built in.

eBay is probably the best place to buy Casio keyboards, there are lots of listing and lots of bargains. Just set your budget, make sure you get a power supply and a stand with the deal and you're all set to go.