Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto! Keyboard, piano!

Not me  - but the organ Dan Starr learned

Well, aren’t they the same things? Or different?

Friends, another "guest post" from my fellow SoCal instructor, Nancee Marin. She also is a superb guitar teacher, by the way.
 
I’m part of a Players of Musical Keyboards, a LinkedIn Group: http://tinyurl.com/anehh4m

Recently someone posted this question there (italics mine):

Hi. Everyone! I just joined the group…I only recently started learning to play the keyboard with Youtube videos. What’s the difference between playing a KEYBOARD and a Piano?? I’m curious because someone said something about playing notes on a piano and playing Chords on a keyboard. huh?? got me real confused!

You can read the answers of open-minded pro musicians/teachers (one of whom is a friend of mine) here:
http://tinyurl.com/by7do7c

My short take/response is that the piano is ONE of several types of keyboard instruments. (Even in formal academic settings, the word keyboard is used as a general term to refer to organs, pianos, harpsichords, etc.) Fingerings, keys, etc., are exactly the same.

The main differences:

*Action. Acoustic pianos have higher action (meaning you have to press the keys harder to make a sound) and some have lighter one. Grand pianos typically have higher action than upright or other smaller pianos. Modern organs, portable keyboards, digital pianos, and synths have lower action. On digital pianos, the action can be controlled or adjusted to your preference.

Old Akai synthesizer

*Sounds. Obviously, all acoustic pianos only have one kind of sound—that of an acoustic piano, of course. The organ has many different sounds available. Digital pianos, portable keyboards, and synths have the sounds of instruments other than keyboards. If you have an eclectic taste in music, a digital or synth is your best bet when it comes to owning a keyboard instrument. Its practicality (size, portability, and no tuning necessary) is a good enough reason to have one.

It’s important to spell out the differences because, believe it or not, there are those who think the piano is pretty much the same as an organ! Let me tell you something that happened many years ago. I was asked to be an accompanist for a wedding ceremony. It’s usually an easy thing, especially for a traditional one, since the instrument, usually an acoustic piano, is normally already available at the venue. The bride assured me that there would be a piano On the day of the wedding, I was just pretty shocked to find that there was INDEED an instrument—a PIPE ORGAN! NO PIANO in sight! She had a little “duh” moment. She thought that the piano was basically the same thing as an organ and people who played the piano could automatically play the organ (and vice versa—common misconception right there)! There was a back-up instrument, a portable (cheapo) keyboard, but that didn’t work, either. Someone didn’t do one’s due diligence. There was only a little bit of live music as a result. Nonetheless, the show had to go on, and it just so happened that one of the invitees knew how to play the organ and she was drafted as an emergency organist for the ceremony. Live music for the reception was skimpy because a properly working piano or keyboard wasn’t available.

For the record, there are distinct skills on the organ that are non-existent on the piano such as registration, the technique of choosing and combining the stops (sounds) of the organ, as well as pedaling, which is basically playing the keyboard with your feet! This is entirely different from pedaling on the piano, which mostly deals with sustaining the sounds. (There are other pedals on the piano that perform other functions, but I won’t get into them as they’re a bit beyond the scope of discussion here, and they’re not as frequently used as the damper/sustain pedal.)

As for playing notes on the piano vs. playing chords on the keyboard, it’s just a matter of confused terminologies. Three or more notes constitute a chord and they are played on all kinds of keyboards. Notes can be played separately, one note at a time, in blocked chords (several notes played at the same time), broken chords (notes belonging to certain chords played individually), or a combination of all of those elements. It’s as simple as that.

There’s so much confusion and misconception about the piano, keyboard, etc., and I’d love to shed some light on the subject. Please do feel free to shoot me any question(s) you may have so I can address them on my next blog/article!
Peace!
Nancee
http://pianolessonsredlands.com
http://www.facebook.com/NanceeMarinMusic