CASIO Piano Keyboard - Review - CTK-3500 - Perfect for Beginners or Anyone Wanting to Learn Piano

Since I grew into a "mature person of a certain age"  I decided it was time to learn a few new things to help keep the brain cells working.

I had read that learning new things creates pathways in your brain, which to me sounds like a good thing.  So, I started knitting, and different crafts, but I had always wanted to play the piano since I was a kid, but our family home simply did not have the room or the money.

Fast forward to present, and it still doesn't have the room!  So, my hubby purchase a CASIO CTK-3500 for me for Christmas and said it was time to practice!  Which sounds like work... but it is not!

CASIO CTK-3500

I was a bit skeptical at first that I could even learn how to play anything until I hauled out the manual and discovered there were built in songs that you could learn.  Even showing where to put your hands.  I just used this button below:

Don't Get Overwhelmed by the Amount of Buttons on this Keyboard!

If you are very new to this, like me, start with the SONG BANK button.  It is to the right of the screen in the center of the console.

In the song bank you will find all kinds of songs to try out, perfect for beginners and upwards.  I started with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Start with the Right Hand First

I have never played piano, so I didn't know what to do with the left hand yet, so I simply followed the diagram of the hand showing which fingers and which keys to use.  To make it so that it only plays with the right hand I pushed this key below:

PART SELECT Button

This allowed me to have both hands showing in the screen or just one hand playing.  The START/STOP button is what you use if you need to stop or repeat.

Just work on this for a while.  My Biggest suggestion is don't let the console overwhelm you!  Taking it a bit at time gets you familiar.

It is Fun to Be Able to Play Something Right Away with Your Choice of Accompaniment!

 I didn't offend the ears of others in the house, there were no scales to practice, just dive in with the song bank. Of course if you already can play then you can have a lot of fun with this keyboard. It can carry a lot of sound.  So below is my Pros and Cons list.  I hope this can help anyone deciding what to do.  I am telling you the price is right!  This model I have.. is the CASIO CTK-3500

PRO:

• Awesome keyboard to learn on
• Sounds like a piano (or anything you want it to sound like, but I wanted the piano sounds)
• Song Bank full of songs you can start on right away
• Perfect for anyone who want to play the piano but without the room and investment of a actual piano!
• Super light weight

CONS:

• There instruction manual is way to small.  It is a bit to shrunken for me.  Blame my age maybe, but I at first found the manual overwhelming, so I simply looked up each button and its use and went from there.
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• Doesn't come with a stand.  I am presently using my Dining table (as you can see in the picture it was setup for Christmas dinner with the festive table clot!)
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• I think they should create a package deal so you can have the option of a stand for it.

At the time of this post, there were 1475 reviews of this product.  I mean for anyone wanting to learn the piano, organ or keyboard, and who doesn't want to invest to much, you have to check this out.  I am super enjoying the learning process.

I have been enjoying playing from the SONG BANK, but have decided to purchase a proper keyboard book so that maybe one day I can read music.

But for right now it is fun to be able to play songs along with the instrumental background music.

By being able to play something right away, this keeps you interested, and is fun not a chore!  I am totally enjoying this and hope my brain pathways are turning into roads.

For under 150 bucks, you can't go wrong with the quality.  For all ages!