The Yamaha DGX-500 electronic keyboard is an amazing bargain at $600. It contains the full set of 88 piano keys and can replicate over 100 instruments. It has a built-in metronome, a small LCD screen, impressive volume, and features which I am only beginning to discover. When I sit on the bench--included, needs assembly--and plunk out a tune, the keys have the width and responsiveness of the upright pianos that I knew in my youth. (Confession: I am NOT a pianist but did study the violin for eight years so I can at least read the treble clef.)
Prompting the purchase was the commencement of piano lessons by my son. I had been mulling over the prospect of spending $1,500 to $2,000 for a good upright; I hated to spend the money if he wasn't going to stay with the lessons, and even a small piano can be awkward to move in and out of the house. So the Yamaha was the perfect solution: cheap, high-quality, and lightweight. I bought it, but not without a pang of regret for the makers of traditional pianos and the craftsmen whose hard-won skills are no longer in great demand. There but for the grace of God go I.
Yesterday and today the fog rolled in, enveloping Alcatraz before marching east.
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