Elias is Back! Watch this 7yo Piano Prodigy with a lot of Spunk!

Piano prodigy Elias Phoenix, 7yo at the time of this recording, completely wowed audiences when he made his first debut performance on the Ellen show.  He returned for another great performance and entertaining personality soon after that.  This boy has a lot of spunk!  I am surprised that a child with that much energy could “still” himself long enough to go through the dedicated hours and days and years it takes to build up his piano skills to the high performance level he’s achieved.

On a side note, the one thing that struck me as a little odd is Ellen’s present.  She gave him a sound system, which is a perfect gift – good job on that, Ellen! – but the funny thing was the 66-key keyboard that accompanied the set.  These keyboards rarely (or never?) have weighted keys, so it would be very difficult for a classical pianist to use.  It would feel like playing piano sequences on a laptop keyboard.  It’s very unsatisfying to play, but it’s also difficult to have control with the overly light feel.

We always give parents the ok to purchase an inexpensive 66-key keyboard for their young student when they are first starting – if they are really on a tight budget and don’t want to make a large purchase upfront – but even then it is not ideal.  88-key weighted key keyboards, however, work great for long term study and even for professionals, because the feel and key range is practically identical to an acoustic piano.  Some Kawai-brand keyboards even sell keyboards with wooden keys, just like an acoustic piano key, and use the same hammer action inside the keyboard for a perfect replication. 

The only difference is that the piano sounds coming out of a digital keyboard are pre-recorded sounds, whereas an acoustic piano is creating its own sounds and has a big resonant chamber for the sound waves.  This is much more satisfying for a pianist, but has nothing to do with the actual execution of playing, so any piano can practice and perform on an acoustic or weighted-key keyboard with equal ease.

One piano with weighted keys that is a great deal is the Casio CDP-120.  It was replaced with a new version, so the old version has dropped in price.  It was once listed at $450, but is now hovering around $300.  It can often be difficult to find a weighted-key keyboard for under $400, so this is a great deal.

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