Electronic Keyboard - Classification

Classification

Some manufacturers and retailers (for example: Yamaha) divide their keyboard products into the following categories:

• Digital Pianos - "Full-sized keyboards that sound and feel like an acoustic piano".
• Stage Pianos - "Professional performance for the studio and stage".
• Synthesizers - "Unlimited creative potential for any style of music".
• Digital keyboards - "Hundreds of voices and sounds … interactive tutorials … Portable".

Compared to digital pianos or stage pianos, digital keyboards are usually much lower in cost, have unweighted keyboards but have a great many ancillary controls and usually feature on-board loudspeakers. Unlike synthesisers, the primary focus is not on detailed control of sound synthesis parameters.