The Yamaha YPT Keyboards are fine entry level arranger music keyboards, suitable for beginners who want to get started. Unlike the PSR series, the YPT series only has a few music keyboards, and they are all designed for the beginner keyboard player. So if you get a good deal on a YPT keyboard, by all means consider it. Both beginners, and also intermediate level keyboard players can consider the Yamaha YPT keyboards series.
Introduction
Are you an experienced keyboardist looking for a home keyboard or something to use as you travel around the country (just for fun). Or, are you a novice looking for a portable keyboard so that you can practice anywhere and anytime you want to.
Whatever your skill level, you can benefit from the amazing capabilities and ease of use of Yamaha YPT-Series.
The Yamaha YPT keyboards are inexpensive and come with a decent set of features.
These keyboards come with several sounds & features, has built-in lessons to help you learn, and is an entry-level keyboard. Its ideal keyboard for the learner.
Good speakers, sounds, on-board lessons, & ability to make it work with other iOS devices as well as a computer, make these a useful instrument for beginners.
You also get the bundled versions that include the keyboard, and also some accessories such as stand, dust cover, and headset.
These are great for playing and practicing at home, and great for beginners. Navigating its settings is easy. You may use it for learning or use it in your school band to perform (if you perform a lot, its better to get the top-end models from Yamaha for better tonal qualities).
However, if you are an experienced player, or are a serious keyboard student, and are looking for a portable keyboard for the first time, this is not the board for you.
Yamaha YPT Keyboards: Various Models
All the keyboard manufacturers keep on introducing newer models, to make them in line with the advancements in technology. As of now, the following are the latest portable keyboards in the YPT series.
All the keyboards in the YPT series come with the Yamaha education suite, besides the standard functions that are available on digital keyboards…all these available in entry-level prices.
Yamaha YPT 270 keyboard
The Yamaha YPT-270 keyboard is a great value keyboard for beginners as it offers several voices and features. Includes several learning features as well as USB to Host feature. It has an easy recording feature that can be used to record songs; great for practicing and also for composing. This is perfect for all the serious beginners who are also looking for a better quality sound.In addition to taking lessons from your piano teacher, you have several on-board features to complement your learning. Each lesson can be learnt in isolation with either your left hand or right hand, or using both the hands, something that every beginner struggles with initially.
The YPT-270 is an ideal first keyboard for a child or an adult who is just starting out.
Yamaha YPT-260 61-Key Keyboard
The Yamaha YPT-260 does not come with touch-sensitive keys, so if you have played keyboards before you may not like it. Besides, serious keyboard players should ideally go for touch-sensitive keys.
However, if you want a good music keyboard for your child, go for it; this one comes with 61 keys which is better than a mini-sized keyboard. If you are playing just for fun, go for it. If you don’t have a budget for the next higher model, go for this one.
For the absolute beginner, the YPT-260 presents several features including the Yamaha Education Suite which makes revising important music concepts easier than ever before. It’s also easy to connect to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for more options.
Accessories for YPT Keyboards
If you don’t buy the bundled package that comes with useful keyboard accessories, you will have to buy accessories separately.
Also, if you’re looking for better quality accessories, you may buy just the basic package and buy accessories like keyboard stand and headphones separately, and not part of the package.
Here are some of the useful keyboard accessories that you may require for your YPT keyboard:
- Keyboard stands
- Sustain pedal You may not require this as of now (my opinion – I would first get a keyboard with touch-sensitive keys.
- Dust cover for your keyboard
- Power Cord: Assuming your keyboard didn’t come with one
- Top piano learning books
Keyboard Gig Bag for the Yamaha YPT
You will need a keyboard bag to protect your Yamaha music keyboard from knocks and scratches, and also to make it easier to carry it around. You can even carry your music books, power supplies and cables in the two zippered pouches provided in the front. The adjustable strap makes it easy to take your keyboard safely to every gig or music lesson.
Keyboard gig bag, makes it easy to transport
But in case you do not wish to buy these accessories separately, you can buy a Yamaha YPT beginner keyboard bundle that will come most of these useful accessories.
Yamaha YPT Keyboard: Guide
Besides the fact that the YPT keyboards are less expensive than the PSR Series keyboards from Yamaha, the sound quality of these keyboards are also good. All the keyboards in the Yamaha YPT Series have touch-sensitive keys (barring the entry level one) so that you can control the sound. The harder you press into those keys the louder the sound that you make and vice versa.
When it comes to sound quality, The Yamaha YPT Series cannot be beaten by any other brand. To get only the best piano sounds available, Engineers from Yamaha have sampled the sound from the world’s best grand pianos and added that to their sound list. Imagine this; just by pressing on one button you can play your Yamaha Keyboard with the real sound of a Grand Piano.
Excellent sound quality will do you no good if you do not know how to play. Every digital keyboard in the Yamaha Keyboards YPT series is powered by the Yamaha Education Suite (YES). With the Y.E.S system, each song is separated to help you learn using both your left and right hand. There are different methods of learning how to play the Piano using the Yamaha Education Suite. This learning system is more comprehensive than any other brands out there and you will surely enhance your skills with the training methods from the Yamaha YPT Series.
These keyboards comes with a wide range of high quality instrument sounds, including those of pianos, guitars, drums and orchestral instruments.
This is a perfect gift for kids and adult beginners; not exactly 88 keys but good enough to get them started.
These are inexpensive and a better option than getting a mini keyboard, these are full length keyboards and perfect for taking lessons and also for practicing in free time.
Important things to know:
- You can connect a pedal to it, needs to be bought separately
- It doesn’t come with touch-response keys, the keys are not weighted
- This model comes with the AUX IN Jack which allows you to connect an external audio/mp3 player to the YPT-keyboard. You can listen to the music from this keyboards speakers, and play along to your favorite music through the YPT keyboard’s speakers.
- The top models in this series can even be connected to your computer through USB midi. You can test it out and work with various music recording software.
As mentioned, the entry-level model in this series does to have touch-sensitive keys. Even though touch-response keys would be ideal (for serious playing), its not a bad option for fun-playing and for kids who’re learning to play.
Read: Touch-sensitivity in keyboards explained.
Yamaha YPT or PSR Keyboard?
The Yamaha YPT series music keyboards are similar to the entry level models in the Yamaha PSR series. Though the PSR series has some high-end keyboards meant for intermediate to experienced players, there beginner models are similar to the YPT keyboards. Even if you look at the user manual for the keyboards across these series, you will see that they have the same set of features, except for some minor differences like difference in color.
The only reason they exist together is because it helped Yamaha to label these keyboards for different countries, markets, distributors and sales outlet. At times, we do wonder about Yamaha’s strategy here. As it seems to create some sort of confusion in the minds of the buyers, since they are not clear about the differences in the two, even though the models across the series look completely similar.
But I guess now you know the answer. Both, the Yamaha PSR and the Yamaha YPT series basically contain entry-level keyboards, and there is no difference in the features as such in these two series. You can check out the yamaha psr keyboards here if you wish.
But if you like a particular Yamaha YPT keyboard, go for it because its corresponding PSR keyboard would be similar. And it’s quite possible that the place from where you are buying may not stock both the series.
Competition Check
Here are a few options that you may consider, besides this one.
- Yamaha YPT-270 vs PSR-E273: The keyboards from the YPT series are similar to the keyboards in the YAMAHA E-PSR series. You may consider buying the Yamaha PSR-e273 digital keyboard that comes with 61-full size Keys (but no touch-sensitive keys). Read the difference between Yamaha YPT and Yamaha E-PSR keyboards.
- If you’re looking for touch sensitive keys, you can consider the Yamaha PSR-E363 61-key keyboard.
- If you’re looking for a similar keyboard from Casio, then you should consider the Casio CT-X700 61-key keyboard (comes with better features).
- The Yamaha PSR-F50 / PSR-F51 are also similar to these but are marketed more in different countries.
- Want some pro features in the keyboard, without increasing the budget much? Do consider the Casio CTK-4400 or the Casio CTK-X3000 keyboard.
- You can even check out the Casio lighted keyboards or the Yamaha lighted keyboard (EZ-220 with touch sensitive Keys). The light up keys make learning fun.
Useful Links
Closing Thoughts
Yamaha YPT is among the more popular arranger keyboard series, along with the PSR. But as mentioned earlier, you may not find keyboards from both the series stocked up at the same sales store. Part of marketing Yamaha’s Strategy!!! So if you are looking for a good beginner keyboard that is inexpensive and portable enough to be taken around, then have a look at the YPT keyboards. These Yamaha music keyboards are perfect for learning and for your daily usage. If you are thinking of buying an electronic keyboard, then you must choose a model that fits your budget as well as requirements. You can find several package deals on YPT keyboards where-in you could get bundled keyboard stands, bags, power adapter, pedals along with your YPT keyboard (depending on the offer). If you are looking for a bit of pro features but do not want to spend a fortune, then you could even consider the YPT-420. It will be quite useful for songwriting as well.
User Reviews
Here’s what users have to say about this product:
“At this price you really can’t beat the capabilities of this keyboard; besides the touch sensitive feature does work well. Sounds good, composing music is easy, is very portable, so its a great learning tool for teenagers, even for those who can read music. The free online music available for it is a great value. It is in the form of a PDF file, the print is small though making it somewhat difficult to read. The content however is good. Way more features and voices on here than will ever be used.”
“I’ve played piano and the organ for more than 20 years. I’ve played at various places and events such as churches, weddings, hotels, etc. I bought this keyboard because I wanted something portable so that I could take it along when I was travelling. I’m quite impressed with the quality of the sounds; especially the voices seem to be almost true representative of the various instruments. Since I travel with a lot, I’ve observed that the output volume is not very powerful. It’s not very loud unless you have drop dead silence around. If you are going to use it for accompanying a vocalist or other musicians, then you will need to plug the keyboard to an amplifier to get a decent volume. Baring that, I’m quite happy with the ypt-255 keyboard. Since I also play the piano, I bought the M-Audio SP-2 US65010 Sustain Pedal Piano Style Sustain Pedal for Keyboards, which is a great accessory to have. It makes the ypt255 keyboard sound more like an acoustic piano. – Kelvin
The ypt-255 is a good keyboard for home use or if you want to take it along on travel. I am finding it good for my day to day use. Its not a professional keyboard but I’m more than happy for the price that I have paid. Bought the package deal on Amazon and quite happy with the deal overall. The stand that came along is OK, not very sturdy but acceptable. The headphones are cool, looks advanced. They have a built-in volume control on them, a great accessory to have. – Tom
Intermediate and experienced players will be surprised to see the features that this keyboard provides, not to mention the above average sound quality. Pitch bend wheel, control knobs that allow you to have real time control over filters, effects, tempo and an arpeggio function for techno and synthesizer keyboard playing are some of the professional features that you can use. Good for songwriting or for using with your computer as well. – AJ
I know this is a beginner keyboard but then it also has the recorder feature which is great if you want to try your hands at composing or to record your performance and play it back so you can evaluate your performance. I also like the Dual mode wherein you can play two instrument sounds at the same time.
I also intend to learn to use the split feature effectively so that I can play a bass instrument with my left hand and the piano with the right hand. Long way to go for that though – CannI was quite impressed with the feature list when I got it I felt the sounds could have been somewhat better. There are lots of extra sounds as well, mostly around effects, which I personally won’t be using – John
A good value keyboard for serious beginners and even for those who want a practice (& portable) keyboard. For better quality patches & more features, you may want to check the higher version. But for most learning purposes (especially keyboards) the Yamaha YPT-255 is a good buy, coming from a reputed brand.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
With three modes of learning available for you and seven levels of instruction to help the beginner or the advanced pianist, the Yamaha YPT-Series is the perfect tool to use when you really want to learn how to play. These features are unequaled by any other top of the line electronic keyboards and the finest minds from Yamaha has worked hard to ensure that it meets its user’s top standards. So, try out one of the Yamaha YPT Series today. This is your chance to see and hear the difference that you can only get through the Yamaha Keyboards YPT series.