Are you looking to learn how to play the piano or you just want a keyboard you can entertain yourself with? The Yamaha E363 is a great choice for you. It is also the perfect introductory instrument for children who want to learn music. Yamaha is a household name in the production of musical instrument and you are sure to get a feel of its expertise in its product. The E363 has the basic features and some more that a beginner needs to learn the piano quickly.
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Features of the Yamaha PSR E363:
Many features make the Yamaha PSR E363 the best keyboard for beginners. It features some upgrades from its predecessors and carries with it customizable qualities that is striking.
Duo Feature
This is perhaps one of the most impressive features on the E363. This feature divides the keyboard into two equal identical halves. Each half has a middle C which makes it easy for the student to practice with his teacher or make music with a colleague or partner simultaneously.
Touch-sensitive Keys
The 61 touch-sensitive keys feel like the classic piano and prepare you for the real deal. They produce a louder sound when it is pressed forcefully and a quitter sound when it is pressed with less force. They also give you better sensitivity and feel of your style of play. There is a Touch Tutor feature which is designed to help beginners learn dynamics and analyze keystroke velocity. While this is completely unnecessary for an expert, it will help a novice catch on faster.
LCD Display
The LCD guides users through lessons and setup as most commands are based on it. It is clear and easy to read. It is backlit and can be used in a low light area.
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A Comprehensive Library of Instrument Voices
The Yamaha PSR E363 has a rich library of 574 instrument voices in total. The library of instrument voices provides a beginner with a lot of options that will keep the lesson crisp, modernistic, fun and interesting during play sessions.
There are 339 XGlite voices, 197-panel voices, 20 arpeggio voices and 18 drum and effects kits. This gives you the space to reproduce, explore or create a new sound that is entirely yours all on your own. these features are great for a beginner to help you stay interested in learning the piano.
The arpeggio, for example, is your muse for when you lack inspiration. It allows you to sample some notes after which it creates songs, rhythms, beats and patterns all by itself.
The Metronome and drum rhythm features act as a timekeeper and keeps your rhythm solid. They will also make your learning experience more fun. You will get the chance to understand music genres such as the boss nova, the Latin beats, the EDM beats, the waltz and the swing. This will allow a beginner to learn the grooves from different genres and world cultures.
The Yamaha PSR E363 has realistic acoustic sounds which offer every beginner the needed keyboard with an array of sounds. This will make your practice boisterous and keep it fresh.
Reverb Feature
The 12 levels of the reverb feature allow you to explore the 5 types of chorus, the 165 built-in styles, the 150 kinds of arpeggio and the 48 levels of polyphony. It gives you the liberty to sample these sounds and multiplicities without overwhelming the system. It offers transition and precision keeping your sound neat and organized. It adds a different ambiance to your lesson and gives the feeling like you are playing in front of an audience or on a stage.
Melody Suppressor
Coupled with the above is the melody suppress function which removes vocals from a track. This affords you the freedom to sample songs of your choosing and be your lead singer.
Keys to Success
Yamaha gives back with the ‘Keys to Success’, a collection of teaching techniques acquired over the years. It has a short step by step guide for learners to play complete songs.
Ports for Headphones and Pedal
As a learner, you will spend a lot of time practicing on your piano. You are not going to sound good initially so a piano with a headphone jack will give you the freedom to practice without disturbing your household or neighbors. You will have the freedom to practice in your own space, even with someone else in the room and get better quicker.
The pedal, on the other hand, is a foot-operated lever located at the base of the piano. It is critical in how you control the piano sound and sustain your note. It is kind of like the pedals of a car that maintains, lowers, increases speed or stops a car altogether.
Connectivity
The Yamaha PSR E363 allows USB connectivity as well as audio and MIDI transfers. You can load new music from an external storage device and save your job on both an internal or external memory. All that is needed is a basic connecting cable, sold separately. You can also aux in songs from your computer and practice. You can connect PCs or ios phones for digital recording.
Education and Learning Suite
Yamaha shows its experience through the education suite. It provides a simple, effective and convenient music learning package within the piano. It has lessons for one hand or both giving you the chance to learn at your pace. If you are new to the keyboard, you will find the education suite indispensable.
The Education Suite is available for download on Yamaha’s website and can be printed out or viewed on an electronic device.
Portability and affordability
Weighing in at just 13 pounds, the Yamaha PSR E363 is the ideal solution for students and teachers who do not have much space. With a perimeter of 37.2 x 14.5 x 4.8 inches, the E363 can fit into any space and be moved around conveniently.
Make no mistake about it there is a certain level of commitment required to create music on a piano. There has to be a synergy between both hands, feet and a good understanding of sounds and chords which some people may find discouraging. If the beginner quits, you will not be losing a lot of money with the Yamaha PSR-E363.
Yamaha PSR E363 Overview Video:
Pros of Yamaha PSR E363:
- One great feature of the E363 is that it is lightweight and portable. You can move it around without the need for a team of men. You also do not need a separate or a large room to own it.
- The touch-sensitive keys give you a chance to play expressively. Like you see in the movies, you can hit a note hard or light for effect and nuance.
- It is great value for money. It comes with more functions than its predecessors at an affordable price.
- It has built-in speakers which means you do not need to connect the piano to external devices to get feedback.
- It comes with helper functions and it is versatile with songs, sounds and effects. It has modes that help you practice rhythm and pressure as you play along to prerecorded songs. There are a variety of extra options in the menu settings where you can acclimatize the reverb, tuning, octave among other things.
- It has a record and playback feature which saves to its internal memory giving you a chance to practice as you like.
- It supports transposition. This means that you can play music written in E on this keyboard without a need to transpose it to C. This saves time you would have otherwise spent changing a song’s key.
- The MIDI input allows you to use this piano with different computer software suites, games and other external devices.
Cons of Yamaha PSR E363:
- If your end goal is to play the piano professionally this might not be a great pick for you. It has 61 keys which may make transitioning to the standard 88 keys piano difficult and disconcerting.
- One would expect that with its multilevel function it would come with a songbook. But it doesn’t. You have to download a 200-page book from Yamaha’s website. This may be a non-issue to some and to others the deal breaker.
- The user handbook is written in small prints and you may need to have a magnifier around before you use it. This is a flaw for a device that isn’t intuitive and functions are not easy to find.
- There is no power supply included although it works with any standard 12Vdc adaptor with a center positive. It also runs on AA batteries which are sold separately.
- The contrasts on the LCD screen is not very good from some angles perhaps due to the small size of the screen.
- There are no imprints for notes on the keys although you can do this yourself
- The built-in speakers are not the best features on this keyboard. For maximum experience, it is advisable to use headphones.
Conclusion
The Yamaha PSR E363 is a great way for beginners to learn how to play a digital piano. However, if you are practicing to be a professional pianist you might want to get an 88-keys keyboard with weighted key action.
That notwithstanding, it is the perfect instrument for learning music theory and getting into music. As a hobbyist, this piano will make your life easy and do half the work for you as you get familiar with pianos.