KORG microPiano
When in Japan last year, on 28th December, I bought a KORG microPiano after trying one out at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara. I gave it a go for few times and giving it some thought for a few days, I decided to buy it.
I was after a portable digital piano that I could take with me when I wanted to practice away from home or to do an informal jam session with friends.
It cost me 27500 yen, (about $300AU) so it was quite decently priced for it’s specs. I actually like the piano sound of this over my other two digital piano sounds.
Since there was a lack of reviews on the microPiano anywhere at the time, I recorded some videos of me playing various songs on it. It seems these videos have increased my youtube views quite a bit.
Alma mater blues by Neil Moore on KORG microPiano
I was testing the electric piano sound in the MicroPiano.
Canon chord progression on KORG microPiano
My Japanese friend taught me this chord progression while I was in Japan. He transposed the chord progression to C for me when he was teaching it to me.
Deep River on KORG microPiano
The song is Deep River by Neil Moore that I learnt from the Simply Music piano method.
Greensleeves on KORG microPiano
This seems to be one of my most popular videos on youtube.
Tear for a friend on KORG microPiano
I like this song. The song is Tear for a friend by Neil Moore that I learnt from the Simply Music piano method.
Higurashi – You intro on KORG microPiano
I was testing the damper pedal with the MicroPiano which worked great.
Although when playing this, I found it actually a bit difficult because of the key size. I had to be careful as I kept missing and sometimes also pressed the keys next the one I wanted to play.
The song is the intro part of “You” from the anime Higurashi no naku koro ni.
I think the microPiano is very good for my uses. The only issue is that I still find it hard to get used to the smaller key size and that the feet on the bottom of the piano can get loose and break off if you’re not careful when transporting it.
My piano tuner saw this and had a play on it when I got him to tune my acoustic piano. His impression was that it would be great practical joke to hook it up to a large speaker system and hide it behind some curtains while playing it for an audience and to have the curtains open to reveal the tiny piano.
It really does sound great for what looks like a toy. Also since everyone keeps asking, no it doesn’t have a midi or usb port.
– Posted from an iPad
I bought it two weeks ago.
I like it a lot.
Sound, color and appearance.
But I think it’s a little heavy- 5 kg.
Personally, it is suitable for play in the bedroom,
office, even in the car.
Used to be connected to the PC speaker or
to the amplifier, its sound is quite good.
I live in Bangkok, Thailand.
I saw your video and this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H30XcqzgRqs
before buying it.
Thanks.
Hi Jet, I’m glad that my review of the microPiano was helpful to you. When I first heard of it, it was only available in Japan and there were not many video reviews of it, so I decided to post some on youtube to help others in my situation.
Have fun with your new purchase!
cool piano! can you record songs on it and export it to your computer?
Hi Jason, the piano doesn’t have any recording functionality so you can either record with a microphone or connect the headphone out to your PC’s mic jack and record using any recording software on your PC.
I just bought one yesterday,I don’t know how to play,but loved the sound.I will learn to play the piano with this little delight!
Hi Lesley,
I’m happy to hear that my review got someone to start learning piano!
It is a really great mini grand piano. I think you’ll have a lot of fun learning to play on it.
I have a korg piano I bought in Japan and want to bring back to Australia but I’m worried it might blow up because of the voltage difference. Do you have to use an special adaptor or something?
Hi Rebecca,
I’m not sure if your korg piano is the same as my micropiano, but the micropiano’s AC adaptor could support 110v and 240v so all I needed was a simple plug adaptor.
You should check the power adaptor and check that it supports 220-240volts AC power as input. If it does, you should be able to use a simple plug adaptor.
If it only displays 100-120 volts, then it might blow up because of the voltage difference. You would have to purchase a stepdown convertor which is a device that changes 240v to 110v. This could be a bit pricey ($100AU~ range) and a bit heavy too.
Hi Tim,
Thanks a lot! Very helpful advice!
I love the microPiano! I am a classical pianist and bought one a couple of months ago and I love it! (pics on my website)
)) Enjoy it! 
Hi Tim, thank you for the helpful review. I’ve been watching your demo videos and have decided to get one from amazon. I have never played piano, so this will be my first piano (planning to learn to play with my 4yrs old son, ha). Would you give me some thought on the key weights? Does it feel light or plastic like? Would it create a false hand feel or play habit, supposedly my son eventually switch from this micropiano to an acoustic one in the future? Thank you!
Hi Thang, there is no weighting on the keys so it’ll be the same as playing on a unweighted keyboard. Because of the size of the keys, it probably would create a false hand feel. It would probably take a bit of time to get used to regular sized keys though as the difference is quite large. Getting used to weighted keys will also take some time too.
I would recommend a digital piano with full sized keys as a starter piano, especially if learning as it would be quite challenging to adjust between the teacher’s full sized weighted keys and the light small keys used on the microPiano. Unfortunately full sized weighted key digital pianos can be a bit pricey.
I would suggest this piano mainly as a secondary one for the portability and the novelty.
I hope that helps. Enjoy the microPiano! It’s a lot of fun to play on and you can learn piano on it if you aren’t bothered by the key size and key weight issues. If it gets you motivated to start playing, then I think it’s worth it.
Thanks a lot for the advice Tim. Is there any weighted keyboard out there you would recommend us? We live in a small space, so I was hoping to find a compact one with some good basic sounds, no need for other bells and whistles. Thank you.
Hi Thang,
It’s been a while since i’ve tried out weighted keyed digital pianos as I currently use an acoustic when playing.
I would suggest going to your local music shop and trying out some of the models they have there. There are a lot of models out there but you should test them out before buying as you can judge the quality of the sound and differences in the feel of the weighted keys.
Then you can choose the one that sounds and feels the best to you hopefully at the price that you’re looking for.
The pianos are usually all around the same size and you’d want to get one with 88 full sized weighted keys. The difference is usually the cabinet size and style.
Getting a piano that sounds and feels good to play when starting will help motivate you to practice more.
Thank you so much for the great advices Tim! I hope to see more demo videos from you in the future.