MK-2000 Portable Keyboard by Gear4music

Description

• MK-2000 Portable Keyboard by Gear4Music with 54 keys
• Comes with headphones, music stand, seat and even microphone
• Perfect for beginners and children
• 20 awesome different voices
• 10 realistic percussion sounds
• Play or sing along to 10 amazing backing tracks
• Record and playback your own songs
• Built-in teaching function – hit a wrong note and the MK-2000 will wait for you!

MK-2000 54-key portable keyboard review

I finally managed to get my hands on one these little gems at my local music shop – and although the MK-2000 Portable Keyboard is primarily aimed at the children’s market, I still had a lot of fun! Read on to find out what I thought of this inexpensive keyboard.

MK-2000 Portable Keyboard – Sound

The MK-2000 offers a modest range of popular voices, ranging from the usual piano sounds, strings and so on. There are 20 in total and more than enough to keep your child happy for a long time. There are also 10 fairly realistic percussion sounds, which although certainly don’t sound exactly like the real thing, they are extremely close. And hey, what do you expect for something which is a lot less than £100! I was certainly impressed.

I particularly enjoyed playing along to some of the demo songs, which I know my little boy would love. A beginner wants to be able to sit down at a keyboard and just start playing, no matter what how it sounds. Being able to play along and get a good genuine sound from such a small and inexpensive keyboard is fantastic!

To see the full demo for this keyboard, watch this great video:

Touch and feel

There isn’t too much to say in this section because keyboards are expected to have thin and easy to play keys. Unlike a piano, a keyboard will not have weighted keys or 88 of them. However, I can confirm that 54 keys is enough, especially for a beginner. You don’t tend to branch out further than that for quite a few years.

The overall touch and feel of this keyboard is as expected and wouldn’t be a problem for little fingers. They are very light which is exactly what you need.

Features

I had a good play around with lots of the sounds, the percussion instruments and also the backing tracks. Everything is easy to use and access and would keep anyone happy for a long time. There is plenty to do on this keyboard and it would take a long time before a beginner would get through all of the songs and be able to play along with them to a high standard.

This is a fantastic keyboard to learn with and I particularly liked the inclusion of the teaching function. This allows you to play along, but the keyboard will wait for you if you hit a wrong note. This is a great way to learn and would help anyone of all ages to begin playing a keyboard to a good standard.

Another great feature is the record and playback. Although it might seem a little daunting at first to record yourself, I can guarantee anyone would have a lot of fun. It also helps greatly with the learning process and helps the player to listen back to their mistakes and improve upon them. Or, you can just listen back for fun!

Price

At around £70 this keyboard has a lot to offer. Although its target audience is children, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to an adult looking to start from scratch. When you can pay anything from £70 to £700 for a keyboard or piano, it really is a great place to start here if you are unsure of how you’ll fair. A beginner could get many hours, months and years out of this keyboard before they consider upgrading.

Finally, probably the best part about this deal is that you don’t just get a keyboard for your money. You also get a set of headphones, a music stand, a seat and even a microphone. You can imagine how much you would need to pay on top if you had to buy those accessories separately. I would have said that this keyboard was slightly on the expensive side if it weren’t for those added extras. But if you include those amazing items you are looking at an absolute bargain!

If you wanted more than 54 keys then check out the Alesis Melody 61 key portable keyboard.