Our Yamaha Piaggero NP11 Review: 10 Reasons It's The Best Lightweight Digital Keyboard in 2023

The Yamaha Piaggero NP11 Review At A Glance#

Ease of Use

Very beginner friendly

Price

Affordable at less than $150

Rating

Highly recommended!

We like:

*Slim, light and compact

*Piano style, touch sensitive keys

*Stylish and minimalist design

*Weighs only 10 pounds

*Auto power off mode

We don't like:

*Non-weighted keys

*Non light up keys

*No built-in recorder

Summary of our Yamaha Piaggero NP11 review: Simple, minimalist and yet fully functional. If you want to practice without getting distracted by hundreds of buttons and flashing keyboard lights, then this is the perfect keyboard for you!

Quick Navigation The Yamaha Piaggero NP11 Review At A Glance A Short Introduction An Overview of Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 Features Advantages of Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 1) Slim, light and compact design 2) Piano-style keyboard 3) Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) stereo sampling 4) Built-in stereo speaker system 5) Reverb 6) Built-in Metronome 7) 32 Maximum Polyphony 9) Battery power or AC adaptor 10) Auto Power Off mode Disadvantages of Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 1) Non-weighted keys 2) Very few voices and demo songs A Few Yamaha Piaggero NP11 User Reviews Frequently Asked Questions Should you buy the Yamaha Piaggero NP-11? Looking for the Yamaha Piaggero NP11 manual?

A Short Introduction#

Portable is the best single word to describe another scene stealer from Yamaha, the 61-key Yamaha Piaggero NP11 digital keyboard. It is lightweight, compact, and truly a portable keyboard piano!

Digital pianos are great for young children and adults alike. Although it could not compare to a traditional piano, it is still a great cost-effective solution for your musical needs. So, the Yamaha NP-11 is ideal for those who are just beginning to learn how to play the keyboard piano!

It is an entry-level model in Yamaha's Piaggero series of portable digital piano keyboards, with the word Piaggero coming from a combination of piano and leggero, the Italian word for light, meaning that Yamaha intends its Piaggero line to be light and portable pianos.

This is proven with the weight of Yamaha NP-11 at a very light 10 pounds, lugging it around will be like just carrying around an infant, which makes it absolutely lighter than most other pianos made by Yamaha. Yet despite its lightness, it is still jam-packed with a lot of features that will make you wonder how it all fits into such a light package! The best thing is you can purchase this at an affordable price.

An Overview of Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 Features#

• Slim, light and compact design
• 61-keys piano style keyboard
• Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) Stereo Sampling
• Built-in stereo speaker system
• 32 maximum polyphony
• 550 voices
• Built-in reverb feature
• Metronome
• Piano-preset songs
• Battery power or AC adaptor
• Auto-power off mode

Click here if you would like to read the complete Technical Specifications of the Yamaha Piaggero NP11

S ource: Yamaha.com

Advantages of Yamaha Piaggero NP-11#

Before we discuss in depth the advantages of the Yamaha Piaggero NP11, check out this nice intro video:

1) Slim, light and compact design#

You all know how practice makes everything perfect. Well, when you are just a beginner, you definitely need to practice as long as you have time in order to learn the right skills and develop the proper techniques, but it's not like you can carry a piano with you all the time, right?

Well, now you can! Yamaha NP-11 61-key piaggero digital piano is not dubbed as one of the best electronic keyboard for beginners just for nothing.

You can certainly walk in anywhere, carrying this with only one hand, and play, all because of its slim, truly light, and compact design. Just take a look at Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 reviews (scroll further down this page) and see for yourself the musical experience of people who bought his.

2) Piano-style keyboard#

This digital piano boasts of its piano-style keyboard with 61-full sized keys that gives the feeling and experience as that of playing in a Steinway Piano in an orchestra!

It is also touch-sensitive so the harder you press the keys, the louder the sounds that you would create.

The keys also have a lighter feel and dynamic expression provided by velocity-sensing keys. These make it easier for beginning students to overcome the physical difficulties of learning piano while learning to play expressively. This facilitates a more natural transition to the weighted keys of more advanced keyboards or the action of an acoustic piano.

3) Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) stereo sampling#

AWM is a stereo sampling technique that creates superb wave data, which mirrors the sound and expression of the original instrument. It creates a unique, rich sound by using multiple waveforms.

On an actual piano, the attack and harmonics of notes change as they are played at different volumes. AWM emulates this by substituting appropriate waveforms when keys are struck with varying intensity. This enables you to have a more realistic musical experience as you progress and makes learning to play this portable piano keyboard really fun!

4) Built-in stereo speaker system#

The Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 uses a highly efficient stereo amplifier that generates a solid sound that's unexpected in such a slim, light, and compact digital piano, helping you hear your music even better. With 2.5 watts per channel, the Piaggero NP 11 is ready to go, whenever you are.

5) Reverb#

Reverb is a well-known effect that will make your music sound like it is in a grand concert hall or as if you are a part of an orchestra. The Piaggero NP11 digital piano has 4 types of reverbs to help you make great music on your keyboard piano!

6) Built-in Metronome#

This helps you keep the time, rhythm and pace while you learn the keys. The metronome can help with all your off-keys and acts as a helpful guide and virtual teacher, so you know when you're doing well, and when you need to speed up or slow down to be on correct rhythm while playing your keyboard piano.

7) 32 Maximum Polyphony#

Do you worry about how bad you could mess up during your starting lessons? No need for any of that since the Yamaha NP-11 61-key Piaggero digital piano contains 32-tone maximum polyphony which provides you with plenty of margin and minimizes the chance that the notes will be dropped when the tones are layered.

8) Piano preset songs

The built-in songs provide performance data for piano songs as well as voice demo songs, for your listening pleasure, and serves as your practice guide as well.

9) Battery power or AC adaptor#

The Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 can be used with an AC adaptor or 6 AA alkaline batteries for up to 6-hours and more. Battery-power is the key to the Piaggero's portability.

10) Auto Power Off mode#

This is a new, eco-friendly mode. This piano keyboard comes with a function that turns off the power automatically if the keyboard has not been used for a set amount of time (30 minutes) in order to avoid using power unnecessarily. This enables longer battery life.

Disadvantages of Yamaha Piaggero NP-11#

1) Non-weighted keys#

Non-weighted keys are pretty common for beginner keyboards. At such a low price point, this really shouldn't come as a surprise. But still, it would be nice to have this feature onboard.

2) Very few voices and demo songs#

Other keyboards at the same price point offers hundreds of voices, rhythms and onboard demo songs. If you like hundreds of different options, then you will be disappointed with the scant offering in this minimalist keyboard piano.

A Few Yamaha Piaggero NP11 User Reviews#

We have rounded up a few Yamaha Piaggero NP-11 reviews from other buyers to prove to you we are not making things up when we say this is a great keyboard, not just for beginners but for musicians in all levels!

A buyer who used to play classical piano in his youth said that for the price (less than $150!), the sound quality on this keyboard is excellent. It is deceptively simple because there aren't hundreds of voices and rhythms like other keyboards at this price range, or built-in lessons, so there is no excuse for you to get distracted while practicing! While the volume is not overly loud, this is a very compact and portable keyboard with touch sensitive keys. He said this keyboard would be perfect for dorm rooms and small apartments as it is extremely portable and lightweight. A woman said her friends recommended the keyboard and when she got hers, she fell in love with it instantly because it looks very sleek and pretty. She loved the piano sound and the touch responsive keys. She also pointed out that she has all the basic voices she needs and the 'variation' button allows her to tweak the voices a bit so it sounds even more amazing. Another buyer said he likes the fact that it's very portable and sounds like a real acoustic piano minus the vibrations of a real piano; this is a great bonus as acoustic pianos are very heavy and expensive. He also liked the following voices: grand piano, harpsichord, and pipe organ although he thought the strings sound were a bit weak. Moreover, he found the bottom C to be very rich and sensual in the voices he liked best. He concludes by saying the NP-11 is an excellent bargain for the price and compromise between size and range. A piano student who been learning for about a year bought this keyboard for its portability, price and simplicity (not too many voices, rhythms and tones to worry about). He wants to lug this keyboard around whilst traveling so he can practice when he feels like it. He likes the fact that he can move the middle C so he can play songs with high notes and extra low notes (this you cannot normally do on a regular 61-key keyboard with non-movable middle C). Finally, a professional violinist who wanted to practice his piano playing skills was blown away by the Piaggero NP-11's features relative to its price point. He said the 61-key keyboard looked very classy, was small enough, very affordable, made of good quality materials, had a simple interface, and sounded great. He was also surprised it had an adjustable intonation so you can change the pitch to higher or lower as you liked.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Should you buy the Yamaha Piaggero NP-11?#

Our final say in this lengthy Yamaha Piaggero NP11 review is that YES you should definitely consider this keyboard especially if you are a beginner as its minimalist design will not distract you from all the bells and whistles of other keyboards in this price range (which truthfully you won't be needing anyway).

Together with its unbelievably affordable price, it is really one of the most competitive keyboards in the market right now. It is also dedicated to pleasing beginners and helping you get the proficiency in playing the keyboard piano.

​If you are truly interested in learning the piano, this keyboard is a great first step and we promise you will not regret making this purchase.

Looking for the Yamaha Piaggero NP11 manual?#

Download it here.

Check out our other Yamaha keyboard reviews:

Our Yamaha PSR E453 Review: The Best Digital Keyboard Under $300 in 2023 Yamaha PSR-EW400 Review: Best 76-Key Digital Keyboards Under $300 in 2023 Our Yamaha NP-32 Review: 6 Reasons Why It's The Perfect 76-Key Lightweight Portable Keyboard in 2023 Our Yamaha EZ 220 Review: Simply The Best Portable Keyboard Under $200 in 2023 Our Yamaha YPT 255 Review: One Of The Best Beginner Keyboard Piano For Adults and Kids in 2023 Our Yamaha YPT 240 Review: 10 Reasons It's a Top Portable Keyboard To Learn Piano in 2023 Our Yamaha PSR E253 Review: 7 Reasons It's An Excellent Portable Keyboard To Learn Piano in 2023