Yamaha Piagerro NP12 Piano Review

We rated the Yamaha Piagerro NP12 a 5.5/10. This instrument is designed for musicians on the go. It can run up to 6 hours on batteries alone, so you won’t have to worry about cords during small coffee shop gigs. If you are looking for a smaller, unweighted keyboard, the NP12 is a decent choice…However, we think that you can get more features, and more bang for your buck, in other models on the market, which is why we couldn’t rate it higher.

Overview

The Yamaha Piagerro NP12 is a 61-key digital piano. It doesn’t have weighted keys, so it’s extremely light and portable. This keyboard comes with a mains adaptor but can also run on six AA batteries if needed. Handy if you’re taking the keyboard with you somewhere where you’re not sure if you’ll be able to plug it in.  It can run for six hours on batteries. 

The design of the keyboard is very stylish and sleek with rounded edges. The buttons to find your sounds and functions are minimal and straightforward to use giving the keyboard a smooth, sophisticated look. 

Like so many Yamaha keyboards, the functions are selected using a combination of buttons and the keys on the keyboard. It means looking up which keys you need to use to select certain functions until you start to know them. It’s a slightly clumsy way of doing it, but it means the front panel can remain uncluttered.  

Keyboard 

Although this keyboard doesn’t have weighted keys, it is touch-sensitive, meaning that you can control how soft and how loud you play. This is important for beginners as well as more experienced players.  

Sound 

For such a small, lightweight piano, the sound is excellent, especially considering the low price point. The pianos have been sampled from Yamaha’s best acoustic grand and the quality really comes across, particularly in the bass.  

The sound on the NP12 is created with AWM (Advanced Wave Memory). The sounds are sampled digitally and then further digital technology layers realism in the way the notes decay. This gives a very responsive sound as different volume levels were recorded for more control and a more realistic playing experience.  

Features 

Voices 

The NP12 has ten voices, which include two pianos sampled from Yamaha’s best acoustic piano. Other instruments include two electric pianos, two harpsichords, strings, and vibes.  

The electric piano 1 has a lovely warm 80’s vibe to it while piano 2 is mellow and slightly more sophisticated. The pipe organs are pretty good for a keyboard of this level. The strings are quite good and fairly warm sounding. (It’s really difficult to find truly good strings on any keyboards. Any professional musician needing strings would turn to VST instruments and run them through a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) on their computer). 

Demo songs 

There are 10 voice demo songs – one to demonstrate each of the different instruments. Songs included are Bach’s First Prelude, Mozart’s Turkish March, Haydn’s Little Serenade, and Moments Musicaux op.94 by Schubert. By using the metronome button you can change the speed of the demo songs which allows you to play along at a slower tempo if you want to play along with them. 

There are also 10 onboard piano songs that you can enjoy listening to and even play along with.  

Recording 

The NP12 has a recording capability of 1 song, and 1 track, with a maximum of 7,000 notes. It’s a really good idea to record yourself playing, especially when you’ve learned a new song. When we are playing the piano it can be difficult to assess our performance. By recording yourself and listening back, you’ll hear all kinds of things that you didn’t notice while you were playing. This is a really good practice tool for beginners and intermediates as well as advanced pianists. When you start to learn a new piece you can record one hand and then play it back and play along with the other hand – duetting with yourself in effect. Also, you can use the recording capability to capture improvisation and composition ideas. 

Speakers 

The NP12 has a 2.5 X 2.5 speaker system. This is quite a small output, but for a beginner in a small to medium room, or a child who might have this keyboard in their bedroom, this is plenty. 

Reverb and effects 

The Yamaha Piagerro NP12 has a reverb effect for giving your music an intimate room sound or a big concert hall vibe. This setting can be set between 0 and 10 depending on your preference. The choices are Room, Hall 1, Hall 2, Stage, or Off. 

Transpose 

You can transpose by octave, which is useful for a 61-key piano. You can also transpose up or down by semitones from -6 to +6. This can be useful if you want to play a song in a different key – perhaps for a singer – but you’ve learned to play the song in the original key. If the singer wants the key to be two tones higher, for instance, you can select the “Transpose” button and set the key 4 semitones higher.  

Fine Tuning 

The Yamaha Piagerro NP12 can be detuned by 0.2Hz. This can be useful if you’re playing with a recording that isn’t quite in tune with your piano or playing with another performer who is playing an instrument that doesn’t quite get in tune. The setting range is 414.8–466.8Hz (=A3) Default setting: 440.0Hz (=A3).  

Metronome 

There is a metronome on board that can be set from 32 to 280 BPM. Using a metronome when practicing can help a student to develop a good sense of rhythm and the ability to keep time.   

Dual Mode

You can combine two different instruments and have them sound together as you play. For instance, you might want to combine Piano 1 with Strings. It’s easy to set up, and with the push of a button you can turn one of the voices off as you continue to play. This can give a bit of variety to a song when you repeat a verse or chorus section. Note that you can’t layer two pianos or two harpsichords, only two different types of instruments.  

Connectivity 

There is a pedal jack for the sustain pedal and a USB so you can connect the keyboard to your computer. You can also use the USB to connect a phone or pad to the keyboard so that you have access to certain lesson apps. 

Specifications

• 61-note specialized piano action with acrylic and resin keys
• 4 types of touch sensitivity 
• AWM sampling 
• 10 voices, each with a demo song
• 10 onboard piano songs 
• Recording capability for 1 song, 1 track
• 64 note polyphony 
• Damper pedal jack which, when used with the recommended pedal supports the half-pedal function 
• USB TO HOST and headphone jack 

Who Is It Suitable For?

Beginner 

This is a really good keyboard for a young beginner. The price is extremely affordable to get started to see if the student is going to take to the piano or not. The portability means you can carry it from room to room in a jiffy and pop it in the car to go to Grandma’s for the weekend and not have to miss out on practice. The fact that it can run off batteries means you don’t even have to hunt down an outlet.  

The piano sound is more than good enough for a beginner or even an early intermediate. The limited keyboard of 61 keys is not a problem for beginners. That you can plug in a sustain pedal is a great option at this entry-level, even though the pedal is often not required for some time. The recording option is also excellent for beginners.  

Experienced and serious pianists 

This keyboard wouldn’t satisfy most advanced pianists. The short keyboard and lack of weighted keys would likely be an issue. Having said that, if it was used for very short bursts of practice or recording song ideas on without having to leave the room, it could be useful. It can connect to a computer so could be used as a MIDI controller. The polyphony on this piano would be likely to cause a problem with advanced pianists too.  

Pros and Cons

Pros 

• Extremely light and portable
• Pretty good sound for the price point  

Cons 

• No Split mode 
• Unweighted keys
• Only 61 keys

Quick View 

Conclusion

The Yamaha Piagerro NP12 piano keyboard is a really good option as a starter keyboard, especially for children. For the price, it has a surprising number of functions and capabilities. For instance, to have micro-tuning, transposing, reverb selection and the excellent piano sounds resulting from AWM sampling is quite surprising – and really more than a beginner needs.  

There are so many keyboards on the market that would suit serious piano players that are not that much more expensive than this one. This one would not be a real contender. It certainly isn’t a toy, but it also isn’t a full-size weighted keyboard that a serious player would require. 

A beginner who starts on a piano that sounds good feels pleasant to play and invites creativity is far more likely to grow to love the piano and stick with it than if they start on a beaten-up old acoustic that’s out of tune and has notes that stick or won’t play. From that point of view, this keyboard absolutely wins hands down.  

5.5Expert Score

We rated the Yamaha Piagerro NP12 a 5.5/10. This instrument is designed for musicians on the go. It can run up to 6 hours on batteries alone, so you won’t have to worry about cords during small coffee shop gigs. If you are looking for a smaller, unweighted keyboard, the NP12 is a decent choice…However, we think that you can get more features, and more bang for your buck, in other models on the market, which is why we couldn’t rate it higher.

PROS

• Extremely light and portable
• Pretty good sound for the price point

CONS

• No Split mode
• Unweighted keys
• Only 61 keys