Graded Hammer Action: Keyboard with Scaled Weighting

What makes piano touch authentic? As an electronic alternative to the acoustic piano, a digital piano should at least have very similar playing characteristics. An important element is a graded or scaled hammer action with progressively heavier keys.

On an acoustic upright or grand piano, the keys are not equally weighted across the entire range. Compared to the upper registers, the hammer heads have to move more mass to vibrate the much thicker bass strings. This is why you feel more counterbalance when playing the bass than the treble.

The different weights are usually divided into zones, a feature that digital piano keyboards also replicate. It is important to know that if you are used to playing an acoustic piano, you will feel as if something is missing when playing an electric piano without a graded hammer action. While this is rarely the case with classic home pianos, there are piano keyboards that do not have this feature.

Why is a graded hammer action important?

Since digital pianos produce sound electronically, differently weighted keys would not really be necessary. After all, no hammer strikes a string. Instead, electrical contacts trigger the notes. A good example for this is the award winning Nord Grand Piano, which has a Kawai keybed that comes without graded hammer action.

If you’ve never played an acoustic piano before, you probably won’t miss a graded hammer action at all. However, if you want a playing experience as close as possible to that of a piano, you should choose a good digital piano keyboard with a graded hammer action.

If you want to learn piano touch properly, you should study and practice consistently on a good acoustic piano. However, there are digital pianos that simulate the nuanced interplay of hammer action and string vibration very well. At the top of the list are hybrid digital pianos.

These top-of-the-line digital pianos even have wooden keyboards and hammer action mechanisms that are very similar to acoustic grand pianos. You can expect top quality from hybrid digital pianos, which also cost quite a bit. Of course, a graded hammer action is standard on these instruments.

Which digital pianos have graded hammer action?

The higher the price range, the higher the quality of the digital piano keyboard. While graded hammer action is a standard feature even on many entry-level digital pianos, not every instrument has it. It is therefore worth taking a closer look at the specifications. We have summarized the most common keyboard types here.

Mid-range home pianos for beginners and advanced players always have a graded weighted hammer action, and from around €1,300, a let-off mechanism is also available. A system with multiple sensors scans the key movement and transmits this information to the sound generator and the MIDI interface of the piano. In addition, counterweights balance the keys of high-quality digital pianos.

Keyboards without graded hammer action

Some controller keyboards do without it – moreover, this generally applies to semi-weighted keyboards. The keys are at least slightly weighted here, but without hammer action, there is no graded weighting.

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Keyboards with Graded Hammer Action

Scaled, Graded, Responsive, Real Weighted, Progressive Hammer Action – Most manufacturers include graded hammer-action keyboards even in low-cost models. Since there is a variety of names for these keyboards, here is a short overview of the most important models.

Yamaha – Graded Hammer Standard (GHS)

This keyboard has proven itself many times over and is built into many instruments. Even the small Yamaha P-45 for well under 500 Euros features it, the same goes for the workstation keyboards MX88 and MODX8. A new version, the Graded Hammer 3, comes with synthetic ebony and ivory top layers and triple sensor technology – just like the Yamaha Arius YDP-165.

Yamaha Graded Hammer Compact

The current models in the P series have an improved version of the tried-and-tested GHS keyboard. The name says it all: the Graded Hammer Compact keyboard allows for a more compact design of the entry-level models P-145 and P-225.

Kawai – Responsive Hammer III (RH III)

A high-quality keyboard with a let-off mechanism, counterweights, and Ivory Touch surface. It provides an authentic piano touch, e.g. on the Kawai MP7 SE stage piano, the ES-920, and the entry-level models CN29 and CN39.

Korg – Real Weighted Hammer Action 3 (RH3)

Similar name to Kawai, but different technology. The SV-2 and Grandstage stage pianos, the Korg D1 as well as the Kronos 88 all feature the RH3. The NH (Natural Weighted Hammer Action) keyboard of the less expensive Korg B2 also has a graded hammer action.

Roland – PHA-4 Standard

Even the smallest portable piano, the Roland FP-10, benefits from this keyboard, which you can also find in the higher-end FP-30X and FP-60 models. The PHA-4 Standard is scaled and weighted and features touch simulation and Ivory Touch.

Casio – Smart Scaled Hammer Action, Scaled Hammer Action II

Casio currently uses these two keyboard types in the lower and middle price range. While the Scaled Hammer Action II with a triple-sensor system has been on the market for several years, the new Privia PX models feature the newly developed Smart Scaled Hammer Action. With this keyboard, a smaller action allows a very compact design of the portable pianos PX-S1100 and PX-S3100.

Fatar – TP40 GH/W

Many different brands, including GEWA, Dexibell, Nord, and Studiologic, use this keyboard type from the Italian manufacturer as an OEM product.

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