Get playing and stay motivated with CASIO and Rockschool!

So, you're thinking of buying a new piano or keyboard. Imagine it’s unwrapped, out of the box and switched on. You’re ready to go, but how do you know where to start? Wouldn’t it be great if your new instrument came with some music that actually made you want to play and, more importantly, inspire you to keep practising and learning? 

With selected models of Casio keyboards and pianos, that's exactly what happens. Their new collaboration with Rockschool, one of the UK’s leading music exam boards for Rock and Pop music, has produced a free downloadable digital sheet music book that starts you playing some of your favourite pop songs straight away. Forget having to begin your keyboard journey with dry technical exercises or tunes that you don't recognise: for the first time, you can begin by playing songs that everybody knows and loves, which means it's much more likely that you'll carry on playing. 

Not only are there some great arrangements of songs by Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell Williams, but the backing tracks to each song are included as well. This means that you can hear the drums,  bass and other parts of the song as you play the keyboard.

This is such an inspirational feature, as you’re no longer practising ‘on you own’ and instead have a whole band to accompany you each time you play .

Every arrangement is produced by some of the UK’s top educators at Rockschool, which means the challenges and musical techniques used are cleverly designed to inspire but not frustrate beginning players. The music is easy to follow, the presentation looks great and every piece offers an exciting challenge which keeps you coming back for more. Having a structured, properly-designed series of pieces is so much better for learning than struggling with YouTube videos, which are often over complex and not always straightforward. What’s more, you can even use these songs in a Rockschool music exam if you wish.

Whatever style of pop music you’re into, you’ll find something of interest in the downloadable pack, which is included with selected models of Casio keyboard and piano*. There’s a variety of styles on offer together with some specially-commissioned original pieces written by the Rockschool team.

If you’re thinking of buying a keyboard or piano for you or someone in the family, but have been put off because you worry they won’t stick to it, it’s definitely worth giving a Rockschool-powered Casio instrument a go. As any music teacher will tell you, music practice should be fun and inspirational, and this new downloadable pack does just that.

 Products that include this FREE download are:

Keyboards:

CT-S300
CTK-3500, CTK-7200
LK-265, LK-S250
CT-X700, CT-X3000, CT-X5000

Digital Pianos:

CDP-S100, CDP-S150, CDP-S350, CDP-230
PX-S1000

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Looking for the best digital piano for beginners?

With so many models of digital piano to choose from, how do you know which is best?

Casio’s new CDP-S100 includes features that have never been seen before on a CDP piano. Here’s 7 things that make it the best digital piano for beginners in 2019:

Compact design

If you thought you needed lots of space to store a piano, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how little room the CDP-S takes up. It’s one of the most compact digital pianos available with built-in speakers and is 33% smaller than the previous CDP range.

New Piano Tone

The new CDP-S range uses a brand new piano tone which is capable of reproducing the fine nuances of an acoustic grand piano sound in much more detail than ever before. This is really important, as it means that students can learn to play with expression and dynamic contrast in the same way as if they were playing an acoustic piano.

New Key Action

Although you may have a digital piano at home, your teacher or school may have an acoustic piano instead. To make sure you develop the correct finger technique, what you practise on at home should offer the same key weighting as a traditional instrument. Casio’s new Scaled Hammer Action II does exactly that, so you can learn on a CDP-S100 and play an acoustic piano with confidence in your lessons, exams and concerts.

Ivory Touch Keys

Each white and black key on the CDP-S100 is textured to feel like those on a traditional piano. This is really unique, as the keys on most beginner pianos are just plain plastic. Having premium textured keys on the CDP-S allows you to play more comfortably and with more precision.

Chordana Play Piano App

Casio have developed a new app for Android and iOS devices, called Chordana Play Piano. It’s free and can downloaded from your app store. You can use it to control the settings on CDP-S100 , view PDF music scores and learn new songs using the built-in games.

Audio Input

This is a great feature if you want to play along to your favourite songs, or if you have music scores that use backing tracks (such as the free music downloads you can get with Casio’s collaboration with Rockschool). Use a standard 3.5mm audio cable to connect your media device (purchased separately) and hear your music through the CDP-S100’s built-in speakers.

Battery Power Option

Playing an outdoor gig? Practising in your garden studio? Maybe dashing off to a rehearsal? The CDP-S100 has a battery power option in addition to the included power supply. Simply install 6 AA batteries and you have up to 13 hours of playing time.

Explore the CDP-S Range