Best Roll Up Piano Keyboards - 2022 Guide

It’s the new trend for serious musicians, hobbyists, and kids around the world - roll up piano keyboards that you can take with you anywhere. Here are a number of models to choose from*, as well as use-cases, pros and cons (scroll below for that info).

Quick Note: if you’d like use your new roll up piano to learn songs right away, give Skoove a try. We’re a Skoove partner, so you’ll be supporting us if you sign up:

Best 88 Key Roll Up Piano Keyboards

Best 61 Key Roll Up Piano Keyboards

Best Roll Up Piano for Kids (37 & 49 Keys)

Benefits of an Electronic Roll Up Keyboard

These flexible keyboards are obviously light and portable, and as such, they have a number of uses. But a few specific use-cases come to mind:

Composers and Arrangers

Flexible keyboards could be great for composers or arrangers who need a keyboard on the go. Songwriters and composers don’t necessarily need a full-blown digital hybrid piano with real action and acoustics to find the pitches and chords they’re looking for, so if you write music and use keyboards to guide your ear, you might find a roll up piano useful.

Rehearsals

Do you lead a choir or vocal ensemble? While a piano is ideal, a portable roll-up keyboard could allow you to rehearse on the go. Run impromptu rehearsals on the way to gigs, or quickly review your parts prior to an outdoor acapella concert. Roll up pianos could be particularly useful to smaller acapella groups trying to learn parts.

Working Pianists

We’ve all been there - a singer asks if you can accompany their vocal performance TOMORROW. You agree (hating yourself for it), collect your rush fee, and now start using every spare minute to practice. If your gig involves travel, you can capitalize on that travel time if you have a roll up keyboard. Use it on a train (without being rude) or in your hotel room . It’s certainly better than ghosting chords and arpeggios in your lap.

For Children

It’s not easy to get your child to practice piano willingly, and there’s no guarantee that presenting them with a colorful, toy-like alternative will be successful. But it’s a possibility!

Roll up pianos can be a great gateway into taking formal piano lessons, and if you present the roll up piano as a gift or toy that they don’t have to use, you may find that they gravitate towards the instrument and demonstrate a real affinity for music and/or piano. At that point you can start teaching them notes and rhythms, and they’ll be on their way to learning the piano on an instrument that costs less than $100.

Drawbacks of Using a Flexible Roll Up Keyboard

You don’t need an expert to tell you that roll up portable pianos do not imitate the real thing very well. Firstly, there is no key action or weight - in an acoustic piano, the weight is caused by hammers, and in an electronic keyboard, the weight is caused by actual weights used to imitate hammers.

Your spatial awareness and depth perception at the piano may also suffer when using a roll up piano. The keyboard is flat, so the usual 3D perception of the piano won’t be there, and if you use a 49-key or 61-key roll up piano, your horizontal perception of leaps and scales will also be different. Just be careful if you are a performing pianist - don’t use a roll up keyboard for anything other than playing around and learning notes on the go.

Take Piano Lessons In Person Or Online

The Philadelphia Piano Institute offers piano lessons in Philadelphia and online via Skype, and if you’re interested in getting started, we welcome you to reach out at your earliest convenience. We offer a wide range of Philadelphia music lessons, including singing teachers, so please get in touch.

*The Philadelphia Piano Institute may receive a commission from any items purchases through Amazon links below.