My four-year-old daughter wants to be a rock star. She loves inventing tunes on her grandmother's piano, so we wanted a kid-sized version with a stand and bench, primarily so the keyboard wouldn't be thrown in the toy box or stepped on. We got what we were looking for and more with the Groovy Tunes keyboard, and at a great price to boot!

What You Get

Keyboard (detachable by pressing tabs on stand, but we're not telling our daughter this until she's older and too big for the bench!)

Detachable corded microphone on swiveling base

Keyboard stand

Detachable sustain pedal

Detachable sheet music holder and one song sheet

The Features

Keyboard

I was truly amazed by the number of features on such a low-priced keyboard. The piano keys are able to play chords, a feature that is important to look for, as some low-end keyboards can only play one note at a time. The keys are also large enough for an adult to play, with a two-octave range.

The unit is capable of playing eight instrument sounds: piano, organ, violin, trumpet, mandolin, bell, music box, and guitar. Not very accurate representations of the instruments, especially the guitar, but eight different sounds all the same.

To back up your child's musical compositions, there are eight prerecorded drumbeats with buttons for changing the tempo, along with five buttons for individual drumbeats (Hi-Tom, Bass Drum, Hi-Hat, Low-Tom, and Cymbal).

There are several prerecorded demo songs included, and a feature to record what your child plays and then play it back. Recorded songs are of course erased when the next song is recorded or when the unit is switched off.

The on/off switch is located on the volume control. There is no light indicating that the unit is on, and my daughter tends to leave the keyboard on, so I do check whenever I pass it to make sure we're not wasting the battery. The volume (thankfully) is not able to go super loud, as headphones can not be used with this keyboard.

At the top of the keyboard are four colored dome lights, which are supposed to blink along with the music. The bulbs are tiny, though, so this feature is only useful in a dark room.

Microphone

Included is a kid-sized corded microphone, which fits into a swiveling base for hands-free use. The height of the microphone can not be adjusted, so a smaller or larger child would have to sit at an awkward angle to play and sing, or else take the mic off of the base and just use one hand on the keyboard.

The Stand and Bench

The stand is the lowest-quality part of an otherwise high-quality toy. The plastic is not as thick as it could be, and the base of the stand is not deep enough to support the weight of the keyboard. My daughter has tipped it several times, although with no damage to the keyboard. Our solution was to place the unit against the wall. I also warned her to be careful getting up from the bench so the unit will not fall forward.

At the bottom of the stand is a notch for placement of the sustain pedal. When pressed, the pedal will hold a note for longer, although the difference is negligible.

The bench is sturdy plastic, and can double as a stepstool.

My Child's Experience

We have had this toy for several months now, and she plays with it every day. The keyboard is sized and styled much like those for older children, so I'm sure that even when she outgrows the stand, the keyboard and mic will get many more years of use!




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 30
Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years