Set the height before anything else
Forearms level with the keys, elbows just above them, feet flat. Every hour spent at the wrong height builds a habit that has to be unlearned, and no amount of practice compensates for a stand that is too low.
Plug the pedal in and test it
Press a note, hold the pedal, release the note. If the note stops, the polarity is reversed — switch it on the pedal if it has a switch. This takes ten seconds and saves a support ticket.
Headphones, not speakers, for the first month
Headphones remove every excuse about the hour of day, and on a digital piano they are usually the better sound as well. Wired, closed-back, and plugged into the piano rather than into a computer.
Ignore the app for two weeks
Every instrument now ships with a companion app and a subscription to a learning platform. None of it matters until sitting down has become automatic. Learn where middle C is first.
The questions players ask
How high should the bench be?
High enough that your forearms are roughly level with the keys and your elbows sit just above them. If the stand and bench cannot reach that, the stand is the part to change.
The sustain is stuck on. Is the piano faulty?
Almost certainly not — it is pedal polarity. Manufacturers use opposite conventions; a pedal with a polarity switch corrects it instantly.
Last reviewed 2026-08-18
