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What’s the best piano for Grade 3?

Aug 19, 2022
6 min read

Wondering what the best piano for grade 3 is? Good news. You’re reading the right blog.

I’ll explain what you need to look for and even recommend a few models of digital piano.

Is the Yamaha CLP725 the best piano for grade 3?

Yamaha CLP725 - CLP-725 Smart Pianist
The Yamaha CLP725 is an ideal choice for grade 3 level playing

The CLP725 is the first model in Yamaha’s flagship Clavinova range.

The Yamaha Clavinova’s are world renowned for being some of the best digital pianos you can buy, and for very good reason.

The Clavinova range strives to offer the player an authentic piano playing experience and depending on how much you spend, you’ll find the bridge between acoustic and digital getting smaller and smaller.

With the CLP725, you’re spoilt with 88 synthetic ivory, fully weighted keys, and two beautiful main piano samples: The CFX Grand & the Bosendorfer.

Why is this important? Well, at grade 3 level you’re now at a seriously important time in your piano playing growth, and it’s these next few grades that things are going to start to get a little bit trickier, and so the response you get from the instrument your playing is going to become vital in your development.

With the Yamaha CLP725, you’re guaranteed to be blown away by the sound quality, and when it comes to playing those faster, harder pieces as you progress through the syllabus, the Piano’s ‘escapement mechanism’ means the keys spring up just as fast as a real grand piano would… meaning you have everything in place to play perfectly and stay inspired.

Yamaha CLP725 - CLP-725 Lifestyle 3
The Yamaha CLP725 has a traditional yet compact cabinet design

The beauty of the CLP725 is in its simplicity too; It only has 10 voices built in, meaning there is no chance of distraction or compromise on quality.

I often find certain models try and do too much — the scatter gun approach. However, if you’re seriously about playing the piano, all you need is a fantastic sounding instrument that feels like a real piano, and the Yamaha CLP725 does just this without breaking the bank account.

Yamaha CLP725 vs CLP735 piano comparison and buying advice37m
Yamaha CLP725 vs CLP735 piano comparison and buying advice
ePianos

Chris explains the differences between the Yamaha CLP725 & Yamaha CLP735 models

Could the Korg G1 be a good alternative?

Korg G1b Air Black Lifestyle
The Korg G1 seamlessly facilitates modern technology like smartphones & tablets

The Korg G1 is very similar to the CLP725 in specification, and though Korg do not have the 100+ years of piano heritage under their belt, the technology they have developed for their digital pianos is a new level of brilliant, and the samples of the Korg G1 really do stand up amongst some of our most popular models.

As well as having the expected fully weighted keys and a gorgeous piano sound, the really great thing about the Korg G1 piano is it’s extra features like split/layering and bluetooth connectivity.

If you’re embarking on your piano learning journey, and at grade 3 in particular, you’re going to find you’re learning and playing pieces that require a little more attention.

For instance, you may want to learn one hand at a time, a very common method amongst players these days, especially with the continuing development of technology in music.

With the Korg G1’s bluetooth connectivity, you can connect your smartphone/tablet to the instrument and play any music through the speakers of the instrument — this opens up a world of possibilities for both rehearsing & practicing.

Perhaps you play a drum beat to play along to? Or your favourite pop song and you accompany your favourite artist while they sing?

Korg G1b Air White Lifestyle
The Korg G1 is also available in a stylish white cabinet

Korg have nailed the necessity in modernising the way we play and learn piano and at Grade 3 this is exactly the kind of experimenting you should be doing!

The split/layer feature means you can (yes you guessed it) ‘split’ the keyboard and have one instrument in the left hand and another instrument in the right.

I’ve found this particularly suited to playing jazz & 12 bar blues, where I select an upright bass for the left hand and a nice jazz piano for the right.

Is the Yamaha CSP150 the best piano for grade 3?

CSP150 Lifestyle
The Yamaha CSP150 ‘Smart Piano’ uses a unique learning system called StreamLights

I mentioned earlier ‘simplicity’ and you’re going to think I’m contradicting myself here but I promise you, it’s impossible to not be excited by my next suggestion for your grade 3 learners.

The Yamaha CSP150 is a ‘Smart’ piano, and by that I mean it is packed with incredible features.

Like we have ‘smart phones’ today, the CSP150 is a fantastic tool to make your learning experience much more effective & your musical life far more enjoyable.

Yamaha CLP vs CSP | What are the differences?16m
Yamaha CLP vs CSP | What are the differences?
ePianos

Chris explains the main differences between the Yamaha CLP & CSP models

What I love about the Yamaha CSP150 is there are no compromises, despite it’s scope.

It has fully weighted keys, just like the other models I have mentioned but offers the player a really exciting way of learning and developing.

On the surface, it’s a traditional piano… but when connected wirelessly to your smartphone or tablet, using Yamaha’s completely free ‘Smart Pianist’ app opens up the doors to a plethora of possibilities, including its lesson feature.

Yamaha CSP150
Yamaha’s free Smart Pianist app works brilliantly with the Yamaha CSP150

Not only are there over 400 songs built in for you to learn, with access to the sheet music and chords to each of these, but the CSP’s have something called ‘Stream Lights’ which trickle down on a panel above the keys as you’re learning one of the songs.

This is such a fantastic (and very popular) method in aiding your development as a player, and at grade 3 level this is a fantastic way of expanding your depth of music and learning those trickier pieces without being too bogged down with the sheet music.

Yamaha CSP150 vs CSP170 Clavinova piano comparison – What piano should I buy?8m
Yamaha CSP150 vs CSP170 Clavinova piano comparison – What piano should I buy?
ePianos

Chris compares the Yamaha CSP150 and the Yamaha CSP170 models

In this blog, I’ve tried to explain what the best piano for grade 3 is.

I hope it’s been helpful to you but remember, you can always email us at sales@epianos.co.uk or call us on 01295 266788 if you have any more questions.

Bye-bye for now and happy playing!

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Isaac Stuart
Isaac Stuart
Sales at ePianos
Isaac is one of our longest-serving sales team members, and is a gifted musician and actor. He has a wealth of product knowledge and experience overseeing a range of promotional content via social media and email. You’ll also see him in a number of our ePianos Youtube demonstration videos.
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Tyros Tipsters Bonus Content for Tyros 5

Here's what we offer when you select the option to include our Bonus Content...
We update the firmware so that your Yamaha Tyros 5 is running on the latest version

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We are pleased to be able to offer interest-free finance on selected products through Novuna Personal Finance, for a limited period only.

This offer is available on purchases of:

  • Brand New Yamaha Genos 2
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Get in touch to request a remote 0% finance application with or without a part-exchange using the form below:



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Available Bonus Content for SX720

Here's what we offer when you select the option to include our Bonus Content...
  • Latest Firmware
  • 27 Expansion packs which include 557 voices and 381 backing styles
  • 234 extra styles from Tyros 5
  • 600 registrations
  • 2673 song setups
  • Video showing where all the key features are
...and when you select the option to include our GenosTipsters Guide
  • We include our GenosTipsters guide (digital version) worth £99, featuring over 3 hours of video and 200 pages of written accompaniment.

Disclaimer – a proportion of this content is made available freely by Yamaha, for those fully competent and confident with using the required software to install it via computer.

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Claim Up To £50 Yamaha Cashback

Buy an eligible Yamaha piano or keyboard from us between 26th August 2026 and 13th January 2027 and claim cashback directly from Yamaha.

  • Yamaha P-145BT: £40 cashback
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Available Content for Genos 1

Here's what we include when you select the option to add our Bonus Content...
  • Latest Firmware
  • 23 extra expansion packs which include 877 voices and 577 backing styles
  • 234 extra styles from Tyros 5
  • 600 registrations
  • 4096 song setups
  • Video showing where all the key features are
...and when you select the option to include our GenosTipsters Guide
  • We include our GenosTipsters guide (digital version) worth £99, featuring over 3 hours of video and 200 pages of written accompaniment.

Disclaimer – a proportion of this content is made available freely by Yamaha, for those fully competent and confident with using the required software to install it via computer.

Genos Tipsters Bonus Content for SX900

Here's what we offer when you select the option to include our Bonus Content...
  • Latest Firmware
  • 14 Expansion Packs inc many extra voices and styles
  • 234 T5 styles
  • 600 registrations
  • T5 Music Finder
  • 15 Playlists with 2287 song set-ups
  • Video showing where all the key features are
...and when you select the option to include our GenosTipsters Guide
  • We include our GenosTipsters guide (digital version) worth £99, featuring over 3 hours of video and 200 pages of written accompaniment.

Disclaimer – a proportion of this content is made available freely by Yamaha, for those fully competent and confident with using the required software to install it via computer.

Available Bonus Content for SX920

Here's what we offer when you select the option to include our Bonus Content...
  • Latest Firmware
  • 25 Expansion packs which include 780 voices and 540 backing styles
  • 234 extra styles from Tyros 5
  • 600 registrations
  • 4256 song setups including 136 ‘Decades’ registrations
  • Video showing where all the key features are
...and when you select the option to include our GenosTipsters Guide
  • We include our GenosTipsters guide (digital version) worth £99, featuring over 3 hours of video and 200 pages of written accompaniment.

Disclaimer – a proportion of this content is made available freely by Yamaha, for those fully competent and confident with using the required software to install it via computer.

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Bonus Content for Korg Pa5X

Here's what we include when you select the option to add our Bonus Content...

  • Korg Bonus Styles (Taken from the Bonusware downloads on Korg UK website) – 450 styles
  • Korg Pa2x Internal Styles converted to 5x – 419 styles, all complete with 4 x Keyboard Sets
  • Korg Pa3x Internal Styles converted to 5x – 486 styles, all complete with 4 x Keyboard Sets
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Available Bonus Content for Genos 2

Here's what we offer when you select the option to include our Bonus Content:

  • Latest Firmware
  • 52 expansion packs which include 1,721 voices and 1,148 backing styles
  • 234 extra styles from Tyros 5
  • 816 registrations
  • 4256 song setups including 160 ‘Decades’ registrations
  • Video showing where all the key features are

Some of the best parts of our Bonus Content option are the 1,721 new extra voices and 1,148 new extra styles included across 52 expansion packs. These packs are quite complex to upload and, whilst free to obtain, we pride ourselves on getting them into your keyboard for you — something many dealers shy away from purely because of the time it takes to get them uploaded.

...and when you select the option to include our GenosTipsters Guide:

  • We include our GenosTipsters guide (digital version) worth £99, featuring over 3 hours of video and 200 pages of written accompaniment.

Disclaimer – a proportion of this content is made available freely by Yamaha, for those fully competent and confident with using the required software to install it via computer.