The Use Of Electric Pianos/Keyboards - Part 1

December 19, 2025•3 min read

"Perhaps you can’t get good sound from miking up your piano, or maybe it just doesn't work in that venue. In either case, this might be an option that improves the overall sound of your worship team as the keyboard is a lot more controllable and easier to balance with the other instruments."

Does it make a difference whether you use an electric piano or keyboard? And when should you consider using one of these instead of a regular acoustic piano?

Now, this is assuming there is a budget to buy an electric piano or keyboard. However, if there isn't, a regular acoustic piano will still do fine, provided you have one.

Here are a few factors that might make it a good option for you.

If your church piano is beyond being able to be properly tuned or has broken, missing or faulty keys that can’t be fixed

That’s certainly a good reason to look for a new option, even if it’s finding a second-hand piano.

If your church doesn’t have a piano

This is pretty obvious, but you would want to speak to your church first, and see if they have a budget to help, rather than having to rely on you buying one, as that just may not be possible.

This is often the situation for churches that don’t have their own building and instead hire a school or a gym; as there is often not a piano available.

You play alongside a lot of other instruments that need to be plugged into a sound system

Perhaps you can’t get good sound from miking up your piano, or maybe it just doesn't work in that venue. In either case, this might be an option that improves the overall sound of your worship team as the keyboard is a lot more controllable and easier to balance with the other instruments.

You want or need more sound options than just piano (like the addition of strings or even an organ sound)

This would be dependent on the style of music you play in your church, but for some people, it is a requirement to have a broader range of sounds.

This would also be the case if you are always playing as part of a worship team, where there may even be two keyboard players, with one playing strings and the other playing piano.

So that’s just a few reasons why you might be considering getting an electronic piano or keyboard.

And next week, we'll be looking at what things you should consider when buying a keyboard.

[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]

This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.

Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.