Any piano teachers here that know these apps..

Yousician, simply piano, flow key, Piano Marvel...

They make learning piano fun for kids..
True, its not as good as a real piano teacher..
But it rewards the kids, like todays games do..
They also give some feedback..

If parrents only noted this..
This could just be the saviour for music making..
And they work on any keyboard..

They teach music theory, sightreading,
They turn playing scales into a semi fun rewarding experiience..
They train the ear and hearing, with excersises for play by ear..

You play most songs with a backing,..
No arrangers needed...


My nefews who lost their interest in music making have made a comback in Corona time.
They are actually having fun again, and so making progress..

I will have to check out some of these apps myself. I teach piano lessons from home and online. Most students work through classical method material just fine, but when some others began to lose interest, I introduced "chord playing." It's a different time and and I am open to different tools, methods, and etc.

Hi Torch,
I find chord playing is far more interesting , especially for someone my age ( ancient) haha. Only tried it in the last few months
After not having played piano in 20 plus years.
I started off as an adult via classical method , lost interest after a while. It did teach me to read, though, and I became totally dependent on having to read everything.
Wouldn’t have had a clue how to accompany a singer or play from a lead sheet.
Only learnt about chords so I could do some basic playing on a keyboard , which didn’t really help with knowing what to play on a piano.

Think it’s great that you are trying to incorporate both.

Hi Bachus,
I had downloaded a couple of those apps , but haven’t really gotten round to using them.

I found a great online class, that I’m thoroughly enjoying, and ever so slowly working my way thru it.
They give you feedback too if one requires it.

Mainly Ballad, pop type music, and it’s great she teaches to play from a lead sheet or if one wants it a full piano arrangement, is available too for download.

The apps would probably be very interesting to kids.

Rikki, share the highlights of your piano/chord studies, we may be able to add to, or learn from, what you are doing. It would be a nice topic.

John C.

These apps are useful to a degree however they still require the user to be very self disciplined. What I find is that the biggest problem to any student learning a new instrument, is the lack of self discipline and the inability of the parents to manage their child’s, or even their own time . The failure to put a structure in terms of scheduled practise times to stick to is the single most impacting factor on a students success or failure . It’s a real challenge and sadly no app can substitute this .

Interesting observation, but I find that most youngsters that have been bought up with modern technology, perform better if they use it to learn, and have difficulty concentrating doing it the old way. (Times have changed and what worked in the past has to be modified to suit the future)
If they stay interested then adding some of the old ways will get them to the top, but introduced too soon and interest will wane. (How many potential players have been lost over the years due to them losing interest by their teacher being strict at the outset, rather than letting them enjoy learning to play?)

Bill

I bought one of the books from Rikki's coarse entitle "100 Left Hand Patterns",to try before trying the coarse itself.

I was looking for a method of left hand accompaniment that can be used for different songs. It is a good book for those that are not absolute beginners,as we know chords and right hand melody. I find that for many songs,one can pick out the accompaniment that fits,and sounds pretty good for arpeggiating type left hand. I do think,however,that there is nothing like the real accompaniment written by the composer for a particular song. I should live so long as to learn one at a time,and build up a repertoire.

This is the one i like most ..

Lots of video tutorials
Indepth musical theory, combined with excersises..
Great collection of songs..

And you play everything from sheet music,..
Or by ear in other excersises..


Some things i noticed..
With the Yamaha fsr keys, i make much more mistakes then with the roland jupiter 80
The slightly smaller keys make me touch addescent keys,
Its barely audible but the app detects it..
It happens a lot on the yamaha but almost never on the Roland..


Also i noticed that i play slightly before the beat, espescially when i play chords..

All in all an interesting two days...


It convinced me that when the right app is choosen, its fun, and educational
And it really teaches music...
The apps however all come with a monthly fee..