Student Plays Piano Maestro

Piano maestro is a piano education app designed for children. It works very much like rock band, guitar hero, or guitar bots, in the sense that you are reading on-screen notation and playing along in real time while the game listens and assesses your performance. The key difference is that piano maestro actually uses music notation in its design so that kids are learning to read music as they progress.

At a Quick Glance:

– The game does a great job at scaffolding concepts by breaking down each song into six part lessons before tackling the whole song.

– The backing tracks are well produced and the melodies that it teaches range from Hot Crossed buns to katy Perry’s firework, so there is something for everyone.

– The gaming feel provides a sense of immediacy and urgency in reading music that kicks your brain and your fingers into go mode.

– The gaming feel also makes the practice of reading music fast paced, fun, and instantly gratifying, which appeals to children in many ways.

– The free version will give you hours of lessons, fun, and practice and the paid version has many additional features that lets teachers assign practice through the app

Playing on a Real Piano
The app gives you the option of using an on-screen piano or using an actual piano/keyboard that the game listens to via the ipad microphone. The fact that you can use an actual piano adds immense value to the game and makes it very easy to work into a piano lesson or practice time. It still feels like playing the piano and it still looks like reading music, so it doesn’t come across as too gamey or distracting.

Tips and Tricks

1. If you have a piano/keyboard, always use the “acoustic piano” option (it will ask at the start of each song). Onscreen pianos can be fun and they do serve their purpose, but the more you can get your musician playing their actual piano, the better. If you do indeed have an acoustic piano, it needs to in tune to work with this app

2. Start your child from the beginning of “quest.” The first two chapters do not have the “learn mode,” which is okay because the songs are mostly played on one note (middle C).

3. To make things a little easier to start, use some of the practice options the are available in game. Each options detracts from your potential score, but it’s more important that your young musician is able to practice the songs correctly then achieve a perfect score.

– The hold option is a great way to start as it will pause the song while it waits to hear the right note.This way the song doesn’t fly by while your young musician falls behind.

– Display note names via their letter is a good way to bridge the gap for a child who can play some piano but who cannot yet read music. I’ve seen children as young as four read sheet music but for the most part, starting to  read the grand staff with ease happens around a 3rd grade age (7-8). Turning the note letters on will make reading the music much easier.

A Short Success Story

My student in the photo is an amazing young musician. In just a few months of us working together he has picked up almost a years worth of musical skills on the drums, piano and even on guitar.

This guy has A LOT of energy and Piano Maestro has given him a fast-paced practicing method that he loved plowing through. Kids with high energy tend to shift their attention all over the place and this app really helped him focus in on reading music.

It’s gotten to the point where he just sits down with the app and goes through 3-4 songs that he’s practiced while telling me “Don’t help me” and “I got it.” That kind of independence when it comes to playing and practicing is amazing for a teacher to see.

*A brief note to music teachers: do not sing the upcoming note or note name in an attempt to help/guide the student. More often than not, the game will recognize you singing the pitch as the pitch being played and it will move onto the next note (which means your just singing your student through the piece and they’re not actually playing it)

Definitely definitely definitely download this app!! It’s well worth it.