Adult Piano Lessons – Is Piano Wizard Suitable?

Learning to play piano is not just a kid's thing.  There are many people out there looking for adult piano lessons.  Whether it's just to find a new hobby, or seeking some of the benefits of music playing (i.e. music therapy), piano lessons are a great fit for any age.

Piano Wizard Academy's game system is based on a technology called MIDI, which is open ended and can accommodate and serve any level of play or taste. Of course our sweet spot is kids, especially the very young because no one else can reach them as effectively and the benefits of music at that age are very strong and important for developing minds.

That said, about half of our customers are adults buying the game for themselves, fulfilling a lifelong dream to play a musical instrument. They often have different agendas than parents, and use the program in slightly different ways.

The core curriculum of Piano Wizard Academy is about 100 songs, starting with very simple 2 note songs, then 3, then 5, then an octave, until the 100th song which is Beethoven's 5th Symphony arranged for 2 hands. Each song builds motor and musical skills and knowledge to support the next learning, so it goes really quickly, the way an incline, a stairway or ladder is a much faster way to scale any height.

The game also allows you to choose virtually any MIDI file and download it into the game and then choose a part or track to play, such as the melody, the bass part, the accompaniment, etc., depending on the arrangement of the song done by whoever created the file.  There are millions of MIDI files online, from classical, to folk, to ethnic, to pop to jazz, etc. These files were created over the last 20 years largely by amateur hobbyist musicians (as well as some professionals), some quite good, but the arrangements themselves have no uniformity, and are a bit like a "box of chocolates" as Forrest Gump's mom would say. Think of Piano Wizard Academy as having a kind of Photoshop like quality, allowing you to unlock virtually any MIDI file, find the track or tracks you want to learn, change up the instruments a bit, slow it down, isolate a difficult section, add fingering, etc, to enable you to master it bit by bit, much faster than deciphering the sheet music. It is kind of cool to be able to search for and then surf through different songs and arrangements of your favorite songs, and learn them.

That said, for sheer muscle development and musical knowledge and progression, it is best to also go through the curriculum, and add the pop or classical pieces you love as bigger projects to keep your juices flowing.

There are another 200 songs included beyond the initial curriculum, but the ability to find and download virtually any song in MIDI format and bring it into the game and learn it is the real game changer that makes it a music learning platform for life. It is as deep as music itself, and used well, will give you the training wheels to master both individual songs and piano musicianship at a serious level, from where future music studies and development can proceed at an advanced stage.

The 50 video lessons also have the notes from them written out in the sheet music so you can scan them to see if the musical lessons are relevant, and if needed, then review the videos. The whole program assumes zero previous knowledge, and is effective because you learn by doing, with the more abstract terms and theory being introduced only after you have mastered the music, sort of icing on the cake rather than a dry prerequisite. You can quickly find your level in the materials and proceed from there or review as needed.

I I myself learned music as an adult and created this method to fill the gaps in learning I felt that traditional methods had. In the end, it is a tool, but a fun one, and if there is a bit of a kid still in you, as in me, you will enjoy the game elements, but love the musical abilities it facilitates even more.