Teach Me Piano

Copyright: KBkids.com 1996

It is now possible to learn to play the piano in the comfort of your own home. Teach Me Piano is a very good piano tutorial. It moves a bit fast, and is not for the easily intimidated, but it will teach you quite a bit. If you work through this entire program, you will be playing pieces like "A Little Night Music" with two hands confidently. This is easily an advanced second year piece, or more!

From the main menu, you will sign in as a new student. Several members of your family can work with this program simultaneously. You will need a basic midi keyboard with four octaves. Once you are signed in, you will proceed to your first lesson. Scattered throughout the program are full motion videos of your 'teacher,' Hugh Berberich. These videos were very helpful, and something rather unique to this program.

Six sections are included in the program, each with approximately five chapters, and a dozen or so screens per chapter. The sections include "Getting Started/ Right Hand," "Rhythm Training/New Notes," "Left Hand/Two Hands Together," "Sharp Keys," "Flat Keys and 1/16th notes," and "Chords and 6/8 Time." If you look at the number of lessons, and the level you will attain at the end, it is easy to see why many testers felt the program moved too fast. This program is great, but not for the faint of heart who are afraid of the process. A highly motivated student, or one who has some music background will probably appreciate the 'no-nonsense' approach found here. Children or adults who feel somewhat intimidated by this process, or who might feel 'rushed,' are better off sticking with Piano Discovery.

Teach Me Piano also lacks the flare and easy-going atmosphere of Piano Discovery. You will cover more ground here, but at the expense of some of the fun. Teach Me Piano also handles left and right hand instruction in a more traditional, 'now let's learn the scary left hand,' approach than Piano Discovery.

As you progress from lesson to lesson, and piece to piece, you will be met with the "training screen." From this screen you will learn how to play each musical selection. You start with a simple study of the rhythm, without worrying about what notes you will need to play. You then proceed to a combination of rhythm and melody. This is a great way to learn a new piece, concentrating on the rhythms first. Once you have 'performed' a piece for your instructor, you will be given a report card. This card will tell you exactly where you made mistakes, and assign a number grade to your rhythm and accuracy. The grading here is as hard as any piano teacher you may encounter! There will be no sliding through without perfection.

Although the 75 songs included will keep you busy for quite some time, you may find you want more pieces to learn. It is possible to import .ORC or .MID files into your program. Then you can play other pieces which were not originally included in the program. The ability to print out your sheet music to play at a real piano is a valuable addition here as well.

Bottom Line: An excellent piano tutorial. May move to fast for some, and lacks the flare and fun of Piano Discovery.

Ratings: (based on KBkids.com's 4 star rating system)

Overall: 3

BrainGain: 4

FunFactor: 3

EasePlease: 2 1/2

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