Piano Guidance
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Does Simply Piano actually work?

No, Simply Piano by JoyTunes is not a scam. You will learn how to read notes, play some pop songs and classical pieces, read chords, understand lead sheets, and more.

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How Does Simply Piano Work?

In short, Simply Piano works as interactive sheet music on a mobile app or tablet. The notes or chords you are learning are shown on the staff on your screen, and it will show you where on the keyboard the notes are played. The main point of Simply Piano is to teach you notes and chords on the piano, the corresponding keys and finger numbers, and how to play them in tempo. So is it just Guitar Hero for piano? No! Because when you play a wrong note, the music stops, highlights the incorrect note, and makes you play it correctly before continuing. The app also lets you learn pop songs, so you’ll have fun music to share with your friends before long. The big picture goal of Simply Piano is to allow you to see a piece of sheet music or a lead sheet, read the notes, and play them in tempo on the piano.

What Concepts Does Simply Piano Cover?:

The Basics & Fundamentals of Piano

You’ll learn the notes on the piano and finger numbers. From there, you’ll learn to play hands together, fill out a whole octave of notes (8 notes), learn flats and sharps, and learn scales. You will then progress to playing a melody over top of a chord accompaniment (arranged by genre). The app then gets into various rhythms, like syncopation and others. The app will basically layer these fundamental concepts on top of each other as you progress through the courses.

Popular Music

You’ll be taught pop songs organized by difficulty, and within this course, you will tackle increasingly advanced chords, syncopated rhythms, popular modes and scales common in blues, jazz, and other popular genres, and more.

Classical Music

The classical music course follows the advanced fundamentals material. It will put your reading ability and technique to the test - as opposed to the popular music courses, which focus on chords. You’ll learn pieces like Minuet in G and Arioso.

Lead Sheets

Simply Piano has an entire course devoted to playing off lead sheets - if you’ve ever wanted to play along with a band or worship group, you’ll find this course helpful. You’ll learn advanced concepts like hash chords, and you’ll be able to download a new rock tune lead sheet and sight read it.

Do You Need a Piano To Use Simply Piano?

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The app actually has a playable “keyboard” that you can use while learning the notes, but that will only help you work through the Piano Basics course. If you want to progress through the more advanced material, you will need to have at least a 61 key digital keyboard at home. Whether you have an electric keyboard or grand piano at home, you’ll be able to use this app. Yes - many teachers recommend Simply Piano as a supplementary method for children, and adult piano students will love how they can accumulate some piano knowledge from their phone. To be fair, young children will get more out of the app if it’s used with guidance from a parent or caregiver at home. All told, it has an easy-to-use interface, well-structured learning progression, and cross-generation appeal. It may get your child to practice piano at home.

Can Piano Teachers Assign Simply Piano To Students?

While you can’t force your students to pay for a relatively expensive app, it can be very useful: Use it as a reward system for young kids - If they have a great lesson, pull the app out for the last five minutes. It’s a great tool for introducing sight reading to a more experienced student. In sum, piano teachers can benefit from buying their own subscription to Simply Piano. Educators can use it as an in-lesson aid with young students, try the sight reading material with intermediate students, and introduce it to adult students who would like some autonomy at home. If you would like to learn more about our presence in Philadelphia, piano teachers in Nashville, curriculum, or piano moving services in Philadelphia, please get in touch.

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