Piano Head Reviews

Editor's Star Ratings:

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Costs:

• $19.95 from the Piano Head website.
• The website offers a downloadable Free Trial - however, this gives you only two free plays, so do not open the program unless you intend to try it out, or it will count this as one of your free plays.

 

Features:

• A thorough education in musical theory.  Familiarize yourself with:
  • Notes and note recognition.
  • Intervals.
  • Scales.
  • Key signatures.
    
    
• Gain confidence as you practice these skills in a number of environments:
  • Private practice.
  • Increasing difficulty levels.
  • The PianoHead challenge - a game, combining all the skills you have learned.
  • Online scoreboard - compare yourself with other users from around the world.
    
    
• Piano Head differs from traditional methods of theory tuition in many ways:
  • Easy-to-use and navigate format.
  • Attractive and simple layout.
  • Based on both notation and sound.
  • Fun game-play aids learning.

 

Editor's Verdict:

Piano Head is more of a musical education facility than a specific piano course.  Suitable for users of any age or previous level of musical training, it teaches crucial musical theory in a way that does not feel like teaching!  Each of the topics it covers is essential for students of the piano and any other instrument, as well as those studying music and music theory itself.  We would particularly advise it for those practicing for aural or theory exams, or even basic music subject tests or examinations.

Piano Head is ideal for children and teenagers for several reasons.  Firstly, it runs on the medium that twenty-first century young people understand: the computer!  It is an easy-to-upload, easy-to-use program, so young users are unlikely to require any adult help.  Secondly, it has a simple and attractive look that is going to make it appeal to children in particular.  This lack of clutter or distractions means they can spend more time learning, and will make sure they remember the important lessons.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it teaches, not just through instruction or dictation, but through game-play.  Learning with Piano Head is never boring; once an idea is understood the student can move on and deal with the next concept.

As well as being well-suited to a younger audience, the software is also appropriate for the older student who has come to music later in life, or who wishes to renew or refresh previous learning.  It is not specifically designed for children, and the variable difficulty levels mean even those who already have a fairly good working knowledge of music theory will benefit from perfecting their talent even further.  If you are lacking confidence in a particular area, you can focus your practice on this.  Note recognition, for instance, is a skill that can be honed with repetition and reinforcement.

The software is particularly successful in what it does because of its visual characteristics.   It is bold, with diagrams used to represent concepts such as the key signatures.  Users can choose between different displays: for instance, when practicing your intervals you can choose to have these displayed on staff lines, on a keyboard, or have them played without any visual representation.  This is what makes the software suitable for those focusing both on practical music and academic music alike.  There are four basic categories available from the menu page - notes, scales, intervals and key signatures - plus the option to challenge yourself and others against the clock in a game encompassing each of the disciplines.  If we are to criticize it, it has to be said that it could have covered more topics from musical theory - time signatures, rhythm and more advanced skills such as transposition are noticeably absent.  If you require this additional knowledge, you will be required to get it from another source.

Trying to learn a musical instrument to any significant standard without this grounding in musical theory is likely to be slow and unsatisfying.  Although those who wish to take up the piano will need to buy further software or tuition packages, Piano Head is a great additional purchase.  This is probably not adequate for those who have already studied theory at a high level and want to explore more advanced concepts.  However, they can still practice particular skills at speed, or use it simply for the fun of competing against people from around the world.  With the completely free trial, why not have a go before you purchase it?

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