Piano lesson software that makes learning to play so much fun that you have to literally tell your children to stop practicing?
Maybe you homeschool and are looking for options to teach piano to your children at home (or through your homeschool cooperative)?
Maybe your child is not liking piano lessons, finding it hard to practice on his/her own and remember everything the teacher introduced.
Maybe piano lessons with a teacher just won't work for your family right now, because of time or cost.
Whatever your needs, some wonderful kids piano software programs are available now to give kids a rich, pedagogically sound piano eduction.
And did I mention they're fun? Your child will love playing piano, and that means happy practice times. Encouraging children to love learning is easier when the process is fun and full of positive feedback.
I should warn you, though, that you need to be prepared for the fact that your kids will be begging you to play more, to turn the computer on, and asking when they can have a turn. ;-)
Kids Piano Software Piano Wizard Academy
Piano Wizard Academy begins with the amazing Piano Wizard software. This knocked my socks off the first time I saw it! What starts off as a fun computer game (think Guitar Hero) matching colors on the screen to piano keys, transitions over 4 steps to reading real music. No struggles, no frustration. Just more fun practice!
This game is really, seriously fun. And it's sneaky. Kids have no idea that they're learning foundational music theory (rhythm, relative pitch, hand position...) while playing a video game. Don't you love when learning and fun happen at the same time?
Check out the video below to get an overview of the program and see how the 4 steps work, and how the Piano Wizard Academy goes beyond the game to DVD lessons at a real piano:
If you've read any other pages of my website, I hope you've come to understand that I believe everyone can learn piano.
That includes YOU, and your kids! Human beings are inherently and deeply musical. The fact that most of us believe otherwise is tragic.
The creators of Piano Wizard believe the same: that music literacy should be a universal birthright. Piano Wizard allows parents and kids alike to learn piano, at home, in a fun and relaxed way.
Piano Wizard is terrific for home schoolers. Imagine being able to provide a piano curriculum that takes a student from complete beginner to fluent music reader at a fraction of the cost of private piano lessons, which are the only other option most parents have. A year of piano lessons in my studio would cost, on average, $960... and it takes at least 3 years of lessons to get to a functional level of music reading, and much more to fluency.
Take a few minutes and find out more about Piano Wizard Academy, its founder, and the philosophy behind the software. This isn't simply piano learning software -- this company wants to impact music education on a large scale and share the joy of playing music with families everywhere.
Kids Piano Software Children's Music Journey
If you're interested in a more traditional music learning approach, I can highly recommend Children's Music Journey by Adventus Software.
This 3-volume piano software is for children ages 4-10, although I certainly think you could start working with your younger toddlers with this program. It's got a great interface where the lessons are taught by famous composers -- hooray for including music history in with the piano lessons! Your child will be charmed by the friendly composer-teachers. Each of the 95 lessons has an accompanying practice session with "Miss Melody" in the practice room (she's nice!).
The software also includes music theory games to help learn key theory concepts. Sweet games -- they are adorable, and your child will completely forget they're learning something useful and just enjoy the game and the fantastic graphics. There are also lots of play-and-learn songs for your kids to learn in addition to the lessons.
I especially love that Children's Music Journey includes learning to compose and improvise, two skills that are usually lacking in traditional piano lessons. Composing and improvisation are both critical to building a relationship to the piano and giving students success and freedom at the keyboard.
I'm confident that either of these two kids piano software programs will bring the joy of music into your home, while giving your children a solid start at piano.
And I also suspect you'll be tempted to play, yourself! :-) How could you resist when they're so FUN?
Enjoy learning and playing music with your family!
