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by John M. Zeigler, Ph.D. |
| Downloading | IBM Compatible Programs | Mac Programs | Software Review Main Page | Learning to Play | Piano Education Home |
Downloading, Installation, and Compatibility
Downloading the Software: The programs below can be obtained just by clicking on the underlined title. If your browser generates a message when you click saying that you haven't defined a helper application to handle the ZIP file type, choose the option Save to Disk. If you get a message 'Anonymous user access denied', it simply means the server is busy; try again later. Because programs are constantly upgraded and the archives restructured frequently, we cannot guarantee that even our monthly checks of all the links on the site will keep these links current at all times. If you get a 'link not found' or similar error, chances are good that you can find the current version of the program by simply deleting the file name at the end of the full URL and connecting to that URL. You should be able to identify the correct file name from the directory listing.
Installing the Software: Note that the programs in the ZIP format are compressed archives that must be decompressed and installed. To unzip ZIP archives in Windows or Windows 95, you should get WinZIP or WinZIP for Windows 95. Programs that, when downloaded, have an EXE extension are also compressed but do not require a separate decompression program. In that case, just run the file and it will decompress itself. Essentially all the Windows programs will decompress into a series of files, one of which will be either SETUP.EXE or INSTALL.EXE or a similarly named file. Run that file to install the program in Windows. Some of the more modern downloadable software with an EXE extension will decompress and install itself automatically in any of the various Windows versions.
Compatibility Notes: Windows95/98/NT/2000/XP/Vista - a 32-bit application that will run only with the Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP Windows NT and/or Vista operating systems on IBM compatible PC's. Windows 3.1 - a 16-bit application that is designed to run under Windows 3.1 graphical operating environment on IBM compatible PC's. Most Windows programs will also run under Windows 95, 98 and NT. DOS - a 16-bit application written for the MS-DOS command line interface on IBM compatible PC's. Most DOS programs will run in a window under Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 98 and, to a lesser extent, Windows NT, 2000, XP and, to a variable degree, 32-bit Vista. 64-bit Vista generally will not run 16-bit DOS software directly, though it will run much of it with a DOS emulator like DOSBox.
Mac - applications specifically for the Macintosh. Some require system versions after System 7, some do not. Font sleuth 2 4 4 – font browser and organizer. Applications written for the Macintosh generally will not run on an IBM-compatible machine.Applications written for an IBM-compatiblegenerally will not run on a Macintosh machine. Recent Macs with Intel processor chips may be able to run IBM software, natively, or with an emulator program like DOSBox.
Software Files
Where possible, the descriptions we give below were taken from the author's description of the program as provided in the downloadable file archive. We do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of these descriptions. In most cases, we have not examined the programs with any degree of thoroughness, except where a REVIEW! link is present.
IBM Compatible Programs
Mac Programs
IBM Compatible Programs
Computer Sounder (Windows 95 shareware) - a computer synthesizer that has an interface similar to a piano. The program can simulate the sounds of many musical instruments, and it enables you to use the keyboard like a piano.
EarMaster 2.0 is an advanced musical ear training software program for Windows 95 and Windows 3.1. EarMaster 2.0 contains exercises within the areas: Chord, Intervals, Scales, Rhythms and Melodies. EarMaster 2.0 offers a wide range of setup possibilities. You can define your own ear training levels and save them for future use. This makes EarMaster ear training suitable for both beginners and demanding users.
EZPNO Tutor (DOS shareware) EZPNO Tutor shows you how to play your favorite songs step-by-step on a 3D piano! Import MIDI file tracks, or enter your favorite sheet music using the powerful EZPNO Editor. (REVIEW!)
KeyNote Music Drills (Version 1.76 for Windows95/NT 3.51) and KeyNote Music Drills for Windows (Version 1.51 for Windows 3.1) were designed to help music students learn to identify the notes of the bass clef, treble clef, and grand staff, and to locate their positions on the keyboard or guitar fingerboard.
MidiNotate (Version 1.1, freeware for Windows 95, 98, or NT) converts MIDI files to musical scores. Prints entire MIDI file as notated score. Extracts instrument parts, optionally transposed. Displays score to fit window at any zoom level. Highlights notes on screen as they are played. Automatically turns pages during playback. Offers control of tempo during playback. Supports any MIDI sound card, and any number of MIDI devices connected via sound card MIDI Out connectors.
Mozart 3.1 (Windows 3.1 shareware) is a Music Processor for Windows. Using only the computer keyboard, you can create and edit sheet music. This can be printed with high-quality TrueType symbols on printers supported by Windows, and appears on the screen in standard notation as a WYSIWYG display.
Pdf magic 2 6 1. A Musical Tutorial Version 1.3 (DOS shareware), A Music Tutorial Version 1.6 (Windows 3.1 shareware) and A Musical Tutorial Version 2.0 (Windows 95/98/NT shareware) A way to encourage musical study using a graphically oriented environment. Treble / bass note & chord sight reading. Associate notes to piano keys. Chord dict. Musical games. Play, view and print scales, chords and triads. User log. Play classics. Print sight reading test papers. Intervals, ear tests, key signatures, etc. Makes music lessons fun for children or adults. (REVIEW!)
Musician's CD Player (Windows 95 shareware) - allows you to transcribe and record music directly from your computer's CD player. With Musician's CD Player you may repeat any section of the music at full speed or at a lower speed by stretching the length of the music--anywhere from 20 percent to 200 percent--without changing the original pitch.
Music Teacher's Secretary(Windows 3.1 shareware) - designed to help with the running of a small private music teaching business.
Muzika (Windows 3.1 shareware) - music notation program
NoteWorthy Composer (Windows 3.1/95 shareware)- NoteWorthy Composer is an award winning music composition and notation processor. It provides for the creation, play back and printing of you own musical scores. Notes and rests are added simply by selecting the item from the dockable tool bar and pressing a key. Use the included tools to automatically transpose, beam, and arrange accidentals in your score staves to make them look professional, create up to eight lyric lines per staff, and add various performance expressions, such as crescendos, fermatas, breath marks, and accelerandos that are recognized and performed during play back.
PC-Piano Teacher (DOS shareware) - note learning, ear training, rhythmic dictation, reading intervals, steps and skips (REVIEW!)
Piano Professor (Windows 3.1 shareware) - Piano Professor for Windows was designed to help you learn how to read music. Among it's features are: The Note Tutor [teaches the student how to read music and identify the corresponding keys on the piano keyboard], Chord Encyclopedia [a full complement of over 450 chords using sight and sound], Key Signatures Screen [shows the many keys that music is written in], Name that Note [helps you to recognize notes by sound and train your ear], Keyboard Teacher [aids the beginner by explaining the basics of the piano keyboard] and a detailed help system. (REVIEW!)
Play the Blues, Now!(Windows 3.1 freeware) - interactive instruction that guides the beginner through the basics of playing the blues on the piano or keyboard. You'll learn with the benefit of diagrams and charts. And unlike print based instruction, you will be able to hear the examples as well. Everything needed to grasp the basics of blues is presented in the course of five lessons that explain the material in an easy to understand way that everyone can benefit from. The program covers the blues scale, blues chords, 12-Bar blues progressions, theory, turnarounds and more!
Sweet Little Piano(Windows 3.1/95 shareware) - allows the computer keyboard to act as a piano keyboard. Pressing a computer key generates a MIDI note and sends it to the selected device. Different aspects of the generated MIDI message may be changed with different menu commands, keyboard commands, and control bars.
WinOYE (Windows 3.1 shareware) - An ear training program. The program plays melodic intervals, harmonic intervals, short melodies, and two- and three-note chords, which you must play back by pointing to keys on a keyboard it displays Macbook camera app.
Mac Programs
Mac files linked here are primarily from the Arizona Macintosh Users Group FTP site. Additional music shareware can be found there in several of the directories. Paragraphs minimalist writing 1 1 1.
ChordLab 1.6 (Mac shareware) - If you ever wondered how to spell a C#maj.7/#11 chord or needed to improve in harmonic ear training ChordLab is for you. ChordLab 1.3 is a utility application that spells and plays chords correctly in music notation. It handles all triads and common seventh chords. Additionally it shows piano keys, guitar tablature or guitar chord diagrams. No more fear of double or even triple sharps and flats. Where grammatically required ChordLab will take care of it. The chords being polled can be displayed in the standard voicings.
Complete Note Speller 1.0 Demo (Mac shareware) - This is a demo version of the complete Note Speller. The Note Speller is part of the on going Music Lab Series which uses computer resources to accelerate traditional musical training and development. The complete Note Speller covers both the Treble and Bass clef as well as chromatic and diatonic notes. Students will be asked to play notes on the computer simulated piano. You may play the piano with the mouse, computer keypad or optional midi keyboard.
Melodic Ear Trainer 1.3 (Mac shareware) - Melodic Ear Training v1.3 is a powerful music sight reading and ear training course for the Macintosh. Students will learn to play and recognize melodic patterns at sight. The Melodic Ear Trainer will play a random pattern of notes on the grand staff from the range that you select. Toggle between diatonic or chromatic notes. Adjust the length and tempo of the melody to match your skill level. Students must play the melody back on the computer piano or optional midi keyboard.
MusicMentor 1.1(Mac shareware) - MusicMentor is a shareware HyperCard stack to help music students learn to read written music quickly. It shows a note on a music stave and asks the user to click on the corresponding key on the three octave piano keyboard within a certain time. Best apple tv family games. The user can change the amount of time allowed for each note, and also decide whether to be tested on whole notes, sharps/flats, or both. MusicMentor remembers and tests more frequently on the notes which each user gets wrong. This version of MusicMentor remembers test results and missed notes for any number of different players, so that in a class or home situation where there are several MusicMentor users and only one computer, each user can still have his or her own results stored. MusicMentor 1.1 requires a 640x400 or larger screen, and HyperCard or HyperCard Player 2.1 or later.
Take Off With Music1.0 (Mac shareware) - Take Off With Music uses color graphics, sound and animation to arouse people's curiosity and make learning music fun! A random note will be played and highlighted on the piano keyboard. The corresponding notes for the keys will appear below as note buttons on the musical staff. The player must click the correct note button to answer the question. As you answer the right question, the notes on the musical staff light up. Its up to you to set the range, the time and the mode of entree. Young children may type the letter keys on the computer keypad until they learn how to use the mouse.
The Talking Piano Teacher v1.5 (Mac shareware) - The Talking Piano Teacher is a very powerful and complete music note teaching program for children and adults. Learn how good the Macintosh is for teaching music! Free mac from apple.
Tunefinder 1.4 (Mac shareware) - Tunefinder will search through 8,000 of the most often heard melodies from classical and semiclassical music and show you the source of such a remembered melody. Just click - play eight notes of the melody on a piano keyboard diagram on the screen. If the melody is in the database, Tunefinder will show you the name of the composer, the composition and the movement where the melody occurs. You can also add your own melodies. Great for educators, students and music lovers. Requires HyperCard.
Last updated: 05/25/19
| Downloading | IBM Compatible Programs | Mac Programs | Software Review Main Page | Learning to Play | Piano Education Home |
Synthesia is your piano tutor. Sharp notation, Windows 10 MIDI, 'Simple' labels, AVI export, and more! Sheet music now always appears sharp, regardless of size. Piano Tutorial App. With an OnlinePianist account you can access thousands of piano tutorials from any device and collect your favorite songs to a beautiful personal songbook.
Computers and technology have changed the way we get news and information, communicate with friends and family, and even learn new skills. If you've always wanted to learn how to play the piano, today there are more options available to achieve your goal than ever before. There are hundreds of free piano lesson videos available online, websites dedicated to providing tips, tricks, and private lessons, online games that teach music theory, and sites offering sheet music for any song you can imagine.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to play the classic song, Piano Man by Billy Joel on piano and keyboard. This is a simplified version of the song, created for absolute beginners. You will find the notes for this song, 'in letters' below. ButtonBeats Piano. ButtonBeats Piano is a free software to play piano on your computer. Important features of piano learning software. MIDI compatibility. The best online piano software allows you to use a MIDI-compatible keyboard to track your progress in real time while you take lessons. The software can identify the specific notes you missed so that you can go back and practice the areas that are giving you the most trouble.
One of the most intriguing and exciting developments in musical instrument learning technology is the newest generation of piano learning software. There are many options available, at all different price points. You can buy a full program outright, or there are companies available online that offer a subscription-based model.
Most offer a carefully constructed and developed curriculum, put together by highly qualified teachers. One of the best piano learning software systems on the market is part of a software-based, monthly subscription service that offers a comprehensive software learning package combined with online features, downloadable software, tutorials, games, and social media for a complete approach.
The question is, does piano learning software really work? Can you replace a teacher's expertise and individual attention (via online lessons or in-person lessons) with software and video learning? Below, we'll examine several different packages available, and compare the pros and cons of each with one-on-one instruction.
The Basics of Learning Piano
Piano Education Software
Desire is an important part of learning any instrument – so you've got the first step down! But learning to play piano also requires focus, enthusiasm, persistence, patience, and dedication. Without these attributes, no teacher in the world will help you to learn, so keep these in mind when you decide which program you go with.
Three of the best piano learning software packages on the market today are Piano Suite Premier, and two subscription-based services called Piano Marvel and Playground Sessions. Let's look at some of the features offered in each:
- Piano Suite Premier – $89.95
At first glance, Piano Suite Premier is impressive in its scope. It offers tons of information and you could spend hours exploring before even beginning your first lesson. It teaches the history of piano combined with lessons in music theory and performance, and like many of the newer packages, incorporates interactive games as a learning tool. Piano Suite also contains a library of 500 songs and a 'Composer's Corner' for writing and printing your own musical scores. You can then arrange them with accompaniment using the onboard multi-track recorder function.
Piano Tutorial Software Download
Macbook pro backlit keyboard arabic. The lessons go beyond playing to cover all aspects of music theory, with hundreds of narrated lessons and exercises that work on sight reading, notation, fingering, rhythm, scales, chords, and other areas of performance and theory.
- Piano Marvel – $12.00/month subscription
Truly cutting-edge in its approach to teaching, Piano Marvel is one of the first comprehensive subscription services for learning piano. It features a software package that addresses learning to play piano through a complex multimedia curriculum that combines tutorials, exercises, games, and progress tracking.
Piano Marvel takes a unique approach to teaching by focusing on short segments with frequent rewards, geared toward developing long-term skills. It uses many of the visual elements of video games and interactivity to break down complex subjects, such as music theory, into smaller, bite-sized learning segments.
While the price is reasonable, keep in mind this is a monthly subscription service. You are in essence renting access to the software and lesson services.
- Playground Sessions – $9.99/month subscription
Playground Sessions takes a unique approach to learning, different from the other piano learning software options reviewed here. The teaching method is thorough, engaging, and easy to follow, and is probably one of the best options for piano learning software.
The methodology focuses on a 'play-to-learn' method, broken down into four main lesson categories: Keyboard Skills, Notation, Rhythm, and Ear Training. The lessons teach the basic elements, such as notes, chords, inversions, scales, and notation. It also introduces music theory concepts, such as key signatures, rhythmic elements, note duration, rests, and syncopation, and takes you through three levels for each concept (Rookie, Intermediate, and Advanced).
Based on the learning concepts found in musical games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Playground Sessions uses pop music to teach music theory and technique. Video tutorials incorporate the music of popular artists like Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, and Norah Jones to teach music theory, and the ultimate goal of the lessons is to teach the student how to create their own compositions and arrangements.
Playground Sessions also integrates social media into its system, allowing users to share their progress on Facebook and Twitter, and also connect with other users through the networks. By incorporating social media and using today's most popular musical stars as part of its core teaching curricula, Playground Sessions connects the next generation of music students by engaging musicians of all backgrounds through today's socially connected world.
Piano Learning Software vs. One-on-One Learning
While these piano learning software packages may work alone, their effectiveness can be amplified by working with a qualified piano teacher. Keep in mind that there are many subtle aspects of playing the piano that can't be learned by software alone. There are also elements of technique that if learned incorrectly, will impact your ability to progress as a player.
Additionally, while the software approach offers flexibility and allows you to learn at your own pace, it requires a level of discipline that young students often lack. It's very easy to get frustrated when having difficulty with a challenging technique or concept, and having an experienced teacher walk you through those challenges is often the difference between sticking with your lessons or giving up.
Piano learning software can be an excellent tool that can work for some students who are driven to succeed, but most of the packages out there work best when combined with studying with an experienced music teacher to create a comprehensive system for learning to play the piano.
There are no shortcuts to learning how to play a musical instrument proficiently. With practice, the latest cutting edge tools, and an experienced teacher to keep you motivated and inspired, you can achieve your dreams of playing the piano. The most important step is to just get started!
Macbook pro backlit keyboard arabic. The lessons go beyond playing to cover all aspects of music theory, with hundreds of narrated lessons and exercises that work on sight reading, notation, fingering, rhythm, scales, chords, and other areas of performance and theory.
- Piano Marvel – $12.00/month subscription
Truly cutting-edge in its approach to teaching, Piano Marvel is one of the first comprehensive subscription services for learning piano. It features a software package that addresses learning to play piano through a complex multimedia curriculum that combines tutorials, exercises, games, and progress tracking.
Piano Marvel takes a unique approach to teaching by focusing on short segments with frequent rewards, geared toward developing long-term skills. It uses many of the visual elements of video games and interactivity to break down complex subjects, such as music theory, into smaller, bite-sized learning segments.
While the price is reasonable, keep in mind this is a monthly subscription service. You are in essence renting access to the software and lesson services.
- Playground Sessions – $9.99/month subscription
Playground Sessions takes a unique approach to learning, different from the other piano learning software options reviewed here. The teaching method is thorough, engaging, and easy to follow, and is probably one of the best options for piano learning software.
The methodology focuses on a 'play-to-learn' method, broken down into four main lesson categories: Keyboard Skills, Notation, Rhythm, and Ear Training. The lessons teach the basic elements, such as notes, chords, inversions, scales, and notation. It also introduces music theory concepts, such as key signatures, rhythmic elements, note duration, rests, and syncopation, and takes you through three levels for each concept (Rookie, Intermediate, and Advanced).
Based on the learning concepts found in musical games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Playground Sessions uses pop music to teach music theory and technique. Video tutorials incorporate the music of popular artists like Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, and Norah Jones to teach music theory, and the ultimate goal of the lessons is to teach the student how to create their own compositions and arrangements.
Playground Sessions also integrates social media into its system, allowing users to share their progress on Facebook and Twitter, and also connect with other users through the networks. By incorporating social media and using today's most popular musical stars as part of its core teaching curricula, Playground Sessions connects the next generation of music students by engaging musicians of all backgrounds through today's socially connected world.
Piano Learning Software vs. One-on-One Learning
While these piano learning software packages may work alone, their effectiveness can be amplified by working with a qualified piano teacher. Keep in mind that there are many subtle aspects of playing the piano that can't be learned by software alone. There are also elements of technique that if learned incorrectly, will impact your ability to progress as a player.
Additionally, while the software approach offers flexibility and allows you to learn at your own pace, it requires a level of discipline that young students often lack. It's very easy to get frustrated when having difficulty with a challenging technique or concept, and having an experienced teacher walk you through those challenges is often the difference between sticking with your lessons or giving up.
Piano learning software can be an excellent tool that can work for some students who are driven to succeed, but most of the packages out there work best when combined with studying with an experienced music teacher to create a comprehensive system for learning to play the piano.
There are no shortcuts to learning how to play a musical instrument proficiently. With practice, the latest cutting edge tools, and an experienced teacher to keep you motivated and inspired, you can achieve your dreams of playing the piano. The most important step is to just get started!
Learn To Play Piano Software
Piano by katiesw1
