The MIDI Piano Instructor

5Volt decided to re-think the idea of piano training software by integrating the visual aids directly into the keyboard.

The ‘MIDI Piano Instructor’ is a tool aimed at improving the piano keyboard self-teaching experience with direct interaction between the student and software (or human, remote) teacher.

The new level of interaction is reached when the student is guided on the notes to play or exercise on visually with LEDs placed directly on top of the piano keys.

Neat project and great documentation!


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2 Comments

  1. Nice project, but I’m not sure how I feel about learning to play this way. It reinforces the need to look at the keys to know which key to press rather than focusing on reading sheet music and learning the keyboard by feel. Think of the way a typist is taught to use a keyboard – you look at the screen, not the keyboard.

    Just my 2c, though.

  2. I thought about that when I read the documentation. But it occurred to me that this method might actually work better for people who can already read sheet music and have trained ears, but have difficulty with fingering.

    And of course, there’s no reason why this method couldn’t be used in conjunction with sight reading.

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