Thank you for the review! I am using Simply Piano. I am now at half of the courses. One thing I want to add is that in further lessons they jump to the F for the Finger position and more further it is more various, seems not always be a C or an F finger position.
Oh, great to hear that! Yeah, I think learning piano from an app really depends on the person. It could work perfectly for some and not at all for others 🤗
This is true but for some people it may feel like a longggggggggg time to get onto that it’s in essentials 3 if I’m correct so they may look at ads of it and they say “Hi I’m Maddie and 9 years old have no experience of piano and I use simply piano and I can play Fur Elise in 3 months” you may think it’s that easy after that but I still have to work hard but at least it gives motivation😃
As someone who doesn’t have slot of money I’m glad to have an app that’s pretty happy that there is something I can use on a daily basis I do however use UA-cam to help with things the app can not teach me like hand positions. I will start getting some piano lessons once a month to have some time of real lessons.
As a teacher you should know that everyone can learn the same way this app is great For people who can’t read notes at all I have dyslexia and I know I couldn’t no matter how hard I tried
One thing I think should be considered, is while it's good to learn some fundamentals, I don't necessarily think you "need" to be able to read music. There are a lot of very famous musicians, that never learned to read music. In fact many guitar players don't know how to read music, because of the nature of the instrument. Music is a language, and like any language you don't necessarily need to be able to read and write in order to speak the language. It never hurts to become more literate, but literacy is not always required for fluency. Most people these days trying to learn piano are simply trying to play along with a band, or impress their friends with their favorite hits, play for their church, etc. In my opinion, sheet music as most musicians know it, is outdated. It was a necessity in the 17th and 18th centuries when there wasn't really any other better way to depict the music in a visual format. Modern visuals like tablature or piano chord sheets that will tell you the same thing more or less. Unless you intend to become a concert pianist, with a focus on centuries old classical pieces, I don't know that very structured lessons or traditional sheet music or site reading is a necessity.
I guess you have to decide whether you want to gamify the app or learn how to play the piano. The fact that a student wants to game the system tells me that the student should not be here. Maybe they're better off on the Swim Team. I'm not here to get around the app, I'm here to learn how to play. I'm not spending time purposely hitting a C instead of a D to see if the app works perfectly. I'm here to learn, not goof off. I"ve spent many hours in the last few weeks reviewing at least twelve learn to play piano apps and Simply Piano is the best at presenting a path for early success. Piano teachers would be wise to incorporate a learning piano app into their regular syllabus. Too many instructors are fighting apps, instead of embracing them toward their (and the students) advantage.
Hey, thank you so much for watching! Not sure I totally understand your stance on the app! I have seen loads of students "goof off" with the app, which makes me think it's not the best universal education tool. Apart from that, the hand position aspect of it is super important IMO. What are your thoughts?
Thank you for posting this. I totally agree with everything you have said. At the moment I am toying with the idea of getting as a supplementary teaching aid to help motivate students to have a bit of fun in amongst their regular practice. It does most definitely and utterly NOT replace a good teacher, but I think it may have a place in lessons so it can done with a teacher coaching and talking them through all the basics that Simply Piano doesn’t cover. I think this may have a place, but still not overly convinced yet. It doesn’t cover proper theory, phrasing, expression, pedalling, interpretation, posture, good technique and much more obviously, BUT with me along side them and giving them other materials too it might be a nice ‘game’ to include. Thanks again, it has been very insightful to see it in action from the very start of the process.
Interestingly enough you mention finger position and hand holding and basic form. My son is doing simply guitar and I have played guitar for years and was impressed with how much they focused on form and stuff like that. They straight up told him to cut his fingernails
What online piano method can you recommend. I'm in Western Australia. I have basic knowledge already, up to Grade 2 (1970's) and I got honours at exams.
I’ve been using simply piano for about six months and finally canceled my subscription. There is some extremely irritating ways that they teach. They never really get you to learn notes in both hand positions which is so critical. I gave up simply piano. It may work for some people but not me
I am already an advanced pianist but want help with sight reading. Will this app be great for sight reading or is there a better app and how much does it cost?
Hmmm I am not sure there’s an app specifically for sight reading, but if you’d like to practice that more I’d recommend giving the RCM Four Star series a try 🙏 That, and try to find a collection of your favourite songs to go through one by one! I loved to practice sight reading with my Disney collection and it really helped my motivation 🤗
Always remember we must repent of our sins (sin is transgression The Law Of Yahuah The Father in Heaven. The Law are The Books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy). We must repent of our sins and Have Belief On Yahusha The Messiah. HE Died and Rose three days later so that we can be forgiven of our sins! Come to HIM Today. Much love!
I understand that, the point of this video is to give different perspectives on this app so people can make the best decision for themselves 🤗 This video, channel, as well as many others can offer much better music education than an app, also for free!
I know I was disappointed too 😒 😭 Hey thanks for watching!! Have I mentioned we have a super secret Facebook group? We would love to have you be apart of it 😍 Let me know!
Wait, so "Winner of multiple contests and played with many orchestras" isn't an option for level of experience when you start the app? Why not!?! :) These apps fall into the "teaching yourself" category, which is extremely dangerous over time. There is so much more than playing notes on a page (or screen) when it comes to any instrument. You can't possibly get these aspects from apps--at least not now--we will see again 20 more years down the line.
Absolutely agree 👍 Dangerous long term for technique, musicality, and everything in between. As some commenters mentioned, it may be a good introduction, but I would def recommend to switch to a teacher ASAP!
Watching. This video makes me feel good I did not get a teacher to learn piano… thank heavens I was patient to learn with logic and iq firmly held. I hope your getting more paying student coz that app is cheap and better structured than you without the nagging aura. 😹
Thanks for the review! I bought simply piano for my kids to try out and get some basic piano skills. I absolutely LOVE it. My young girls would would have never had the patience to keep going without feeling like they were “playing a song” right from the start. It’s not perfect but I think a great place for kids to start and for parents who don’t want to pay for lessons until they see that their kids would be into it
Watching the first 6 minutes, I noticed your heavy bias towards disliking the app. Then watched you try to break the logic. My daughter started messing with this today, and because she was genuinely trying to learn the piano, she wasn't trying to cheat the practice by pressing random notes or singing them. Not trying to hate or be mean, but this was not a very useful review, and was not enjoyable to watch.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! You make a great point - as a professional pianist and teacher, I do have a bias towards apps that try to codify something so inevitably individual in nature as music education. As a teacher, I have dealt with my fair share of difficult students, including those who believe a private teacher has nothing to add if they are already using the app. I’m glad your daughter is going through the exercises earnestly - that is a great indicator to her future success! If you’re looking to help your daughter genuinely learn to play the piano, I would recommend getting her private in-person piano lessons. This will help her with her hand position, movements and arm/hand weight distribution (among other essentials), which will repay her tenfold in the future. I wish your daughter all the best in her musical endeavours! Please let me know if I can help with any other resources 🤗
@@WithMariya thanks for the reply Mariya. I appreciate you taking the feedback constructively. I hope my daughter falls enough in love with piano so we could find her a teacher and get her to the next level! All in good time :). Cheers.
I agree that this is not an unbiased review. My son has been asking for simply piano for Christmas because he wants to improve his piano skills (can play a bit by ear and has some knowledge in reading music from middle school band and choir). He does not want me to teach him (nor did I want my mom to teach me…I went to outside lessons), and he does not want another activity he has to commit to weekly (nor do I….he already has commitments four or more days a week). I don’t want to hear why a physical teacher is better, of course a physical teacher can provide targeted instruction in a way an app can’t - I want to know if the app is worth it for students motivated and interested in making it work for them. He doesn’t want to be a concert pianist. He wants to be able to play some fun songs that are familiar to him.
Thanks for the video! how much time does it take on average to read and play sheet music fluently? Is it better to play with notes or play by ear and memorize songs with tutorials?
Hello, my friend!! Thank you so much for watching 🙏 I would say it depends on what you define as “fluently”! A good time frame would be a year, just to get comfortable and learn pieces on your own using a score. Playing by ear and memorizing are two separate skills, equally as important as reading music! I would start with music notation (memorization will happen on its own, most likely), and you can always supplement that with playing by ear or from tutorials!
Use midi cable. The app through phone mic does not recognize what you play correctly. Also without midi cable when my dogs were barking the app was recognizing their barks as notes. So if you plan to use that app plan to have a midi cable from the piano to the phone.
@@WithMariya Most people probably are using a keyboard with a midi port. Sooo yeah it's actually really easy to do. But even if you don't, why is everyone so concerned with ways to cheat on the exercises. If you actually want to learn the piano, you won't be so concerned with how to get 3 stars without learning anything.
What would you suggest for someone who wants to learn piano but can’t afford private lessons? I’ve been using UA-cam lessons to learn to read music and to practice
I think apps are ok for introducing piano or instrument playing. I don’t think anyone would have any high expectations into becoming concert pianist using simply piano or any other app. It a very inexpensive way to test interest. There’s no way an app can take the place on a good teacher but Someone at some point invented the piano/harpsichord and didn’t have a teacher to show them - haha. You didn’t hook up your piano with a usb cable to the app I think and just used the microphone to pick up voices so singing it would prolly register as playing it. They are gamifying the lessons!
In expensive are you joking its for 3 months its £41 i am not paying that. if it was one month find but i do not want to fork out for an app i may not use for that length of time. Teachers suck also.
It is a lot better to use a midi cable connected to the device you're using to play the lesson, pc, tablet or phone, using it through mic is not really ideal
I totally agree! For this video, I didn't connect a midi cable, but it would definitely be more accurate if I did 😳 However, many still choose for the app to decipher acoustically, without a midi cable!
Soo private piano teacher does not like piano learning apps. Got it. As an adult who is actually interested in learning the piano, I found the app to be great. If your children are cheating at the exercises, maybe they don't actually want to be learning piano in the first place...
After a while of playing with the app they give you a version called play which shows you how to read sheet music without a melody simplifying the actual song they have a different level of difficulty depending on where you are in the app inside of the song they give functions like listen or teach me The songs sound realistic as there is no background melody making the song a bit dull I like this as I acutally play the song to how it sounds as I sing so I know the tune to some of the songs and it sounds pretty good they also have the course songs and the scales like c or f
Older adults are different from kids Also . My aptitude is not " academic." I was and still am an incredibly slow book and music reader. My other skills on the trumpet were great, but , my lack of music reading skills ( sight reading in particular) kept me from being in "quality" bands. I love the "monkey see, monkey do" approach I have advanced very far an very fast on piano in a short time.
My honest review of simply piano is the following. I got it in 2018 because I had no idea how to sight read. It did teach me the basics. I played around with it for 2 years and then I started to study on my own big pieces. Triads, octaves, etc. Today I just finished learning “Elegie” by Rachmaninov a Grade 9 piece. (Learned in 3 weeks/1hr a day) However keep in mind, I started playing piano at age 4 by ear and I had been learning big pieces with MIDI prior to knowing how to sight read. (I’m 38 now) I feel Simply Piano does serve a purpose in teaching the basic concept to a complete beginner. But if you want to learn big Liszt pieces and Rachmaninov you WILL need hand skills, and in terms of sight reading, you will need about 2 more years of (1 hour) “studying big pieces daily to grasp the bigger picture. Still to this day I am working on improving and speeding up my sight reading to digest concerts within weeks. Hope this was helpful.
Thank you so much for your feedback!! I’m so glad that you enjoyed using the app, it definitely gives me a better understanding of how it works to help learn to play the piano 🙏 Have you heard of our new super secret Facebook group? We would love for you to join!!
My review on simply piano:I’ve been using it for a year I think it’s really good I can play the hardest songs like Fur Elise now. I learnt it in 3 months Yousican is like a BAD app to me it’s so fast when it gets you into learning
Yousician is a but fast and may not have as good as affect as simply piano dose when it comes to motivation so I recommend simply piano if your looking for a boost❤
The problem with phone and tablet apps is that it is picking up an external sound rather than local sound like a hooked up midi keyboard. I never understand why so many depend on their phones and tablets for these types of applications. Great review from an actual musician that understands and reads music to do a review. It would be great to see a review from a learning software that is hooked into an actual midi keyboard receiving the signal from the keys.
Hi, I am in my second year using the Simply Piano app and honestly, I’m loving it! It was really annoying at first, because it was picking up background noise and telling me I was missing notes when I wasn’t or appearing as though I played them correctly when I hadn’t even played the note yet. The app advises you to hook up a midi cable for better note recognition so I bought one for my keyboard that hooks into my phone and it plays perfectly now based on the keys I’m actually pressing and not on the background noise. So you are right, without the midi cable, this app really is frustrating and worthless to be honest, but with it, it’s so much fun!
Have to agree, acoustic piano can be VERY frustrating as the app regularly thinks you have made a mistake when it is actually the app not correctly identifying the correct notes have been played. And this is on a well tuned grand. Clearly a digital MIDI piano should perform much better.
3:48 The way you can tell I’m old is because it bothers me that she says holding your hands like that makes your wrists “literally frozen.” 🥶 However, I appreciate this honest review of Simply Piano! (Based on how it responded to her playing, I’ve decided that it’s not for me!)
@@WithMariya Eek, I didn’t know you actually read the comments! Here are some thoughts for you: 1) “With Mariya” is kind of confusing for a channel name. Was it “Piano With Mariya” or “Music With Mariya” before and then you changed it to be broader? Or were those already taken? I feel like there is a better name to be had, but I’m not sure what it is yet. 2) I just watched your Flight of the Bumblebee video. You are amazing! 3) Toronto is only 18 hours away from us by car. Are you accepting new students (i.e., my six-year-old daughter)? 😂
Well i use mod version anyway, and it's been great past 2 weeks. I had some experience with piano previously and also long time ago during childhood, so it's been very smooth for me. I easily completed upto essential 3. The app is great, but I also do some extra research for finding more depth and completeness
Yep The app is a tool that can be used for introduction to piano. Nothing can replace a teacher though to correct student posture amongts other things. For beginner as I am myself, using this app is just something that I use for starting. I use UA-cam videos as well and practice outside of what the app teach. Planning to buy books and at one point I will surely pay for courses to correct all bad habits that I might develop by learning by myself instead of learning via the help of an actual teacher.
I absolutely did a lot of what I call cheesing my way through certain parts of simply piano so far. But I would say it’s 5%. Mostly when I’m just trying to get through a module. But other than that it’s all about how much you hold yourself to a certain standard. If you cheese yourself far enough you’ll end up finding out that you have no idea what you’re doing and you’re working harder to sound like trash than it would take to just learn. I personally have loved getting started playing piano with this app. I’m 32 and didn’t know how to read music at all now I’m playing vaguely familiar versions of songs I love. I still have a ton left to learn! But will be fascinated to see where I am when I finish everything. I love it. I will have a
I've been using simply Piano for about 6 months now. Previously a modest level guitar player. Would I recommend it, simply answer NO! It might be ok to get someone started with the VERY basics, but that's about it I reckon. It's two biggest shortcomings are (1) its arrangements of various songs aren't all that interesting, far better arrangements of the exact same material that is more musical, easier to play yet still develop technique can be found from other sources. And (2) the main gripe, I've come to totally hate the way courses fire in music notation a single line at a time from the right of the screen. You just get it at full speed, or after a few mistakes in practice mode of a small segment which is snails pace. What is needed is to be able to see well ahead, and have control aver the tempo. Yes you can somewhat fudge this by finding the full piece in the library and working through it that way. BUT you are still forced to return to the lesson and play it at full speed because you can't progress until you 'passed' the lesson. This forces you to have to learn a lot of material you just hate.
That was an honest review, and your honest review was worth it! As you went along, I was thinking about all the unlearning that would have to happen to get past the expectations this app sets. But the biggest stumbling block may be the idea that an app can be a shortcut to real learning.
Thank you so much for watching, Diane! For me it’s the hand positioning… so painful to see strong habits formed with no understanding of how the weight needs to be transferred from the arm to the key 😓 Absolutely agree with you about the expectations the app sets as well…
@@WithMariya the more you get through the course the more it shows you about different hand positions and different parts of the keyboard. You can also connect a midi canle to the tablet to get 100% not reading. I’m not sure if this works while holding notes down etc… and adding extra beats. But won’t have the problem of miss read sounds I assume or timing ( I’m not really sure)
@@milanek1527 it’s not, you need a paid subscription to unlock basically everything. But (no this is NOT an exaggeration) it’s about 10 times cheaper than getting real lessons.
@@WithMariya This app is an advertisement that comes up a lot when I watch piano related videos. I was a little curious, but it's nice to have this review. I like your small dance too
I believe it recognizes pitch to correct notes, so that feature should work on any piano. I used the older iPad Pro (2019 I believe), biggest size at the time. I don’t like to strain my eyes too much but I think a smaller size iPad would work just fine too 🤗
@@WithMariya Ok. Thank you. I am an advanced pianist but my ability to sight read is at an early intermediate level. I can sight read more difficult pieces but I pause every few seconds to figure out chords/ledger lines...I thought simply piano might be good because it forces you to play in time, even if make a mistake must keep going. I plan to ask my piano teacher if she thinks this app would work for my sight reading. What do you think? My brother suggested I just keep sight reading paper sheet music and put a metronome on and see if I can get through pieces without the pausing even if make some errors. He said the course may be an unnecessary expense. What do you think? I tried the free examples on simply piano, but it kept going to a screen to make me sign up. The only free 7 day trial is if I sign up for 12 months and give them my credit card number. My brother said I could try for a couple days and then cancel but I worry because there is no contact number for Simply Piano and I worry once they take my money I will have great frustration trying to get refunded. Even if I try to cancel I fear something may go wrong (like a delay) and I will get charged. :(
@@christsservant5472 Honestly I totally get what you mean, and I agree with your brother, although you might not even need a metronome! Keeping a steady beat, no matter how slow is a matter of developing your inner sense of pulse. Since you’re an advanced player you already do this in your pieces! Now it’s just time to transfer that onto sight reading 🤗
B-but I use simply piano 🥺 Anyway my thoughts on simply piano: -yes, you actually can get away with the lessons (I try hard to avoid that) - after completing essentials 3 there's a feature called play. "Play" is like learning songs for real this time. - I'm around intermediate 1 and they actually teach D position. (Thumb on D) - 3 stars amuse me. No cap. ⭐⭐⭐ - Forgot to mention they also teach F pos.
Hmm very interesting take! Thank you for sharing ❤️🙏 Don’t wanna yuck anybody’s yum, but it just didn’t work for me and where I was coming from! So glad that you’re using it as a resource for your piano journey!
Thank you for the review! I am using Simply Piano. I am now at half of the courses. One thing I want to add is that in further lessons they jump to the F for the Finger position and more further it is more various, seems not always be a C or an F finger position.
Oh, great to hear that! Yeah, I think learning piano from an app really depends on the person. It could work perfectly for some and not at all for others 🤗
This is true but for some people it may feel like a longggggggggg time to get onto that it’s in essentials 3 if I’m correct so they may look at ads of it and they say “Hi I’m Maddie and 9 years old have no experience of piano and I use simply piano and I can play Fur Elise in 3 months” you may think it’s that easy after that but I still have to work hard but at least it gives motivation😃
As someone who doesn’t have slot of money I’m glad to have an app that’s pretty happy that there is something I can use on a daily basis I do however use UA-cam to help with things the app can not teach me like hand positions. I will start getting some piano lessons once a month to have some time of real lessons.
As a teacher you should know that everyone can learn the same way this app is great For people who can’t read notes at all I have dyslexia and I know I couldn’t no matter how hard I tried
One thing I think should be considered, is while it's good to learn some fundamentals, I don't necessarily think you "need" to be able to read music. There are a lot of very famous musicians, that never learned to read music. In fact many guitar players don't know how to read music, because of the nature of the instrument. Music is a language, and like any language you don't necessarily need to be able to read and write in order to speak the language. It never hurts to become more literate, but literacy is not always required for fluency. Most people these days trying to learn piano are simply trying to play along with a band, or impress their friends with their favorite hits, play for their church, etc. In my opinion, sheet music as most musicians know it, is outdated. It was a necessity in the 17th and 18th centuries when there wasn't really any other better way to depict the music in a visual format. Modern visuals like tablature or piano chord sheets that will tell you the same thing more or less. Unless you intend to become a concert pianist, with a focus on centuries old classical pieces, I don't know that very structured lessons or traditional sheet music or site reading is a necessity.
I guess you have to decide whether you want to gamify the app or learn how to play the piano. The fact that a student wants to game the system tells me that the student should not be here. Maybe they're better off on the Swim Team. I'm not here to get around the app, I'm here to learn how to play. I'm not spending time purposely hitting a C instead of a D to see if the app works perfectly. I'm here to learn, not goof off. I"ve spent many hours in the last few weeks reviewing at least twelve learn to play piano apps and Simply Piano is the best at presenting a path for early success. Piano teachers would be wise to incorporate a learning piano app into their regular syllabus. Too many instructors are fighting apps, instead of embracing them toward their (and the students) advantage.
Hey, thank you so much for watching! Not sure I totally understand your stance on the app! I have seen loads of students "goof off" with the app, which makes me think it's not the best universal education tool. Apart from that, the hand position aspect of it is super important IMO. What are your thoughts?
Thank you for posting this. I totally agree with everything you have said. At the moment I am toying with the idea of getting as a supplementary teaching aid to help motivate students to have a bit of fun in amongst their regular practice. It does most definitely and utterly NOT replace a good teacher, but I think it may have a place in lessons so it can done with a teacher coaching and talking them through all the basics that Simply Piano doesn’t cover. I think this may have a place, but still not overly convinced yet.
It doesn’t cover proper theory, phrasing, expression, pedalling, interpretation, posture, good technique and much more obviously, BUT with me along side them and giving them other materials too it might be a nice ‘game’ to include.
Thanks again, it has been very insightful to see it in action from the very start of the process.
Glad we are on the same page about this 👍 It’s definitely nothing more than a supplement, if that! Thank you so much for watching!
Is your space bar broken?
Interestingly enough you mention finger position and hand holding and basic form. My son is doing simply guitar and I have played guitar for years and was impressed with how much they focused on form and stuff like that. They straight up told him to cut his fingernails
I think it just needs to fix a few key details and it would be amazing but in its current state it gets a 7.5/10
What online piano method can you recommend. I'm in Western Australia. I have basic knowledge already, up to Grade 2 (1970's) and I got honours at exams.
When I tapped on this video, I got a sippy piano ad
I’ve been using simply piano for about six months and finally canceled my subscription. There is some extremely irritating ways that they teach. They never really get you to learn notes in both hand positions which is so critical. I gave up simply piano. It may work for some people but not me
Do you know that its premium to get the sings
I love the review! Defo biased but slay
This tutorial only dealt with beginners piano. I'm grade 3/4 so I'd liked to have seen how the app dealt with more advanced pupils.
I tried simply piano and I have to pay for it and my parents isn’t willing to pay for It now I don’t how I can learn the piano 💀😭😭😭
That can be tough, but luckily there are tons of piano tutorials for free on UA-cam! Try to go down that rabbit hole and see what you find 👀👍
Super like your takeaways!!!
Thank you so much for watching!! Glad you enjoyed 🤗
Got a simply piano ad before this video
There’s a section in your score after you play a song called “Timing” and it covers all the rhythm including playing on rests.
Ohh interesting!! Thanks for pointing that out 🤗
Who else got a simple piano ad on this video
😭😭😭
Do you pay by month or year?
There’s options to pay per month and yearly too
I am already an advanced pianist but want help with sight reading. Will this app be great for sight reading or is there a better app and how much does it cost?
Hmmm I am not sure there’s an app specifically for sight reading, but if you’d like to practice that more I’d recommend giving the RCM Four Star series a try 🙏 That, and try to find a collection of your favourite songs to go through one by one! I loved to practice sight reading with my Disney collection and it really helped my motivation 🤗
@@WithMariya Ok. Thank you! I just commented on the other comment before reading this one. I will look into getting those books. Thank you so much! :)
No worries hope this helps! 🤗
Maybe I could start with level 4 and work my way up to level 10.
@@christsservant5472 Absolutely!
Always remember we must repent of our sins (sin is transgression The Law Of Yahuah The Father in Heaven. The Law are The Books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy). We must repent of our sins and Have Belief On Yahusha The Messiah. HE Died and Rose three days later so that we can be forgiven of our sins!
Come to HIM Today. Much love!
So my sister wants to know can she use a toy keyboard! And she really wants to know!
I believe it recognizes the pitch to correct notes, so that feature works with any keyboard!
@@WithMariya thx we saw your comment and are had burst out with happiness case she had got a keyboard this Xmas
@@CL0UDY-VIBES Awww that’s so sweet!! Best of luck on your piano journey 🎹❤️
I think It is Difficult app....
Loool
Piano songs for kids
I know people use this app as they may not have time or money to have music lessons
I understand that, the point of this video is to give different perspectives on this app so people can make the best decision for themselves 🤗 This video, channel, as well as many others can offer much better music education than an app, also for free!
@@WithMariya yes ofc! Sorry if I sounded rude ! 🙈
Are you telling me that Simply Piano won't help me learn Liszt in a week? 🤔
I know I was disappointed too 😒 😭 Hey thanks for watching!! Have I mentioned we have a super secret Facebook group? We would love to have you be apart of it 😍 Let me know!
Day 1- 3 Keys
Day 2- mary had a little lamb
Day 3- FUR ELISE, RUSH E, MOZART, CHOPIN, BETHOVEN
Wait, so "Winner of multiple contests and played with many orchestras" isn't an option for level of experience when you start the app? Why not!?! :) These apps fall into the "teaching yourself" category, which is extremely dangerous over time. There is so much more than playing notes on a page (or screen) when it comes to any instrument. You can't possibly get these aspects from apps--at least not now--we will see again 20 more years down the line.
Absolutely agree 👍 Dangerous long term for technique, musicality, and everything in between. As some commenters mentioned, it may be a good introduction, but I would def recommend to switch to a teacher ASAP!
yeah, well, --- for being american :D
No need to pay if you can get it through apk 😈
Where’s the apk?
Watching. This video makes me feel good I did not get a teacher to learn piano… thank heavens I was patient to learn with logic and iq firmly held. I hope your getting more paying student coz that app is cheap and better structured than you without the nagging aura. 😹
Awww that’s a little mean! But thank you for watching and commenting 😊🙏
Piano Teachers hate simply 🎹🤣
🤷♀️🤣
Thanks for the review! I bought simply piano for my kids to try out and get some basic piano skills. I absolutely LOVE it. My young girls would would have never had the patience to keep going without feeling like they were “playing a song” right from the start. It’s not perfect but I think a great place for kids to start and for parents who don’t want to pay for lessons until they see that their kids would be into it
Watching the first 6 minutes, I noticed your heavy bias towards disliking the app. Then watched you try to break the logic. My daughter started messing with this today, and because she was genuinely trying to learn the piano, she wasn't trying to cheat the practice by pressing random notes or singing them. Not trying to hate or be mean, but this was not a very useful review, and was not enjoyable to watch.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! You make a great point - as a professional pianist and teacher, I do have a bias towards apps that try to codify something so inevitably individual in nature as music education. As a teacher, I have dealt with my fair share of difficult students, including those who believe a private teacher has nothing to add if they are already using the app. I’m glad your daughter is going through the exercises earnestly - that is a great indicator to her future success! If you’re looking to help your daughter genuinely learn to play the piano, I would recommend getting her private in-person piano lessons. This will help her with her hand position, movements and arm/hand weight distribution (among other essentials), which will repay her tenfold in the future. I wish your daughter all the best in her musical endeavours! Please let me know if I can help with any other resources 🤗
@@WithMariya thanks for the reply Mariya. I appreciate you taking the feedback constructively. I hope my daughter falls enough in love with piano so we could find her a teacher and get her to the next level! All in good time :). Cheers.
I agree that this is not an unbiased review. My son has been asking for simply piano for Christmas because he wants to improve his piano skills (can play a bit by ear and has some knowledge in reading music from middle school band and choir). He does not want me to teach him (nor did I want my mom to teach me…I went to outside lessons), and he does not want another activity he has to commit to weekly (nor do I….he already has commitments four or more days a week). I don’t want to hear why a physical teacher is better, of course a physical teacher can provide targeted instruction in a way an app can’t - I want to know if the app is worth it for students motivated and interested in making it work for them. He doesn’t want to be a concert pianist. He wants to be able to play some fun songs that are familiar to him.
I was thinking the same thing, it’s like downloading an app to learn Spanish and then cheating with google translate, like why? 😂
@@WithMariyawhat a great great comment! Subbed based on your empathy here alone !
“I am trying my best to be a student”
Proceeds to act like a four year old and not see any notes on the screen
LOOOOOL are you saying four year olds can’t learn piano?? 🤔🤣
Thanks for the video! how much time does it take on average to read and play sheet music fluently? Is it better to play with notes or play by ear and memorize songs with tutorials?
Hello, my friend!! Thank you so much for watching 🙏 I would say it depends on what you define as “fluently”! A good time frame would be a year, just to get comfortable and learn pieces on your own using a score. Playing by ear and memorizing are two separate skills, equally as important as reading music! I would start with music notation (memorization will happen on its own, most likely), and you can always supplement that with playing by ear or from tutorials!
I got a simply piano ad 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
“aNd ThaT 1 AriANA gRaNdE SonG tHeY woN’T StOp SiNgInG in The ShoWER”
and then I got an Yousician ad 🤧
How do you suggest someone learns with no experience and can’t afford a teacher. I just started u just watch yt vids atm
Use midi cable. The app through phone mic does not recognize what you play correctly. Also without midi cable when my dogs were barking the app was recognizing their barks as notes.
So if you plan to use that app plan to have a midi cable from the piano to the phone.
Loll! Once I was bored so I tried it and yeahhh I litterly sang all the notes and it said it was all correct and I got three stars-
Looool apparently you’re supposed to connect your piano to the iPad somehow? For it to listen to the notes 🤷♀️
@@WithMariya lol it already does it good enough
And if you actually play it correctly and not mess around with this you will actually learn
@@WithMariya Most people probably are using a keyboard with a midi port. Sooo yeah it's actually really easy to do. But even if you don't, why is everyone so concerned with ways to cheat on the exercises. If you actually want to learn the piano, you won't be so concerned with how to get 3 stars without learning anything.
@@WithMariya it has a microphone
What would you suggest for someone who wants to learn piano but can’t afford private lessons? I’ve been using UA-cam lessons to learn to read music and to practice
Watching this video and having a simply piano ad before 😂
I think apps are ok for introducing piano or instrument playing. I don’t think anyone would have any high expectations into becoming concert pianist using simply piano or any other app. It a very inexpensive way to test interest. There’s no way an app can take the place on a good teacher but Someone at some point invented the piano/harpsichord and didn’t have a teacher to show them - haha.
You didn’t hook up your piano with a usb cable to the app I think and just used the microphone to pick up voices so singing it would prolly register as playing it.
They are gamifying the lessons!
Definitely gamifying the lessons!! Love that 👍 Totally agree with your comment - a great way to test interest!
In expensive are you joking its for 3 months its £41 i am not paying that. if it was one month find but i do not want to fork out for an app i may not use for that length of time. Teachers suck also.
It is a lot better to use a midi cable connected to the device you're using to play the lesson, pc, tablet or phone, using it through mic is not really ideal
I totally agree! For this video, I didn't connect a midi cable, but it would definitely be more accurate if I did 😳 However, many still choose for the app to decipher acoustically, without a midi cable!
@@WithMariya Make another vid with the midi cable then ;)
Soo private piano teacher does not like piano learning apps. Got it. As an adult who is actually interested in learning the piano, I found the app to be great. If your children are cheating at the exercises, maybe they don't actually want to be learning piano in the first place...
To each their own 🤗 Thank you for watching!
It’s funny how she randomly plays notes like a child =D
After a while of playing with the app they give you a version called play which shows you how to read sheet music without a melody simplifying the actual song they have a different level of difficulty depending on where you are in the app inside of the song they give functions like listen or teach me The songs sound realistic as there is no background melody making the song a bit dull I like this as I acutally play the song to how it sounds as I sing so I know the tune to some of the songs and it sounds pretty good they also have the course songs and the scales like c or f
after awhile they take away your sheet music for some reason. They took away my super over simplified ode to joy.
What do you mean take it away?
This is the worst review I've ever see. Congratulations Maria.
Older adults are different from kids Also . My aptitude is not " academic." I was and still am an incredibly slow book and music reader. My other skills on the trumpet were great, but , my lack of music reading skills ( sight reading in particular) kept me from being in "quality" bands. I love the "monkey see, monkey do" approach I have advanced very far an very fast on piano in a short time.
Absolutely agree that adults are different from kids! I'm glad you found this app helpful 🤗 Have you tried flowkey also?
My honest review of simply piano is the following.
I got it in 2018 because I had no idea how to sight read. It did teach me the basics. I played around with it for 2 years and then I started to study on my own big pieces. Triads, octaves, etc.
Today I just finished learning “Elegie” by Rachmaninov a Grade 9 piece. (Learned in 3 weeks/1hr a day)
However keep in mind, I started playing piano at age 4 by ear and I had been learning big pieces with MIDI prior to knowing how to sight read. (I’m 38 now)
I feel Simply Piano does serve a purpose in teaching the basic concept to a complete beginner.
But if you want to learn big Liszt pieces and Rachmaninov you WILL need hand skills, and in terms of sight reading, you will need about 2 more years of (1 hour) “studying big pieces daily to grasp the bigger picture.
Still to this day I am working on improving and speeding up my sight reading to digest concerts within weeks.
Hope this was helpful.
Thank you so much for your feedback!! I’m so glad that you enjoyed using the app, it definitely gives me a better understanding of how it works to help learn to play the piano 🙏 Have you heard of our new super secret Facebook group? We would love for you to join!!
Thankfully it’s all MIDI synths these days and classical is pretty much dead to pop and rock piano for most people.
@@kishascape Classical music is still more alive than Jazz tho.
It sucks I hate it and I hate the scrolling text I’m going to get a teacher.
why do north americans speak so quickly?
Simply Piano is a great app to learn piano.
My review on simply piano:I’ve been using it for a year I think it’s really good I can play the hardest songs like Fur Elise now. I learnt it in 3 months
Yousican is like a BAD app to me it’s so fast when it gets you into learning
I’m glad you’re having a positive experience with simply piano 🤗 The pacing in Yousician is a little strange, I agree!
Yousician is a but fast and may not have as good as affect as simply piano dose when it comes to motivation so I recommend simply piano if your looking for a boost❤
Love to hear that!
@@WithMariya hope you have a wonderful day!!
@@EzmaeFr Thanks you as well!! ❤️✨
The problem with phone and tablet apps is that it is picking up an external sound rather than local sound like a hooked up midi keyboard. I never understand why so many depend on their phones and tablets for these types of applications. Great review from an actual musician that understands and reads music to do a review. It would be great to see a review from a learning software that is hooked into an actual midi keyboard receiving the signal from the keys.
Thank you for your comment! I agree, having a midi review would be helpful as well 🤗
Hi, I am in my second year using the Simply Piano app and honestly, I’m loving it! It was really annoying at first, because it was picking up background noise and telling me I was missing notes when I wasn’t or appearing as though I played them correctly when I hadn’t even played the note yet. The app advises you to hook up a midi cable for better note recognition so I bought one for my keyboard that hooks into my phone and it plays perfectly now based on the keys I’m actually pressing and not on the background noise. So you are right, without the midi cable, this app really is frustrating and worthless to be honest, but with it, it’s so much fun!
Have to agree, acoustic piano can be VERY frustrating as the app regularly thinks you have made a mistake when it is actually the app not correctly identifying the correct notes have been played. And this is on a well tuned grand. Clearly a digital MIDI piano should perform much better.
3:48 The way you can tell I’m old is because it bothers me that she says holding your hands like that makes your wrists “literally frozen.” 🥶 However, I appreciate this honest review of Simply Piano! (Based on how it responded to her playing, I’ve decided that it’s not for me!)
Hey Ryan, thanks so much for your comment! Glad this review was helpful 🤗
@@WithMariya Eek, I didn’t know you actually read the comments! Here are some thoughts for you:
1) “With Mariya” is kind of confusing for a channel name. Was it “Piano With Mariya” or “Music With Mariya” before and then you changed it to be broader? Or were those already taken? I feel like there is a better name to be had, but I’m not sure what it is yet.
2) I just watched your Flight of the Bumblebee video. You are amazing!
3) Toronto is only 18 hours away from us by car. Are you accepting new students (i.e., my six-year-old daughter)? 😂
Idk why simply piano and simply guitar has SO many different ads, like dang, they are desperate.
LOL that’s an interesting take 😅
Why would want to guess if you want to get better????
You’d be surprised how many kids using the app don’t understand that concept
No joke, I got a simply piano ad before this XD
LOL apparently this happens a lot 😭✨
Well i use mod version anyway, and it's been great past 2 weeks. I had some experience with piano previously and also long time ago during childhood, so it's been very smooth for me. I easily completed upto essential 3. The app is great, but I also do some extra research for finding more depth and completeness
Yep
The app is a tool that can be used for introduction to piano.
Nothing can replace a teacher though to correct student posture amongts other things.
For beginner as I am myself, using this app is just something that I use for starting. I use UA-cam videos as well and practice outside of what the app teach. Planning to buy books and at one point I will surely pay for courses to correct all bad habits that I might develop by learning by myself instead of learning via the help of an actual teacher.
I feel like she doesn’t have interest in learning piano😢
Hey thanks for watching! Who doesn’t have the interest in learning piano? 🤗
I absolutely did a lot of what I call cheesing my way through certain parts of simply piano so far. But I would say it’s 5%. Mostly when I’m just trying to get through a module. But other than that it’s all about how much you hold yourself to a certain standard.
If you cheese yourself far enough you’ll end up finding out that you have no idea what you’re doing and you’re working harder to sound like trash than it would take to just learn.
I personally have loved getting started playing piano with this app. I’m 32 and didn’t know how to read music at all now I’m playing vaguely familiar versions of songs I love.
I still have a ton left to learn! But will be fascinated to see where I am when I finish everything.
I love it. I will have a
It’s kinda confusing
I've been using simply Piano for about 6 months now. Previously a modest level guitar player. Would I recommend it, simply answer NO! It might be ok to get someone started with the VERY basics, but that's about it I reckon. It's two biggest shortcomings are (1) its arrangements of various songs aren't all that interesting, far better arrangements of the exact same material that is more musical, easier to play yet still develop technique can be found from other sources. And (2) the main gripe, I've come to totally hate the way courses fire in music notation a single line at a time from the right of the screen. You just get it at full speed, or after a few mistakes in practice mode of a small segment which is snails pace. What is needed is to be able to see well ahead, and have control aver the tempo.
Yes you can somewhat fudge this by finding the full piece in the library and working through it that way. BUT you are still forced to return to the lesson and play it at full speed because you can't progress until you 'passed' the lesson. This forces you to have to learn a lot of material you just hate.
I can give you the right feedback cz I used this app for 6 months now and I'm surprised how fast I improved with it
I am a student and simply piano does not work well with my iPad. It have to reboot it all the time for it to work well.
Also when you see the ads they don’t talk about how you have to pay to use it lol 😂!
LOL so true!!
This is a bigger
its worthless
Getting a simply piano add while watching this is crazy LAMO
Finally someone that actually shows themself using the app 😭
That was an honest review, and your honest review was worth it! As you went along, I was thinking about all the unlearning that would have to happen to get past the expectations this app sets. But the biggest stumbling block may be the idea that an app can be a shortcut to real learning.
Thank you so much for watching, Diane! For me it’s the hand positioning… so painful to see strong habits formed with no understanding of how the weight needs to be transferred from the arm to the key 😓 Absolutely agree with you about the expectations the app sets as well…
@@WithMariya the more you get through the course the more it shows you about different hand positions and different parts of the keyboard. You can also connect a midi canle to the tablet to get 100% not reading. I’m not sure if this works while holding notes down etc… and adding extra beats. But won’t have the problem of miss read sounds I assume or timing ( I’m not really sure)
It’s fine in combination with UA-cam learning. I don’t have the time or money for formal lessons and live in the middle of nowhere too.
What can you expect when its free
@@milanek1527 it’s not, you need a paid subscription to unlock basically everything. But (no this is NOT an exaggeration) it’s about 10 times cheaper than getting real lessons.
the fact that i got an simply piano ad before the video.
Lol that’s been happening lately 😭
same man
Does the app has Hans Zimmer „songs“ ? Thank you
Hey :) I would love to learn how to read music and start playing the piano but I can’t afford a teacher :( is there a way I could learn? 💗
Heyy have you seen my flowkey review? In my opinion it’s a much better way to get started with piano ☺️👍 Try it out!
I got a simply piano ad before this…
LOL that makes sense tho 😭🤣
I,m not a fan of this app because the adds Are really Annoying to me because they Are extra😠😣
Heyy thanks so much for supporting the channel! Too many ads, huh? That’ll do it 🥲
I got a simply piano ad at the start..
LOL
Can you do everything?
rip off at that price.
And I go a simply piano add
😳😳😳
Do they even teach dynamics in simply piano? I've been doing piano for 12 years now!
Ah if they do, I certainly didn’t get to that part in this video! Have yet to see dynamics in that app 🤷♀️
I dont think So. I downLoaded it for the jokes ages ago. On their sheet music theres nothing. No forte, No piano, No nothing. :(
Thank you for saving me the time and money! Have you found any worthwhile online method for learning to play piano and read sheet music? Thanks :)
Glad I could help! Unfortunately not yet… the best way to learn still lies in finding a great private teacher 🤗
In quite possibly the best plot twist in the universe, I got a simply guitar ad...
😭😭😭
Who got a simply piano when clicking this vid😂
Hahaha I’ve heard that’s been happening lately 🤣 Thank you for watching!!
I personally like the app
2:25 !!
😄😄
@@WithMariya This app is an advertisement that comes up a lot when I watch piano related videos. I was a little curious, but it's nice to have this review. I like your small dance too
Thank you so much for watching!! Haha I liked the music!! 🎶✨💖
i need my moms money
You can also play yousican
With this app can I use 32 keys keyboard piano 🎹 ?
Hey there! The app listens to the pitch of your keyboard, so unless some pieces need a bigger range of keys, you should be all good!
dont b ah hatah!!!!!!!
Don’t b whatttt
Piano
Bias since a piano teacher. End of.
Probably 🤷♀️ Do you enjoy the app?
i think they have made the app a bitt better now
Oh great!! Love to hear that ☺️ What did they change?
You’re pretty af.
Thank you for commenting! I appreciate it 🤗
I use it actually
Heyy thanks so much for watching! What are your thoughts on the app? 🤗
@@WithMariya it’s good but thay say is easy but it’s really hard for a beginner
I have an acoustic piano. Will this app work on it and is an 8 inch tablet big enough? What size size tablet did you use?
I believe it recognizes pitch to correct notes, so that feature should work on any piano. I used the older iPad Pro (2019 I believe), biggest size at the time. I don’t like to strain my eyes too much but I think a smaller size iPad would work just fine too 🤗
@@WithMariya Ok. Thank you. I am an advanced pianist but my ability to sight read is at an early intermediate level. I can sight read more difficult pieces but I pause every few seconds to figure out chords/ledger lines...I thought simply piano might be good because it forces you to play in time, even if make a mistake must keep going. I plan to ask my piano teacher if she thinks this app would work for my sight reading. What do you think? My brother suggested I just keep sight reading paper sheet music and put a metronome on and see if I can get through pieces without the pausing even if make some errors. He said the course may be an unnecessary expense. What do you think? I tried the free examples on simply piano, but it kept going to a screen to make me sign up. The only free 7 day trial is if I sign up for 12 months and give them my credit card number. My brother said I could try for a couple days and then cancel but I worry because there is no contact number for Simply Piano and I worry once they take my money I will have great frustration trying to get refunded. Even if I try to cancel I fear something may go wrong (like a delay) and I will get charged. :(
@@christsservant5472 Honestly I totally get what you mean, and I agree with your brother, although you might not even need a metronome! Keeping a steady beat, no matter how slow is a matter of developing your inner sense of pulse. Since you’re an advanced player you already do this in your pieces! Now it’s just time to transfer that onto sight reading 🤗
@@WithMariya Ok. Thank you so much!!!!!!!! :)
One more question. Do you know a free website that will transpose pieces to all the keys for extra practice playing in all key signatures?
ur voice is unique
Thank you so much for watching, my friend! I appreciate it 🙏❤️
B-but I use simply piano 🥺
Anyway my thoughts on simply piano:
-yes, you actually can get away with the lessons (I try hard to avoid that)
- after completing essentials 3 there's a feature called play. "Play" is like learning songs for real this time.
- I'm around intermediate 1 and they actually teach D position. (Thumb on D)
- 3 stars amuse me. No cap. ⭐⭐⭐
- Forgot to mention they also teach F pos.
Hmm very interesting take! Thank you for sharing ❤️🙏 Don’t wanna yuck anybody’s yum, but it just didn’t work for me and where I was coming from! So glad that you’re using it as a resource for your piano journey!
It worked for me greatly, its also free for me so its definetly worth it.
I haven't watched any review about Simply Piano I actually find yours so entertaining and a bit of a funny vibe gives me my first smile after bed 😅
Awww thank you for your sweet comment!! 💖