Music literacy begins when you learn to play piano in 4 simple steps
Traditional piano lessons teach musical notation first. But most of us don’t want to wade through the hieroglyphics before we get to play. We want to play NOW. The Piano Wizard Method teaches anyone to easily play the piano all through an amazingly simple computer video game combined with our award winning piano learning software. Subconciously, the system will show you how to learn to read music too.
Sensory Learning
Sensory learning is not a new concept. In fact, there are other methods that incorporate it. For example, there are play-by-ear methods. Problem is these methods do nothing to help you read music – the part where most of us fail.
The game’s feedback is visual, aural, kinesthetic, positive and non-violent. You add the human touch with the expert coaching provided in the videos, to keep them on track through all the levels, and soon your whole family is making music together.
Reinventing the way we learn to play and read music
The Piano Wizard Method teaches in the way we naturally learn with the basic components of piano playing, to create a stress free, fun experience that consistently proves successful for both children and adults.
The game system follows the way we learn our native language, by doing!
With Piano Wizard, the student is playing the piano the instant the game is started. The student learn intuitively through visuals and sounds (sensory learning) to hit the right note at the right time. Gradually, as his/her skill level advances, so does the game. Before you know it, the student has almost subconsciously learned to read music.
In the same way children learn first to speak, then to read words they already know, and only then grammar, with Piano Wizard’s color coded system, they learn to play first, then to read music they already know how to play, and with the Academy, you coach them off the game to the grand piano.
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Music before theory
This game based method teaches Tempo, Timing, Fingering, Note Names and Reading of Notation while practicing with either right, left or both hands. Our method advances the student from playing a video game to reading music.
As you begin, game play is based on objects and colors, not notes and keys. During installation, you've placed the colored stickers on each key of your keyboard. In Step One of the game, you'll see a
representation of the same color-coded keyboard at the top of the screen. When a song begins, color-coded objects such as circles, dinosaur eggs, stars or whatever background you choose will scroll from the bottom to the top of the screen. The color of the object corresponds with the color of the key to press. When the object reaches the top of the screen, it scrolls over one of the color-coded keys. Your goal as a player is to press the same key on your keyboard at the exact moment that the object passes over the on-screen key. When you press the right keys at the right time in the right sequence, you'll be playing a song.
This is the most basic lesson of Piano Wizard: pitch and timing. Pitch is the frequency of a sound as perceived by the ear. In music theory, we give names to each pitch: a, b, c, d, d-flat, f-sharp and so on. By playing Piano Wizard, you won't learn the names of note yet, but you'll become familiar with the idea that different keys produce different pitches or sounds. The student immediately recognizes music in its' simplest form - playing the right note at the right time.
In Step Two, the on-screen keyboard rotates to the left side of the screen. Now the objects scroll from right to left instead of from bottom to top. This is a little trickier to master, because the player's keyboard is still oriented horizontally, but the on-screen keyboard is vertical. But with this vertical orientation, the color-coded objects look more like real notes on a musical staff. In music notation, notes with a higher pitch are higher on the staff. Likewise, in this step of Piano Wizard, notes with a higher pitch are higher up on the screen. Whether the player realizes it or not, he or she's starting to learn the basics of reading music. They are actually reading sheet music but don't know it until it is revealed in the next step.
In Step Three, the color-coded objects become musical notes on a real staff. Notes and rhythm become second nature.
Now the transition to reading music is almost complete. The color of the note is still its' most important characteristic as far as the player is concerned. But he or she's also becoming comfortable with the look of musical notes on the staff in all of their variations and lengths -- whole notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sharps and flats.
In Step Four, the colored notes change to black on a musical staff, making the transition to reading actual musical notation fun and effortless! The student is now playing and reading real music. At this point, the student reads notes exactly how they would be written on a piece of sheet music. The only difference is that the notes continue to scroll across the screen.
While the game's steps end here, Step Five is where the student take it to a piano with the Piano Wizard Academy! This is playing from the sheet music at a real piano. This is where the true strength of the Piano Wizard Academy is found - taking it to the piano with the "Art of Music": Phrasing, Posture, Dynamics and Technique. The Tuturial DVDs and Songbook lessons guide you through the process. If the student doesn't own a piano, they can continue to use their digital keyboard in "free play mode".
