By: Christine Dehne
As the daughter of a Suzuki Piano teacher, learning to play an instrument on the iPad seems impossibly silly. I don’t believe you’ll actually learn to play an instrument well using an app, but you can work on rhythm and ear training, and keep the experience fun. Here are a few apps you may want to check out:
In Piano Dust Buster 2.0 the player directs an old lady with a broom, batting at dust bunnies that fall over the keys of a piano, hitting them as they pass by selecting the correct key. In addition to playing by touching the keys on the screen, you can set the iPad up on your piano and play the keys of the piano instead. The app recognizes the notes played on your piano and will score you for accuracy and timing. Reminiscent of typing tests I took in middle school, the app was more fun than simply typing with a piece of paper over my hands, but my posture and hand placement while playing would have made my mother terribly unhappy.
Piano Mania takes the lessons a step further, using notes on a staff for sight-reading and charts for fingering. The game unlocks further levels as you progress, making sure the player is set up for success, although there’s a chance she’ll get bored before unlocking some of the more challenging levels.
For those whose children are not yet playing an instrument Mibblio may provide some inspiration. Mibblio plays silly songs/stories and allows your child to play along using a variety of instruments and isolate each instrument in the prepared song and hear what it is contributing. It’s really a baby version of Garageband, with a pre-recorded song playing in the background and no ability to record oneself. While my kids had fun playing with it, each song, called a Mibblit, costs $1, making this free app fairly pricey.
Realizing how much my kids like to look at photos and watch videos of themselves, I decided to skip ahead to Garageband, which allows them to play with the sounds of many different instruments as well as record what they’re doing so they can play it back. Sure enough, they also like to listen to music they’ve recorded themselves. My eldest has been recording for a few years now, and I mix her creations into loops that I use as soundtracks for animations I create based on her drawings.
Christine Dehne is an artist and professor. Follow her @KeepingKidsAppy.