Piano Wizard

[ChrisSalter]

We are working on Guitar Wizard, but it is behind a number of projects with Piano Wizard, including cell phone and IPad versions. Drum Wizard is also on the list, but these projects are at least a year away from being released to the public.

Thanks

Chris

[ChrisSalter]

Some snippets of reviewers comments on Piano Wizard Academy. They get better as you go down.

ABC News

Buck Wolf says, "While many computer programs teach music, Piano Wizard Premier turns anything from Bach to Billy Joel into a video game in which you'll be guiding a rocket ship with a color-coated keyboard, while picking out a tune and learning chord progressions."

Mike Goldfein, Tech Writer:

calls Piano Wizard "one of his favorite things."

Tech Talk

"Your child can sit up to a keyboard today and play anything from Bach to Bon Jovi. They will not even know they are practicing because they are simply playing a game."

Mercury News

"Piano Wizard combines the fun of a video game with the fundamentals of piano lessons."

Star-Telegram

"While the debate continues about whether video games make your kids smarter or turn their brains into vortexes of violence and mush, here's one that develops a talent."

KidZone

"Piano Wizard is the music learning video game that painlessly teaches anyone to play the piano. It gives every player instant success and joy, because they will immediately be able to play their favorite songs!"

Worship Leader

"Piano Wizard is a successful adaptation of the gaming genre to serious music lessons. Piano Wizard is a revolutionary teaching platform that is changing the way kids learn piano."

Keyboard Magazine

"Does the program excite kids about music and keyboards, help them build essential musical skills, and reinforce that practicing can be fun? Absolutely."

Future Music

"Considering that many kids learn to run a computer before they learn to read, this could be the teaching system of the future."

MacLife

Rated AWESOME. "How good is it? Our testers could play the songs they had learned on Piano Wizard on a real piano later that same day - without having to be nagged to do so!"

Computer Times -Editor's Choice

We test many products at Computer Times that perform well and earn our Editor's Choice Award. Seldom though, do we find a product that is as exciting as Piano Wizard! As an editor, educator and musician, if we had metals to award along with our Editor's Choice Award, I would certainly present Piano Wizard with the gold metal."

[ChrisSalter]

Reviews are great, but what moves me are testimonials of parents.

The following is a thank you note from a mother of a child with severe mood disorders

My 16 year old daughter continued to play every day, on her own initiative for the next three weeks. This is a child who has not shown any initiative on her own for any activity since second grade. During that time, her attitude at home was friendlier, and she was more cooperative with the family. Prior to beginning Piano Wizard, her demeanor had been one that was angry, argumentative, and surly. She was more focused at school and had discontinued sleeping in class all day. She had been failing three classes and within a three week period, had brought her grades up to a C average. And she no longer complained about the music styles I listened to in the car nor pushed me to listen to bass banging music.

Hygiene has always been a problem for her due to her depression. She began dressing in other clothing other than black and wearing make up and hair ribbons.

These changes may not seem like a lot but for a child who has had extreme mood swings and in between those times, suffers from extreme depression, this was like a golden vacation for her and for our family. . .

I highly recommend Piano Wizard as a tool of accomplishment and as a tool of enjoyment for any child with a brain or mood disorder.

(Name removed for privacy)

[ChrisSalter]

For those parents whose kids are already in piano lessons

"Two days after purchasing Piano Wizard, my son went to his piano lessons and his teacher said he was a "new piano man!" She couldn't believe how well he came in playing even though he's only had your product for 2 days. Her comment was: "whatever it cost, it was worth every penny!" I am just so thrilled that we actually purchased something that is making a difference!"

[ChrisSalter]

This was the first correspondence we got from Jed's mom, the boy seen on earlier posts in the Amazon.com review with the video of him playing. He is now playing about 70 to 80 songs on all 4 levels, and his speech and language comprehension have improved.

Dear Mr. Keith of Piano Wizard,

My son, Jed, age 8, is severely retarded with difficulties in language comprehension. It would have been impossible for him to learn to play the piano the normal way.

The Piano Wizard, being so intuitive a method, makes it possible for Jed to know when to push which key without having to understand spoken instructions. He's been practicing for 8 months now and has learned to play the first 30 songs. He has even learned to read a little bit of music.

Thank you for creating such a wonderful product!

Sincerely,

May

[ChrisSalter]

From a home schooling mom

I am a home educator of two wonderful boys ages 5 and 7.  I have wanted to teach them music but felt intimidated by the whole thing.  It has been 26 years since I have played a piano!!!  I jumped in with both feet and we have not looked back.  My boys ask to practice their piano and I am re-teaching myself as well.  We are so thankful for this system.  We are having a ball and reaping a harvest of benefits at the same time.  My nephews came over to play one day and did not play with anything but the Piano Wizard the whole time.  It is amazing how the children gravitate to it.

The set up was very easy and the videos make it a breeze to prepare for the lessons ahead of time.  I also like the wash, rinse and repeat.  I highly recommend this product. You will not be disappointed.
Ken Jasick

[ChrisSalter]

This is another home school mom, who bought it for HERSELF. "It's never too late to have a happy childhood!" (Tom Robbins)

I have been a homeschool mom for 25 years now and this Piano Wizard is for ME! My parents came from Europe in the 50's and couldn't afford piano lessons for us. My husband and I made sure that all 6 of our children could play the piano...our eldest son after starting lessons with our church pianist then was accepted as a student at the Cleveland Conservatory of Music in piano (he also played trombone), our twins played piano and French horn, our next son reluctantly played piano, gave up on trumpet, and enthusiastically took up guitar and now bought a keyboard to compose etc. Our two youngest daughters 17 and 13 play piano and have the best rhythm of any girls in their dance classes.

So now it is MY TURN...after 25 years of paying for piano and other instrument lessons... and the thousands of dollars invested very willingly...but now it is my turn. And Piano Wizard is JUST WHAT I NEED. I set aside some time every day and love the applause when I complete a song... I sing as part of our church's praise team and I want to learn to read music. It is never too late...and I love the format of Piano Wizard.

Thank you,
Sera Vpurlock

[ChrisSalter]

Here is one that talks about what a bargain Piano Wizard Academy is with larger families

Dear Chris,

I purchased Piano Wizard as a Christmas gift for my 4 children, ages 17, 15, 10 and 7 (I homeschool).  Why?  It doesn't take long to realize that IF I had all four of them in piano lessons at the going rate of $65/month, I would easily surpass the cost of owning the Piano Wizard Academy program in after only 2 months of lessons!  My 10 year old was already taking lessons at a music academy for $80/month, and I knew I couldn't afford all my children to go.  So far, my 17 year old loves this program.  I was afraid he would think it was too elementary or childish, but being a computer whiz, he quickly downloaded all kinds of his favorite songs and can't say enough good things about this program and its capabilities.  My 10 year old has leaped ahead into the second set of lessons.  She loves the song "Raining Cats and Dogs" and has been playing it at 300 speed, just for fun!  She has been playing Beethoven, and the Star-Spangled Banner and is enjoying the challenge.

I think the best surprise of all was my 7 year old son.  When his 10 year old sister started playing the piano, he wanted to play, too, but just didn't have the know-how of when to go up or down on the keyboard.  He would get frustrated so easily - he knew what note he wanted to hit, but didn't know where it was on the keyboard.  But with this program, he has already mastered 3 songs because it shows him what notes to hit and when.  He is enjoying it so much, and I'm happy to see him get to make music along with the rest of his siblings.

I can't tell you how much this program is worth every penny we've paid.  You get so much for your money!  Just the keyboard and program alone was worth it, but you threw in so many "free" goodies, I knew I was getting a lot of "bang for my buck"!  I especially like how the lesson books are spiral-bound so the pages stay in place.  I enjoyed the free teleseminar with you, Don and Delayna on Tuesday, and through it, I did learn several helpful things that I have been trying out on my kids with great results.

I plan to keep you posted on the progress of my children.  I really dislike rating a program unless I've used it for awhile, but so far, I'm very pleased.  My 15 year old daughter hasn't tried it out yet, but once she does, I will let you know how she does with it.  She's the singer in the family, but her voice teacher says that she has to learn to read music, and I am hoping Piano Wizard Academy  will help her enjoy that experience
.
Sincerely in SC,

Carol F.

[ChrisSalter]

This parent's results are typical, not extraordinary, in fact it is what we guarantee for you and your family.

My children got their Piano Wizard during the holidays. My daughter (9) says "It's amazing. Too good for words." She has progressed to song no.6, and has shown unbelievable tenacity in practicing. We had tried to teach her piano from home before, using the Bastien books, but it just didn't get off the ground. Now, after only 6 songs on Piano Wizard, she is able to go to her Bastien book and open to a page she has not seen before, and start playing. I am SO PLEASED.

My son (7) is on song no.4. He says, "It's a bit tricky, but I like it". (Okay, he's the perfectionist in the family, so I am not surprised by that comment!) He is doing brilliantly, and picks up the tunes easily. This morning, for example, he started Song no. 3, level 1 at 8am. By 9am, I had given him his star for Level 5! He really can do it when he wants to.

Thank you for making it such fun. I am especially grateful that the practicing with the accompaniment is so easy on the parent's ears. I have not yet asked the children to "give it a break please" because I had heard enough.

I love all the features, like tempo control, the different backgrounds, and the ability to adjust the volume of accompaniment, so the main tune can be heard more easily.   

THANK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES.
Jenny Lynn

[ChrisSalter]

Finally, rather than just post a link, here is the review submitted by Jed’s Mother May:

My son has been practicing the piano 90 minutes a day. He is 8 years old, mentally retarded, and for the longest time I've had trouble finding something he could do. He could hardly even understand enough to appreciate toddler TV programs. The Piano Wizard is my son's first project of his life. It is an intuitive piano teaching system. You see the color dot on the screen; you press the corresponded colored key on the musical keyboard. The music's speed can be controlled so much that you can have it coming literally at a snail's speed such that even people with the worst reflexes have the time to find the right key to push.

Who'd ever imagine that he could do this? And it takes me little time because once I get him going, he’ll just practice until he gets good at it; I only have to supervise on occasion. Once you choose a speed, it will play again at the same speed until you change it, so it is really convenient.

In the end, this is easier than driving him to piano lessons even if you don't count the cost. When my relatives and friends watch my son play, they always exclaim, "Wow, you are doing so good with him!"

During the time my son's been playing the piano, his speech and understanding has also improved greatly. I don't know if the piano playing helped? But there is some evidence that music improves a child's intelligence. It's worth a try.

The Piano Wizard is an ingeniously designed system for somebody who wants to teach himself how to play. If even my son can do it, who can't? (As long as one possesses basic motor skills and hand eye coordination.)

I highly recommend it to anyone.

-May

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VicL36hQgOM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VicL36hQgOM&rel=1</a>

I love his self esteem at the end. "I did great!"

[Ouroboros1]

After following this thread and seeing the responses, I felt PW was the program for me.  Here's an auction on ebay for PW Academy:

[NadiaD]

I think the program for children, that is being  discussed here, is a little different. Here is the link to buy it.

the link provided by Ouroboros1 looks like PW  curriculum for adults.

[Ouroboros1]

I may be mistaken, but PW Academy has everything Premier does, but with some extra features and 50 lessons on 10 DVDs.  This link compares them side by side:

http://www.pianowizard.com/#b4

(click on "More Info" tab)

[Twinergy]

I have PW premier, which includes both easy and premier modes, and would absolutely recommend getting this over PW easy.  It is only about $30-$50 difference between these two versions.  I paid about $75 for it, including shipping, but have more recently seen it going for about $80ish on google shopping.  I bought from Quality Toys and would recommend their customer service.  

[Twinergy]

My last post was truncated.
... I also got the impression that PW academy was for older children or adults.

Quote from PW website:

Piano Wizard ACADEMY provides a family with everything they need to seamlessly transition from the game to playing on a real piano. After stepping through the 4 levels in the game  take the sheet music to a real piano and play the same song...

This tells me that you use the videos after the the game, not with the game, but I could be wrong.  It will be several years before the LO's are at that level and who knows what will be available by then.  Myabe the next release will drive down prices of the older version, maybe used copies will be a fraction the cost on ebay, maybe you will be able to get the videos from the library. 

Another thing to consider, I think it was mentioned that PW is becoming a BrillKids partner.  So there may be discount coupons to watch for. 

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