Piano Wizard

[ChrisSalter]

We sell the Academy package without the keyboard as an option at the bottom of the Brillkids link and special, for $397, that includes all the bonuses and is your best option if music education is the goal, and as I indicated, you can contact Mary at our office to see if you qualify for our payment plan as well.

Thanks

Chris

[Chris1]

The Yamaha Method-  additional info on Solfege
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryN9yNsX5A8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ryN9yNsX5A8&rel=1</a>
Ear First
The Yamaha Method employs "Fixed-Do" solfège (without altered syllables) in both ear training and keyboard activities. Fixed-Do enables a child to connect a specific pitch and syllable, such as middle Do (middle C), with a specific key on the keyboard. Aural training using Fixed-Do helps children internalize pitch, resulting in a strong relative pitch sense and, in many cases, perfect pitch. Consequently, in JMC classes one will observe students singing solfège by ear and eventually playing keyboard by ear.
Solfège is the core of the Yamaha Method; students absorb this musical vocabulary and use it in both beginning and advanced courses. Solfège becomes each student's first musical voice. In every class, teachers sing melodic patterns and chords that children imitate. Solfège sessions at the teacher's piano account for approximately 15 to 20 minutes of a 60minute class. Through singing solfège, students begin to acquire a sense of pitch, rhythm, meter, harmony, form, phrase structure, key, articulation, dynamics and mood.
By the end of two years in JMC, students have built a substantial vocabulary of solfège, having sung 50 melodies and numerous chord progressions using the I, IV and V7 chords in the keys of C major, G major, F major, D minor and A minor. Aside from developing musicianship, these solfège experiences prepare children to play in these five keys. In fact, children experience singing in a key for approximately one semester prior to playing in that key.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ihg9KA7bE5U&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Ihg9KA7bE5U&rel=1</a>

[ChrisSalter]

Interesting videos, that school seems quite nurturing. Singing is a vital part of any music studies, it trains the ears, and sofege is a great place to start. The "Fixed do" gives a good sense of key, but the trade off is when you wander into modulations or complex minor scales, it no longer "maps" one to one on pitch, you are adjusting for the song but the actual notes are different even within the same song as you flatten or sharp a note, they have the same syllable. Still, since so much is built around the major scale, its relative minor and the modes, it can take you very far. On the keyboard side I did not see much different than has been done for hundreds of years, it still seemed to be reading sheet music. I watched both videos and did not see much keyboard work that was unique or different, but these videos seemed to be showing off the solfege aspect.
I tried working with Yamaha several times, but they are quite rigid to work with as a company, quite slow to make decisions, and very Japanese in their approach to decisions. I will make my annual attempt again this year to see if I can break through, as they are an excellent company in many ways. They actually have a completely different educational division called Music In Education (MIE) that deals with schools that is much more flexible and innovative, but the two divisions hardly talk let alone cooperate, at least that was the case a few years ago.
I really enjoyed viewing these, as I have been curious to see some classwork, and how they actually work. I suspect that each school is dependent on the actual teachers to bring the methods alive, as is always the case. A good teacher can overcome almost any method or materials, and a bad one can mangle the best if they try!
I don't know who posted this, but thanks, it was interesting.
Chris

[radiocat]

The Yamaha Method-  additional info on Solfege
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryN9yNsX5A8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ryN9yNsX5A8&rel=1</a>
Ear First
The Yamaha Method employs "Fixed-Do" solfège (without altered syllables) in both ear training and keyboard activities. Fixed-Do enables a child to connect a specific pitch and syllable, such as middle Do (middle C), with a specific key on the keyboard. Aural training using Fixed-Do helps children internalize pitch, resulting in a strong relative pitch sense and, in many cases, perfect pitch. Consequently, in JMC classes one will observe students singing solfège by ear and eventually playing keyboard by ear.
Solfège is the core of the Yamaha Method; students absorb this musical vocabulary and use it in both beginning and advanced courses. Solfège becomes each student's first musical voice. In every class, teachers sing melodic patterns and chords that children imitate. Solfège sessions at the teacher's piano account for approximately 15 to 20 minutes of a 60minute class. Through singing solfège, students begin to acquire a sense of pitch, rhythm, meter, harmony, form, phrase structure, key, articulation, dynamics and mood.
By the end of two years in JMC, students have built a substantial vocabulary of solfège, having sung 50 melodies and numerous chord progressions using the I, IV and V7 chords in the keys of C major, G major, F major, D minor and A minor. Aside from developing musicianship, these solfège experiences prepare children to play in these five keys. In fact, children experience singing in a key for approximately one semester prior to playing in that key.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ihg9KA7bE5U&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Ihg9KA7bE5U&rel=1</a>

Oh!

I just saw your post. Thank goodness I see some respect for Solfegio,

Yes, this is Yamaha's big winning point!

[LMsMum]

Chris (Salter), just to let you know that the link to PW webinars provided in the e-mail on Monday appears to be broken (there is a dot missing or something). I figured it should be this one:

http://www.pianowizardacademy.com/webinar/  ??

As the times are not convenient for me due to the time difference, will it possible to see the recordings?

[LMsMum]

Chris, with the 60 day unconditional guarantee, I understand the costs of shipping both ways would have to be borne by the buyer. Am I right?Thank you.

[susankhan]

Chris,  our private school received the first part of our order of 8 sets.  So far we are so very impressed with the quality of this product.   The keyboards are amazing.  I will do a follow up and also post some videos of our students learning and using the program.  Again thank you for all your support and help .

Kindly,
Susan Khan
www.discovery-academy.org

[ChrisSalter]

Chris (Salter), just to let you know that the link to PW webinars provided in the e-mail on Monday appears to be broken (there is a dot missing or something). I figured it should be this one:

http://www.pianowizardacademy.com/webinar/  ??

As the times are not convenient for me due to the time difference, will it possible to see the recordings?

I checked the webinar, it seems to be working, perhaps your browser had issues, I was using Firefox. As for the time difference, I will have to see if I can get you a link.

Thanks

Chris

[ChrisSalter]

Chris,  our private school received the first part of our order of 8 sets.  So far we are so very impressed with the quality of this product.   The keyboards are amazing.  I will do a follow up and also post some videos of our students learning and using the program.  Again thank you for all your support and help .

Kindly,
Susan Khan
www.discovery-academy.org

Thank you for the kind words, email me if you have any issues, and be sure to log in to the teleconference to hear the Beatties and share your experiences.

Thanks

Chris

[ChrisSalter]

Chris, with the 60 day unconditional guarantee, I understand the costs of shipping both ways would have to be borne by the buyer. Am I right?Thank you.

I believe that we send a special code to use to ship it back, I will check with our support team.

Thanks

Chris

[yvonnewpl]

Dear Chris,

What is the shipping cost to Hong Kong?
My daughter is 3 year old, she has some autism symptoms. She has ~6 months delay in speak and understand.
But she likes KL's Little Reader very much. That's why I think PW may work for her.
Actually, I am the one who want to try it. Many years ago, I spend a few years on pinao but still not able to play a song well.

Besides, I have the Yamaha NP-30, with MIDI input and output. Can this work with Piano wizard?

Thanks!

Yvonne

[Ann2010]

How well does a 2 year old learn piano from this system?

[ChrisSalter]

How well does a 2 year old learn piano from this system?

I am reposting an answer (modified for you) as this is a question we get quite a bit in this forum. The game can be played by anyone that knows their colors. As for your 2 year old, I would use "Free Play" mode where the hitting the keys generate the game objects, so no matter what they hit they are seeing results. It is also a great way to help teach them the colors, if they don't know them yet, but we have seen lots of 2 year olds playing the game, and anything that gets them having fun on the piano at that age and getting to know the keyboard is great.
I found this video online, and though he is not using the correct fingerings yet (in the game and the videos when he is ready) you can see he "gets it" and is enjoying himself on his first song. What a great way to start your music studies.

" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/UY5LYuaBZl4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/UY5LYuaBZl4&rel=1</a>"

So, my opinion is that your child is probably ready or nearly ready to start, I believe their minds are growing so fast at this age that music can only help them and delight them. I personally love that age, their personality begins to emerge, they walk and talk, and now can begin to play music!

Enjoy,

Thanks

Chris

[Ann2010]

Thank you!  I am really excited about trying this project.  My son loves to listen to music so I thought he might like making some.  Thanks for such a quick response.

[ChrisSalter]

Dear Chris,

What is the shipping cost to Hong Kong?
My daughter is 3 year old, she has some autism symptoms. She has ~6 months delay in speak and understand.
But she likes KL's Little Reader very much. That's why I think PW may work for her.
Actually, I am the one who want to try it. Many years ago, I spend a few years on pinao but still not able to play a song well.

Besides, I have the Yamaha NP-30, with MIDI input and output. Can this work with Piano wizard?

Thanks!

Yvonne

Yvonne,

One of my favorite sayings is "It's never too late to have a happy childhood!" (Tom Robbins), so you go girl, enjoy the program as well. As for the cost, each place is different, I would email my office manager Mary Menger and she can compare and give you the best advice how to ship. Her email is [email protected].

As for Autism, we recently received a lot more feedback from different educators, parents and families dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and while nothing works 100% for every child, as wide ranging as the spectrum and individuals are, we are very gratified and happy with the results people are sharing.

DISCLAIMER! In the spirit of complete transparency, as the founder, I can tell you:

Our program was NOT designed specifically for people with special needs or Autism spectrum.

That being said, we keep getting amazing, often unsolicited feedback that from parents, educators and special needs schools that found it extremely effective. These stories moved us, because we realized that while as entertaining and educational our game was, for these children and families, it was far more, it was transformational.

In other words, this could change lives, give hope, joy and confidence to people struggling under unbelievable challenges. That inspires us to reach out and share this in the chance we can help make an even bigger impact.

We honestly don't know if this will help your children, but we think it is worth a try, and so we took your risk away, and doubled our guarantee, so you can move as slowly or carefully as you wish, and see if it is right for you and your child. Personally, I am convinced that if you read through these stories, you will come away convinced that it is worth a try if it can help your child and family the way it did these people. If not, we buy it back, simple as that

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 Sheng


There's incredibly inspirational video of her son playing again, we share it with you because she felt that so many parents like her are looking for something special that can bring beauty and joy into their children's lives, and like her, we think, "if he can do it, maybe you can too!"

As you will see, the autism spectrum is very wide, and what works for one, does not work for another, but we can see people seem to be having broad and dramatic success with Piano Wizard Academy.

First from a special needs teacher.

"As a music educator to students with special needs, I have been using the Piano Wizard Academy program with many of my students since October 2008 . . .Every student that has
experienced this wonderful program has enjoyed it and many have demonstrated a talent in using it. Many of these talented students have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and possess a wide range of abilities.

During Phase One of implementing Piano Wizard Academy, each student was given the opportunity to play at least the first song of the first lesson, which involves playing only two different colored notes. The ability to change the tempo, or speed, of the music made it very adaptable for all of the students.To track students’ progress, I recorded the date, song name, level, tempo, hand played (right, left, or both), overall score, and the time attended to Piano Wizard Academy. By analyzing this data, I came up with some rather impressive numbers, given the diversity of the population using Piano Wizard Academy.

Of the 25 children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, 28% obtained a perfect score of 100% the first day they played Piano Wizard Academy. On their second day playing Piano Wizard Academy, that number leaped to 55% of the children obtaining a perfect score. From there, I broke down the data into two groups, one group of students with High-Function Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, and another group of Autistic students with limited verbal abilities.

Of the students in the HFA/Asperger’s group, 55% obtained a perfect score the first day playing Piano Wizard Academy, and 77% reached a perfect score on the second day.

In the Limited Verbal Abilities group, 12.5% obtained a perfect score the first day which increased to 33% on the second day playing Piano Wizard Academy.."

Jennifer

Here are some more excerpts of the feedback we have gotten recently about the product used with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) kids.
--------------
Chris,

I wanted to let you know that so far, my son loves it. . . . The graphics are entertaining and keep him interested. . . Working with children with Autism, they sometimes need to be prompted more than one time to start a task. My son did not need prompting when he was introduced to this game. At 6 years old, he is a pretty advanced gamer, being able to pick up how to play any game immediately. He enjoys learning games, but usually only if they have a favorite movie character attached. I feel the music is what kept him interested, as well as feeling as if he was playing a game.

Michelle
--------------

Chris,

Good Morning!!! I took the Piano Wizard to the Special Education Dept. of a private school where my friend is the Director. She has many students of various ages on the autism spectrum. Piano Wizard Academy has been a HUGE hit!! One little boy who is 6, and very hard to occupy, has found his smile. The only problem so far.........NO ONE wants to stop playing! ... Not one student became frustrated during play. The game is very self satisfying to the child, and stimulating as well. After 1-2 tries, everyone was familiar with the color scheme and we were able to adjust the tempo to meet the need of the child. Many of the kids understood that they were playing the note in the music. Level 1 was a great success, and we will be moving on to Level 2 today. . . .

Here is some data from 3 students at the private school where my friend works. First, let me say that Piano Wizard Academy was a huge hit with everyone, young and old! I have never seen so many smiling faces in one classroom!! Children who are on the autism spectrum should have no problem using the Piano Wizard as a wonderful tool to help them in many areas including expressing creativity. In addition, it provides them with a success oriented opportunity for achievement and mastery.

Student 1 was a 6 year old little boy with moderate autism, and minimal verbal skills. On the first trial, he achieved a score of 35%, the second trial, a 68%, the third, a 74% and the 4th, an 87%. This was all done on Level 1. He was hesitant to move on to Level 2, but after a time, was able to do so, and did much better. At first, he wanted to just use one finger, but eventually caught on to both hands. He was smiling and flapping to show enjoyment.

Student 2 was an 11 year old boy with mild autism, who is verbal. On the first trial, he scored a 47%, the second trial, a 69%, and on the 3rd trial a 98%, all on Level 1. He was anxious to move up the levels, and did so with ease. He understood the concept of using both hands. He loved the praise and wanted others to watch him. He wanted to do it the next day, and even went on his own and played Jolly Old St. Nicolas!

Student 3 was a 7 year old girl with aspergers.... very verbal! She achieved a 48% on the first trial, and a 100% on the 2nd trial. She did a little dance for the class and didn't want to stop. She moved through all 5 levels with ease.

Pictures to come soon.
Still testing product.

Tina

---------------

Yeidi, instructor
Gabby (Autism,) She is consider somewhat higher functioning but still very delay
Date: November 22, 2010


Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the product. I feel that it will take a very long time for my daughter to master this concept the way it is as of now. I feel the sticker reward system is Fabulous. My objective is to have Gabby become comfortable familiar with the concept of making music and incorporated with play! She looks forward to playing with Piano Wizard Academy. Her reactions are priceless. I feel this product will in fact be a great asset to children with special needs and Autism. Whenever she is with the Piano she is very calm. My feeling is that with Piano Wizard Academy she is using more of her cognitive and to a degree she is able to learn it, that being said these suggestions I have provided previously will make Piano Wizard Academy more marketable to the Special needs community.


Time spend on a weekly basis: 3 times per week or more
Length: about an hour or more
Current Stage: Play stage (I have had just shown her the lessons)
Does the child can initiate music play? Not Independently only With Instructor
Where the lesson does takes play? I usually do them on the afternoons after school and on weekends
Sincerely,
Yeidi

------------


(Here we see mixed results, we know it won't work for everyone, but for the majority of kids, it is a Godsend. . . .)


Janine

So I introduced my one son, 5 years old, to lesson one. He did well and liked the few songs he tried. BUT he is so used to going from game to game on the laptop that he found it difficult to go in a precise order. He kept saying he wanted to try different lessons, different hands...etc....because he always likes to move at a fast pace. Today was just exploratory for him and I allowed him to play with it. Round two I will be more structured and see how he can limit his desire to jump ahead.

My background:

Middle school teacher of Health education. Inner city (Camden NJ) environment. Working on a masters degree in Applied beahvior Analysis to becaome a Baoard certified Behavioral analyist. I have taught for 16 years and teach regular as well as special education students with varying classifications.

Gavin: (5 years of age) diagnosed at 22 months with ASD. Started intense therapy of ABA, speech and Occupatioanl therapy. Went to preschool disabled at three, typical preschool with an aide at four and now first year of typical Kindergarten with aide. Very "busy" and above most peers academically in school but socially immature and impulsive. Loves games on the laptop and has an intense imagaination.

Kyle: (also 5) Diagnosed with PDDNOS at 22 months .Same as above with Gavin in schooling and therapy. Kyle is more of a "pleaser' and entertainer. Likes to sing and loves music. He is also impulsive and very competitive. Likes to HURRY through activities to complete them. He is actually working in this at school using a timer to SLOW DOWN his work. This may be an idea I can use with him on the piano.

I can video my children. Cant video the kids at school. I will video this weekend for you.
More to come...


Hello Again Chris,

First feedback is from the five students in my middle school. Background: they are classified as leanring disabled with behavioral issues. They are from 13-15 years old, two girls and three boys These five chikdrens typically can not handle a stuctured music lesson. The music teacher and I arranged for each of the five students to spend an hour a day for three days during their lunch last week. They LOVED it...and have been asking to do another three days. I was thankful the music teacher was also working with them and was able to talk to them about how the progression worked from game to notes. It was amazing to see them so engaged..because typically they ARE NOT! We will start agin next week as I bring it home to do with Kyle.

My other son Gavin, autism diagnosis, twin brother to Kyle, was introduced to it five times. He enjoys computer games and Wii. He was COMPLETLY disinterested in the program. He is less intense than Kyle and not so interested in acheiving levels. I will continue to try and get him interested, as he enjoys watching Kyle for a bit. he is MUCH less focused and needs more physical activity, but when he is on the laptop playing a game, he is focused, piano wizard did not have the same effect..will keep trying

Janine

(We know we can't expect 100% success with ALL children first time, especially with ASD and other special needs children, and that is one reason we offer a 100% unconditional guarantee, so you can see if it is right for you and your child without worry.)


---------------

An excerpt from a recent blog post and emails from a homeschooling mother of an child with Asperger's syndrome.


Max (currently 9 and in 4th grade) was diagnosed with Asperger's in May of '09. Just recently Jan '10 we started seeing a therapist to help him manage his frustrations, anxiety, and meltdowns. What I hope to do here, is share what we learn from our son as he grows into adulthood.

My lil' disclaimer: I don't claim to be an expert on Asperger's or even a writer. :o)

We've been having a great ol' time with the Piano Wizard Academy... Since children with Asperger's (or for that matter most children under the autism umbrella) are typically visual learners, .... these kiddos often respond well to learning via a video gaming format. That makes it fun for you too!

Games work... especially games incorporating repetition and a high dose of fun along the way! With that ever-so-important knowledge under my belt, I was thrilled to have found a computer-based learning system for teaching my son how to play a musical instrument!

Would you believe my son is currently learning to play the piano? We're the proud (and excited new owners) of the Piano Wizard Academy package which provides us with piano lesson books and video lessons equating to 2 years worth of children's piano lessons. The system is designed to work on your home computer and comes with a 48-key digital keyboard that plugs directly into your pc. As parent, the system guides you as "music coach"... which you can accomplish with ease... even if you've never played a musical instrument... even if you can't read a single musical note! As the music coach you may choose to learn right along with your student, or you may just guide their learning. In my case, I choose to learn!

My entire adult life I've wanted to play the piano... despite not owning one. The Piano Wizard Academy will teach you how to play on a "real" piano. My parents have such an animal and I'm anxious for the day when my children and I can play for grandma and grandpa!

Why music? If you've read the research on the correlation between children who can play a musical instrument and levels of success on college entrance exams, greater emotional health and stability, a higher sense of self-esteem and their ability to comprehend math... you'll know why! Children who master a musical instrument typically score significantly higher on math exams, and while we're not expecting Max to attend medical school, you might be interested to learn that music majors are the most highly admitted college grads to medical school. There's definitely something pretty amazing going on in the development of the mind when the language of music is incorporated into a child's curriculum.

... I can't imagine a better Christmas gift to give to a child on the spectrum... or any child for that matter, than the gift of music. These piano lessons are learned by playing a game, and taught in a series of steps that eventually lead to you and your student reading real musical notes, knowing how to properly sit at a piano, with correct hand-placement and timing, to generate beautiful music from a REAL piano!

... My son loves the outer-space background, but there are several to choose from. ... it starts off as a matching game. Something anyone can do! As the child hits the correct key at the correct time, the object morphs from one image into another. If the game is running too fast, you can slow down the tempo. Max has been speeding it up!

You're given a wide variety of songs to choose from and you're even able to download your favorite music from the Internet into this game. There are so many games already provided with The Piano Wizard Academy, we've not felt the need to add any additional songs at this time, but eventually, we'll no doubt go music hunting!

Have a great night! I never ate dinner... too much time blogging and decorating our Christmas tree with the family (finally!). So... I'm going to cook something up real quick and check that box!

Blessings,

"Maggie"

Hope this helps!

Thanks

Chris

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