Review of Piano Wizard by PARENTS who used it for their kids

[early learning17]

I am opening new thread in an attempt to take the original question posted by tornado:

"Hello, has anyone tried Piano Wizard ( pianowizard.com) or Piano Wizard Academy?  If so, was it for you or your children?  What age were your kids when they started?  Please tell us about the results.
Thank you.  I am excited to learn more about this program!"

away from the "battleground" in the debate "Piano Wizard".
Like tornado I would really like to hear from PARENTS who have used PW (this would exclude HH from posting here, wouldn´t it?). I find that there is little testimonial posted by other Brillkids parents in the other thread and actually I stopped reading it as it seemed more like a battleground than a thread where you could read about others parents' experience with PW. I am thinking about buying it - can those who already have it please share their experience?

THANKS ISA

[andreasro]

I am opening new thread in an attempt to take the original question posted by tornado:

"Hello, has anyone tried Piano Wizard ( pianowizard.com) or Piano Wizard Academy?  If so, was it for you or your children?  What age were your kids when they started?  Please tell us about the results.
Thank you.  I am excited to learn more about this program!"

away from the "battleground" in the debate "Piano Wizard".
Like tornado I would really like to hear from PARENTS who have used PW (this would exclude HH from posting here, wouldn´t it?). I find that there is little testimonial posted by other Brillkids parents in the other thread and actually I stopped reading it as it seemed more like a battleground than a thread where you could read about others parents' experience with PW. I am thinking about buying it - can those who already have it please share their experience?

THANKS ISA

  I subscribe!

And... I'm interested in finding out: how did your child(ren) react to using colours and the games in PW?
Please, just share us your experience, your child's reaction, anything you like! Or at least let us know if you need more time to tell others something about using PW- you'd gave us, me and Isa, a hope :P

Thank you too,
Andrea

[Twinergy]

After buying PW Premier (not Academy, just the game) and trying it, I have enough reservations that I'm trying the SM demo game.  I'm still getting the new piano to detect in Windows, so I can't give a comparison yet, but I will keep you posted.

[early learning17]

After buying PW Premier (not Academy, just the game) and trying it, I have enough reservations that I'm trying the SM demo game.  I'm still getting the new piano to detect in Windows, so I can't give a comparison yet, but I will keep you posted.

thanks! what exactly was it that you don´t like please?

[andreasro]

Edit:
Twinergy , you've talked about your experience with PW in the hard-to-follow "Piano Wizard" thread... But it would be helpful if you could sum up here things that made you change your mind regarding PW. Thank you.

[early learning17]

Dear Twinergy

I just got the SoftMozart (SM) demo myself. Unfortunately there isnt´much to "test" as it is only 1 song (Ode to Joy)
Have you been able to look at it yet?
How does it compare to Piano Wizard (PW)  - and what is it that you didn´t like about PW in the first place?

Thanks for sharing your insights!

[Twinergy]

Sorry for my delayed reply, I've had a family emergency and will respond in detail when I have time. 

[andreasro]

Thank you, we understand, take your time. Hope everything works out fine.

[Blooming_Brilliant]

Hey...I am also interested in purchasing PW so I am extremely interested in reviews, I would also like to know if anyone got the keyboard with it and if you did  what kind of quality is it? Do you think it is better to purchase a keyboard separately? I have been researching keyboards, I really want a good quailty keyboard as I do not have room for a piano at the moment however our DD shows immense interest in the piano, so a keyboard is the way we are going. I breifly looked at the PW website mostly looking at the software, the keyboard looks kind of cheap esp. for the price of everything. So I am really interested to hear from those who have this product with the keyboard. I am interested in how the software is, how your child or you enjoy it,  how much you have picked up on it and the quality of the keyboard.   

[Twinergy]

We have spent many weeks on PW with my twins I’m a bit disappointed with their progress.  I think the reason is because PW doesn’t give enough feedback to engage a toddler in playing the game.  They are interested in interacting with the game, but not in the way it is intended.  Instead of trying to play each color as it scrolls across the screen they will slap the piano with an open hand to trigger the note to change.  They can even get a perfect score slapping the piano in time to the music.  Another thing about the scrolling notes in PW is that they are difficult to look at, especially in the 3rd view of the game (colored notes scrolling on a staff.)  I have played the game through an entire song myself and had headaches the first few times I tried; that is until I learned how to look at it without causing eyestrain.   In comparison, SM videos look like the note waits for the player rather than scrolling by.  I’m thinking this will allow for better immediate feedback for a young child and be gentler on the eye, but I haven’t actually tried it to say that is the case. 

[early learning17]

Thanks for you opinion, Twinergy!
I must say if the notes in PW don´t stop until you have hit the right key it is a BIG turnoff for me. How will the child learn to hit the right key if it doesn´t stop? i will copy this question into the PW thread to get Cris Salter´s answer.

"In comparison, SM videos look like the note waits for the player rather than scrolling by.  I’m thinking this will allow for better immediate feedback for a young child and be gentler on the eye, but I haven’t actually tried it to say that is the case. " Correct! I have downloaded the SM free software (unfortunately only 1 song) and the note doesn´t move until you hit the right key - the way it should! The programme looks a bit less user friendly, like KL said one day: I looks like it was created before Windows, in the MS DOS era. But does that matter much? I haven´t read any Soft Mozart threads - Can anbody please advise in which SM thead I could best ask this question?

[Twinergy]

I would suggest this thread as well as reading the book she links to in that thread.  The book is short but she does expalin why she made certain decisions in designing SM.  For example she decided to make the program keyboard driven, rather than using the mouse, because it is easier for young children to use by themselves.  As for PW, I think the scrolling method used in PW is fine for someone that is older, understands the purpose of the game but it is challenging with younger children. 

[aangeles]

The programme looks a bit less user friendly, like KL said one day: I looks like it was created before Windows, in the MS DOS era. But does that matter much? I haven´t read any Soft Mozart threads - Can anbody please advise in which SM thead I could best ask this question?

Hi isapabi,

When we were deciding between PW and SM for my toddler a couple of months ago, one of the s that concerned me about SM was the user friendliness of the program. Initially, I was a little put-off by the need to use the keyboard rather than a mouse to navigate through the program, but it was not such a big deal anymore after I had gotten used to it. I actually like it better now because 1) I don't have to allot extra space next to the keyboard for the mouse (we have a full-size keyboard and table space is already cramped with both the keyboard and laptop on it)  and 2) my daughter who is 31 months old can now easily navigate through the program by herself by pressing a few keys on the computer keyboard. She has memorized which ones to press after seeing me do it a few times. She does not have good enough control of a mouse yet so I doubt she would be so independent with using the program if it had come with a mouse.

I was actually not as concerned about the slightly outdated graphics used in SM because I thought it would detract less from the main purpose of teaching piano. I don't need a program that is flashy, just one that is effective. And I have to say that, for us, SM is working out great! Ella can now play several simple piano pieces using both hands (melody + chord) after about a month on the SM curriculum. She is also doing well on the ear-training/perfect pitch portion of the program.

I also recommend reading the book that Twinergy mentioned, it explained the reasons SM was designed the way it is and it was one of the reasons we decided to purchase SM rather than PW.

Hope this helps! 

[shaman]

Isapabi,

I just started a new thread to share our experience with SM. Hope that helps.

Shaman

[Twinergy]

I have tried both SM demo and PW premier (software only without the videos) and overall prefer SM for young kids.  I got much faster results, with a much more complicated song, because SM waits for the child’s input giving more immediate feedback.  With PW the notes fly buy too fast for the little ones to understand cause and effect.  I think this method would work fine with older children and in fact enjoy using the program myself. 

So far they after 6 hours of practice with PW at age 3y2m-3y3m the twins could only slap the keyboard in time with the rhythm.  There was no effort or incentive to play the correct note.  (My son first had the idea then my daughter copied him.)  The song consisted of 2 notes on the right hand and the same 2 notes on the left hand only an octave lower.  We tried SM for about 20 minutes at age 3y4m and the kids both played all the notes for Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, however not in time. 

Despite my preference for SM I don’t think a single player computer game is a good match for my family at this time.  I am alone with my twins most of the day and it is impossible to have one play the game without the other interfering.  I may try it all again in a few months, when they are old enough to restrain themselves from picking the stickers off the piano keys.

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