Customer Reviews

Keyboard Coach

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Never having had either piano or keyboard lessons, I was apprehensive about learning to play my keyboard by myself through a software program. I was pleasantly surprised. Keyboard Coach has 25 individual lessons to choose from, starting with how to use the program. I really liked the easy way you are shown how to connect your keyboard to the computer to monitor the interactive lessons ( I was not looking forward to that part ).

The opening screen looks like a winding ribbon with multiple lessons. There are five rows on this ribbon with five lessons in each row. Click on a box on the ribbon to open that lesson. The lessons offer both written and video/sound clips. The clips can be viewed in a small window or full screen, and range from explaining how the plethora of buttons on my keyboard work,to observing correct finger placement to mimic -- and actually play a song.

Additional stuff includes what they call Cool Band Trax, or "music missing the keyboard" where you can practice for a real audition, or like me just pretend.

If you own a keyboard collecting dust and you have never taken a lesson before, Keyboard Coach is going to make you feel like a star.

Because of the subject review, I sent a message to Charanga.
Here is their response:

Each of the points it makes is absolutely untrue. Finger placement is not only demonstrated it is demonstrated in 2 different ways ie with video, and with photographs. How to read music is taught very patiently right from scratch. An entire Level 1 Module with 10 lessons is totally devoted to learning to read music. After that, each time a new note, note value or rest is introduced it is done one at a time with an accompanying tune or tunes to help reinforce the learning of the new music reading element. Keyboard Coach goes to great lengths to patiently help people learn and has received only very favorable reviews from everyone who has genuinely used it.

This was confusing for an 8 yr old who wants to learn to play. It didn't show how to place fingers on keyboard, went on from the assumption of knowing finger placement and how to read music already.