Piano Wizard for PC With 49E Keystation

by RE:LAUNCH

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000B6N2NA
• Item model number: WLW-M49E0-GY
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 7, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,448 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Piano Wizard is an amazingly simple PC video game that teaches virtually anyone to play the piano in minutes. Vibrant colors, multiple game choices, and instant gratification captivate children of all ages. Players enjoy instant success and joy as they immediately are able to play their favorite songs! Package includes 100 songs and lessons to keep the user learning for months, as well as colored stickers and a 49-note full-size keyboard with cable.

The game's patented sound and color learning cues transform tedious and repetitive practice sessions into an exciting and rewarding video-game experience for people of all ages and musical abilities.

Piano Wizard is a lifetime learning tool and family entertainment center. The game never wears out and never gets boring because you control the musical content. It uses thousands of MIDI song files available in music stores and on the Internet as the basis of each musical game experience. Players, parents, and music teachers can up-load any song into the game, instantly creating a new video-game experience or music lesson every time. Thousands of songs are available from Bach to the Beatles, including religious hymns and children's favorites.

The game teaches children as young as 3 to play the piano. Piano Wizard's secret agenda is to teach everyone to read music and play the piano just by having fun--playing a non-violent video game.

Because Piano Wizard only uses positive reinforcement, it's specifically designed to quickly build a player's confidence and self-esteem. The game automatically rewards players for touching the right note and ignores mistakes, encouraging, and conditioning players with fun and entertainment, to keep them practicing and playing while they learn practical music and piano skills.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keyboard compatibility - be aware!, February 17, 2006

By 

Todd Kenyon (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piano Wizard for PC With 49E Keystation (CD-ROM)

Be aware, before buying this product, that the Piano Wizard software is not compatible with at least two widely available models of Yamaha keyboards. The company does not specify this on their website but admitted it in an email when my system did not work. I had to buy a different keyboard. Check with the Piano Wizard company before investing in a keyboard.

The kids are having fun with it, however, there is no real lesson plan of any kind and it doesn't teach you proper technique. There is zero structur in that you just pull up a song and try to hit the notes.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars PianoWizard - Makes learning fun!, September 24, 2007

By 

VJM (Staten Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Wizard for PC With 49E Keystation (CD-ROM)

Had to respond to the last review:

"...It does not do chords much in the early lessons"

That is correct, and it is intended as such. The lessons are "progressive", each new lesson introducing more notes and more complicated fingering. "Chords" are nothing more than multiple notes, which are eventually introduced in the learning process.

"...and there does not seem to be any way to integrate a child' music lession into the game."

Don't know what that means, but you can "integrate" any lesson into the game by using simple MIDI files (Premier version)

"...I'm sorry that I bought the premier version in addition to the easy version. The premier does not have a lot of the features of the easy version and you have to download their versions of songs, limited availablity."

The Premier has ALL the features of Easy Mode and MUCH more. In fact, Premier comes with BOTH Easy Mode and Premier MODE, so you can decided which to use. You do NOT have to download their versions of songs - it uses any MIDI file. But you can also download more music at - www.WizardTunes.com - perhaps the library was limited at the time of the initial review, but they are now over a thousand songs and growing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars this is really just a game and not a very good one, April 6, 2008

By 

Bryan (Atlanta GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piano Wizard for PC With 49E Keystation (CD-ROM)

I purchased this software hoping to get some basic instruction and have a little fun. Its very lacking in both areas. The graphics are circa 1990, and the basic premise is find the key and hit it -- find the key and hit it -- find the key and hit it. Its more like that game where you bash the gophers as they come out of the hole than a learning experience.

The interface is setup with "lessons", but these are just a selection of the song you want, and the colors of the notes, orientation of the keyboard, etc. There are no real "lessons", its point and shoot from beginning to end.

Having spent the money I am now in a position of having to research some software that teaches. At least the keyboard that cam with it is OK.

If you looking for something fun and educational, this is not it.