- Platform: Windows 98 / 2000 / Me
- Media: CD-ROM
- Item Quantity: 1
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Voyetra has created a winner with Teach Me Piano Deluxe. This comprehensive set includes lessons, music reference, music-related games, and even a simple recording console. It should appeal to both beginning and intermediate players.
Installation was fast and trouble-free. The application's interface is well-designed and navigation through the program is self-explanatory. From the main menu you can select Piano Lessons, Recording Station/Jammin' Keys, Music Games, Music Reference, and SoundCheck. We moved right into the piano lessons, which cover getting started, right-hand training, rhythm training, and more. You can also zoom in on individual chapters, and select solo exercises from a drop-down list.
After choosing right-hand stretches, a video window popped up with our friendly instructor, Hugh Berberich. The camera view is over-the-shoulder, top-down on his hand as he slowly plays a scale up one octave. The video window allows one to pause or repeat the lesson, and move to the next lesson when ready. Throughout this and other lessons, Hugh explains concepts such as intervals, bars, and sharps and flats in a clear and concise manner.
Having made it through a lesson with Hugh, we then checked out the recording capabilities of Teach Me Piano. The recording station looks like a simple mixing board, with 12 sliders; Record, Mute, and Solo buttons; LED level meters; and transport functions. The recording station is quite simple and effective for multitracking keyboard parts, transposing MIDI data to different keys, and assigning the recorded MIDI data to the 128 General MIDI-compatible instruments. Although there are no features like editing or effects, it works well for the purposes of simple recording.
Additional features like music games and the Jammin' Keys section provide a respite from the lessons. Overall, Teach Me Piano offers a lot for the beginning or intermediate piano student, and would probably appeal to those simply interested in the piano's role in modern music. --John Bosch
Product Description
Teach Me Piano Deluxe is the best way to learn piano, quickly and concisely! With its full set of instructions and animated options, you'll be tickling the ivories in no time at all. Fun music games and full MIDI support help you learn about the piano and all the beauty it can create!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
177 of 182 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I have looked at others but this is simply the best...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Teach Me Piano Deluxe (CD-ROM)
What they don't tell you is that, you can add midi songs from the internet to the trainer, so that you can learn thousands of songs.In the lessons, you can change the tempo, if it goes to fast. You can ask it to label the notes with the corresponding letters, as well as, the fingers to use. You can pick a range of measures to go over, instead of the entire song. The most important part of learning music is the timing and this program teaches it from the beginning. The sequence that the material is presented and studied is thoroughly professional and challenges you every step of the way. This program with a midi keyboard connected to a computer is an ... alternative to traditional music lessons for children and adults.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Ruined by Severe Bugs,
By JC (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Teach Me Piano Deluxe (CD-ROM)
I really wanted to make use of Teach Me Piano Deluxe (TMPD), and tried working with it for six weeks. I've been working with computers for twenty years so I figured I could handle any unexpected problems I encountered. Wrong... The first problem I encountered was a noticeable lag between when I pressed a note and when the program recognized it. Voyetra's technical support web site indicates that "if your PC makes use of a Wavetable GS Synth, then this is a problem... that makes it not very useful for this type of application." Well, guess what? If you have a Pentium 4, the motherboard comes with SoundMax audio built in--which uses a Wavetable GS Synth! So if you have a Pentium 4 motherboard, give up right now. But being stubborn, and after much trial and error, I found a way to bypass this by making the MIDI return directly to my Roland keyboard, and wearing the keyboard's headphones. Very inconvenient, since the program's audio/video comes out through your PC's speakers, but a fix I could live with. Then, I noticed that the program's "Grading" feature worked inconsistently... the program could not seem to tell what keys I pressed. I thought OK, I can also live with that bug, because I'll have a good idea whether or not I aced the lesson and could move on to the next one. Then I encountered TMPD's infamous "tied notes" problem. And trust me, there is no solution. When I came to the first lesson that used "tied notes" (notes held down between measures), TMPD skipped ahead as I played, losing my place during the lesson. Voyetra's support web site listed three things to try to fix the "Tied Notes Issue," so this had clearly been a problem for many people. I tried all three of their suggestions without success. Then, I went out and bought a $50 USB-MIDI cable, thinking that might help. No difference. I borrowed a friend's MIDI keyboard and tried it instead of my Roland. No difference. I e-mailed Voyetra's customer service (no phone calls, just e-mail and fax) and they sent me back a form response to an unrelated problem. I e-mailed them a second time and was ignored. But interestingly enough, the next day I saw that they had removed the "Tied Notes Issue" page from their support web site. It seems that Voyetra's approach to a technical problem is to remove all references to it, ignore all related questions, and hope that it quietly disappears. For those still unconvinced, I end with a disclaimer that I copied and pasted directly from Voyetra's TMPD "Troubleshooting" web page: "All our Software products are sold on an *AS IS* basis. Voyetra-Turtle Beach does NOT warrant that the functions of the Software will be uninterrupted or error free." Translation: go with another product, and save yourself a headache! : (
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Value Going,
By Bob C. (Minnesota , United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Teach Me Piano Deluxe (CD-ROM)
This program has amazed me. I've been using it for three months, practicing about 1 1/2 hrs. a day and have become quite proficient. I'm 45 years old and have had no formal music training. I paid $45 dollars for the software and would gladly pay 3-4 times that amount, now that I've experienced it. Better than a private teacher because you can progress on your own schedule and choosing.I don't believe it is intended for anyone under about 12 yoa even tho at times it seems very easy, yet VERY effective. The instructional videos prior to the lessons are excellent. The ability to practice with evaluations, perform songs with a back up orchestra, quickly learn theory and technic,print and practice away from the pc, etc., makes practice fun and nearly addicting. One shortcoming is the tech support (which is done only by e-mail). I had a hard time configuring my soundcard/synth initially, but soon found that the program includes an easy to use sound/configuration utility that helped alot. It also includes a sequencer/recording station! This is one of the best values in software I have purchased.
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