Was interested in revisiting PlaygroundSessions, mostly because I wanted to see if I can play all the exercises that I did before, but with the fingerings turned off.
They advertised a really attractive Thanksgiving sale too, with a banner ad saying: "Save $65 on an Annual Membership using the promo code blackfriday16".
Yet when you get to the checkout page and apply the promo code, the discount given is just $44.89.
It seems PlaygroundSessions' team is a bunch of dishonest folks. Or maybe just the marketing team, but still dishonest, doing a bait and switch like that.
I guess I'm not buying a new PS subscription then.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
So Music Theory isn't as boring as it sounds?
As great as Piano Maestro is, there comes a point where you'll realize that it's really designed to be used with a teacher.
I've encountered several lessons now where I can finish with a 100% grade all of a lesson's exercises, yet I have absolutely no clue what exactly it was that I was supposed to learn.
One example is the chapter on Syncopation. The exercises were easy, but I had to read lots of other tutorials before having a slight idea what syncopation is. *Slight idea* only, at that time. Because most of the material available online just confused me even more.
One good thing that came out of this though, is I got interested in reading about music theory. Presently reading about it in three Kindle books, one of those books being a For Dummies title.
And the way Music Theory for Dummies (by Michael Pilhofer) discussed syncopation is basic enough, that I think I now understand what it is.
The greatest surprise, is I'm realizing learning music theory is actually kind of fun!
I've encountered several lessons now where I can finish with a 100% grade all of a lesson's exercises, yet I have absolutely no clue what exactly it was that I was supposed to learn.
One example is the chapter on Syncopation. The exercises were easy, but I had to read lots of other tutorials before having a slight idea what syncopation is. *Slight idea* only, at that time. Because most of the material available online just confused me even more.
One good thing that came out of this though, is I got interested in reading about music theory. Presently reading about it in three Kindle books, one of those books being a For Dummies title.
And the way Music Theory for Dummies (by Michael Pilhofer) discussed syncopation is basic enough, that I think I now understand what it is.
The greatest surprise, is I'm realizing learning music theory is actually kind of fun!
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Piano Maestro's and Simply Piano's approach really helping me read music
Can't believe I haven't posted anything here for more than two weeks!
In a nutshell, it's because I've been enjoying the lessons from both Piano Maestro and Simply Piano so much, I didn't need the extra motivation to continue practicing.
(Early on in my search for piano learning apps, I encountered some guy's blog about learning to play the piano using some software, PlaygroundSessions if I remember correctly. He was informative, provided interesting thoughts from the point of view of an adult learner, and he posted something every time he practices. His blog entries lasted 2 or 3 weeks, then total silence. I don't want to be the guy who gave up.)
Where I'm at: after two and a half weeks of alternating between Piano Maestro and Simply Piano (five practice sessions a week, between 30 to 90 minutes per session), plus doing the sight-reading exercises using the iOS app Music Tutor (around 2 or 3 minutes a day), and I can now slowly read music on the grand staff. Just simple music, no accidentals, no key signatures, and limited to keys between the C on the 2nd space of the bass clef, to the C on the 3rd space of the treble clef.
Here's an example of what I can read (from Simply Piano app):
Tried recording myself playing it though, and I sound horrible, for now...
In a nutshell, it's because I've been enjoying the lessons from both Piano Maestro and Simply Piano so much, I didn't need the extra motivation to continue practicing.
(Early on in my search for piano learning apps, I encountered some guy's blog about learning to play the piano using some software, PlaygroundSessions if I remember correctly. He was informative, provided interesting thoughts from the point of view of an adult learner, and he posted something every time he practices. His blog entries lasted 2 or 3 weeks, then total silence. I don't want to be the guy who gave up.)
Where I'm at: after two and a half weeks of alternating between Piano Maestro and Simply Piano (five practice sessions a week, between 30 to 90 minutes per session), plus doing the sight-reading exercises using the iOS app Music Tutor (around 2 or 3 minutes a day), and I can now slowly read music on the grand staff. Just simple music, no accidentals, no key signatures, and limited to keys between the C on the 2nd space of the bass clef, to the C on the 3rd space of the treble clef.
Here's an example of what I can read (from Simply Piano app):
Tried recording myself playing it though, and I sound horrible, for now...
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