PlaygroundSessions' dishonest Thanksgiving promo

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.

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!

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...

Simply Piano by JoyTunes is an amazing piano learning app!

Around the same I ordered two piano method books (that I talked about the last two posts), I discovered the iOS app Simply Piano (by a company called JoyTunes).

Tried the free lessons first. Introduced, middle C, D, E, where they are on the staff, intro on fingering, then some exercises using only those notes.

What's different about their method (compared to PlaygroundSessions) though, is that fingerings are only present in the first few notes, while the rest of the exercise just contains the notes (on the staff) themselves. So what happens is, you will actually be focussing on the notes, instead of the fingering.

Then F was added. Few exercises. Then G was added, and a few more exercises again.

Then in the final exercise (of the free chapter), I was given just a sheet music to play. No note names on it, no fingering, no accompaniment. My first thought was, "but I can't read sheet music yet!", but then quickly realized that the previous half hour or so of exercises has all been in preparation for this.

And true enough, I performed what's in the sheet music after just a few tries.

This app, their teaching approach, it's amazing!

And the focus on sight reading - this is what's missing from PlaygroundSessions.

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Simply Piano is the second piano-learning app that JoyTunes made after their first hit app PianoMaestro.

I already stumbled upon PianoMaestro in my search for software-based-piano-learning apps before. I think the reason I never got to try it was, I searched for it on the iOS App Store using my iPhone, but didn't get any hits. So I assumed that the project must have ended already.

Turns out PianoMaestro is only designed for the iPad - which is why I didn't get any hits using an iPhone.

Simply Piano on the other hand is a universal app, which runs both on an iPhone and an iPad.

Had I discovered Simply Piano first, then I most likely would have gone with it. Most likely - because without the one-month experience using PlaygroundSessions; plus a few days of using and following the Piano Lessons section of GarageBand; plus a few sessions of using Skoove.com - then I most likely wouldn't even realize how much better Simply Piano is compared to the competition.

Amazon's CS is awesome!

I ordered two piano method books from Amazon three days ago (talked about the books here). The books were On Stock when ordered and should be ready to ship. Yet today, the order was still being processed and hasn't shipped yet.

And if they haven't shipped it yet, then there's no way they will hit their earliest delivery estimate. (the delivery estimate was Oct 25 to Nov 1)

I'm too excited to get my books, and I am not ready to give up the hope of getting them on the first day of the estimate yet. So I tried sending Amazon an email asking why the books haven't shipped yet.

Here's their reply:

Woot! A free upgrade to the fastest shipping method, just so they can meet the earliest delivery estimate!

Thanks Amazon!

Found a piano instructor on Youtube teaching & performing all exercises of piano method books!

Been browsing tons of piano learning books over the past few days. After reading what were probably several hundred detailed reviews, I decided to purchase these two: Bastien Piano for Adults, and Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course.

The reviews provided great insight about the books, yet the biggest thing that swayed me are the Youtube videos of a piano teacher that I *chanced* upon.

He posted hundreds of videos of him going thru the exercises on those books, talking as if the viewer is his student. It's essentially like having a teacher sitting next to you, giving you pointers about the material and the piece, and showing you the right way to perform it! Pretty amazing!

Loved his dry humour and no-nonsense attitude to teaching too!

Here's a video of the teacher describing his channel:

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I also found videos of pieces from piano method books being performed, but it's all just straight performance of the exercise piece and nothing else.

Here's a side-by-side comparison:

Here's a guy performing the Scarborough Fair exercise from page 87 of Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Level 1: Scarborough Fair - PianoNoobAlexMan. 56-second of just the performance, nothing else.

Here's the piano instructor's treatment of page 87: Scarborough Fair - Lets Play Piano Methods

His video is almost 7 times longer, spending the better part of it discussing the new things that were introduced, giving pointers on how to play the piece of the exercise, and playing it.


Amazon says I should receive the books next week. So excited!

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*chanced* = I discovered his Youtube channel after searching for additional additional info about the Bastien, Alfred's, and Faber (3rd book on my list) piano method books on Google. (because somehow, the hundreds of reviews already on Amazon didn't seem enough)

Not renewing my PlaygroundSessions Premium account

Last day of my 1-month PlaygroundSession Premium subscription. Almost completed all of the lessons on the Rookie Bootcamp. Not renewing.

It was good at first, because very early on you get a "hey I'm playing some notes that actually sound good" feeling. Makes you feel like you're actually "advancing".

A few weeks in though, I realized that I wasn't really learning, but mostly just imitating. Imitating where to place your fingers at the start of the piece, and imitating the instruction on which finger to play, and when.

Remove the fingering from the sheets, and you'll get lost.

I think that's PS's biggest weakness. Non-existent coverage of sight reading.

If your goal is to someday be able to read and perform sheet music, PlaygroundSessions will not get you there.

Realisation after 3.5 weeks of PlaygroundSessions...

Here's where I'm at:

- completed more than 70% of the Rookie Bootcamp
- completed the first 5 lessons of the Intermediate sections in one sitting, 80% to 100% on the exercises at first attempt

Reason I tried the Intermediate lessons is a combination of getting curious about what sorts of cool new lessons/exercises are in the Intermediate section, and getting bored of the Rookie exercises.

I think part of the reason I got bored is, I feel like the exercises are just robotic motions of following what keys to press (using specified finger), and when to press them.

1. Put hand in specified position
2. Follow the numbers on the sheet music to know what fingers to play/press, and when to play them
3. Get 80% or higher, then proceed to the next exercise

Take out the fingering numbers in the PS sheet music though, or print that sheet music (without the fingering) and give it to the student who's already performed that same exercise, but outside the context of PS - and that student will probably get lost.


Maybe the designers did it this way to make the exercises as simple as possible. At this point of the lessons though, I somehow feel they should already be introducing, and/or expecting students to read the notes at the beginning of each lesson, and not just completely rely on the fingering.

Finger Numbers / Note Names / None

Luckily, there's a setting that allows you to turn off fingering.

Or if you don't want to turn it off completely, you can also replace it with note names (probably defeats half the reason of turning it off in the first place).

If students are doing the exercises two ways, wouldn't it also be neat if PS also recorded the exercise progress & ratings in two ways? One with fingering on, the other with fingering turned off.


Admittedly, doing the exercises this way will likely double the amount of time students need to spend on one exercise... and that brings me to this realisation...

The reason I chose online/computerised piano tutorial method is, I thought it will be faster compared to following more serious learning media, like a book. But it looks like if you really want to learn, you must still consume the lessons at the same pace and focus that you'd give when following a book.

Next update might be about whichever book/s I decide to get...

Man, playing with both hands is tough!

Or barely-even-playing in my case. And it doesn't help that in PlaygroundSessions, memorizing the notes, and where these notes are on the keyboard is not a priority. So sometimes when I need to move my hands out of position, I have to look down at the keyboard to find my way back again.

One week remaining in my PS Premium membership, and still presently just at Rookie Lesson 30 so far - still slowly chugging along with these both-hands-practice exercises.

My progress is slowwww......

Two weeks remaining in the 1-month PlaygroundSessions membership.

I have completed the first 24 Rookie lessons so far,  presently doing practice exercises using both hands to play different notes. These exercises make up the bulk of the remaining lessons, and I can understand why. Playing different notes, with independent timings in each hand is tough!

"Dangling" keyboard keys already?!... Oh wait...

I presently don't have enough room to permanently have my keyboard mounted in a ready-for-playing position. I store it in a semi-hard case, take out every time I want to practice, put it back in the case when I'm done, then store standing on it's side.

While I was taking it out the other night though, I noticed that the keys weren't aligned while it was still standing up.

After a brief moment of panic, I realised that since this thing has weighted keys, the other end of the keys must have counter-weights, and when positioned on it's side, the weights probably cancel each other, causing the "dangling".

And true enough, the keys went back to normal after I placed it in a horizontal and ready-to-play position

Tried Googling whether vertical storage is harmful or not, but it there seems to be no clear consensus on whether this is bad for the keyboard or not.

Our apartment's lease expires in seven weeks though, and we're planning on moving to a more spacious one. If that happens, then I should be able to permanently position the keyboard horizontally.

Guess I should hit the classifieds again, look for more leads.

Keyboard stands...

Got a keyboard stand - then found out too late that they come in different heights!

The height of the keyboard's keys when placed in the new stand is so high, I'd need to add 4 or 5 inches worth of books on my chair just to get into the correct playing position. (the height of this stand, without the keyboard, is 26 inches; not adjustable)

Returned it the day after and I was charged a 5% restocking fee. Not knowing in advance about little details like keyboard-stand-height is definitely one of the downsides of not having a real teacher/mentor.

Tried going to other stores a few days after that, and I found one that looks and feels way more stable than the one I returned, has an adjustable height, and can be set to as low as 22 inches.

Best thing is, it has a second layer that serves as the perfect laptop stand. Here's what it looks like:



And here's a link to Amazon that contains the product's details: Gator Frameworks GFW-KEY-5100X - Heavy Duty 2-Tier

(the one I got was also $10 cheaper compared to Amazon's price, so yay!)

Discovering other online piano courses

Don't remember what I was looking for, but I ran into a site/app called Flowkey - an online piano leaning course that seems to have close ties with Yamaha.

Also discovered that I can use the serial number of the Yamaha digital piano I purchased to get a free 3-month premium membership. I'll probably give this a try after my 1-month PlaygroundSessions membership expires.

Link: http://europe.yamaha.com/en/news_events/musical-instruments/get-flowkey-premium-for-free-with-your-new-yamaha-digital-piano-or-keyboard/

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Update, 20 days after this post:

Turns out this promo is only valid for Yamaha purchases made in countries of the European Union. :(

Resetting a Yamaha keyboard to factory settings

Noticed that the sensitivity setting on my keyboard is gone, or has been disabled. The softest, or hardest press just produces the same sound volume now. My kids have been messing with it, so maybe this is their doing?

Scanned the manual and I was able to turn sensitivity back on. However, if the kids accidentally changed this, then maybe they also changed some other thing that I still haven't noticed.

Didn't find anything from the manual how to reset the keyboard to default settings, so I tried searching for it. Luckily, Google led me to this post from a Deepak Morris.

The restore-to-factory-default steps are easy to remember, but I'll note it here:

- switch keyboard off
- while keeping rightmost white key (highest C) depressed,
- turn it back on, keeping C depressed about 10 more seconds

The red power LED on mine blinked for a second before going back to it's usual steady read light.

According to Deepak, this should work on most Yamaha keyboard. For those who have keyboards that can store recordings, this will probably wipe those out. But mine doesn't, so not one of my worries.

Thanks Deepak!

2 sessions later...

Finished the 12th lesson of PlaygroundSessions (which I'll call PS moving on) in two practice sessions. Each session was around 2 hours long.

Starting to get impatient as I felt I was just following instructions on what keys to press, using specified fingers, but I didn't really understand why I was doing it.

Tried browsing the PS Forums to see if other members also felt the same way. There are indeed some, and they mentioned the content of the site MusicTheory.net would have made for some great accompanying material to the PS lessons.

Read the the entire 'Music Basics' section of MusicTheory, and I agree with the PS Forums posters.

(Liked the information at MusicTheory.net too, so I purchased their app called Theory Lessons to show my support.)

Woot!... What am I doing here?

I taught myself how to play the guitar when I was in high school. This was from a time when the internet wasn't invented yet, so the only material wannabe-learners can get their hands on are those song books that you can buy at the music store.

That "phase" lasted a couple of years, and I never progressed beyond rookie level. Aside from that, I have zero knowledge or experience in music.

Fast forward two and a half decades - I decided that I want to learn the piano (together with my kids).

I'll try to document the journey here... (doubt anyone will find this obscure blog, so the only audience in mind is my future self, who, hopefully has gotten good at playing the piano)


Where I'm at...

I bought an 88-key keyboard around a week ago that had weighted keys.

My goal is to try and learn to play it using software to assist me, so I'll try out different piano-learning-applications and see what I like best.

First software I tried is the MacOS application GarageBand (pre-installed software).

Second are the free lessons on Skoove.com. Finished the free lessons already, but I still want to continue exploring.

Next thing I want to try are the lessons at PlaygroundSessions.com. There's no free demo, but the reviews and videos I've read/seen look promising. Let's see what I can achieve with a $17.99 1-month subscription...