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Actually, I don't want to use it for Alfred's. But for the random songs I pick from time to time for fun. I only do the RH. I thought a s/w could help with the motivation of adding the LH.

Thanks, Riff Raff, for the video. It says MIDI files can be uploaded.

Would be very interested, if they give trophies for uploaded MIDIs also. Otherwise, it won't help me much right now. I'll go check their site and YouTube to find if this is possible.

Yes, it gives trophies for uploaded MIDIs when you play them. However, you can't only upload the MIDI. You have to upload the score, which can be created in the free MuseScore app. Also, you have to play the piece on your keyboard when connected to the PM software. You can't record your playing of the piece and get a trophy for it.

There is already a substantial free library of pieces, so it's possible that if you are trying to learn a western piece, it might already be in the library.

What I do is upload the piece I want to work on into PM, then I slice and dice it into pieces in PM. And when I practice the piece, I get scored for that in PM, and it remembers the score so I always know what parts I have practiced well enough and what parts need more work.

I wanted to use it for Indian songs or any particular arrangement I like for a western song. I simplify the LH using the MuseScore software. You mentioned that they will give out trophies for any kind of upload (as long as the keyboard is connected to the s/w), which is great. Thanks!

Using MuseScore, you just export both the *.musicxml and *.mid files and then upload those into PM. You can then slice up the piece if you want in PM to learn only one part of it at a time or only one hand. You can get scores/trophies for each of those pieces too, in addition to the entire piece. For now, you have to use a version of MuseScore which is earlier than release 3.0 though (earlier versions are available on the MuseScore website). This compatibility issue is something I'd expect PM to fix shortly.

Thanks Tyrone, for the detailed info!

Regarding the connection of the iPad to the keyboard. I don't know if anybody has mentioned this but you can connect a 3.5mm cable to the headphone jack on the iPad, assuming your iPad has one, and to the sound input on most keyboards so that the audio from PianoMarvel gets routed through the keyboard speakers. That way, when you connect headphones, practice is completely silent.

There was a bit of discussion of this earlier in this long (!) thread. Some people (like me with an FP30) don't have an audio-in jack though, in which case, we have do do the same thing with a small mixing board instead.

I sent a suggestion in to the PianoMarvel people that they allow users to start an exercise by tapping a pedal. That would allow users to save time and keep both hands on the keyboard at the beginning of an exercise. It takes me a while to hit that little play button at the bottom of the screen because the music desk on my keyboard obscures a little bit of the screen.

At the moment, I have a 61 key keyboard without a pedal but I'll be upgrading to 88 keys and three pedals in the near future! I've preordered the new Casio PX-S3000 and I am looking forward to getting it sometime in April.

Congrats on the upcoming upgrade to a fully weighted keyboard!

Thanks! I'm excited about this upgrade. I think my lessons will become even more interesting once I get the new keyboard.

In addition to continuing my work with PianoMarvel, I'm going to try learning from James Rhodes's book, How to Play the Piano, in which he says he can teach anyone to play Bach's Prelude in C major in about six weeks. Are all of the pieces from Book I of the Well Tempered Clavier in the library in PianoMarvel?

I'm in the middle of reading James's other book, Instrumental, which documents his horrific childhood and early adulthood. Music pretty much saved his life.

I sent them the same suggestion back before I gave up on sending them suggestions. While I don't know anything about MIDI, it seems that the pedal information would have to be sent to the computer or VSTs would be quite crippled.

What I used to do is put a 2nd keyboard on the floor and tap the spacebar with my left foot. But very slowly I am starting to adjust to moving my hands away from the piano and back again.

I was just discussing in email with their lead developer last night adding proper support for grace notes. Right now they are displayed, but not tracked. Looks like they will do. I suggest that they still do listen to suggestions. Also, the crew that is at PM seems to have largely turned over in the last 12 months. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything.

I see I'm not the only one with the problem. That's clever, putting a second keyboard on the floor and using it as a pedal. My iPad does have a keyboard but it doesn't work wirelessly. Maybe a Bluetooth keyboard would work.

Since they're capturing all the notes from the keyboard and comparing them to the original score, I don't see why they couldn't detect a pedal press. As far as I know, they're not doing anything with pedal messages.

By the way, what is a VST? I know about the Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) and its sampled sounds. I hope to use some of those sounds with the new keyboard.

I know that the software people behind these kind of products are often overworked so I cut them some slack in terms of building new features. I can live without the pedal functionality but it would make the whole process flow better and allow me to continue my playing without moving my hands from the keyboard.

VST = Virtual Studio Technology


Yes, VSL is a VST - a "sampled" one. Another VST you might want to try out (because it has a free demo version) is Pianoteq which is a "modeled" VST.

Some people swear by modeled (me! me! ) and others by sampled, so you might want to give both a go. Easier to give modeled a go though because of the free trial/demo. I don't believe any of the sampled VSTs have a free trial/demo, but I could be wrong.

Respectfully, to each his own. My experience has been a wee bit different and I have had it with paying to be someone's beta tester.

I sure hope they've hung onto Joel. That guy is relentless with bugs.

For me, after over 30 years as a software developer, I have learned to never fall in love with a company. The best company in the world can fall into the hands of a group of relentless cost cutters with no appreciation for quality and circle the drain in no time. I like PM and I think they have a product that could change the piano world. I hope it stays that way, at least long enough for me to improve my sight reading.

Sorry, I'm totally a Windows & Android guy. I had an iPad for a while but it was strictly for aviation. There's no way to buy a cheap USB keyboard and get some kind of Lightning to USB adapter?

I have the lightning to USB connector but that is being used to connect to PianoMarvel on the iPad. I don't really want to be stepping on a Bluetooth keyboard, haha, I'd like to be able to use a pedal.

Yeah, me too.

Now I really don't know how you'd achieve this with PM but over the years I've found that best way to get a software enhancement approved is to convince management that it's their idea!

I've also spent my entire working life as a software developer. I think PianoMarvel is kind of unique as it is score-based and not video game based, for the lack of a better term.

I have noticed that the iPad version will stop showing the blue line after a while. I get it to work again by killing the process and restarting the app. It's not a deal breaker.

As for grace notes, that would be cool! They don't track duration of notes, that would be another big enhancement.

I'm happy that there is an app out there that forces me to play in time and note perfect. There is no such thing on the guitar so I use a metronome every single practice session. I also play along with StaffPad running on a beautiful Surface Studio computer. For writing in music with a stylus, StaffPad is magical software, and costs only $70.