What’s the best way for kids to learn piano?

These days, traditional piano lessons are becoming a thing of the past.  For young musicians today, the classical way of learning can feel a little outdated. Many kids want to play ‘keys’ rather than ‘classical piano’ and therefore a traditional approach focused on classical music may not be the best way to gain and sustain their interest.  Plus, with traditional lessons, input from the teacher comes just once a week and then it’s down to child and parent to ensure practice happens, which can sometimes be an uphill struggle.  

Indeed, if you want your kids to learn piano, it’s time to rethink traditional lessons and embrace more modern ways of learning.  We all know that kids learn well through play.  If you can make the experience fun and engaging, they are more willing to develop their skills. Not only are digital methods more fun, more flexible, and more engaging, but they are dramatically more affordable too. Private piano lessons have historically been the preserve of those with significant disposable income making music learning an elitist activity, but digital advancements make lessons considerably more accessible.  

New technology has opened up exciting innovative ways to learn and master the piano. From online tutorials to interactive video lessons, there is no shortage of digital resources available for kids looking to learn piano. This can be extremely convenient too as children can learn and practice from the comfort of their own home.  However, the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming for parents looking to select the best learning method for their child. 

For example, YouTube is a great resource for learners but can be a little overwhelming for young players as it’s hard to know where to start and difficult to track progress.  Furthermore, if your kids are accessing YouTube to learn, it can be very easy to get distracted by the latest vlog or short, when they should be practicing piano. 

There’s also a range of piano learning apps that offer a more structured approach, such as Simply Piano, FlowKey, and Playground Sessions.  These apps appeal to young players as they include modern songs and provide an engaging interactive way of learning that is more affordable too.

SimplyPiano

SimplyPiano is an accessible way for children to learn piano. It has a bright engaging interface and a large library of songs that will appeal to younger players. The app is compatible with acoustic and digital pianos and electric keyboards. It uses your device’s microphone to listen to you play and gives valuable real-time feedback which allows you to correct mistakes as you go.

Flowkey

Flowkey is very similar to SimplyPiano. It works with acoustic and digital pianos and electric keyboards and includes microphone technology to allow real-time feedback on your playing.  It has a really big library of songs and classical pieces with something for everyone.

Playground Sessions

Playground Sessions has a slightly different approach. Kids start in Bootcamp to build skills and then unlock more content and games as they progress.  They score points for their performance as they go.  This app is only compatible with MIDI keyboards and does not work with acoustic pianos.

Piano M and ROLI Learn

The ROLI Learn platform offers perhaps the best choice for kids to learn piano as it’s an all-in-one solution that provides a tailored learning experience for each child based on their skills and progression. Unlike YouTube, with the ROLI Learn app, there’s no room for distraction, kids remain super focused on the task at hand.  The light-up keys of the Piano M keyboard make it highly engaging and fun for kids to play, while also enabling them to rapidly grasp the basics of note recognition and fingering patterns. Indeed, the Piano M Keys are slightly smaller than regular piano keys making them perfect for smaller hands. 

With its personalized recommendations and streaks, the ROLI Learn app motivates young players and rewards them for practicing.  Kids can get input from the ROLI instructors every day of the week and are encouraged to learn and practice little and often. This kind of habit-forming approach that supports regular practice has been shown to be very effective at reinforcing skills and expediting learning. 

There is an extensive set of ROLI Learn lessons in the app that teach the building blocks of music and piano playing. The app syncs with the Piano M enabling learners to follow the hands of the instructor using the light-up keys on their own device. 

With an exciting choice of arcade-type games in the ROLI Learn app that teach the building blocks of music, kids benefit from healthy screen time while learning transferable skills along the way. Younger learners also love the ever-growing song library which includes hundreds of titles that they genuinely want to play so goodbye boring nursery rhymes and hello Taylor Swift!

ROLI Learn Family Membership

With ROLI Learn Family Membership, multiple family members can benefit from their own individual LUMI learning experience.  Piano M and ROLI Learn is also dramatically more affordable, and at least ten times cheaper than private lessons. 

Piano M can also be used to create and compose music using an app like GarageBand so it’s a great choice for kids who want to learn piano and are also interested in making their own tracks. 

If you want your child to learn piano, it’s worth exploring a range of different options that suit your child’s interests and your budget. 

Discover piano playing, the fun and affordable way with Piano M and ROLI Learn.