PickUpPiano
Group Members
- Joy Chen, joyc@mit.edu
- Keshav Dhandhania, keshav57@mit.edu
- Pramod Kandel, pramod@mit.edu
Problem Statement
Many music enthusiasts want to learn piano but don't find an easy way to start. Many of the beginner musicians (even some intermediate ones) find it difficult to differentiate various notes from one another.
| Wiki Markup |
|---|
One of our interviewees Kevin Wong, an undergraduate at MIT, started learning Piano only a month ago. He says that he "started this late ... because \[of\]: no access to piano, no instructor ..." Another interviewee, Saroj Kandel, who is an intermediate level professional singer, says "I find it very difficult to differentiate notes on my own \[without Harmonium\]." Micah Ekchardt, a Media Lab graduate Student, who is an "advanced novice" guitar player, thinks that distinguishing the pitch is "one of the important things to learn" while learning music. He wants an online way to learn that skill because of "time constraints".
\\ |
Links
GR2 - Designs
GR3 - Paper Prototyping
GR4 - Computer Prototyping
GR5 - Implementation
A significant fraction of the human population loves music. Piano is one of the best musical instruments of all time, particularly for novices.
There are many people, young and grown-ups alike, who want to learn piano during the spare time they have at home. Interviewing various people and going through the syllabus of various music schools has shown us that learning piano usually proceeds along the following (approximately chronological) path
- Basic theory - musical notation, notes, chords, etc.
- Playing simple songs (e.g. "Happy birthday to you" ), finger exercises.
- Training ears on distinguishing musical notes, music dictation.
- Playing more advanced songs.
- Being a part of an orchestra!
We want to help people who want to learn piano reach their goals. To do this, we had to find what is missing from their existing resources. There are various tutorials that address step 1, and step 2 is more about practice and students’ initiative than the tutor. To the best of our knowledge, there is nothing on the web that addresses step 3, and that is what we would like to focus on.
Ear training is a process by which musicians learn to identify, solely by hearing, pitches, intervals, melody, chords, rhythms, and other basic elements of music. The application of this skill is analogous to taking dictation in written/spoken language. One of the immediate benefits of ear training is that the learner is able to “listen and play” vs “read and play”. Also, expert musicians have the firm belief that ear training enhances the learners appreciation for music and their ability to analyze and compose music.
More detail on ear training can be found at music dictation and Solfeggio. We would like to understand the needs of users undergoing ear training, no matter their level of experience, and make a tool specifically for them addressing their needs as much as possible.
Links
GR6: User testingGR6 - User Testing