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The ION Audio Piano Apprentice is a fun, unique way to introduce a young musician to the piano. The Piano Apprentice combines a 25-key keyboard with an iOS-compatible device and the free Piano Apprentice teaching app available from the Apple App Store. The app works with or without the keyboard.
My sons, ages 7 and 9, have both been taking piano lessons for several years. My husband and I do not play piano, although we both had music training through college.
Physical Attributes
- The system looks like a classic electronic keyboard; it very much reminded me of the first Casio keyboard I ever had! The basic Casios were so simple, just like ION's keyboard.
- The keyboard has lights that illuminate when you press them; this will be of use for the lessons.
- The keyboard takes four AA batteries (included) or a user can plug in a DC 6V, 1A adapter (not included).
- Note names are printed just above each of the keys.
- There's a little bit of "weightiness" to the keys that replicates real pianos. The harder you press the key, the louder it will play.
- There's a power switch and volume dial on the left edge, on the right edge are up and down arrow buttons that allow you to change the octaves of the keys.
- The top of the unit has a pop-up stand on which you prop your iPod/iPhone/iPad.
- The iPod/iPhone/iPad connector cable is in the back of the unit.
- The keyboard unit does not make sound without an iOS device plugged in. The only thing that happens is the lights will illuminate when you press keys.
The ION Audio Piano Apprentice app is a free download from Apple's App Store. This app works either with or without the piano unit. When plugged into the piano unit, there are numerous menu items that communicate together making this a fantastic music experience for beginners.
Piano Jam
This is a basic piano with keys on the screen. One (iPod/iPhone) or two (iPad) octaves are available. Touch the notes on the screen for a virtual piano. Plug it into the keyboard unit and if you touch the screen, the appropriate key on the keyboard will illuminate and the note will play through the keyboard speaker. Also, the octave buttons will show on the iOS device screen which part of the 88-key keyboard you're on.
Sheet Music
This was my family's favorite part of the app. You can download "sheet music" that will scroll on your iOS device while you play. Or you can select the "Play" button and you can watch the notes illuminate on the keyboard while the song plays. I downloaded several pieces and they were fun for the kids and adults alike. You can turn on/off the bass clef and treble clef, and you can adjust the tempo with a sliding bar. However, the bass clef wasn't explicitly shown, only the chords above the treble clef notes. I'm not that good to know the A7 or Dm chords during "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," sorry.
The first selection under "Sheet Music" is a tutorial, where Scott Houston, also known as "The Piano Guy", will offer some basics on reading notes. When the app is plugged into the keyboard, as he speaks to the notes they will illuminate for you. ("The Piano Guy" is not to be confused with "The Piano Guys," the YouTube sensation!)
Sheet music choices include "Ode to Joy," "Greensleeves," "The Birthday Song," "The Entertainer," "Amazing Grace" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Lessons
The lessons use the sheet music pieces to slowly proceed through a song, using the illuminated keys and a video of a pair of hands on your iOS device playing the piece. You can choose "Right Hand," "Left Hand" or "Hands Together" to learn the notes. The videos will slowly work you through the pieces and again, as Scott Houston works through the notes, they'll illuminate on the keyboard for you.
Review
My sons spent more time with this system than my husband or me. They enjoyed trying to use the "lessons" to attempt "The Birthday Song." The Scott Houston videos seemed oversimplified to me. There's a lot of colloquial dialogue suggesting this is "easy," it'll "come naturally" and that the classic mnemonic "Every Good Boy Does Fine" sounds "kind of silly."
This might be a matter of learning style. From what I've seen over the years, the illuminated keys are very popular for teaching piano, and perhaps that works well for many people. I felt as though I was constantly chasing the red lights all over the place. My sons tended to ignore the lights and attempted to simply play the treble clef notes (they don't know classic bass clef chords yet).
In conclusion, this is a great system with plenty of positive reviews on the app's iTunes site. I take this to mean that there are success stories with this style of teaching piano. I personally didn't stick with it very well, but the family enjoyed integrating our iPhone/iPods with the digital keyboard to make music.
The ION Audio Piano Apprentice system includes the keyboard unit, four AA batteries and instruction booklets. It retails for $99.99 at their website, but can be found for as little as $59.99 through Amazon.com.
A sample of this product was provided free of charge for purposes of this review.
