Piano Adventures® Player 4+

It is helpful to hear the songs, especially for figuring out temp and counting. It is also nice to see the music in the app follow the music. I don’t think the $4.99 for each book’s music is a big deal but I would like a little more for that money, per my below comments.

Big negative for me is that there is no audible count in to the music. There are a couple beats that are visually counted down — not audibly — and then the music takes off. You have to be psychic to know when to start with the music. Not to mention that you barely have time to get your hands to the right keys. That’s a major flaw. It should not be difficult to insert two measures of metronome at tempo before each piece. Then you could play along.

Minor gripe is the sound of the piano. It sounds like a cheap synthesizer. It would be great if the piano sounded more like a piano. Maybe Yamaha or Kawai would let the publisher use a sample in exchange for some advertising space. It would really be nice to have a better piano sound.

I stumbled across this app while on the Faber website. They need to advertise this more! The importance of "playing along" is usually underestimated. Especially during COVID where so many teachers are using remote, you can't play along with your teacher--the timing doesn't work. This helps the student to learn to keep playing through mistakes. Also, the ability to loop over trouble spots is pretty cool. Then, if you have a MIDI keyboard, the ability to record and listen to yourself. You will hear mistakes that you didn't notice while playing--most teachers suggest recording yourself for that reason. Also, it shows you notes that you missed! Very intuitive, well laid out software. Some folks gave bad reviews because they thought it was too expensive or missing certain songs. I don't think they understand how much work goes into putting this together. I am also a software developer--I write software that tests other people's software. I can tell you this is a lot of work. Faber even says on their website, they are still working on adding material. For less than $5 per level, It is a great deal. When you think about how much lessons cost...SERIOUSLY?! Anyway, great job, Faber! Keep up the good work!

This app is beautifully designed, with options for tempo, metronome, and piano backup or a variety of instruments. The only problem is that most of the songs cost money. Every book is 4.99, so if I bought every book it would be over 40 dollars! I’m not paying that money just so I can play along with music. It would be better if more songs were free, or if there were no purchases and everything was free. You are supposed to be helping people to learn to play piano, not forcing them to buy stuff.

Also, for people who said they just wanted to hear the piano...
To do so, look at the small buttons on the right. Next to the metronome button, there is a button with a + and a music note. Click it. Hope this helped.