Musiah vs. Piano Marvel: Why This Beginner Adult Student Switched to Musiah
Choosing the right piano software can be a challenge. In this review, an adult student shares their personal experience comparing Musiah to Piano Marvel, highlighting why Musiah’s unique approach to engagement made the difference in their musical journey.
I just finished Musiah last week. The last 10 songs took me: 50 days, 86 practices, and 175+ hours to complete. Worth every penny :)
I had to grind out the last 3 or 4 levels because I am going overseas to work! I enjoyed every minute of it. Unfortunately, I won't be able to play for a few months because I'll need to get settled in with a new job.
Why I Switched from Piano Marvel to Musiah
I used Piano Marvel for the 1st month of my piano learning career. I started from 0 and have never had a piano teacher. It starts your training off in middle C position then changes the bass hand to a lower octave.
I hated this because I was used to reading the bass notes and could no longer play. This was extremely frustrating for me because the A and B notes were no longer played by my left hand and were now primarily for my right. I went from being able to play songs/lessons easily to basically being at square 1 again.
The Difference Between "YouTube Lessons" and a Real-Time Teacher
My trial ran out so I switched to Musiah. This program has a way better interface and an AI pianot teacher that responds in real-time to your playing. Whereas, Piano Marvel only had YouTube lessons.
The AI teacher can be a little annoying, but you learn to work with it. Also, Musiah provides comprehensive piano lessons for adults that track how long a note is held for—unlike Piano Marvel. Your score can fluctuate if a note is held too long or too short.
Debunking the "Human Teacher Only" Myth
I learned a lot using the Musiah software and achieved beating the game without using any music teacher. I read a lot of online forums/websites and the general idea is that EVERYONE needs to get a human teacher in order to learn piano. I think that's incorrect. Musiah and other piano learning software make it easy for someone to play at their own pace whenever they want.
I found Musiah the most fun and engaging to learn from and that's why I stuck with it. I am confident I can read notes and use proper finger technique to work through future pieces.
Piano learning software has come a long way. Seems like a lot of people are stuck in their old ways of thinking that music can only be taught by humans. What a joke, this piano lessons app with an AI teacher kicks ass and I think any millennial could set this up and play. They just need discipline and motivation to stick with it.
Real Technical Growth: From Guitar Hero to Real Notes
I just wish this was around when Guitar Hero 1, 2, and 3 were out. I spent way too many hours playing those when I should have been learning to play real notes with a real instrument but couldn't afford a teacher. :)
Behind the Scenes: A Personalized Student Experience
On a side note, the creator(s) of Musiah sent me an email congratulating and thanking me for using their software. They asked that I write a review for their website since I have completed the software. The reason I am mentioning this is because the email had other specific stats about my playing. I believe the email was personalized and hand written not generic and auto generated.
This says a lot about the people programing and monitoring the students to make sure there is a proper difficulty curve and very little software bugs to deal with.
If you are curious, attached is pic of my piano/laptop setup before I packed it all away.
Thanks,
Caleb R – Austin, Texas, United States
