The MuseFlow Blog

A MIDI keyboard is very much like a piano or digital keyboard - they both have the same keyboard layout, and they can both play that classic “piano” sound. However, a MIDI keyboard can do much more than just let you play the piano! In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of MIDI keyboards and different use cases for playing them - DJs and music producers, composers, and finally music students.

Introduction

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It is the instrument that translates a musical keystroke into 0s and 1s so a computer can interpret your actions. MIDI keyboards, or MIDI-compatible keyboards, are used by DJs and music producers as their main sound producting instrument. You can load many different sounds onto it - a grand piano, a synthesizer, strings, whatever you’d like - hook it up to your computer, and play those sounds as part of a larger whole.

MIDI Keyboard for Producers and DJ’s

Producers and DJs write their music in any number of DAWs out there - Digital Audio Workstations.

Typically, they use a MIDI keyboard to quickly play out different parts of a musical arrangement.

Use Case for Composing an Indie/Pop Tune in Logic Pro X

Instrumentation:

• Drums
• Electric Bass
• Piano Synth
• Lead Guitar
• Horns

1. Set the Tempo:
   • Set the tempo (speed of the song) in your DAW (Logic Pro X) for how fast you want it to be.
2. Record the Electric Bass:
   • You look through a bunch of electric bass sounds and find that you really like the Liverpool Bass sound, so you upload that to your DAW.
   • Start recording and play the MIDI keyboard in that sound to the tempo you’ve set.
   • Experiment by recording several takes until you find a groove you really like.
3. Lay Down the Drums:
   • Choose a drum kit SFX that you like and that maps well to your MIDI keyboard.
   • Record the drum part by playing the keys on your MIDI keyboard associated with the drums or cymbals you want to include.
   • This will take some experimentation so be patient! Enjoy the cacophony that comes with this percussion instrument. you’ll soon find a pattern you love.
4. Record the Piano Synth:
   • Browse through the synth sounds in Logic and try out a few until you find one that fits the vibe of your song.
   • Record some simple synth chords. Keep it understated… the goal is to fill out the sound without drawing too much attention.
5. Record the Lead Guitar and Horns:
   • Find samples of a lead guitar and horns that you really like.
   • Load them into your DAW… they’ll map to your keyboard.
   • Play and record these parts in time with the rest of the instruments to complete the arrangement!

If you want to add vocals to this piece, write lyrics and come up with a melody. Consider different structures for your song. Repetition is key here. We as humans like to hear things a few times so we can really understand it.

MIDI Keyboards for Composers

If you’re looking to compose something that someone else will need to play, you’ll need to write it down on sheet music. The process is very similar to what DJs and producers do, but instead of a DAW, composers usually write their music in music notation software. They use a MIDI keyboard as their main instrument.

Use Case for Composing a Classical Piece in Sibelius

Instrumentation:

• Strings (Violin, Viola, Cello)
• Flute
• Clarinet
• French Horn
• Timpani

1. Set the Tempo and Time Signature:
   • Open your music notation software (Sibelius) and set the tempo and time signature for your piece.
2. Compose the String Section:
   • Start with the strings (Violin, Viola, Cello).
   • Choose a rich, warm string sound. Begin by notating the main harmonic structure with the Cello. Make sure there’s a solid bass line in there.
   • Add the Violin melody, keeping it simple and lyrical. Then, fill in the Viola with harmony.
   • All of these instruments will be on separate staves, so you’ll want to choose the orchestration template so you have all these instruments on one sheet of music.
3. Experiment and Refine:
   • Play back the string section to ensure it flows well. Make adjustments to the harmonies so it sounds good, then add dynamics, articulations, and phrasing to make it musical!
4. Add Woodwinds (Flute & Clarinet):
   • Add a Flute line… possibly doubling the Violin melody or adding a counter-melody.
   • Introduce the Clarinet with supportive harmony or another counter-melody. Keep it light to complement the strings.
   • Copy the dynamics you have for the strings. Make sure it all lines up nicely.
5. Incorporate the French Horn:
   • Notate the French Horn part. This adds warmth and depth to the harmony. The French Horn can also provide rhythmic support or reinforce the bass line with the Cello.
   • Consider articulation here - A percussive articulation could be fun for rhythm, or a smooth, flowing articulation could be nice for a more lyrical interpretation.
6. Compose the Percussion (Timpani):
   • Add the Timpani to provide rhythmic structure and emphasize key moments. Keep it subtle; the Timpani is there to support, not dominate. Unless you want it to dominate :).
7. Playback and Adjust:
   • Listen to the piece with all the instruments together. Fine-tune the dynamics, articulation… balance between the sections to ensure each instrument's role is clear.
8. Finalize the Score:
   • Review the entire score, ensuring all notation is correct. Play along with it on your MIDI keyboard so you can be sure it’s exactly the way you want it to sound. Double-check that all dynamics and expression markings are consistent throughout the piece.
9. Export and Share:
   • Export the score as a PDF and, if needed, as MIDI or audio files. Share the sheet music with performers or collaborators!

MIDI Keyboards for Piano Students

Whether you’re a beginner or expert, there are piano learning software options out there for everyone. You can use your MIDI keyboard to learn piano. Let’s map the same process above to setting up your keyboard and computer and using one of the best piano learning software out there, MuseFlow.

Use Case for Learning Piano with MuseFlow

Equipment:

• Computer (laptop or desktop)
• MIDI Keyboard
• USB/MIDI Cable (compatible for both your keyboard and computer)
• Chrome or Edge Browser

1. Set Up Your Equipment:
   • Turn your computer is on.
   • Connect your MIDI keyboard to the computer using your USB/MIDI cable.
   • Make sure the cable is compatible with your keyboard and computer.
2. Open MuseFlow in Chrome or Edge:
   • Go to http://museflow.ai.
   • Sign up for MuseFlow.
3. Make Sure Your MIDI Keyboard is Connected:
   • Go through the welcome flow and get to the roadmap.
   • Try to play a few notes and make sure they come out of your speakers.
   • If not, go to the settings and ensure that “device speakers” is toggled on.
4. Choose a Level Where Your Skill Matches the Challenge:
   • Find the level that fits your skill level.
   • Look at the preview images of the music in the levels and see what you can play.
5. Try a Few Levels:
   • Go through the tutorial, and play along with the music.
   • Start the level, and play through a few bars. If it’s too easy for you, try another level.
   • NOTE: The first tier of each level is easier than the later ones, so you may want to play the full level to see if it’s a good place to start for you.
6. Continue From There:
   • Once you’ve found the level that’s right for your skills, go ahead and pass that level, then move on to the next!
   • The tiers/levels should be fairly easy to start, then get harder as you go along.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a producer, DJ, composer, or music student, MIDI keyboards are the perfect instrument for you to play. See the above step-by-step guides to see how you can use your keyboard in each scenario. Keep rocking it, and we’ll see you on the next one!

Curious about whether MuseFlow is right for you? With a MIDI keyboard and a computer, you can try it out at beta.museflow.ai. We can’t wait to hear your feedback as we make music education available and engaging for everyone!

When it comes to the digital music education space, finding the right app will make all the difference in your learning journey. Yousician is a well-known choice, but it might not be the perfect fit for everyone... If you’re searching for the best Yousician alternative, congrats, you have found it! Look no further than MuseFlow. Keep reading to find out why MuseFlow stands out as the best Yousician competitor and also how it will enhance your unique piano learning experience.

Start using MuseFlow today - It's free!

1. Sight Reading as the Foundation of Musicianship

‍MuseFlow flips the traditional model by making sight reading the core skill... not an afterthought. This approach builds versatile, fluent musicians who can confidently approach any piece of music, not just the few they’ve memorized. Unlike apps that focus on rote repetition or mimicry, MuseFlow trains your brain to understand music in real time, note by note, phrase by phrase.

Why does that matter? Studies show that sight reading correlates strongly with overall musicianship, including better pitch accuracy, rhythmic stability, and musical expression. According to a study published by the International Journal of Music Education, students with strong sight reading skills tend to perform better in all aspects of music learning.

When sight reading is at the heart of the learning process, students engage with a much larger variety of material—boosting fluency, flexibility, and long-term motivation. As noted in this article published on educause.edu, exposure to diverse material and adaptive practice leads to stronger retention and more meaningful learning outcomes.

By mastering sight reading, you’re not just learning songs—you’re learning the language of music.

2. Real-Time Feedback and Error Correction

Wouldn't you love a real-time feedback mechanism? Like a professional expert looking at what you do and nicely giving you advice? Well it's now possible! As you play, the app listens to your performance and then provides instant corrections on notes, timing, and technique, much like a personal tutor! You could even say better than a personal tutor, because it stays friendly and is always available.

Why it matters? Real-time feedback is super critical to correct mistakes right as they happen. This prevents the formation of bad habits and makes sure that you develop the perfect playing techniques. It will save you time in the long run. This feature is especially LOVED by beginners, because they need constant guidance to progress effectively. This immediate feedback is something that sets MuseFlow apart from many Yousician competitors!

3. Engaging Gamified Learning

It's the best piano teaching app because it turns learning into an amazing game that you will love playing. This is done through its engaging gamification features. While Yousician offers some vague gamification elements, MuseFlow takes it a lot further. Just look at the pictures below and see. The app makes it a lot more rewarding to practice your skill and provides you with positive reinforcement.

Why it matters? A lot of apps abuse it, but in the correct use-case gamification keeps you motivated & makes learning more enjoyable! The sense of accomplishment from learning a new skill and completing levels boosts your confidence and encourages you to maintain a consistent practice routine. This gamified approach will help you stay committed to your learning journey.

4. App like Yousician? The Better Educational Framework

When people look for appl like yousician, MuseFlow always comes up! It offers an all-encompassing learning program that covers all aspects of piano education. From basic techniques to advanced music theory. The app’s extensive curriculum helps you become a more versatile & confident pianist.

Why it matters? A comprehensive educational framework provides a solid foundation for your musical journey! Whether you’re a rookie that just wants to start piano or a pro looking to refine your skills...this innovative new app's thorough curriculum really makes sure that you have access to all the resources you need to succeed!

5. Expertly Designed by Musicians and Educators

This is really important for the success of any edtech app. It was developed by professional musicians and educators who deeply understand the challenges of learning piano. They have been through every challenge of learning the instrument. Some of the founders even started as self-taught pianists themselves. This gives them a unique and accurate perspective on the needs and wants of learners like yourself.

Why it matters? You want to learn from people who have done it themselves. They know all your pain points. Learning from this similar app to yousician is designed by experts means you’re getting high-quality instruction. The founders have pride in teaching you to play the piano in the best way possible. It really makes it fun! Additionally with the free trial, it makes it a free alternative.

Conclusion: Why MuseFlow is the Best Yousician Alternative

When trying to find the best Yousician competitor, MuseFlow stands out as the #1. They are loved by their customers and known for their sight reading adaptive learning experience, real-time feedback, unique gamified approach, and expert design. These features make MuseFlow the best choice for ANYONE serious about learning piano.

Join thousands of happy learners who have discovered the benefits of MuseFlow -- see how the app will transform your piano learning journey. We promise you will have fun with this style of learning and also keep staying motivated! This alternative to yousician is the newest and most innovative way to learn and actually ENJOY the learning process.

Do you have a MIDI compatible keyboard at home or in a studio and you want to learn to play the piano with it? MuseFlow has your back, and answers this question with a big “come on in everyone! Every type of keyboard is welcome!” Let’s first discuss the differences and similarities between a MIDI keyboard and a piano. Then we’ll dive into what MuseFlow is and why it’s the best platform for you to learn how to play your MIDI keyboard.

Interested in MuseFlow? Try it for free for 7 days!

What Is a MIDI Keyboard?

We’ll keep this short. A MIDI keyboard is a keyboard that sends musical information through its digital interface to your computer or laptop (See MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Music can be broken down into rhythm, pitch, velocity, volume, sustain, and a bunch of other information categories. When you play a note, the information associated with that note and how you played it gets converted into ones and zeroes and is sent to your computer or laptop via your MIDI device. It’s the most reliable way to make sure the information of what you’re playing gets to your laptop or computer exactly the way you played it.

Usually a MIDI keyboard is hooked up to your computer via a USB cable or through Bluetooth. See MuseFlow’s FAQ “Where can I buy a ‘plug and play’ MIDI keyboard and cable, and which one is right for me?” for more information on MIDI keyboards and the cables we recommend.

A piano, on the other hand, is an acoustic instrument that doesn’t require electricity to play. It has hammers attached to the keys on a keyboard, which hit strings of certain lengths that ring out to create sounds at certain pitches. When you press down on a key, those strings for that pitch ring out. The vibration of those strings create the sound waves you hear!

The keyboard on a piano is laid out the same as a MIDI keyboard, and the pitches are the same. It’s just that a MIDI keyboard is a digital version of a piano, and relies on electricity to run. A piano is an analog version of the MIDI keyboard, which is solely a digital instrument.

Why MuseFlow is the Best for learning MIDI keyboards

MuseFlow is a piano education application that teaches you how to play the MIDI keyboard through sight reading (the act of reading music at first sight).

For the best connection possible, you’ll want a MIDI keyboard connected to your laptop or tablet. That is the most reliable form of connecting any MIDI keyboard to MuseFlow. It will know if you held the note long enough, played the note correctly, or missed it all together. It can even tell if you grazed a wrong note just slightly!

With the precision offered by MIDI keyboards and MuseFlow's ability to connect to them, it stands as the #1 piano learning app for this reason alone! Not to mention the fun you’ll have with its gamified approach to learning music. Each level is a new skill you need to learn (a new note, or new rhythm). And once you play four phrases of music in a row at or above 95% accuracy, you are moved onto the next level.

Conclusion

If your goal is to learn how to play the MIDI keyboard, MuseFlow is the best piano learning app out there to get you to where you want to be. With the level of accuracy and accountability a MIDI keyboard offers you in your learning journey, it is the #1 tool you can use to better yourself and improve your piano skills with MuseFlow.

Try MuseFlow today! Sign up for your 14-day free trial and learn how to play your MIDI keyboard with ease.

Some people might be skeptical if they could teach themselves how to play piano with AI. MuseFlow makes it easy for you by having artificial intelligence and machine learning serve the process of learning in two unique ways - music generation AI, and pattern recognition machine learning. It does the work for you to make learning a lot more fun, effective, and efficient. It does this by incorporating AI into the core of its pedagogy. The folks over at MuseFlow are making efforts to improve their algorithms every single day. Let’s take a deeper dive into this, and how artificial intelligence and machine learning are improving the way we learn piano.

Try MuseFlow today. It's free for 7 days!

Music Generation AI

There are few music apps out there that have generative AI imbedded within them. MuseFlow’s approach to learning involves giving you music you’ve never seen before, that never repeats, and is at your level of skill. You can choose from a myriad of levels on the level roadmap. Unit one starts with just one note, three rhythms, and two hands, and ends with two octaves (14 notes), four rhythms, and two hands. But how does MuseFlow give you music that never repeats? Surely that would be impossible with the amount of music that would need to be written!

The team over at MuseFlow is constantly improving its music generation artificial intelligence  algorithm so that it gives you the best quality sheet music as a constant stream until you pass the level. By using generative AI for sheet music, MuseFlow’s team sets the parameters for each level, then unleashes the artificial intelligence to start generating music for you to play!

MuseFlow’s team is constantly training the AI with what they call, “Phrase Tinder”. If a phrase of music passes the rigorous tests of it sounding good enough to play and is exercising the new skill of a certain level, they swipe right. If a phrase is not good enough to play or isn’t useful, they swipe left. This method of training allows the computer to understand what is good and what is bad so it can create new and original pieces that fit within the guidelines of the curriculum, and are fun to play!

Pattern Recognition AI & Machine Learning

As you play, MuseFlow can see what you’re playing in relation to the music that’s on the screen. If you’re consistently messing up a note or rhythm, or even a series of notes or series of rhythms, it will gently give you more phrases of music that have those patterns in them. It can even recognize the intersection of rhythms and notes! It does this all in the background so your flow isn’t interrupted. You as the student wont even know it’s going on.

This teaching method enables MuseFlow to monitor each micro-skill you learn, such as individual notes and rhythms, along with their various combinations. MuseFlow adjusts the music and increases exposure if it detects that your proficiency in any specific micro-skill is lower than the others. Once you effortlessly and unconsciously bring that micro-skill up to standard with the rest, MuseFlow reduces its exposure back down to parity with the other micro-skills it is tracking.

Conclusion

Unlike traditional music education environments and methods, the folks at MuseFlow, Inc. are committed to creating a safe, reliable space for you to learn and grow without the outside pressures of  anyone looking over your shoulder. As students, we need to feel like we can fail without any judgment. MuseFlow inspires you to learn, motivates you to learn, all with artificial intelligence and machine learning as assistants in the background, listening and adjusting the sheet music to suit your needs without any judgement. MuseFlow answers the question “can I teach myself how to play piano with AI” with an emphatic YES! With its pattern recognition algorithms and music generation, MuseFlow’s AI is set to revolutionize music education for the better, and become the forerunner in the industry as the best new way to learn piano.

Check out MuseFlow for yourself for FREE!

Let’s explore what it means to find the joy in learning a new instrument, and ask ourselves is there a fun way to learn piano? We’ll talk about what it looks like to have fun while you learn an instrument, and explore some options to enhance the process for any student.

If you’re interested in trying out our piano education app for yourself, please visit beta.museflow.ai and try MuseFlow for free! Otherwise, continue reading to find out what it’s all about.

What is Flow State?

Flow state is a radical idea coined by the Sociologist and Author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s that groove you get into where you're doing a task and you lose track of time. The task is usually just a bit of a challenge, but not too challenging that you feel overwhelmed by the task; just hard enough to keep you moving forward and easy enough to know you’re doing well. A lot of professional athletes and musicians find flow in their work, but we at MuseFlow believe we can also tap into it during the learning process. Even for beginners!

What is Gamification?

Gamification is the application of game-like elements to anything from teaching and learning, to motivating yourself to to the dishes. The old world way of adding game-like elements to an activity involves points and score cards, badges and stars. At MuseFlow, we’ve changed it up a bit by making the entire activity of learning how to play piano a game; not with superficial stars and badges, but by making each new rhythm and note you learn a level that you need to pass.

Once you’ve completed 4 phrases at 95% accuracy at the goal tempo of the level, you pass that level! And are moved onto the next.

This creates an entirely new and fun way to learn piano; not with superficial badges and stars, but by having gamification at the core of the entire method.

What is Immersive Design?

Not a lot of people think about this, but design is incredibly important in making the learning process a success. A stark, boring, bright environment, we’ve found, is not the optimal setting to learn music. Because of that, we’ve made our interface beautiful.

We care deeply about the experience our users go through while exploring and learning with MuseFlow. Thus, we’ve made it a tenant of ours to make everything in MuseFlow as beautiful as possible.

What Is Sight Reading?

Sight reading is the act of reading music at first sight. There are two thresholds in music education - one is what you can play without any practice, the other is what you can play with an indefinite amount of practice. We call the first one the “floor” of your ability, and the second one the “ceiling” of your ability.

Too many teachers and music education methods focus on the ceiling of a student's ability. We at MuseFlow, instead, think a more fun way to learn piano is by focusing on the floor of a student's ability during lessons. Increasing a student's sight reading skill gets them to perfecting the musicality of songs (the fun part of playing songs) faster, instead of spending hours and hours on the technique of simply being able to play the song. That gets boring quickly. It gets frustrating, and students drop out of music lessons because of it.

About 50% of music students drop out of music activities by the time they turn 17. We aim to make that number much smaller.

There hasn’t ever been a way to generate an infinite amount of music at your level of playing.. until now. We at MuseFlow have invented a way to give you music you’ve never seen before, that never repeats, and is at your level. The music continues to generate until you get 4 phrases of music at 95% accuracy. At that point, you’ve successfully mastered that new skill!

Sight reading is the key here. We’re teaching through sight reading, instead of teaching through songs. After you’ve mastered that new skill through sight reading, you then can apply that skill to songs that get unlocked in your repertoire section inside of MuseFlow.

Conclusion: Why MuseFlow?

These are the reasons why MuseFlow is quickly becoming the most fun way to learn piano. Its inventive way of blending sight reading, flow state, gamification, and immersive design allows students to find the joy of learning an instrument better than ever before. With our new approach to music education, we can revolutionize the music education industry for the better.

Try it out for free at beta.museflow.ai. We can’t wait to hear your feedback as we make music education available and engaging to all students!

Greetings to all the passionate music teachers!

As music aficionados, we understand the profound joy of playing an instrument — a pursuit that’s both challenging and immensely rewarding. However, conveying this love to young students can be a different tune altogether.

Today, let’s delve into the art of sight reading and how embracing flow state through sight reading can bring the joy back to the musical journey for beginners.

Sight Reading: The Gateway To Musicianship

Mastering sight reading isn’t just about learning new music faster; it makes learning new music more fun. Fluent sight reading shortens the journey to playing notes correctly, leaving more brain space and time to focus on musicianship and expression.

Yet, traditional teaching methods often don’t teach sight reading. They focus on learning new songs instead.. As the songs get harder, students’ skills don’t increase at a relative rate. Because they’re only exercising that new skill in that one specific context of that one specific song. It doesn’t become ingrained in them to the point where they can effortlessly apply the new skill when encountering it in a different piece of music.

As the gap widens, students lose motivation as pieces get harder to practice. They then spend hours repeating the same song over and over to perfection, and get bored with the slow progress, never really feeling what it’s like to be perfectly challenged by something to where it’s fun to practice it! With this way of teaching, it’s either too hard or too easy. Never right in the middle.

Flow State: The Key To Sight Reading

Enter the realm of flow state, coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s that magical state of total focus and concentration, familiar to musicians during jam sessions and concerts. It’s that Goldilocks zone of “not too hard, not too easy.”

What if we applied the concept of flow to beginning music education by making sight reading the engine of learning and mastering a new skill? And what if we’re were able to start a student right where the challenge meets their skill level so that they’re concentrating and engaged for hours, but still enjoying the practice?

Introducing MuseFlow: Learn Music Through Flow

MuseFlow emerges as a solution that combines sight reading and flow state. It systematically teaches fundamental concepts through sight reading by ensuring that each lesson consists of new, manageable music at a specific skill level. No repetition. Instead, it’s a continuous stream of never before seen music that challenges and exercises the new skill, pushing them just beyond their comfort zone.

As their teacher, place your students in the lesson that challenges them just enough (accuracy is displayed on screen. You want to keep them right around 85% for optimum flow). Once they hit 95% accuracy and sustain that for four phrases, they’ve successfully mastered that new skill!

MuseFlow will send you weekly progress reports so you can see if they’re practicing throughout the week and how long they spend on each lesson. Once a student passes a lesson, they can immediately apply the new skills they’ve learned to fresh pieces you assign.

Reframing The Learning Process

MuseFlow reframes the learning process so students can learn a new skill outside of a prescribed song they’d otherwise have to repeat over and over ad nauseam. They learn the new skill in a flow state, creating a positive connection between the new skill and the process of learning. Then when they apply that new skill to music that’s right at their difficulty level, they’ll be able to learn that song much faster, more thoroughly, and more enjoyably. This will allow you, their teacher, to focus on refining the fun parts like musicianship and expression in the songs you assign at their in-person lesson.

Consider this quote Kyle, one of MuseFlow’s current users:

“MuseFlow is like having a gym partner who guides you through a workout they’ve already planned out. I don’t have to spend time or energy coming up with exercises to train and wondering if it’s optimal, I can just follow along and focus solely on execution. There’s such an overload of information when it comes to learning piano that it’s so taxing (especially if you struggle with perfectionism) to come up with a routine alone. MF takes away a little bit of that decision making and it’s honestly so refreshing.”

In conclusion, combining flow state and sight reading opens a window to a richer and more enjoyable learning experience by inspiring and captivating on a fundamental level. With Museflow, we can shift from a song-first approach to the transformative combination of sight reading and a flow state-first methodology.

MuseFlow is empowering music teachers to revolutionize music education from the ground up. We, as teachers, know the benefits of music education. Now let’s bring it to every student we can.

Curious about whether MuseFlow is right for your students? Visit www.museflow.ai/teachers to schedule a demo. With a MIDI keyboard and a computer, you can try out our current version at beta.museflow.ai. We can’t wait to hear your feedback as we make music education available and engaging to all students!

Is your music practice building true fluency, or is it just training muscle memory?

When we think about how to get better at a musical instrument — or any skill-based activity — the natural strategy that comes to mind is repetition. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until you’ve finally mastered it.

This is the tried-and-true method, and is absolutely correct. As a matter of fact, that’s the whole definition of practice — “performing an activity repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.”

But we need to be careful with how we approach our practice sessions. If you spend all of your time practicing specific pieces, you will eventually master those songs but you won’t necessarily have gotten better at playing music in general. Effectively, all you’ve done is train yourself to regurgitate an exact sequence of notes, without any variation. An impressive feat, to be sure, but it hasn’t increased your musical fluency at all.

Learning a musical instrument of course requires maintenance and repetition, but we have to be careful that we don’t practice old things so much that we forget to work on new things. If you only ever practice the same things, you never really grow or improve. It would be like attempting to become fluent in English by memorizing a Shakespeare monologue, and nothing else.

Practice vs. Learning

Brad Harrison, a composer and educator who runs an excellent music education YouTube channel, insightfully describes the difference between practice and learning. Practice is trying to get better at things you already basically know how to do. By contrast, learning is the acquisition of new knowledge or skills, and the process of becoming familiar with new material. For example, playing through a piece of music for the first time would fall under “learning,” but each repetition after that would fall under “practice.” Both steps are important, but they are focused on very different goals. Regardless of where you are in your music learning journey, it’s essential that you maintain a healthy balance between practice time and learning time.

By making a habit of learning new things, you’ll develop the meta-skill of learning how to learn. This will make you a better musician and will even help you play old repertoire better. You’ll realize that every new challenge is just a puzzle to be unlocked and understood, and you’ll have the confidence to tackle that puzzle.

If you only play the same songs over and over again, you won’t grow or improve. You’ll either get bored and quit, or you’ll get stuck when confronted with a new challenge because you only know how to do what you already know how to do. Even when you do finally master a new song, the satisfaction of learning it will eventually fade away and you’ll feel stuck again. True musical fluency is the ability to quickly learn and master whatever you want, without needing to practice it for weeks or months on end.

The Floor and Ceiling of Competency

This brings me to an idea that I’ve been formulating over the past several years of working with music students. I think that the way we normally think about the concept of one’s skill level in a certain field needs to be expanded.

Imagine that a person’s skill level can be visualized as a vertical range, with a floor and a ceiling. The ceiling represents the level of music that a person could play well, given an indefinite (but not infinite) amount of time to practice. This could be represented by the hardest piece you’ve ever performed at a recital or competition, for example.

Alternatively, the floor represents the level of music a person could play well (not necessarily perfect, but certainly passable) on the first time they ever see it. This activity is what we call sight reading — reading on sight without any prior preparation. This could be represented by the average piece that you could find sheet music for and play today, without much practice.

Any piece of music that’s below the floor of your skill level is well within your ability to play without any practice. Any piece of music that falls somewhere between your floor and your ceiling can be reasonably mastered through dedicated practice — the closer it is to your ceiling, the longer it will take. The amount of time it would take to learn a piece in this range roughly equates to the amount of time it would take to work your way from the floor up to the difficulty level of the piece in question.

Most people spend the majority of their practice time endeavoring to raise their ceiling, tackling ever harder and harder songs that take them weeks, months, or even years to learn properly. This seems like a fine endeavor, at first glance. Ideally, by raising the ceiling of one’s ability, the floor would also rise by the same amount.

Unfortunately, this isn’t what actually happens. A person’s “floor level” is much more difficult to raise than their “ceiling level”, and it doesn’t happen automatically just by practicing more ceiling-level material. As a result, most music students don’t spend nearly enough time working on raising their floor.

The result is that a person’s ceiling moves up at a much faster rate than their floor, creating a wider and wider gap between them. This means that as they start working on more challenging material, each new song they attempt to learn will take longer and longer to master. This happens to everyone — it’s perfectly natural!

Pretty soon, practice sessions have transformed from a fun learning opportunity into a constant source of frustration and stress that takes up all of their time. Students very quickly find themselves too far outside their comfort zone, without the necessary skills to learn increasingly advanced material in a natural, stress-free way.

This is because a musician’s floor level is actually a far more accurate barometer of overall musical competency than mastery of a song that has been meticulously practiced over and over again for months. In other words, a person’s floor level represents their degree of true musical fluency.

Music lessons often focus on the ceiling of someone’s playing ability, but all professional standards for working musicians place much greater emphasis on a minimum floor threshold of musicianship. It doesn’t matter how good you are after weeks or months of practice — it matters how good you are right now, at a moment’s notice.

So it’s important that you take some time to work on pushing your floor up, even though it might seem like the musical material you’re practicing is dropping way down in complexity as a result. It doesn’t mean you’ve gotten worse, it just means that you’re focusing on a part of your musicianship that you don’t normally focus on!

Achieving Musical Fluency

So how does one actually raise the floor of their skill level then? Here are some specific areas of focus that are most helpful in improving overall musical fluency.

1. Sight ReadingSight reading is the cornerstone of elevating your floor. It’s the ability to play a piece of music on the first try, without prior practice. Dedicate time regularly to sight read different pieces, varying in styles and difficulty. This sharpens your adaptability, reinforcing the fundamental skill of playing music fluently from the very first encounter.
2. Technique Exercises
   Technique exercises might not be as glamorous as performing a complex piece, but they are the building blocks of musical proficiency. Focus on scales, arpeggios, and finger exercises. These not only enhance your technical skills but also contribute significantly to your floor level. A strong technical foundation ensures that you can handle a broader range of musical challenges.
3. Music Theory
   Music theory is often neglected, but it serves as a compass in your musical journey. Understand the relationships between notes, chords, and progressions. It provides a roadmap, allowing you to navigate unfamiliar musical territories effortlessly. The more intimately you understand the language of music, the more confident and fluent you become.
4. Ear Training
   Cultivate your ability to listen critically and reproduce what you hear. Ear training is fundamental to musical fluency as it enhances your capacity to recognize tones, intervals, and harmonies. Start with simple exercises like identifying intervals and progress to more complex tasks. This skill not only raises your floor level but also opens doors to improvisation and playing by ear.
5. Diversity of Repertoire
   Instead of getting stuck in the loop of practicing the same songs repeatedly, diversify your repertoire. Explore different genres, time periods, and difficulty levels. The more varied your musical vocabulary, the more adaptable you become. This approach aligns with the idea that every new challenge is a puzzle to unlock and understand.

These five areas are what I call the fundamental “food groups” of musicianship. I’ll be going into more depth about each of these in future posts.

Building a well-rounded practice routine is important, and methods with which to do so are well-documented. That being said, it is much harder to be intentional about raising one’s floor level than you might expect.

MuseFlow: Raising the Floor

At MuseFlow, we’re building solutions to this very problem. The app guides users through a continuous sequence of sight reading exercises, increasing complexity by one skill at a time. By constantly playing new material that they’ve never seen before, MuseFlow users have a unique opportunity to hone their ability to read and play music fluently.

In this way, our curriculum ensures a balanced approach between practice and learning. It guides you through a variety of musical challenges, preventing you from getting stuck repeating the same pieces over and over again. This diversity cultivates a well-rounded skill set, and raises the overall floor of your musical ability.

While our main focus is currently on sight reading training, we have lots of exciting new features coming later this year, including technique, music theory, and ear training exercises, as well as a repertoire library and practice assistant. Stay tuned for more updates about all that and more, coming soon!

If you’re looking for a practice tool to help you improve your musical skills, and haven’t been able to find a system that truly delivers the results you’re looking for, consider trying out MuseFlow. Just head on over to https://museflow.ai to sign up for our web app and start your 2-week free trial today.

It’s time to break free from the frustrations of repetitive practice and finally achieve the level of musical fluency you’ve been striving for. Happy playing!
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