This one goes out to all of the music teachers out there!
You love your instrument. It takes a music lover to teach music, after all. You know that your students could love their instrument, too, if they gave it a chance – but it takes a lot of frustration and work to get there.
The truth is, playing an instrument is one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things a person can learn to do, precisely because it is hard. Your mind, muscles, and senses are all completely occupied, and when the practice begins to pay off, you can tell! The hours spent spinning melodies, rhythms, and chord progressions out of raw skill are golden. You know that. Your fellow musicians know that.
Making a young student understand is a different story.
Today, we’re going to talk about how sight-reading helps even beginner students feel fulfilled by music, and how engaging in flow state can make sight-reading fun and rewarding.
Strong sight reading skills make it easier to really sink into a piece of music. Sight reading is more than just a way of learning new music – it makes it easier to truly understand the music we are working with. Reading and understanding means more fluent playing, a better grasp of music theory, and better composition. Knowing how to write and read music makes it much easier to live in a whole world of musical experience.
A study by Katie Zhuko, “Exploring advanced piano students’ approaches to sight-reading,” explored the level of skill that different pianists have. All musicians in the study said that sight-reading skills were very important. Even pianists who were able to attain a high level of mastery without sight-reading agreed.
Early students often struggle to stay motivated, and will quickly drop their instruments because they lack rewarding music to play and practice. Sight reading lets beginners practice plenty of fun music in the same way early readers get to choose from countless fun books. Sight reading is difficult, though, and many musicians never become fluent. Traditional teaching methods only make it harder to practice sight reading: you are taught a skill, assigned a song to practice, and then repeat that song dozens of times, until you are playing only from memory and never want to see sheet music again. In other words, sight reading is a vital skill that motivates beginners, but we handicap it from the very beginning.
Flow State: Falling in Love with Music
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was the groundbreaking psychologist behind 'Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.’ Flow state is a state of total focus and concentration. It is often associated with working on a challenging but doable task. When your skills are being pushed to their limit but no further, the result is a ‘goldilocks zone’ where challenge is met with immediate reward. You become immersed: the whole world narrows into one task, which completely sucks you in.
Flow state is very familiar to musicians. Social events such as jam sessions and concerts make us feel “in the moment,” the music running through us, totally one with our fellow musicians and the song in the air. Even when we play alone, a difficult and rewarding piece feels totally immersive. Intermediate and advanced musicians will experience flow state in ensembles, performances, and even while sight-reading new music.
While experienced musicians are familiar with flow state, we don’t expect it in beginner musicians. A study by Arvid J. Bloom and Paula Skutnick-Henley found that a flow state comes from self-confidence and emotional expression. When do you think a new musician feels self-confident? With traditional teaching methods, every time a student learns a new skill, the teacher will give them a song which starts out feeling frustrating and difficult. Their job is then to go home, sit down at the piano or pick up the guitar, and play it until it is easy. This means hours of tediously plinking out the same noises without the opportunity to really sink in and enjoy the moment. As a teacher, you know that the reward for practicing will far outstrip the frustration – but getting there takes endurance, and not everyone manages it.
One of the best gifts you can give your students is the experience of flow state. It makes learning more fun and effective. It reduces the risk of drop-out. Even better, flow state opens a window to what being a musician is really like. It lets a nervous novice experience musicianship the way you experience it.
Museflow: Bring Flow State to Sight Reading
MuseFlow is designed to help beginner musicians feel more confident. It teaches fundamental concepts like chords, meter, and harmony one at a time in bite-sized chunks. All of the lessons are personalized and machine-generated, so the student gets to learn with new and doable music in every single lesson. Then, they can apply those skills to a new piece of music and immediately feel like they “get it.” They get to focus on learning skills, not just memorize songs – and that means that playing songs gets to be fun again.
Curious about whether MuseFlow is right for your students? Visitwww.museflow.ai to find out more. With a MIDI keyboard and a computer, you can try out the beta version atwww.beta.museflow.ai. We can’t wait to hear your feedback as we make musicianship available to all students!
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.
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
Set the Tempo:
Set the tempo (speed of the song) in your DAW (Logic Pro X) for how fast you want it to be.
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.
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.
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.
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
Set the Tempo and Time Signature:
Open your music notation software (Sibelius) and set the tempo and time signature for your piece.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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 :).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Learning to play the piano from scratch can be an exciting and fulfilling journey, but it will also feel overwhelming if you don't know where to start... Thankfully, MuseFlow is here to make the process smooth, enjoyable, and effective! Whether you're a complete beginner, intermediate, or advanced plater, the new piano learning app provides all the tools and support you need to start and continue your musical journey. Find out below how to get started learning piano from scratch with MuseFlow.
Setting up MuseFlow is straightforward. The app will guide you through the initial setup process, including connecting your MIDI keyboard. There is a 7-day free trial so you can take your time and test the software before making any payments. The team will also always be there to help you if you have any questions setting up the new app.
Step 2: Start at any level - Take an Initial Assessment
MuseFlow begins with a self-guided initial assessment to analyze your current skill level. This assessment is important for creating a personalized learning path tailored to your specific needs. You get to choose where in the curriculum you'd like to start. You can go through all the levels, seeing which one is best suited for you to start at. Note that each tier gets progressively harder in each level, so that by the of the level, you're playing the new skill within the context of the known knowledge you've gained from the rest of the curriculum so far. Don’t worry if you’re a complete beginner— MuseFlow is designed to be easy and straightforward. You can start from level 1 which is 1 note, two hands, and three rhythms.
During the assessment, you’ll be asked to play a few notes and rhythms. MuseFlow’s AI will analyze your performance to understand your starting point. This information helps the app customize each level to match your abilities, making sure that you start at the right level and progress at your own pace. This helps you learn faster or learn slow; you can learn at your preferred speed! How cool is that?!
Step 3: Personalized Learning Path
Once the assessment is complete, MuseFlow will create a personalized learning path just for you. This path includes a series of lessons and exercises designed to build your skills gradually... Each lesson focuses on a specific aspect of piano playing, such as note recognition, rhythm, hand coordination, and music theory. If you're better at one than the other, the app will automatically adjust your lessons.
These lessons are interactive and engaging. This makes learning fun & effective. The California headquartered company built the app so that it uses a combination of interactive video tutorials, practice exercises, sight reading lessons, and repertoire (songs), to reinforce your understanding and help you master each concept. The best part? You’ll receive instant feedback on your performance, allowing you to correct mistakes and improve quickly...that's why so many users call it the best piano lessons app.
Step 4: Embrace the Flow State
You can already hear it in the the name MuseFlow. It's called that because the app is designed to help you achieve a flow state—a mental state of complete immersion and focus. We've all been there before, in that state. The app continuously adapts to your skill level, providing just the right amount of challenge to keep you engaged without feeling overwhelmed.
When you’re in flow state, you’ll find that time flies by, and you’re fully absorbed in your practice. You've probably been there before while doing something your really enjoyed, and time just flew past. This state of deep concentration not only makes learning more enjoyable but also enhances your ability to retain information and develop skills quickly.
Step 5: Utilize the Real-Time Feedback
Customers love this unique feature, the real-time feedback system. As you play, the app listens to your performance and provides instant corrections on notes, timing, & technique. This immediate feedback is like having a personal tutor available 24/7; a personal tutor that is friendly and has patience for you.
Pay close attention to the feedback and use it to adjust your playing. This is the fastest way to learn. Correcting mistakes as they happen helps you develop proper techniques and prevents bad habits from forming. This real-time feedback really makes sure that your practice sessions are effective & productive.
Step 6: Practice Regularly
Consistency is key to learning any new skill, and playing the piano is no exception. Think about anything that you're really good at... growth comes from doing it regularly. That's often the hardest part to learning. MuseFlow makes it easy to incorporate regular practice into your personal routine... The app’s flexible design allows you to practice anytime, anywhere, whether you have a few minutes during a break or a dedicated session in the evening.
Set aside a specific time each day for practice, and stick to it. As you keep doing it, the routine will build up. Even short, daily practice sessions can lead to significant progress over time... MuseFlow’s gamified elements, such as progress bars and levels, help keep you motivated and make practice sessions enjoyable.
Conclusion
Starting to learn piano from scratch will be an incredibly rewarding experience, especially with the right tools and support. Learning a new skill and get great at it is one of the best feelings you can have. MuseFlow makes the journey accessible & enjoyable by providing personalized learning paths, real-time feedback, and a supportive community. By following these steps you’ll be well on your way to becoming a confident and skilled pianist.