Software to teach me keys & music theory?

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Death
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Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by Death »

I'd like some software that can teach me to play keys better, something that would act as a virtual teacher. And very importantly, I'd also like it to tie that in with music theory lessons in a practical way. My hope is to come out of it as a much better musician with new playing techniques, musical ideas and a much better understanding of how music works. If it can do the same thing with guitar, that'd be cool as a bonus but not necessary.

I've been playing for years, by the way, so I'm not new to the idea of playing an instrument. It's just that I've always played by ear and I don't even know what notes I'm playing half the time - I'm just guessing which keys to play. It was ok in the beginning but it's held me back for a long time now and I haven't progressed so I need something like this to take things further.

The software doesn't have to be free and open source, it doesn't even have to be Linux software if I can run it in Wine. Those things would be nice of course but I know it'd limit my options.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
Last edited by Death on Mon Jan 25, 2021 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kott
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

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sunrat
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by sunrat »

Kott wrote: Mon Jan 25, 2021 2:13 am https://www.pianobooster.org/ ?
+1. I'm also trying to teach myself keys and PianoBooster is really helpful.
Death
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by Death »

That looks useful, but does it actually teach you music theory and scales etc? I watched the videos and it seems to me like it just gives you sheet music to play along to. That's not quite what I was thinking if so. I was thinking interactive piano lessons tied in with music theory so I'm learning both together rather than simply learning to play a piece of music in a midi file.

Thanks for the suggestion though.
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by Basslint »

Music theory is best learned from a book, IMHO :D My personal suggestion is Introducing Music by Ottó Károlyi. Not piano-specific but it covers pretty much everything you need to understand music, so you can easily explore the topics in depth by yourself, even on the Internet :D
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khz
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by khz »

Maybe Solfege could be helpful: https://www.gnu.org/software/solfege/
There could also be something there ... : https://musedlab.org/
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by Fmajor7add9 »

It's not complicated, it's just a descriptive map or method to describe the exact same notes and harmonies everyone is hearing and playing. There can be some confusion about terminology whenever theory is discussed (especially by text only) and some fancy terms thrown around that may sound complex.

Get a teacher, someone like @merlyn who can consistenly connect all the dots. I think that's faster than any book or more or less long-winded e-learning method. Because you're 1:1 and can ask immediately when something is unclear.

The basic stuff you need to navigate most challenges can be learned in an hour if you find your right teacher. Then ask for exercises directly related to your musical agenda and come back again for a check up later. Don't theorize anything that isn't related to what you're playing or want to learn to play.

I use a listen.learn youtube playlist and add whatever I'd like to learn. If I can't figure it out on my own and end up using others notation it's still a small training nugget to build on. The solfege suggestion from khz makes sense for those kind of exercises. Sing along if you use them and match target notes and intervals with your preferred instrument.

Depending on the material you want to play notate it by hand or musescore, anything that suits your style and needs. If notating precise rhythms, not just chord sheets with a tempo and groove suggestion, it gets a bit more challenging, not sure how music theory related that part is though. Musescore could alse be handy to punch in what you play by MIDI.

For keys there are tons of MIDI files floating around, doesn't take much time to find the good ones. Someone showed me his Michel Petrucciani MIDI files once, I don't think he played along or practised them, only picked out the juicy parts and tried to figure out what was going on there.
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by vikingpeggy »

Melodics is amazing IMO, it's like Guitar Hero but for MIDI keyboard, pads, and electronic drums. I use the pads and keys and have been going everyday for over a year! My streak is like 385+ days now. Started with 0 knowledge and now I can play pretty good!

The best feature for keys is the scales excersises and that is my favorite thing to do. I havnt completed an actual lesson in months and just stick to the scales. I learn them, memorize them, and then just kind of jam out and use the theory knowledge I've gained through the lessons to figure out how they apply to the scales. If you just use it to pass the lessons and that's it I dont think you will benefit as much. It's a great tool to use in addition to personal practice in your DAW / scale excersises mentioned above.
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Re: Software to teach me keys & music theory?

Post by sunrat »

@vikingpeggy do you have Melodics working on Linux or is it Windows/Mac only?
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