You want to learn piano and you’re not sure where to start? I was in your position a few months ago and didn’t know where to look. It wasn’t until I searched for the best piano learning apps that I found help. The majority of tools, would would charge hundreds of dollars, were free (kinda… “free”). So what is the best piano learning app out there?
Here are the best apps to learn the piano.
Skoove – great for helping beginners get started and learn a complete set of piano skills
Skoove is the up and coming challenger of online piano learning apps.
Skoove’s lessons are suited for players of all skill levels. You can learn using your phone, tablet (iOS only), or your computer using the microphone or a MIDI cable. An Android version is set to launch by early 2021. But if you’ve got a laptop you can still have the same experience. As a bonus, if you don’t have a piano to play you can learn using keyboard keys on your computer until you get a piano or keyboard.
Skoove does a nice job of introducing beginners to the piano, starting with middle C. Skoove is really geared towards beginners as the app doesn’t just show you the notes and an animated keyboard, it shows you an actual piano player playing along from above. Using video lessons is a great teaching style for visual learners to see when to play the notes as they develop their own internal sense of timing.
Beginners will also appreciate the way Skoove provides feedback. You’re not just learning in a vacuum, as you would with YouTube or other online piano apps. Skoove listens and reacts in a very personalized way to how you’re playing. This feedback can be crucial to developing a true understanding of how to play the piano.
What’s nice is that Skoove pairs each piano lesson with a familiar song that isn’t classical music. The early beginner lessons, for example, matches learning the finger numbers on the right hand with popular songs like Lean on Me, by Bill Withers. To learn note lengths, you jam to Queen’s We Will Rock You. That modern touch (which includes everyone from Bill Withers to The Beatles) is nice in a world where every other app wants to start you with Ode to Joy.
Skoove offers you the opportunity to play along with a band at the end of a set of lessons. However, they don’t just throw you into it. First, they demonstrate the song. Then you practice it. Then you play with the band. This simple progression eliminates that surprise of having to suddenly adapt to playing a song at full speed. Something budding online pianists will appreciate.
- Free lessons available? Yes.
- Free trial? Yes, one week with CC.
- Song selection: It’s a great balance of modern and classic songs.
- Lowest plan: $89.99/year or $7.49/month.
- Highest plan: $19.99/month.
- Power feature: Songs you recognize and love.
Simply piano – very popular and gives a solid foundation
Simply piano is available for both iOS and Android devices as an app that contains everything you need to learn piano. It works by using the microphone to listen to the notes that you are playing or by connecting to the device via a MIDI cable. For most users, or anyone serious about using the app, the MIDI cable is the best option, as the microphone can be less reliable at accurate note detection.
Simply Piano allows you to select the level that you’re at as a piano player (“beginner”, “took some lessons as a kid”, or “know how to play, but want to get better”) and you can access content specifically designed to help you at that level.
At the beginner level, things are nice and simple. You get an overview of the first notes you’ll need to learn (middle C, D, E) and it progresses nicely up through to F and G. It feels very much like a game.
Once you have completed the lessons, you get to the Singer Duet feature. This is an excellent feature that helps you get used to playing with other musicians using backing tracks.
- Free lessons available? Yes.
- Free trial? Yes, one week with CC.
- Song selection: A mix of modern and classic.
- Lowest plan: $119.99/year or $9.99/month.
- Highest plan: $59.99/3 months or $19.99/month.
- Power feature: Singer Duet is a nice feature to help players work on timing but it takes a bit of getting used to.
Yousician – where the emphasis is on fun!
Yousician is one of the more well-known music learning apps. They have run a strong campaign targeting anyone who searches for music tutorials on YouTube. If you’ve been googling for online piano lessons, chances are you’ve seen them.
Yousician is available for Android or iOS tablet or phone. They also give you the option of logging in through a computer using either the mic or a MIDI cable. Similar to the other apps, you can select what level you’re at as a piano player. One nice feature that they offer is Workouts. These let you focus on certain skills that you feel are either important or need work.
In some ways Yousician feels a bit like playing Guitar Hero in the way it runs you through the lessons and teaches you how to “hit notes” in an engaging way, making it fun for beginners.
- Free lessons available? Yes.
- Free trial? Yes, one week with CC.
- Song selection: A wide range, from classical to modern, and everything in between.
- Lowest plan: $199.99/year or $16.99/month.
- Highest plan: $39.99/month.
- Power feature: Workouts.
Piano academy – great encouragement for kids
Piano Academy has been around since 2018 and provides a solid app that helps introduce people to online piano lessons. It covers all the bases you’d hope to see when learning the piano, starting with Middle C and working from there. You can work with both a real piano or use an on-screen keyboard while you’re learning, which is perfect for someone who wants to see if the piano is right for them.
Unlike some apps, it starts off using songs that are familiar but not contemporary. Starting with popular songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and If You’re Happy and You Know it. These are standard songs for beginning players.
Piano Academy is an app geared towards kids that covers the fundamentals well and gives a solid foundation of piano basics.
- Free lessons available? Yes.
- Free trial? Yes, one week with purchase of a monthly plan.
- Song Selection: A mix of popular music and classical music. None available on the free plan.
- Lowest plan: $27.99/month.
- Highest plan: $10.99/week.
- Power feature: It’s very engaging for kids.
Onlinepianist – a focus on great song selection
OnlinePianist is less of an online piano lesson app and more of a way to learn songs online. OnlinePianist offers a platform for song tutorials you can use once you know how to play the piano basics. It can be used on iOS and Android devices, as well as a computer with a mic.
The program provides a dashboard that allows you to control settings like tempo. It gives you the ability to break the song down by individual hands, so you can first learn what the left hand is doing, then the right, and combine them in the end.
OnlinePianist has an excellent selection of songs to choose from, ranging from popular artists like Taylor Swift to anime theme songs. It is nice that you get the same selection of your favorite songs on the free tier as you do on the paid plans. However, the paid plan gives you access to songs across all your devices and you never lose access to the songs.
The key takeaway? Great for learning new songs if you already have the fundamentals.
- Free lessons available? Yes, with ads.
- Free trial? Yes, one week with CC.
- Song selection: Everything from popular hits to cartoon theme songs.
- Lowest plan: $59.88/year or $4.99/month.
- Highest plan: $39.96/3 months or $9.99/month.
- Power feature: A great selection of songs to learn — once you know how to play.
World of Notes
World of Notes is a brand new app focused on younger learners and helping them to learn note names, sight-reading, and key signatures. It was developed in conjunction with Merriam School of Music, the leading early childhood education music specialists best known for their Family Music Program, together with several leading game designers and pedagogists.
In a fun and easy-to-navigate game environment with colorful characters, trophies, and leaderboards. Kids (and adults) can practice playing notes on a staff, as well as click-and-drag games for note names as well.
The app has been studied by the University of Ottawa for its effectiveness and found to be of equal effectiveness in the most intensive classroom learning environments.
Download:
Perfect Piano
Perfect Piano is the highest-rated piano simulator app available today.
Designed for Android systems, this 88-key intelligent piano simulator not only serves as a teaching tool by guiding you through thousands of pieces of sheet music but it also lets you connect with other fledgling pianists around the world.
There are weekly challenges that let you compete against other users or if you are the less competitive type, you can create a guild with your friends to provide support for one another and share songs you’ve been working on.
The app supports a USB MIDI keyboard, so once you’re ready to graduate to a real live instrument, Perfect Piano can provide a smooth transition.
The app even comes with a widget you can keep on your home screen, which lets you play around on the keys without even opening the app itself.
Download:
Simply Piano by JoyTunes
Simply Piano was rated as one of the best iPhone apps of 2016, and the developers are continually upgrading and reworking it. The app also works for Android users, and it’s an excellent tool for piano players of any level.
Simply Piano works in tandem with your real-life piano or keyboard and has the ability to register what you are playing and give you real-time feedback. All you do is place your device on your piano and start playing. It’s that simple.
In addition to the library of your favorite songs to choose from, there are also courses that you can take depending on your skill level. You can take two courses for free and then upgrade to a subscription for access to unlimited courses.
This app can truly make a difference in your piano playing abilities, and it even won a World Summit Award from the United Nations.
Download:
Piano Free–Keyboard with Magic Tiles Music Games
The title is a little wordy but this app offers some really cool features that will hone your piano playing skills in no time, and it’s available for both Android and Apple devices.
This app offers similar features to other piano simulator teaching best apps, where you can practice reading sheet music and chords, but it also lets you record what you play.
What’s really awesome about the recording feature is that the app allows you to choose from a number of different instruments for playback. So you can hear how your piece sounds on the accordion, the harp, the cello, or several other instruments.
Recording yourself is a surefire way to improve your skills, and this app lets you do that in a really fun and creative way.
Download:
Yousician
Yousician is designed to help you learn the piano, guitar, bass, or ukulele by guiding you through the process in the way that a live music teacher would.
Isn’t technology amazing?
You play your real instrument while following along with different piano lessons provided by the app, and receive feedback on how well you’re doing.
There are a wide array of features to get you hooked, like weekly challenges and training in music theory.
Yousician was designed by music teachers, and you can be confident in its teaching abilities because it is actually used by music teachers all over the world as a complement to their in-person lessons.
Download:
Real Piano Teacher 2
Real Piano Teacher was rated as one of the best Android piano apps, and their second version has an even wider range of features, like addictive games, additional instruments, and hundreds of great lessons.
You can choose between a number of different playing modes, depending on how much help you want, or if you want to just freestyle your own music.
In-game mode, you can compete against family and friends to see who can play songs the best. And there are a ton of fun songs in a variety of genres to choose from.
If you’re someone who really enjoys playing pop music, this has some great app options for you.
Download:
Vivace: Learn to Read Music
To truly excel at playing the piano, being able to read music is essential.
Vivace offers engaging tutorials that help you understand music theory so that you’ll have a baseline for being able to read music.
The app is very customizable, so it can meet you at whatever skill level you’re at. The illustrated lessons guide you through each step of the learning process, covering all 15 key signatures.
Vivace is only available for Android users, so if you have an Apple device, check out the app “Notes–Sight Reader Trainer” for a comparable teaching tool.
Download:
Conclusion
Piano learning apps are a great fun way to learn how to play the piano then you can take that skills to a real life piano teacher later. You can then get involved in a normal piano lessons after a little practice with a good method. There are lots of things to learn from playing the piano and it is great fun too, so finding the right application for you will be a good time investment.