How This App Revolutionized Piano Learning

It began with a simple idea and became a music learning revolution. Here's the inside story of how flowkey got its start.Last updated on 12 Jul. 2022

It all started when Jonas Gossling, founder of flowkey, wanted to get back into playing piano as an undergraduate in Berlin. He had learned piano as a child and loved it. Now he wanted to rekindle his old passion and learn to play the piano like he used to. As Jonas was studying, he didn't have the time or money to go to a teacher. So, he turned to YouTube instead. There were thousands of piano tutorials to choose from – all for free! He was sure he'd brush up his skills and be playing all his favorite songs in no time.

The problem with video tutorials

Learning with videos was a lot harder than Jonas expected. Most of them either went too slowly or were too fast to follow. He found himself constantly pausing and rewinding to repeat sections. There were too many interruptions and he just couldn't get into the flow of practicing. Frustrated, Jonas gave up on learning from YouTube. But he didn't give up on his dream. He knew that there had to be a better way to teach himself piano. Instead of just watching a screen, he wondered if he could make learning with videos feel more like a real-life piano lesson.

What if there were a better way to learn piano?

The idea was simple: Once you started a video, what if it could tell where your hands were on the piano and what notes you were playing? And what if it could wait for you to hit the right keys before moving forward with the rest of the video? There would be no more interruptions and no need for you to pause or rewind. Learning this way would be so much quicker and easier.Jonas realized that what he needed was a technology that could make regular videos more intelligent. To solve the challenge, he teamed up with two of his closest friends from university. Together, they started developing a new kind of video user interface. The breakthrough they needed came when they met another student, who introduced them to research on real-time note recognition algorithms. Similar to voice recognition, these algorithms process the audio signal from an instrument to detect what kind of note or chord is being played.

Transforming learning with technology

The team figured out how to adapt the note recognition technology and combine it with a new video interface that had been specifically designed for learning musical instruments. The result? A revolutionary technology that solved all of the problems Jonas encountered with learning from videos. Suddenly, it was possible to learn songs in minutes, not weeks or months – even if you were a complete piano beginner.

This new form of video player "listens" as you play piano. It checks that you're pressing the right keys and waits until you play the notes correctly before continuing the song. Now, once you start a video and put your hands on the piano, you can completely focus on playing – and know if you're doing it right or not. No more lifting your hands from the keys to fumble with video controls. No more interruptions, just pure flow.

Starting a revolution

When the team tested their prototype with potential users, they were overwhelmed by positive reactions. This fueled their ambition to bring this new technology to market. In 2015, the team finally released their app – flowkey – and forever changed the way people learn piano. flowkey quickly became one of the leading music learning apps. Today, it has more than 12 million users and counting. To try this revolutionary technology for yourself, you can sign up for flowkey online or download the app on your smartphone or tablet – both for free. The free version gives users access to eight songs and select courses. Upgrading to a premium subscription unlocks the app's entire library of 1,500+ songs and all courses.Ready to discover this new way of learning piano? Try flowkey for free today and start playing your first songs in no time.