Learning to play the piano isn’t easy, especially if you do it on your own. It can take months to move beyond boring beginners' pieces; plus, it’s hard to stay on track without a teacher.

But what if it didn't have to be that way? What if you could learn to play your favorite songs right from the start, with guidance to make sure that you’re getting it right?

Meet flowkey: The app that helps you learn piano with the songs you love and gives you instant feedback

flowkey is a new kind of music learning app that teaches you piano using your favorite songs. The app shows you how to play each note and provides instant feedback on your playing. It’s like having your very own learning companion that’s always there to guide you, wherever you are and whenever you want to learn. 

Today, over 10 million people and counting are making their piano-playing dreams come true with flowkey. So, how did this app come to be? Like many great inventions, it all started with a simple idea…

A new way to play

Jonas Gossling, one of flowkey’s founders, came up with the idea for the app when he was trying to get back into playing piano at university. He had tried learning with YouTube videos, but found the experience frustrating. It was just too difficult to follow a video and play properly at the same time.

This frustration sparked an idea: 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? 

Jonas knew that learning this way would be much quicker and easier. So, he teamed up with two friends and together they started developing a new kind of video user interface. 

Real-time note recognition brings a big breakthrough

The team hit a huge turning point 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.

Jonas and his friends figured out how to adapt the note recognition technology and combine it with a video interface that was designed specifically for learning musical instruments. The result? A groundbreaking app that solved all of the problems of learning from videos. 

Transforming learning with tech

The tech behind flowkey is what really sets it apart from other piano learning methods. The app uses unique note and chord recognition to “listen” as you play and determine if you’re hitting the right notes. It waits until you play the notes correctly before continuing the song. This gives you time to properly learn each part of a piano piece, and lets you know whether your playing is on the right track or off the mark. 

When you practice a piece, flowkey also offers different playing modes to help you make faster progress: 

• Loop: Replays a section of a song automatically until you can play it perfectly. 
• Slow-motion: Slows down a song so you can focus on getting your hand movements and rhythm just right. 
• Select a hand: Lets you play with one hand at a time, making practicing much easier.

If you’d like 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 you access to eight songs and select courses. Upgrading to a Premium subscription gives you access to the app's entire library of thousands of songs and all courses, which are regularly updated, so there’s always something new for you to discover.

Ready to try a new way of learning piano? Sign up for free today and learn to play with the songs you love.