By Tamara Friske
A new method of piano teaching will be launched in Provo and sold at the BYU Bookstore during Education Week.
Piano Commando is software built to give children and adults a simpler way to learn to play the piano, said, founder and CEO, Chris Salter.
It is constructed to work with MIDI, musical instrument digital interface, files. MIDI has been around for many years, and most electronic keyboards have MIDI ports, Salter said.
The concept behind it is to mathematically translate music into language a computer can read. The pitch height and the time length are made into a grid to mathematically tell the computer what note to play and how long, Salter said.
The musical notation commands are made into objects such as butterflies, caterpillars and frogs game objects. A color- coded keyboard lines the top of the screen for the corresponding objects to go to. The software comes with stickers to place on the owner''s physical keyboard to correspond with the one on the screen. Because the keyboard on the screen is parallel with the actual keyboard being played, it is easy for kids to relate to, Salter said.
The program can play any track at any tempo, virtually making it fail proof for anyone. Version one mainly teaches how to play songs and introduces people to piano music. Version two, which will come out a few months after version one, will rotate the screen so that it is set up like sheet music. Then the colors will slowly fade away and all that is left is the actual notes. However, the program does not teach any underlying theory or the real art form of playing, teachers are needed for that, Salter said.
'We are not trying to replace piano teachers, we in fact want to fill the piano teachers classes to the brim with motivated, practiced, excited student because they can only really learn the art of music from a human being. This can get them through the mechanics that has always been like a barbed wire to them,' Salter said.
For now, it is only formatted for a PC, but hopefully they will be able to advance to X-Box, Sony Play Station, Nintendo, Macintosh, acoustic pianos and have it licensed to be built into keyboards so the can be plugged into televisions, Salter said.
Salter said his main goal in creating this is to make music a universal thing that anyone can do. He took music classes in college and said one time the director of the school of music told him to drop out, but he was stubborn and kept going.
'The underlying drive here was that I knew what it was to be on the other side of the fence, outside the fence wanting to learn music,' Salter said. 'It''s been this elite kind of talent thing, and it''s really, I think, a birthright.'
For Salter this is not just a way to make money, it is a spiritual journey of music.
'I think our primary reality is on a vibration level and our physical reality is secondary, and when we play music we''re actually touching into our primary reality,' Salter said. 'And that vibration somehow puts us in tune with our higher level.'
The company decided to launch the product in Utah because of the tremendous success they had in a trial run here. Becky Deppe, from West Valley, took her five-year- old son to try the product.
'I was surprised how well he picked it up,' Deppe said.
Her son went from playing with one hand to playing with two hands in half an hour. He had never had any piano experience, but was playing very basic children''s songs.
Deppe said the thing that she was most impressed by was the fact that it held his attention. She said she would much rather he play the piano than a video game.
Lisa Thompson, another participant, took her three sons to the trial and said she thinks it is especially good for boys because it is very visual. Her oldest son had piano training for a year before the trial and said he liked Piano Commando better.
The product will be sold for the first time at the BYU Bookstore during educational week and freshman orientation. The software costs $100. Salter said he the determining factor to launch the product in Provo was the warm welcome they received during the trial run.
'I myself am not LDS, but I have to say I really resonate with the whole culture. In terms of that they''ve really picked me and our project in such an overwhelming way that we just resonated so clearly,' Salter said. ' It''s a non-violent, musical, educational game for the family so we''ve just found a home there. We''ve been welcome there with such open arms I''ve just been overwhelmed with our reception there.'