Hey! So a lot of you have been asking about a piano course called Flowkey, so I got the Premium version and tried it out. Here's the down ‘n dirty review of the pro's, con's, benefits, and dangers!
If you want to sign up for the Free version of Flowkey, click here.
Flowkey Pros:
-They have a TON of songs to learn. Everything from Pop to Classical to Videogame music.
-You can slow down, and also segment “chunks” of the song to practice, which is VERY useful for staying focused and practicing efficiently.
-You can see the sheet music, chords, AND the actual video of someone playing on an actual piano.
-If you buy a lot of sheet music, it might be cheaper to just get a Flowkey subscription.
-You can try it out free to see if it’s right for you. Here’s the link to sign up.
Flowkey Cons:
-They also have “courses”. I went through them, and personally wasn’t a big fan. They’re VERY beginner, and I felt like they didn’t go nearly as in depth on a lot of topics as I’d have liked.
-The songs are pretty beginner. Even when you get to the “Pro” difficulty, it’s really just intermediate. This is great if it’s at your level, but if you’re really experienced you’ll get bored. That being said, you could always use the Captivate Techniques in PSH to spice them up!
-They don’t give you the option to see the ENTIRE sheet music at once. This can be a little annoying when you’re trying to look for patterns, or during planning when you want to break the song up into chunks.
-You can’t annotate the sheet music to put in fingerings, notes, dynamics, ext.
How to Use Flowkey the Smart Way:
When you’re learning songs, set it to SLOW mode, and use the “section” feature to focus in on a section. Set specific goals on how many times you’re going to practice that section. Then move on to the next.
Also… there’s a mode called “wait mode”. It seems awesome, but I’m not a fan. Basically, the system “waits” until you play the note, and then moves on. The problem is it takes the rhythm aspect out of it, and in the long run it’s going to lead to sloppy playing and bad habits. So I’d avoid that mode and stick to Slow and Fast mode.
As for the courses, if you’re a complete beginner (like, never touched a piano before), you might get some useful things out of it, but I wouldn’t rely on it as a full piano course.
The Final Verdict:
Flowkey can be a great SUPPLEMENT to your piano learning. It can give you a ton of songs to learn, and makes it easy to learn them as you can see the notes right in front of you. That being said, it’s missing a lot of important stuff on technique, playing expressively, playing by ear, ext.
But hey, it’s free to try out! So I’d definitely recommend signing up for a free account and checking it out for yourself, and see if you like it! Here’s the link to sign up.
-Zach