But…what about learning to read sheet music?
What about it?
Boo fucking hoo, technology is making music more accessible and removing the barriers associated with sheet music. Fire is scary and Thomas Edison was a witch.
Yes, I said barriers.
Not everyone is great at reading sheet music. I started playing piano when I was four and I still absolutely SUCK at sheet music. It’s just never clicked for me. I can identify notes, given enough time, but it takes me forever to learn a new piece, I often have to literally mark what a note is, and sight-reading is incredibly far beyond me. If I had access to this, maybe I would still be playing piano instead of just letting it gather dust in the spare room. Maybe I would still be improving my skills. Heck, maybe I could use it as a tool to IMPROVE MY SHEET MUSIC READING.
Think of how accessible this makes piano music to the sight-impaired. How much easier it is to see those colored bars and lit keys than the little dots on little lines on a page.
Stairs didn’t go out of style because we invented escalators. Books didn’t go out of style because Kindles are a thing. Sheet music isn’t going to just up and vanish because there’s a new alternative on the block. You can keep playing from sheet music if that’s your thing, and people will keep learning from it.
But I can see this being fantastic for people who sheet music just really isn’t their thing, because of accessibility or other reasons.
I’m not against such an idea, and I’m so old fashioned when it comes to piano that even Mozart would say I”m outta style. I just have a simple question; what do you do when its time for them to play on an ivory (aka non-lighted) piano?
There is a magical phenomenon known as muscle memory. If the person has practiced on a lighted piano, they not only get used to seeing the notes coming, their fingers become accustomed to moving in rhythm and to particular places. Having to play a new piece on an ivory would be difficult, and potentially impossible, but playing a piece that you know how to play would be rather easy. It’s just like riding a bike.