Piano learning apps are a great way to supplement piano lessons. They make learning fun and creative, especially for young students. It is also an excellent alternative for those who don’t have access to a piano instructor
Two of the most famous piano learning apps are Simply Piano and Yousician. They both offer free trials and a subscription service to continue making the most of the app.
Choosing between the two apps can be difficult without knowing the full details. This article will discuss everything needed to decide between Simply Piano and Yousician.
Simply Piano
About Simply Piano
Simply Piano is an app by JoyTunes. It is a piano learning app that is the choice of many who learn or teach piano. Here are a few things to remember about Simply Piano:
- It is not compatible with computers
- Users will need mobile devices or tablets to use the app
- For the lessons, use an acoustic piano, digital piano, or keyboard that has 88 weighted keys
- The app identifies the notes you play on the piano
Lesson Flow
The app uses a game-like format with instructional videos. The lessons can help students in the beginner to intermediate levels as they emphasize the basics of piano playing.
As the app hears what keys are pressed, it identifies whether there are mistakes or notes missed. The app has a practice mode for users to master the lessons and doesn’t move forward unless mastery is achieved.
The app contains the following courses
- Piano Basics and Essentials I – students have to take these courses before proceeding to either of the two major courses
- Chords – one of the two major courses contains lessons on using chords to play any song you want.
- Soloist – this major course emphasizes the traditional styles of piano learning, such as note reading and scales. The twist is that the basis of the lessons is popular songs which will help motivate students compared to usual piano book music.
Pricing
Users can try Simply Piano for free for seven days. Then, if they like it, they can pay a subscription fee of $119.99 per year, $89.99 for six months, and $59.99 for three months. There is no lifetime subscription.
User Experience
This Simply Piano user loved the experience of using the app:
“I enjoyed Simply Piano as an absolute beginner. It got me to the point I could say “Hey, I can do this!” as well as “I love playing!” After about 6 months of working through the app to where I could sight-read both hands in a few different positions, I got a teacher to continue.”
While this user commends the courses but points out that Simply Piano has some limitations:
“With Simply Piano, I can honestly say everything you need is pretty much there if you want to get good at this instrument. They give you plenty of instruction, plenty of lessons, plenty of songs in simplified, intermediate, and advanced formats…drawback of Simply Piano is that it is only available on iOS and Android… Simply Piano bucked the trend of monthly subscription options, so you’re stuck with a minimum of 90 days at a cost of $60 and that’s a real problem if you’re not sure you’re going to like that app after the short trial period. There’s also no lifetime option like Flowkey and Playground Sessions have.”
One Simply Piano user commented on the process to reach the Intermediate 2 level:
“It had taken me about a year and a half. It is at this point I realized that the time had come to switch… I realized that (1) the simply piano method was making me dependent on a very specific way of displaying the score, (2) few pieces are available (3) the writing is not standard, the pieces are very simplified and they keep this silly background music, even with classical pieces. I still think that simply piano was a very motivating way to start and it got me quite far, but I would not recommend using it for more than a year or two.”
Yousician
About Yousician
This piano learning app is similar to Simply Piano because it uses a game-like interface to teach its users. Unlike Simply Piano, Yousician can be used on mobile devices, tablets, and desktops.
It works only on microphone audio and recognizes the notes played on the instrument. With Yousician, users can learn how to play piano, guitar, ukulele, and bass. The app also includes singing lessons in its courses.
Lesson Flow
The app has progress-based guided lessons to which the user can decide how much time to dedicate. The classes are structured into levels with videos explaining the concepts and exercises to practice the lessons.
The app has “Workouts” that the students have to do with every lesson. These teach piano techniques, scales, chords, note reading, and ear training.
To make the experience more fun, Yousician has weekly “Challenges” that match students from the same level with each other by playing the same songs and earning points based on accuracy.
When the users reach level three, Yousician offers three paths:
- Classical – learn how to play classical pieces through learning new playing styles
- Knowledge – helps users with their understanding of music theory
- Creativity – teaches students the foundations of songwriting, along with key signatures, chords, scales, and ear training.
- Pop – teaching style emphasizes chords, patterns, and riffs. The songs are from the blues, pop, and rock genres.
Pricing
With Yousician, users can get the:
- Premium plan at $9.99 per month with one instrument and unlimited lesson time. This plan has limited access to the songs on the platform
- Premium+ plan at $14.99 a month with access to all songs, all instruments available, and unlimited lesson time.
User Experience
Some users find their experience with Yousician, not of best quality:
“Tbh though in retrospect it kinda sucked. The autoscrolling notes feature moves way too fast for beginners to learn, even when slowed down. By the time you get the notes down you’ve already memorized what you need to play, so you stop reading the notes.”
Others say, that the app lacks content:
“Yousician is lacking in content, but otherwise is just as functional as Simply Piano. Also, I have to say that I recommend them the least, as they are charging extra to access the good songs and that’s a shame as they’re every bit as expensive as the other apps without the benefits of the music.”
Other users have this to say about Yousician:
“If you are on a budget and prefer a gaming type learning experience, Yousician may be the choice for you.”
Online discussions show that people recommend Simply Piano for beginners, while Yousician is more suited for the more advanced learners. Both apps use different pacings in their lessons and have different techniques in letting their students learn.
