iPads and Piano: The Greatest Games

During piano lessons, students get to go to the Theory Lab and play games that help them learn more about, well, music theory (how music works)! They fill out workbooks and then are free to do other activities. Our iPads are by far the most popular—the kids love sitting down with a pair of headphones and playing some of the amazing games we have.

The good news is, these games are available to everyone! For most of them, you don’t need special equipment, and they are simple enough for young kids to figure out. They’re perfect for a car ride or a 15-minute wait in the doctor’s office!

Here are some games that we love with explanations on what they are:

Piano Maestro: Fun, colorful way of practicing notes and rhythms. The notes move across the screen, and the student presses the keyboard on the screen along with the music to score points. Focuses on sight reading and playing along with an ensemble.

Ear Beater: Quizzes for ear training exercises! Each exercise tests students on identifying intervals and notes just by hearing them.

Note Works: A farm-themed note practice game. It’s similar to Piano Maestro in that there’s a keyboard on the screen that the students play on. It focuses on identifying notes and connecting the notes with the keys. The coolest thing is that instead of having the students just press the keys, it encourages them to slide to it and release, making sure that they aren’t just guessing! That creates good habits!

Treble Cat, Bass Cat, Rhythm Cat: These games are great because they focus on note recognition with just one hand at a time. Especially good for beginning students.

We highly recommend downloading one or two of these apps—the more practice the students get outside of piano lessons, the faster they will learn!