Product Review: Alfred's Teach Yourself to Play Piano CD-ROM

Playing an instrument can be tough, sometimes discouraging. After hours of trying to figure things out, it's easy to give up. One of the hardest yet simplest instruments to understand is the piano. Built with octaves of keys, it can be overwhelming to begin playing.

Alfred's Teach Yourself To Play Piano interactive CD-ROM is an effective way to begin playing. It contains nearly everything one needs to know to get started.

The CD-ROM is able to be used with any piano or keyboard. Everyone can use it, beginners and those who have played before. There is a refresher course included.

The most valuable part of the CD-ROM is the video lessons. Each video is a step-by-step course and they guide players right through it. A song player shows players exactly how each song should be played, even allowing players to slow the tempo down to practice. The lessons begin by teaching players notation. When lessons are to be played, a keyboard and sheet music appear to guide you along, again being able to adjust the tempo.

Each lesson contains a guide to learning the entire keyboard. Most importantly, the CD-ROM will teach the fundamentals of the most important scales and chord shapes. The lessons gradually teach players to play with expression and feeling technique. Naturally, finger muscles need to be built up. This happens over time with practice. However, there are lessons on finger aerobics that will help strengthen the muscles, making it easier and quicker to play later on.

A fun part of the software is recording your performance. By hooking up a microphone to the computer, users can record themselves playing.

In the Deluxe Edition, Teach Yourself To Play Piano includes games that are interactive to help reinforce what is being taught. Also a play it by ear training program will help players identify sounds without reading music. This will come in handy when learning to play a favorite song. Knowing chord sounds is essential in being a good musician, especially when building bigger songs.

Literally within ten minutes, a lesson will be playable.