Top Tips: From Boiled Cauliflower To Beethoven!

Learning an instrument can be slow, frustrating and occasionally soul-destroying but with smart apps and AI coaches, technology is making it easier (and cheaper) for you to hit the right notes. Andrew Spires reports

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I often wander into the kitchen and wonder why I’m there, and of late it’s taking me slightly longer than normal to remember the answer. Usually, it’s chocolate biscuits. In a well-intentioned effort to make sure my brain doesn’t turn into a boiled cauliflower as I progress into later life, I’ve been trying to learn an instrument.

If you’ve ever taken the time to learn an instrument, you’ll appreciate how soul-crushing the initial stage is. The first few months are akin to Sisyphus pushing his rock up that never-ending hill. It’s worth remembering that all this effort is not without reward. In a study by the Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, it was noted that playing an instrument regularly was associated with a 35% lower dementia risk, and like all worthwhile endeavours, learning to play any musical instrument takes time and patience.

Whilst there are no hacks or shortcuts to getting good at tickling the ivories or plucking the G-string, there are now some cool bits of tech to help you on your melodious journey; a journey that’s undergoing a tech revolution.

Where previously you had a teacher and a shared physical space, now you have an app, meaning you can study anywhere you feel comfortable. From artificial intelligence that acts as a personal coach to platforms that transform practice into play, technology is making it easier and cheaper than ever to puck and plink your way to finally learning an instrument.

Finding a great teacher can be tricky, and finding the time to visit a music coach can be even harder, not to mention the cost. Most teachers charge in excess of HK$300 per lesson, so you need to really want to learn to play Tears in Heaven to justify spending HK$1,200 a month on instruction. If you’re serious about lifelong learning, an in-person, real-life teacher is always going to win out. A friend of mine who has tried using music learning apps is now sending her eight-year-old daughter to in-person lessons. She said, “I think there's a lot you can learn through apps and online, but personally I think it's worth paying for face-to-face lessons if you can af ford it. The teacher will not only help you learn but hold you accountable to keep you learning.”

But before you commit, why not try some cost-effective tech to see if you enjoy learning an instrument as much as you thought you would.

First up for the piano or keyboard, I recommend Simply Piano. In much the same way kids are taught in schools by slowly building up the information, Simply Piano gently takes your hand and walks you, baby steps, into an actual song, rather than chromatic scales or arpeggios. The benefit of this is that you feel like you’re making progress with a recognisable tune. Whilst it sounds like a quick fix – it’s crucially important to get the foundations correct before taking an instrument to another level – Simply Piano does get you hooked on learning quickly. The app has an audio function that listens to you play, adjusts the pace accordingly and recognises any bum notes you hit. You can set different goals, ranging from reading sheet music to playing your favourite songs. You can also select how often you want to practise. I recommend being realistic at the outset so as not to fall at the first hurdle and become downhearted.

The Simply Piano app costs HK$1,400 a year, so nowhere near as costly as a tutor, but progress does rely on you practising.

For guitar, I already have the basics down from when I was a teenager trying to learn Smoke on the Water, so I didn’t want to pay for an app. I’ve been really impressed with Guitar Tuna by Yousican. I stumbled onto it when trying to find a way to tune my guitar quickly and accurately. Like Simply Piano, Guitar Tuna can hear the notes you play, meaning you can tune up – and it also provides songs for you to play along with whilst following your speed. If you want to get more technical, there are a range of lessons, such as learning chords and an ‘ear trainer’ which plays a chord sound and you have to match it.

Maintaining motivation is one of the greatest challenges in learning an instrument. Music learning apps tackle this head-on through gamification, essentially applying video game concepts to learning an instrument. By tapping into the intrinsic motivation to keep levelling up, one becomes completely absorbed in the activity. Failing the game makes you want to start over to beat your high-score. This gamification element works especially well with kids. My two like to compete against each other to see who can get the longest clean run on the piano without errors.

They also love to find their favourite tracks from piano instructional videos on YouTube. I always used to use YouTube videos to learn how to change door handles and drain engine oil, but the kids have found a series of instructional videos by using simple search terms like ‘How to Play Für Elise on Piano’. There are great videos showing ‘first person’ hands on the keys, and the notes flow down the screen in a similar fashion to the famous video game Guitar Hero. YouTube doesn’t provide the feedback and structured learning that apps offer, but the videos are great tools once you’ve got to grips with the basics.

When riding the tech train to Nashville, it’s also well worth embracing AI. Moises.ai is a very cool application that allows budding musicians to upload any song and separate it into individual tracks. For example, a guitarist can isolate the lead guitar part of Hotel California to learn it note-for-note, or remove it entirely to practise along with the professional backing track. The software can also slow down complex passages without changing pitch and detect chords automatically, making song analysis and practice far more efficient. Ear training (the technical word for recognising a chord or note) and theory, once reliant on workbooks, are now interactive through websites like ToneSavvy and Teoria, which of fer exercises cleverly disguised as games.

The future of music education is not about technology replacing human teachers. Instead, it should become a partnership. Whilst the app can sort the analysis of a student’s playing, human teachers are liberated to focus on their irreplaceable role; that of offering passionate encouragement, nuanced and tailored guidance, and the inspirational encouragement a student needs when they feel they aren’t making any progress.

Much like the invention of the washing machine made doing the laundry quicker and easier, music teaching apps offer another layer of support to those with dreams to one day play to an audience. Whilst these tools are breaking down traditional barriers of cost, scheduling and geography, you still need to have the dedication to learn, be able to commit the time and suffer the sore fingers to become a music maestro.

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