I admit I was a bit skeptical to see what this product would really do. Part of me wondered if it would replace my job! The people that I met with at the Allegro booth down at Kentia hall were all very friendly and eager to show me and let me play with Piano Wizard. They insisted that this was merely a teaching aide, and not meant to replace teachers (phew!) It was to encourage children who do not have the patience to take lessons and since the keys are color coded, children as young as the age of three can begin to play.

There are four levels of play, each level gets progressively more advanced. What was amusing was that the lower the level, the harder it was for me to get it. I am able to read music, so by level four the notes were displayed. In the earlier levels, it was merely all about matching up the colors on the keys and on the screen at the right time. You can think of it as Dance Dance Revolution except with a keyboard and I was not coordinated enough to pick it up right away (so much for my years of training.) The first level would just be turtles floating up the screen, and at the top of the screen was a color coded keyboard that matched the one you were playing on. There were lines at the top where when the turtle hit, you would hit the key. Your score is determined by how accurate your timing is. There is no penalty for hitting the keys too early or the wrong key, it’s all about the “positive learning method.”

The most interesting feature of Piano Wizard was that you can upload virtually any midi file and it will display the notes for you in any mode. You can find midi files for anything you want off the internet. You can download everything from the Beatles or Coldplay to classical music or even Final Fantasy music. If you can find a simple midi of a popular nursery rhyme, I can see how young children would be able to play their favorite tunes within a matter of weeks. If they play on easy mode, it’s all about matching the colours. The keyboard is only three octaves and it is primarily for the right hand. I asked about fingering, considering one of my worst habits is using the wrong finger for notes and was told that the fingering can be assigned manually.

What Piano Wizard doesn’t do is teach dynamics, key signatures, theory or proper form. They apparently did a study at the University of Illinois and found that children as young as the age of four were able to learn about ten songs within six weeks. That’s fairly impressive, although I would be interested in testing this on my baby cousin when he turns four.

Some other projects in the works are Guitar Wizard, Composer Wizard, Band Wizard and Drum Wizard. The engine that they had developed can virtually be used with any instrument. They sold the license to Fisher Price and they will be coming out with a I Can Play Piano system that you can plug into your television. Currently Piano Wizard is available on the PC and E3 was the debut of the Mac version. The product will sell for about $200 and there are two keyboards to choose from. One is smaller for the really young children.

If your child isn’t very interested in taking piano lessons but is willing to sit in front of a computer to play random songs on a keyboard, then this could be very beneficial. The fact that it is set up as a game and is color coded is great for younger kids. The ability to play any midi file is also a fun feature. Since I do play the piano, I can’t even stand the feel of a digital piano with weighted keys let alone playing on a three octave plastic keyboard. Nothing compares to the feel of a real acoustic piano.