Wait, which piano key is that note again?
That’s the eternal question for people learning to play piano, and a Seattle tech startup is unveiling a novel solution today.
McCarthy Music’s “Illuminating Piano” lights up the keys with embedded RGB LEDs to help aspiring pianists as they learn to play. The keyboard connects to an iPad or Windows PC via Bluetooth, USB or MIDI interface.
It comes with a dedicated app that displays interactive digital music sheets, and a music store with more than 1,000 pieces of popular music, based on a partnership between McCarthy and sheet music giant Hal Leonard.
The product is unique in that it can be controlled not only by the integrated touchscreen panel but also by the app — a software-based approach that allows for multiple user profiles and customizations such as changing the color of the lights that represent the right and left hands.
The software tracks users’ progress, showing exactly where they have the most trouble over time, and unlocking achievements as they learn to play a song.
“Lessons are great. You go to your lesson and you make great progress, but it’s when you get home that’s really the spot that we’re trying to address,” said co-founder Kevin McCarthy, a software developer and entrepreneur. “It’s a lonely, difficult process, and it seemed one that was really ripe for software.”
The company is betting on that advanced software as it competes against established companies such as Casio and Yamaha, which sell lower-cost light-up keyboards that don’t offer the same level of customization or control.
A limited quantity of the Illuminating Piano is available online, initially for $499.99. McCarthy Music is launching the product today at the National Association of Music Merchants show in Anaheim, Calif.
The keyboard’s features include a “learn” mode that lets users go at their own pace — lighting up the next key as they progress through the sheet music — and a “listen” mode that plays the song while lighting up the optical-grade polycarbonate piano keys. The music is played out of the iPad or Windows PC, with the option to hook up headphones or speakers.
In another unique twist, the hardware can be used to control the software, from the touchscreen panel to the left of the keys.
I tried the Illuminating Piano at the McCarthy Music offices in Seattle last week, prior to its release, and I was quickly hooked.
I took piano lessons briefly as a kid, before moving on to guitar and trumpet, so I know how to read music in general, but not very well on the piano. The illuminating keys helped me learn “Let it Be,” as my eyes shifted between the keyboard and the sheet music on the iPad. Within a few minutes I was recognizing the tune and feeling good enough about my progress that I didn’t want to stop.
McCarthy, a drummer, was inspired to start the project after trying, unsuccessfully, to learn the piano himself. He founded the company with his longtime friend, Jason McVey, the company’s CTO. The company has been bootstrapped so far, without outside investment.
Here’s a video from the company showing the keyboard in action.
Illuminating Piano from McCarthy Music from McCarthy Music on Vimeo.
