AudioTheory Piano Keys Reviews

it works as intended. very helpful in memorizing chords but a MIDI controller is very necessary. Good job devs!

This app is very helpful! Unfortunately, I've been having an issue whenever closing out of the app. I've closed out through the options menu but Steam still considers the app to be running. I've tried hitting the "STOP" button to force quit the app after quitting, but that doesn't work. I also tried finding the .exe for the app in my Task Manager, but it is nowhere to be found. My last resort which I have to do if I ever want to close out of Steam is to end the Steam task in the Task Manager. Is there anything that can be done about this?

There are lots of capabilities in the software. My key to start using the software was discovering there is a very useful user guide ( not acknowlegded and which is hard to find). Here is the address https://audiotheory.co/piano-keys-user-guide.html

What an excellent application! This helped me to compose the first music in my head directly into a composition. Highly under rated. Definitely worth a buy.

set up guide assumes you already understand music theory for a program that is suppose to teach it to you in a minimal fashion. (not ment for newbies) also steam/program licence agreement is another negative.

Please make it so that you can use a full size MDI keyboard, you cant even play some songs due to how short the keyboard you allow is.

Oh, so dev has actually listened to the people. ASIO output support and variable keyboard size are making this tool actually useful when you want to work on your chords. Still, there's one small thing that worries me a bit: on my laptop with discrete graphics it uses 20% of GPU on idle, which is kinda weird for this kind of software. Okay for a desktop, but for a laptop it means more noise, heat, and battery consumption.

About scales: You've got pentatonics, blues and even modes, but where are harmonic and melodic minor! Come on, you can't feature "full library of scale sets" without harmonic and melodic minor, just can't:) And it's not even an advanced stuff. Weird. Scale wheel is a nice idea, but it would be a little bit nicer to have a simple circle of fifths as well. For those who's wondering: TRERE IS NO ANY INSTANCE OF CIRCLE OF 5THS IN THIS APP. I guess it's not easy to make all of that interacative, but anyway. If you want to use metronome you have to install it separate and in case ASIO4ALL it probably should be on your phone because while ASIO4ALL mode is on Audio Theory is the only program that can produce sound. Keyboard shortcuts exist but aren't mentioned anywhere, even in manual. Here are some what I've found https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2860883076 Overall I think this app is still really useful visualizer to see and learn shapes of chords and scales. And there are several labeling methods for keys to switch, which is great👍.

Unfortunately I am not sure which audience this software is supposed to address. I was hoping this program would help me intuitively remember all of the chords, but it seems that if you don't already know them, the program does little to help. It's very difficult and takes a lot of mouse clicks to switch between chord types (major, minor, 7 etc), and I have not been able to find a place to modify keyboard shortcuts. * The UI/UX are lacking because everything needs a lot of mouse clicks, it's unclear what some options do, and there is no easy keyboard shortcut reference/modification mode * Learning chords is a huge pain because it's hard to find various scales etc. * Exercises are not useful because there is no progression, difficulty levels or any start/end On the other hand, if this is meant to serve only as a "reference" as the byline states, then why not get a paper cheat sheet that can actually be used when playing a piano? It seems like there is a passionate developer behind this project, but unfortunately I cannot recommend it. Hopefully it is still maintained and can be improved in the future.

This is something I've been wanting for a little while now. I've only learned music-theory informally and never had an instructor that could prompt and critique my ability to play the piano before, so I've never been very confident. Instead, I've relied a lot on assistive tools like Forager or Obelisk or InstaChord/Scale to filter what I play and automatically "correct" it. The problem with those automated tools is they serve a production purpose that doesn't constructively correct my mistakes or lead me to better understand the theory that would make me a better pianist without relying on those external tools. I've only spent a couple hours with AudioTheory so far and the exercises have been genuinely enjoyable to me and is slowly helping me build confidence in forming chords and transitioning between scales without a filter or assistant. That said, it's not designed to be an instructional tool, but rather a reference tool; a study-aid for the initiated. There is certainly an expected level of familiarity and investment going in that makes this best suited for practicing pianists who at least know what a chord and a scale [i]is[/i] or the encouraged student who can supplement this tool with external material that properly teaches. Also, a MIDI keyboard is highly recommended; there is a soft-keyboard on-screen as well as a single-octave mapped to the home-row keys of your QWERTY keyboard, but the experience is really handicapped if you rely on just those to substitute a MIDI keyboard. The interface is very practical with dynamic response to the actively chosen scale/mode, but there is some room for improvements. For instance, you can't simply freeplay any random arrangement of keys and have an indicator label the chord you've improvised without it being pre-selected. There is a little bit of jankiness too where you can automatically be given chords that aren't actually playable in the currently selected scale/mode if you've muted wrong-notes (especially if practicing less common chords like diminished or sustained or augmented or other chords). Also, while the exercises can be fun, you do have to make your own challenge of it which further imposes a threshold of established familiarity to really maximize the value. Ultimately, I highly recommend this for all pianists with a caveat that it's not directly-instructional and not a substitute for a beginners introduction course. For the latter, I'd recommend a Youtube series like this one from Guy Michelmore https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH1Kp5ewZe_TP3CMB6LBw9ZjRCduyqoqj If you're looking to supplement what you can learn elsewhere and build confidence in your understanding of music theory, then this is probably [b]THE[/b] tool you've been looking for [i]too.[/i]