Music Wizard is a software development firm that develops and publishes kits to teach students to play various musical instruments through MIDI software and a Guitar Hero-like interface. Unlike Guitar Hero, it uses real instruments and teaches to read sheet music as well.
Contents |
Released in 2005, this educational software teaches users to play the piano. [1] A $200 kit includes an M-Audio Keystation 49e keyboard. The $500 Piano Wizard Academy version is more popular, as it includes video lessons for parents and non-music educators to show them how to move children, adults or themselves through the levels of the game, and then to transition off the game to reading sheet music (sheet music also included in the Academy version). Both the Premier and Academy version allow unlimited import of MIDI song files, so virtually any song written in Western notation could be imported into the game and learned.[2]
Guitar Wizard is intended to teach guitar skills. The software version is under development, but there is a toy version called Mattel's I Can Play Guitar,[3] aimed at young children. A package in development by the manufacturer will bundle the software with either a Washburn Guitars-branded instrument [4] and MIDI pickup or a guitar controller.