• Complete piano instruction system from the convenience of your PC
• 6 sections with 150+ interactive lessons; covers range of keyboarding skills
• Intuitive and fun learning environment; real-time feedback; record songs
• Navigate to any section from Piano Room; print sheet music; progress reports
• USB MIDI interface connects electronic keyboard to desktop or laptop PC

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional UPGRADE with SP2

With the USB Teach Me Piano Kit, you'll have the power to play songs on your music keyboard, then mix and edit them on your PC. Connecting has never been easier using the Plug-N-Play capabilities and convenience of USB. Start by connecting a music keyboard to your computer with the supplied USB MIDI cable. Within minutes you'll be able to play songs while they are being recorded on your PC! You can overdub additional instruments, then edit, mix and even print sheet music of your final compositions.

Customer Rating:
Summary: No Vista!
Comment: It's a pity the product is not compatible with Vista - therefore useless unless you have an old pc.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Cable is nice, but the software is useless
Comment: The MIDI/USB cable works as advertised, and I'm able to record music easily. The problem is, I bought this software to learn to PLAY piano...and it's entirely useless. The educational software is not compatible with Windows Vista, and the publisher does not offer product support for Vista users.

I've tried every conceivable method to get this software to work on Vista, and it's a no-go. I even tried changing compatibility settings with no luck. I'm sure the software works great on older computers, but if you're running Vista, find something else.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great deal works wonderfully
Comment: The USB adapter worked perfectly right out of the box. I didn't have to worry with any driver or firmware installations as other people seem to have had to do. I agree with the running observation that the software is dated. But that is not really a critique. It does what it is supposed to do very well. It's too advanced for my 5yr old to use on her own but I've enjoyed revisiting the piano with it.

I did take lessons as a child for a few years but never got far. I understand music notation already so I may not be the best judge but it seems to be straight forward and easy to understand. I love the fact that you can chose weather to just slide through the lessons or do it over until it's perfect. At least you don't have to worry about getting too board before the software will allow you to continue, and for perfectionists you can easily work on it until you get it right!

One great feature, it comes with a midi recording station to record your own performances to directly to midi. Good design over all and for less than the cable itself would have cost at the local store, a really great deal!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great USB-to-MIDI cable, OK software
Comment: I was looking for a USB-to-MIDI cable to hook up my Yamaha keyboard to my computer, and came across this. As this kit of the USB cable and piano-teaching software only cost a few dollars more than just buying the USB-to-MIDI cable, I bought this instead. FYI, I'm an adult who's just learning how to play piano for the first time.

The USB-to-MIDI cable works great. It's a Turtle-Beach brand cable that's about 10ft. long. I was able to install the driver software and start using the cable right away. It's great to be able to play the MIDI files I've downloaded and have them sound fantastic through the Yamaha keyboard. I've even managed to download a freeware sequencer software and record my first "song" (a one-handed rendition of Oh! Susanna).

The teaching software is good, but as others have noted, is dated and it shows. It runs without any problems (so far) on my Windows XP laptop. The program runs fullscreen at 800x600 resolution--so if you have a 20+ inch flat panel running at 1600x1200 desktop resolution, your eyes will suffer and your sense of aesthetics will be highly offended! As far as I can tell, there's no option to run the program in a window.

Once I got past the initial "yikes" factor (of the screen resolution and display), I am finding that I am learning far more with this software's combination of onscreen tutorials, video clips (of someone actually playing the piano) and audio instructions, and keyboard-to-computer interface and its immediate feedback, than I have been with a couple of teach-yourself-piano type books. This software isn't too big on theory or preparation (finger exercises, etc.), but is good for getting you actually start learning with the keyboard.

There's another program included called "Songbook," which comes with 75 songs that you can learn to play; you can watch the program play it with proper timing, and then try to play it yourself, either by reading the music properly or by cheating and reading the numbers above the treble staff (for example, "1" is the middle C chord, "2" is D, etc.). There's also a rudimentary grading built into the lessons and the Songbook.

You're supposed to be able to download MIDIs from the internet and import them into the Songbook and learn to play them, but so far I have not been able to do so (unexpected program error blah blah blah). I've only tried a couple, and will try others and update the review later on this aspect of the software.

I'd give the USB-to-MIDI cable 5 stars in a heartbeat, and the sofware probably 4 stars. I'll round up and give the whole package 5 stars. For an extra few dollars beyond buying just the USB-to-MIDI cable, this is a good value and choice for those just starting out on learning to play piano.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Better than emedia
Comment: My friend has both emedia and teach me piano. The former is more like a traditional classroom teaching. The latter involves practice from the very beginning. Before you finishing first chaptor, you are able to play a real song. Very rewarding. I am going to buy my own teach me piano.

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