As an adult, it’s all too easy to feel like you’ve missed your window to pick up a fun new skill, whether it’s figure skating, learning a new language, becoming a chess master, or any number of things. Many people have always been in awe of folks who can sit down at a piano and produce beautiful music, thinking “that could never be me”. However, you don’t actually need really expensive formal lessons or courses with a private instructor to develop some basic piano skills.
There are tons of music apps out there that make the learning process easy and fun. Among the various piano learning platforms available, Simply Piano stands out as a comprehensive learning experience worth exploring.
About Simply Piano
Simply Piano is a mobile app developed by JoyTunes (now Simply Ltd) designed to help people of all ages and skill levels learn how to play the piano in a simple way. Whether you’re a total beginner or just looking to brush up on your skills, Simply Piano offers a structured learning pathway to guide you from basic all the way to advanced levels.
The app has won numerous awards, including Apple’s Editor’s Choice Award, Parents’ Choice Award, and Best App from Google Play. Simply is used by tens of thousands of music teachers worldwide, with millions of songs learned every week.
Simply Piano uses a combination of interactive lessons and real-time feedback to teach you how to play. You start by placing your mobile device near your piano or keyboard, then the app listens to the notes you play and gives you instant feedback, which really helps you correct mistakes and improve your skills in real time. The app covers a wide range of music theory, from reading sheet music to playing chords and scales, ensuring a well-rounded learning experience and handle on the technical building blocks.
How It Works
To get started with Simply Piano, the first thing you’ll need to do is download the app and create an account. Then you take a quiz which asks about your current skill level, your goals, the type of music you enjoy, and whether you prefer audio or visual instruction or a combination of both. This helps customize a learning experience specifically for you.
Since the app uses your device’s microphone to listen to the notes you play on your piano or keyboard, this means you don’t need any extra cables or special equipment—just place your device near your instrument and you’re ready to go. The first 25 courses focus on developing your basic skills, things like reading sheet music and playing simple melodies.
After these initial modules, you have the option to choose between two different learning pathways: theory and technique or chord lessons. If you choose theory and technique, your lessons will shift to focus more on classical music, but if you choose chord lessons, you’ll start to learn pop, jazz, and rock right away.
Each course begins with explainer videos followed by practice sessions where you learn a few bars of music with sheet music displayed at the top of the screen and the notes highlighted on a keyboard displayed below. You’ll play the piece together with a backing track, and the music scrolls as you play. The lessons are designed to feel more like playing a game than studying, which makes it way less stuffy than most traditional lessons.
Plans and Pricing
Simply Piano has a few different options to fit a range of budgets and skill levels. First, there’s a limited free version which gives you access to one course in Piano Basics—it’s a nice way to see if you like using the app before committing to a subscription.
If you decide to opt for a paid plan, they have a 3-month individual plan which costs just under $60. This gets you full access to all of the beginner and intermediate courses, the entire song library, and real-time feedback features. It’s a solid choice if you want to dive in a little deeper without having to commit long-term.
For those looking for better value, there’s also the yearly premium individual plan, priced at $120 per year, which breaks down to just $10 a month. You get the same features as the 3-month plan but for a whole year, which is great if you’re serious about learning the piano and really want to save some money.
If you’ve got a family or just want to share access between multiple users, the yearly family plan is your best bet. It goes for just under $180 a year (or $15 per month) and allows you to create up to five premium profiles, plus it includes access to both Simply Piano and Simply Guitar. It’s perfect for households where multiple people want to learn different instruments.
User Experience and Features
The app is designed to be really user-friendly and simple to operate, which is great news for beginners. Once you’ve created an account and completed the initial quiz, you can dive right into the lessons. Simply Piano gives you quick feedback on your playing thanks to its use of your device’s microphone.
The app has a vast library of over 5,000 songs across many different genres, which makes the learning process engaging and keeps you motivated to practice regularly. The catalog includes a mix of classics and today’s hits, like “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Chandelier” by Sia, “All Of Me” by John Legend, and “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic, as well as iconic pieces of classical music by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and much more.
You can also print out the sheet music to practice offline. Simply Piano has a very active Facebook group where you can get support from piano teachers and interact with other learners. The app includes 5-minute practice sessions, allowing users to make progress with minimal daily time commitment.
However, one thing the app doesn’t include is a metronome feature. Although you can adjust the tempo of the backing track, you can’t lower its volume or mute it, and some of the arrangements aren’t always the most manageable without a beat.
The app’s colorful design includes lots of animations and sound effects, and this might be annoying for some people, especially since you can’t turn them off. More experienced players could find Simply Piano too simplistic for them. The app can’t see your hands, so it doesn’t know if you’re slouching, twisting your wrists, or using the wrong fingers—bad technique can become a problem down the line.
Final Thoughts
Simply Piano is a great resource for anyone looking to learn how to play piano. It offers a sleek, intuitive, and straightforward user experience. It’s especially great for beginners and kids, with its wide range of lessons and real-time feedback.
While it has a few minor drawbacks, like the lack of a built-in metronome and excessive sound effects, the overall experience is really positive. It’s engaging and worth trying out for anyone who wants to quickly learn the basics of playing the piano. The app is good up to a point—like Duolingo, it will get you started and teach you some fundamentals, but you may need additional instruction to truly master the instrument.
For total beginners, especially children, Simply Piano is polished and gamifies the learning process in a way that makes practice addictive. However, the feedback is basic—it tells you if you hit the right note at the right time, but there’s zero nuance about technique or musical expression. This is where a real teacher still wins every single time.
