Flowkey

flowkey offers the user with numerous songs of different genres which range from Pop to Classical music. flowkey’s UI is simple and easy to use. flowkey also features informational videos on piano posture, sight reading and learning basic music theory. flowkey is available on Apple and Android mobile devices. 

At the time of this flowkey review you are offered a short pre-assessment of your piano playing skills, just with a few multiple choice answers. This shows that this piano app is personalized for you, which I really like. You can then log in through a variety of different social media and other ways, which again, makes it so easy and quick. The interface is very simple to navigate and understand, and the course is really interesting and versatile. 

What we like about the flowkey

flowkey begins by offering to teach the basic skills, such as the Introduction to the piano, followed on by various courses of playing with both hands, intermediate piano playing, building chords, music reading training, and playing scales making it one of the best piano apps for beginners. At the time of this flowkey review we found the audio excellent on this piano learning app, and the videos are very clear.

The courses are generally video based, and I really love that for once, we have an app that is demonstrating clear technique and skills demonstrated which are so important to piano playing. It even touches upon theory at the early stages and develops this throughout the courses. I really like some of the courses such as the improvisation, and fitting certain popular styles. This is a skill that not many musicians have. I love all the courses and I just can’t fault it at all.

The app allows the use of microphone for exercises, or using MIDI or USB, so that this piano learning app can hear you playing and recognize whether you are playing the correct notes. On testing this, it seems very accurate and very helpful; basically, a teacher without a teacher! Amazing. I love the exercises and little pieces at the end of each part of the course, and I really like that during the piece, this piano app shows the score of the music, playing it through at the same time as you, at the same time as watching the video of someone playing, so you can follow their fingers.

Another great teaching technique it demonstrates, is that of breaking down songs into 2 bar parts so you practice in small chunks. It also keeps track of how far you have got through each course so you can return back to the right place and continue along your journey. And if you go wrong on a piece of music you are learning, the music stops and waits for you to play the correct note.

When it comes to the songs and your own independent practice, there are lots of choice of free songs that you can learn, or ones that you can purchase too. With the pop songs, it’s nice to have the lyrics on as well as the chords, and the notes displayed above the piano. This is very clever and very suitable for the modern learner. I feel like you’ve thought of everything! And thousands of songs to purchase too.

How much does flowkey cost?

flowkey is endorsed by some of the most famous YouTube pianists as well as teachers and musicians worldwide. Download flowkey now and join the movement now and become one of over a million pianists and experience flowkey through 8 songs and selected courses, free of charge.You can download flowkey app for free and immediately gain free access to selected songs and course content. For full access to all songs and course content, you will need to purchase a flowkey Premium subscription. You can access flowkey Premium content on all your devices.

Free Version vs Subscription Plan

With a free membership to Flowkey, you’ll have limited access to courses: this includes a complete ‘Introduction to the Piano’, and partial lessons to other courses including ‘Playing with Both Hands’ and ‘Intermediate Piano Playing’.

With a paid subscription plan of Flowkey, you’ll unlock access to all courses and lessons: some premium lessons include ‘Music Reading Training’, and ‘Playing Songs with Four Chords’.

• 1 month flowkey Premium subscription for $19.99
• 6 months flowkey Premium subscription for $83.99
• 12 months flowkey Premium subscription for $119.99

Your payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Once your subscription is renewed, you will be charged the same amount as during the first purchase through your iTunes account. Your membership renews itself automatically unless you cancel no later than 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. You can manage your subscription in your iTunes Account Settings after purchase. This is also where you can cancel your subscription and turn off the auto-renewal option.

If you cancel your subscription, your access to the full library of flowkey content will expire at the end of the subscription period.

What flowkey could improve on

At the time of this flowkey review, this app is a little bit costly. (That said, it’s far cheaper than a private tutor per month!). I like the offer of a yearly subscription or the lifetime subscription; these show a little more commitment from the learner however, and the prices look high for an app. Is there a possibility you could try a ‘one month free’? Is there a promise of how many more songs that could be added on?

flowkey assure they are adding songs on a monthly basis to this app, but it would be good to have a trial for 30 days free as you’d get an idea of how many and what songs have been added on a regular basis. Perhaps that people with a student/teacher email account get a discounted price? Or perhaps a school could get a licence of say 10-20 for a cheaper price maybe?

flowkey is already used by many schools, and the communication between schools and flowkey is clearly very good, which involves setting up lower pricing for them, and the detail of this could be quite interesting for schools. Of course, the premium facility is fantastic, as it allowed you more songs, but is there more to this? Could there be more than this? Your own online tutor available once per month perhaps?

Final Thoughts

As you work through the courses and become an advanced player, the pieces of music and the scores become more advanced too. I like the idea of demonstrating correct fingering and explaining this as well. I also like, whilst you are learning the piece, the idea of the wait mode, which waits for you if you play a note wrong. I also like the listen and play along, which doesn’t necessarily mean it has to recognize what you are playing, but you can play along at the speed of the person on the screen. And of course, if that is a little too much and you are still learning the song, I really love that you can change the speeds by slowing it down at first. Such as key teaching skill that you’ve incorporated here. And also, the very suitable teaching method of learning one hand, then the other, then hands together. You’ve really thought of everything. I also like that you respond so well to feedback, and flowkey are keen to add new features on a regular basis.

If you get stuck, I really like the design of the contact page, which looks like a chat option. This then helps the conversation to be clear and to flow, and you can send a message, photo or even a GIF and wait for a response back! I like that you can have a ‘my songs’ area to save what you are currently working on too. Teachers could set that up on a student’s app to make sure they are working on the right pieces. The only thing that would go along nicely with this, would be a share facility, where perhaps they could record their performance, and send it on to their teacher to listen to as well.  This would really help for musicians to become more expressive with use of dynamics, tempo changes, and emotion.

Overall, flowkey is a great introduction to the piano. It is easy to setup so you can start playing piano right away. The user interface is simple and intuitive with a sleek design.

You can download Flowkey on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Flowkey app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.