PIANO APP SCAMS
The internet is rife with misleading sales pitches from promoters of beginner piano apps. This blog entry addresses those issues and what consumers should watch out for before buying.
The personal computer revolution that began in the 1970s has brought with it amazing advantages for academic research, as well as facilitating commercial exchange of goods and services.
The internet makes it easy to find information almost instantly—information that once required traveling to distant libraries around the world. You can also track down and purchase hard-to-find items with just a few clicks.
The negative flip side of this information revolution is that false information appearing on the screen is seldom vetted. For instance, so-called AI-gathered information is, at this point, nothing more than a mindless vacuum cleaner of information swept up from various websites, without verification of its content value, and this process often provides shallow or inadvertently misleading information.
Many viewers will assume that if information appears on the screen in their web search results, it must automatically be true. This situation provides fertile ground for scam artists to push their schemes onto the public with very little correction or validation from search engines.
Internet platforms, currently dominated by Google, Instagram, and YouTube, are awash with promotions for learning apps aimed at beginner piano students. More than a few of these apps border on scams, and sometimes outright fraud.
I could name several of these piano-app scammers here, one by one, but I’d rather avoid legal disputes and court battles. Instead, I’m sharing a few key points to help you make an informed decision before purchasing anything related to learning piano online.
If a consumer wants anything more than anything else before making a purchase, it is accurate information about the product and its quality. But without third-party verification, this may simply be a consumer’s gamble.
Currently, there are no established standards for validating music education apps, as there are for legal certification of high schools, colleges, and universities. So, the watchword for online music education consumers is the Latin warning, caveat emptor; buyer beware.
The Three Fs - Fast, Fun, & Free
To avoid being taken in by piano-app scammer sales pitches, remember what I call the “Three Fs.”
FAST: Learning to play the piano with even elementary competence is never ‘fast ’- it is a long-term skill acquired over years. There are no shortcuts, insider tricks, or exclusive gimmicks. The sales promise that, with their unique approach, you will master the keyboard “Fast!” plays into a consumer’s fear of hard work and the arduous task of mastering complex difficulties. That will never go fast, not for Mozart, not for Liszt, not for anyone. We all earn our mastery of the keyboard over a period of several years.
FUN: I find practicing and performing immensely rewarding. I cannot overstate the adventure of exploration and the satisfaction it has brought to my life. But I wouldn't call it easy “fun,” like jumping into a swimming pool, attending a party, or going to the movies.
Actually, working through technical difficulties is very far from what I would call ‘fun’. By analogy, is gardening fun? It can be very hard work, but also very satisfying when our labor results in trees growing to majestic heights, and flowers blooming in glorious color, a process spanning months, seasons, and years.
FREE: Learning to play the piano is never ‘free,’ whether we consider paid private lessons or apps. But even more pertinent, the cost of hundreds, and ultimately thousands, of hours spent studying—your precious time—is an even greater cost. Whether classical or jazz, learning to play the piano requires much time, work, and commitment.
I will add one other word to think twice about- easy. It is fair practice to promote a system that is easier than another, but even the so-called easiest approach still requires work.
These realities of developing piano skills aren’t bad news. Piano playing is a craft before it becomes an art. Learning to read music, building the finger articulation and sophisticated coordination we call technique, and developing effective practice strategies - all take years of steady work. Like high-quality carpentry or medical surgery, piano playing requires technical skills that must be mastered before even simple accomplishments are possible. These efforts can enrich our lives, and the process can be invigorating and endlessly engaging—or, as the saying goes, “The journey is the goal.”
Why are the ‘fast, fun, & free’ sales pitches so effective?
The answer is that most adult beginner piano students may be looking for easy amusement, not hard work and long-term commitment. They are unaware of the reality of keyboard mastery, making them easy prey for scammers who exploit their fear of even the slightest difficulty, instead offering a ‘free ride’ to keyboard mastery.
A sales pitch such as “You can learn to play piano like a Pro in just one week!” is a guarantee that a scam is in play.
My experience, and that of most of my teaching colleagues with whom I have analyzed these matters, is that most adult beginner piano students quit after only a couple of months. They aren't getting the results they were promised, namely, playing as well as the famous pianist they saw on YouTube. Long-term commitment and focused concentration were not part of the sales pitch they were given.
There is also the fact that many modern citizens have never made anything that required extensive labor and time; everything they own is prefabricated. For instance, in the 19th century and before, if you wanted clothes to wear, you had to sew them from whole cloth yourself, or go to the local tailor who did. If you wanted a chair to sit on, you made that chair, or went to a local carpenter who had those skills. Today, very few people in our society make their clothes and furniture, and the very concept of skills developed over many years is not part of their personal experience, as it was for previous generations.
That leaves the door open for piano-scammers to mislead consumers into believing they can buy mastery of piano skills as if they were just another product in a package to be delivered by Amazon on their doorstep.
HOW TO PROCEED
When we make a purchase, we must stay within our budget while remembering that ‘you get what you pay for’. If the sales pitch sounds too good to be true, no matter what the product or service, it almost certainly is.
I state on my teaching website, “I have been playing the piano since I was seven years old, and I do not regret one minute I have ever spent at the keyboard!” And I reaffirm that here. I know I speak for thousands of accomplished pianists when I say that, as rewarding as it has been and continues to be, it has never been fast, fun, or free, nor did I or my colleagues ever have any illusions that it was. The struggle was part of the journey, and the rewards of artistic achievement were worth that effort.
For potential piano students, my advice is straightforward: learning to play the piano takes time, focused concentration, and dedication over years. If one is looking for a quick and idle amusement, the piano will not satisfy, and it is better to consider other hobbies that are far less demanding.
Whereas apps have practical, if limited, use, they are no substitute for a professional music teacher who can see and hear you and address issues no app can. Piano apps are not a substitute for direct input from accomplished musicians, just as vitamin pills, while sometimes helpful, are not a substitute for wholesome food.
Although a piano teaching app may seem less expensive than a piano teacher, spending years wandering around the internet for reliable information and skills can ultimately cost far more in wasted time and energy. Also, consider the pianists you admire and how they were taught to develop their abilities. In other words, if you want to play like a pro, examine how they arrived where they are. We can learn most from those who have succeeded.
