I’m no stranger to music — I sing and play bajo and theremin in my band, Ropetrick. I also taught myself guitar (work in progress). But there is one instrument I have yet to conquer: the piano.
Instead of resorting to private lessons or public YouTube video tutorials, I wanted to see if a new gadget could make me faster at learning and playing.
This is where the Roli Piano Learning System comes in. It promises to make piano lessons fun by using an iPad app paired with Roli’s Piano — a 49-key midi controller — and Airwave, an instrument and controller that uses camera sensors to track your hand movements.
In this episode of Prove It, embedded above, I go through the process of teaching myself a high-quality music system.
This isn’t just one device — it’s many devices that come together to be your teacher.
At the center is the Roli Piano, a $599 midi controller with keys that light up like Simon’s memory game. It has one port for your headphones or speaker, and a USB-C port for charging and data transfer. You can also connect the piano to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth and access the ROLI Learn app.
Because it’s a midi controller and not a standalone keyboard, it doesn’t have a headphone jack or piano string output; its sound comes from any device you connect it to. And if you connect it to your phone via Bluetooth and connect your phone to Bluetooth headphones or a speaker, you’ll notice a delay between the time you hit a key and the time you hear a note.
The Airwave retails for $349 and is a new type of device that Roli calls an “audio controller.” It has two USB-C ports for charging and data, a pedal input, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It connects to your Roli Piano and uses USB-C to sync with the Roli Learn app on compatible iPads.
But Airwave’s real drive is in the infrared cameras it uses to track your hand movements at a rate of 90 frames per second using something called Vision Technology. These cameras track your hands in real time, and Airwave creates an animated version of them on screen. This allows the Roli Learn app to help correct your hand position and colors your fingers to match the color of the keys you’re supposed to play. If you’re an experienced pianist, you can use Airwave to create cool musical effects, such as layering multiple sounds by moving your hand.
The Roli Learn app ($14.99 per month) is a lot of fun to use. It combines YouTube-style video tutorials with an interactive interface that looks and feels like Guitar Hero. The courses he presents are really easy to follow — anyone can do it. (My partner Bridget Carey says her 6-year-old enjoys using the included games to learn to play.)
I appreciate the variety of human instructors in the video lessons and love that this app also includes popular music, such as “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter and “Kids” by MGMT, in addition to piano classics and skill exercises.
If you’ve been wanting to get started with Roli, there are cheaper ways to use it, such as using the smaller model Roli Piano M iPhone app for $249 — and you can add from there.
My biggest problems when learning a new instrument is finding ways to keep it fun and stay motivated to practice. And after playing with the Roli Piano Learning System for a month, I think I can actually become a decent piano player by learning this way.
Watch this episode of Prove It as I put it to the test, and see if it’s something that could work for you.
