The world is filled with people who have only so much patience for sameness; this preference for change is what has come to drive the fickle cycle of fashion the world over. At one time, before the use of machines and automation became prevalent in homes and workplaces around the world and when the world ran on manual labor and manual skill, any work that involved automatic machinery was considered exotic, and somehow of better quality than anything the human hand could manage.
When with time the world became overrun with mill-turned merchandise, people started to miss the feel of the uniqueness one sees in the handmade article. The reason that manual work and machine work rise and fall in popularity by turn is that each kind does possess undeniable advantages to recommend it. It is just that the freshness of change is important to the human experience; change helps the mind approach life with renewed vigor and openness. Fashion may not be fickle after all.
The traditional method of learning a musical instrument has always been to learn with a qualified instructor; to benefit from the experience and personal attention of an instructor is always considered to be of such importance that it hasn’t given way much even in the modern age. The field of software development has of late come by new techniques that allow the designing of intuitive user interfaces like never before; these have emboldened several successful attempts at addressing an area of the human experience that has always been out of the reach of the automation revolution: the area of art instruction.
Software systems aimed at piano instruction do not try to imitate the traditional classroom method. Instead, they try to capitalize on the peculiar strengths that computer technology has to its advantage. People are known to have certain unique education needs that the traditional method has always been recognized to cater to poorly to. Many people wish learn an instrument to only become good enough to play for a private audience, and not become virtuoso musicians.
To such people, the serious and involved instruction followed in the traditional manner might seem overly fussy for their tastes. The generalized training methods adopted by software systems are perfect for such a beginner or intermediate level musician. Costs are often a deterring factor to the potential music student. In any venture undertaken, the engaging of skilled human help often turns out to be the greatest expense; so it is with learning an art.
The beginning student can often save on valuable resources by doing the groundwork required for higher learning, with a few months work spent with a software package. The freedom to learn on one’s own is another human peculiarity that is well served by self-learning with software. Such learning requires a good degree of self-discipline and commitment. Granted this ability though, software learning provides students with a possibly valuable meditative learning experience in one’s own company.
To obtain artistic instruction by way of a computer may not be limited to the use of software packages; as a form of middle ground between taking a regular class and using a software package is the possibility of using a distance learning website on a computer, through videoconferencing. Once you are convinced of the benefits of learning the piano through the computer all that remains is to narrow down your choices to the best software package out there or to find the best distance learning website there is.
Two of the best-known software packages have to be Piano Suite and Piano and Keyboard Method; but there are many more. Distance learning websites are easily found with a simple search over the Internet. Many unique features is offered by Piano and Keyboard Method and the amount of lesson material is extraordinary. You can learn both the fundamental and advanced aspects of the piano in this product.
While many would balk at the idea of abandoning the traditional classroom method and replacing it with an impersonal computer, it isn’t really fair to characterize a learning lesson in the presence of the computer as impersonal. The computer is no more impersonal a tool with which to learn music than is the piano itself; if you are able to concentrate on your learning needs and on your feelings about learning an art, learning piano on a computer could be just as spiritual an experience learning by the traditional method.