Rocket Piano Review

Reviewer:  Stuart Jenkins
Rating:     
Website Reviewed:  Rocket Piano Website

Welcome to our Rocket Piano review.  We hope it helps you get a feel for what the program has to offer.  We do independent reviews of several such software packages and feel they are useful in helping sort through some of the options out there.  Our review criteria are strict and we look for the intangibles that take a player from just being able to play the notes correctly into the arena of musicality.

 

Click here for the Rocket Piano Course 

QUESTION:  What’s the difference between a good piano player and a GREAT piano player? 

ANSWER:  In a word; musicality.  Good players play technically correctly but GREAT players are very musical.  Our Rocket Piano review found that they focus on the secrets shared by GREAT piano players.

Beginner through advanced

Rocket Piano boasts that they teach you how to play the piano starting at the beginner level and working through intermediate up to advanced.   We started out looking at the beginner level activities and lessons.  It was obvious, early on, in our review that the focus was on making the learning experience fun.  We found a rather innovative approach to learning which focuses on hands-on and HOW to play musically instead of just reading about it.  This was refreshing to find.

As our Rocket Piano review moved into the intermediate and more advanced lessons it became clear the intent was for the student to learn all the skills needed to equip them with the knowledge and ability to play any song desired! Their approach doesn’t just teach you songs from a book that you basically memorize.  While that’s OK for a few songs you often lack the ability to go beyond the ‘crutch’ book and take on other pieces. 

I’ve actually attended piano competitions where pianists played for prize money where they had memorized their pieces…line by line.  Under the watchful eye of a live teacher no less!  Upon sitting in on sightreading with some of these same pianists it was indeed sad to find out that they COULD NOT READ MUSIC

They had, with the help of well intentioned teachers, memorized their music but were nearly helpless when trying to read new music.  How sad and what a shame because most of those players will end up giving up on playing.  Don’t let this happen to you. 

Find a system that works with you and one that teaches you skills that translate to future playing opportunity.  Our Rocket Piano review found that the designers had taken the ‘reading’ issue to heart and focused on teaching you how to go beyond one or two tunes.

We found that Rocket Piano not only teaches you skills that enable you to play pieces that are interesting to YOU and appealing to your listeners through a good foundation on HOW to read notes, it also includes chords and lessons on the art of improvisation which help to round out your skill level and make you a more versatile player. 

While having fun learning to play you are immersed in music theory and other key concepts vital to attaining advanced piano playing levels.  Now, while music theory has a reputation of being somewhat boring, our Rocket Piano review found that Rocket Piano presents theory in a way that is fun yet educational. 

It goes beyond rote memorization and you learn as you go.  It is almost as though theory becomes transparent as you ‘soak’ up the theory concepts throughout the lessons. 

The master of the keyboard, Johann Sebastian Bach, UNDERSTOOD music theory….actually he is the father of many of our modern day western music theory concepts.  Having such knowledge allowed him to become a prolific writer and performer.   ’Nuff’ said!

Our Rocket Piano review found that it doesn’t just throw a bunch of technical ‘stuff’ and piles of books at students and hope they can work their way through them.  Rocket Piano explains the HOW and WHY in innovative tutorials that are engaging, thorough, and surprisingly fun.  I found myself anxious to get back to practicing…and that’s rarely ever happened to me with other some other courses.

Have you ever heard someone play who was technically perfect, hit all the right notes, at the right times, but elicited very little emotion from those listening?  Now compare that to a performance that was moving to the point that people in the audience actually wept or leapt with excitement.  I’ve actually experienced that with two musicians playing the same piece of music! 

Our Rocket Piano review shows that they have obviously taken this into account when designing their course as you learn the ‘extras’ that take you past being average and gives you exposure to what it takes to excel.

ATTENTION CLASSHere comes the big secret to GREAT playing! 

The difference between the two extremes I described above likely can be attributed to the fact that one played technically or computer-like with no emotion and the other played musically and with tremendous emotion where each note is treated lovingly and each phrase as a symphony of emotion.  Music without emotion is like food without taste!  BORING!

Many musicians miss the essence of what makes music appealing by focusing on the technical aspects of playing piano almost exclusively.  Young musicians are particularly apt to confuse fast with good.  They spend so much time on their technique and trying to play fast that they forget to make GOOD music. 

One question I always ask them is “if you can’t play it perfectly at a slow tempo what makes you think you can play it fast?”  I get a lot of ‘Homer Simson Doah’s’ when I ask that question. 

In some cases they are so ‘automated’ that they simply do not know HOW to play musically.  They simply can’t FEEL the music and if a musician can’t FEEL the music they obviously can’t hope reproduce it musically on an instrument.  In many cases they don’t even realize that they aren’t musical.

This was foremost in our mind while performing the Rocket Piano review.  We found they focus on marrying up technique with playing musically. 

Yes, they teach technique, but they also EMPHASIZE the importance of playing musically.  Knowing how to do both is a MUST!

Often people can’t put a finger on why one person plays ‘lights out’ and another plays just ‘so-so.’  They might not be able to express why they feel that way but they CAN hear a big difference.   If you want to rise to the level of the ‘lights out’ category you MUST play musically and with feeling! 

Our Rocket Piano review found that they show you HOW to connect with the listener by learning when to ‘squeeze’ a phrase or ‘milk’ a passage.  Your listener might not know how to express what your special talent is in musical terms but they will understand the WOW factor in your music…..without a doubt.

If you’re serious about learning to play then you owe it to yourself to at least check out some of the FREE lessons at Rocket Piano to get a feel for yourself.

All This and More

Click here for the Rocket Piano Course

 

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