Dear Chris,
What is the shipping cost to Hong Kong?
My daughter is 3 year old, she has some autism symptoms. She has ~6 months delay in speak and understand.
But she likes KL’s Little Reader very much. That’s why I think PW may work for her.
Actually, I am the one who want to try it. Many years ago, I spend a few years on pinao but still not able to play a song well.
Besides, I have the Yamaha NP-30, with MIDI input and output. Can this work with Piano wizard?
Thanks!
Yvonne
How well does a 2 year old learn piano from this system?
I am reposting an answer (modified for you) as this is a question we get quite a bit in this forum. The game can be played by anyone that knows their colors. As for your 2 year old, I would use “Free Play” mode where the hitting the keys generate the game objects, so no matter what they hit they are seeing results. It is also a great way to help teach them the colors, if they don’t know them yet, but we have seen lots of 2 year olds playing the game, and anything that gets them having fun on the piano at that age and getting to know the keyboard is great.
I found this video online, and though he is not using the correct fingerings yet (in the game and the videos when he is ready) you can see he “gets it” and is enjoying himself on his first song. What a great way to start your music studies.
“http://www.youtube.com/v/UY5LYuaBZl4&rel=1”
So, my opinion is that your child is probably ready or nearly ready to start, I believe their minds are growing so fast at this age that music can only help them and delight them. I personally love that age, their personality begins to emerge, they walk and talk, and now can begin to play music!
Enjoy,
Thanks
Chris
Thank you! I am really excited about trying this project. My son loves to listen to music so I thought he might like making some. Thanks for such a quick response.
Yvonne,
One of my favorite sayings is “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood!” (Tom Robbins), so you go girl, enjoy the program as well. As for the cost, each place is different, I would email my office manager Mary Menger and she can compare and give you the best advice how to ship. Her email is mmenger@musicwizard.com.
As for Autism, we recently received a lot more feedback from different educators, parents and families dealing with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and while nothing works 100% for every child, as wide ranging as the spectrum and individuals are, we are very gratified and happy with the results people are sharing.
DISCLAIMER! In the spirit of complete transparency, as the founder, I can tell you:
Our program was NOT designed specifically for people with special needs or Autism spectrum.
That being said, we keep getting amazing, often unsolicited feedback that from parents, educators and special needs schools that found it extremely effective. These stories moved us, because we realized that while as entertaining and educational our game was, for these children and families, it was far more, it was transformational.
In other words, this could change lives, give hope, joy and confidence to people struggling under unbelievable challenges. That inspires us to reach out and share this in the chance we can help make an even bigger impact.
We honestly don’t know if this will help your children, but we think it is worth a try, and so we took your risk away, and doubled our guarantee, so you can move as slowly or carefully as you wish, and see if it is right for you and your child. Personally, I am convinced that if you read through these stories, you will come away convinced that it is worth a try if it can help your child and family the way it did these people. If not, we buy it back, simple as that
[i]Dear Mr. Keith of Piano Wizard,
My son, Jed, age 8, is severely retarded with difficulties in language comprehension. It would have been impossible for him to learn to play the piano the normal way.
The Piano Wizard, being so intuitive a method, makes it possible for Jed to know when to push which key without having to understand spoken instructions. He’s been practicing for 8 months now and has learned to play the first 30 songs. He has even learned to read a little bit of music.
Thank you for creating such a wonderful product!
Sincerely,
May Sheng
[/i]
There’s incredibly inspirational video of her son playing again, we share it with you because she felt that so many parents like her are looking for something special that can bring beauty and joy into their children’s lives, and like her, we think, “if he can do it, maybe you can too!”
As you will see, the autism spectrum is very wide, and what works for one, does not work for another, but we can see people seem to be having broad and dramatic success with Piano Wizard Academy.
First from a special needs teacher.
[i]"As a music educator to students with special needs, I have been using the Piano Wizard Academy program with many of my students since October 2008 . . .Every student that has
experienced this wonderful program has enjoyed it and many have demonstrated a talent in using it. Many of these talented students have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and possess a wide range of abilities.
During Phase One of implementing Piano Wizard Academy, each student was given the opportunity to play at least the first song of the first lesson, which involves playing only two different colored notes. The ability to change the tempo, or speed, of the music made it very adaptable for all of the students.To track students’ progress, I recorded the date, song name, level, tempo, hand played (right, left, or both), overall score, and the time attended to Piano Wizard Academy. By analyzing this data, I came up with some rather impressive numbers, given the diversity of the population using Piano Wizard Academy.
Of the 25 children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, 28% obtained a perfect score of 100% the first day they played Piano Wizard Academy. On their second day playing Piano Wizard Academy, that number leaped to 55% of the children obtaining a perfect score. From there, I broke down the data into two groups, one group of students with High-Function Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, and another group of Autistic students with limited verbal abilities.
Of the students in the HFA/Asperger’s group, 55% obtained a perfect score the first day playing Piano Wizard Academy, and 77% reached a perfect score on the second day.
In the Limited Verbal Abilities group, 12.5% obtained a perfect score the first day which increased to 33% on the second day playing Piano Wizard Academy…"
Jennifer[/i]
[i]Chris,
I wanted to let you know that so far, my son loves it. . . . The graphics are entertaining and keep him interested. . . Working with children with Autism, they sometimes need to be prompted more than one time to start a task. My son did not need prompting when he was introduced to this game. At 6 years old, he is a pretty advanced gamer, being able to pick up how to play any game immediately. He enjoys learning games, but usually only if they have a favorite movie character attached. I feel the music is what kept him interested, as well as feeling as if he was playing a game.
Chris,
Good Morning!!! I took the Piano Wizard to the Special Education Dept. of a private school where my friend is the Director. She has many students of various ages on the autism spectrum. Piano Wizard Academy has been a HUGE hit!! One little boy who is 6, and very hard to occupy, has found his smile. The only problem so far…NO ONE wants to stop playing! … Not one student became frustrated during play. The game is very self satisfying to the child, and stimulating as well. After 1-2 tries, everyone was familiar with the color scheme and we were able to adjust the tempo to meet the need of the child. Many of the kids understood that they were playing the note in the music. Level 1 was a great success, and we will be moving on to Level 2 today. . . .
Here is some data from 3 students at the private school where my friend works. First, let me say that Piano Wizard Academy was a huge hit with everyone, young and old! I have never seen so many smiling faces in one classroom!! Children who are on the autism spectrum should have no problem using the Piano Wizard as a wonderful tool to help them in many areas including expressing creativity. In addition, it provides them with a success oriented opportunity for achievement and mastery.
Student 1 was a 6 year old little boy with moderate autism, and minimal verbal skills. On the first trial, he achieved a score of 35%, the second trial, a 68%, the third, a 74% and the 4th, an 87%. This was all done on Level 1. He was hesitant to move on to Level 2, but after a time, was able to do so, and did much better. At first, he wanted to just use one finger, but eventually caught on to both hands. He was smiling and flapping to show enjoyment.
Student 2 was an 11 year old boy with mild autism, who is verbal. On the first trial, he scored a 47%, the second trial, a 69%, and on the 3rd trial a 98%, all on Level 1. He was anxious to move up the levels, and did so with ease. He understood the concept of using both hands. He loved the praise and wanted others to watch him. He wanted to do it the next day, and even went on his own and played Jolly Old St. Nicolas!
Student 3 was a 7 year old girl with aspergers… very verbal! She achieved a 48% on the first trial, and a 100% on the 2nd trial. She did a little dance for the class and didn’t want to stop. She moved through all 5 levels with ease.
Pictures to come soon.
Still testing product.
Tina
Yeidi, instructor
Gabby (Autism,) She is consider somewhat higher functioning but still very delay
Date: November 22, 2010
Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the product. I feel that it will take a very long time for my daughter to master this concept the way it is as of now. I feel the sticker reward system is Fabulous. My objective is to have Gabby become comfortable familiar with the concept of making music and incorporated with play! She looks forward to playing with Piano Wizard Academy. Her reactions are priceless. I feel this product will in fact be a great asset to children with special needs and Autism. Whenever she is with the Piano she is very calm. My feeling is that with Piano Wizard Academy she is using more of her cognitive and to a degree she is able to learn it, that being said these suggestions I have provided previously will make Piano Wizard Academy more marketable to the Special needs community.
Time spend on a weekly basis: 3 times per week or more
Length: about an hour or more
Current Stage: Play stage (I have had just shown her the lessons)
Does the child can initiate music play? Not Independently only With Instructor
Where the lesson does takes play? I usually do them on the afternoons after school and on weekends
Sincerely,
Yeidi[/i]
(Here we see mixed results, we know it won’t work for everyone, but for the majority of kids, it is a Godsend. . . .)
[i]Janine
So I introduced my one son, 5 years old, to lesson one. He did well and liked the few songs he tried. BUT he is so used to going from game to game on the laptop that he found it difficult to go in a precise order. He kept saying he wanted to try different lessons, different hands…etc…because he always likes to move at a fast pace. Today was just exploratory for him and I allowed him to play with it. Round two I will be more structured and see how he can limit his desire to jump ahead.
My background:
Middle school teacher of Health education. Inner city (Camden NJ) environment. Working on a masters degree in Applied beahvior Analysis to becaome a Baoard certified Behavioral analyist. I have taught for 16 years and teach regular as well as special education students with varying classifications.
Gavin: (5 years of age) diagnosed at 22 months with ASD. Started intense therapy of ABA, speech and Occupatioanl therapy. Went to preschool disabled at three, typical preschool with an aide at four and now first year of typical Kindergarten with aide. Very “busy” and above most peers academically in school but socially immature and impulsive. Loves games on the laptop and has an intense imagaination.
Kyle: (also 5) Diagnosed with PDDNOS at 22 months .Same as above with Gavin in schooling and therapy. Kyle is more of a "pleaser’ and entertainer. Likes to sing and loves music. He is also impulsive and very competitive. Likes to HURRY through activities to complete them. He is actually working in this at school using a timer to SLOW DOWN his work. This may be an idea I can use with him on the piano.
I can video my children. Cant video the kids at school. I will video this weekend for you.
More to come…
Hello Again Chris,
First feedback is from the five students in my middle school. Background: they are classified as leanring disabled with behavioral issues. They are from 13-15 years old, two girls and three boys These five chikdrens typically can not handle a stuctured music lesson. The music teacher and I arranged for each of the five students to spend an hour a day for three days during their lunch last week. They LOVED it…and have been asking to do another three days. I was thankful the music teacher was also working with them and was able to talk to them about how the progression worked from game to notes. It was amazing to see them so engaged…because typically they ARE NOT! We will start agin next week as I bring it home to do with Kyle.
My other son Gavin, autism diagnosis, twin brother to Kyle, was introduced to it five times. He enjoys computer games and Wii. He was COMPLETLY disinterested in the program. He is less intense than Kyle and not so interested in acheiving levels. I will continue to try and get him interested, as he enjoys watching Kyle for a bit. he is MUCH less focused and needs more physical activity, but when he is on the laptop playing a game, he is focused, piano wizard did not have the same effect…will keep trying
Janine[/i]
(We know we can’t expect 100% success with ALL children first time, especially with ASD and other special needs children, and that is one reason we offer a 100% unconditional guarantee, so you can see if it is right for you and your child without worry.)
An excerpt from a recent blog post and emails from a homeschooling mother of an child with Asperger’s syndrome.
[i]
Max (currently 9 and in 4th grade) was diagnosed with Asperger’s in May of '09. Just recently Jan '10 we started seeing a therapist to help him manage his frustrations, anxiety, and meltdowns. What I hope to do here, is share what we learn from our son as he grows into adulthood.
My lil’ disclaimer: I don’t claim to be an expert on Asperger’s or even a writer. :o)
We’ve been having a great ol’ time with the Piano Wizard Academy… Since children with Asperger’s (or for that matter most children under the autism umbrella) are typically visual learners, … these kiddos often respond well to learning via a video gaming format. That makes it fun for you too!
Games work… especially games incorporating repetition and a high dose of fun along the way! With that ever-so-important knowledge under my belt, I was thrilled to have found a computer-based learning system for teaching my son how to play a musical instrument!
Would you believe my son is currently learning to play the piano? We’re the proud (and excited new owners) of the Piano Wizard Academy package which provides us with piano lesson books and video lessons equating to 2 years worth of children’s piano lessons. The system is designed to work on your home computer and comes with a 48-key digital keyboard that plugs directly into your pc. As parent, the system guides you as “music coach”… which you can accomplish with ease… even if you’ve never played a musical instrument… even if you can’t read a single musical note! As the music coach you may choose to learn right along with your student, or you may just guide their learning. In my case, I choose to learn!
My entire adult life I’ve wanted to play the piano… despite not owning one. The Piano Wizard Academy will teach you how to play on a “real” piano. My parents have such an animal and I’m anxious for the day when my children and I can play for grandma and grandpa!
Why music? If you’ve read the research on the correlation between children who can play a musical instrument and levels of success on college entrance exams, greater emotional health and stability, a higher sense of self-esteem and their ability to comprehend math… you’ll know why! Children who master a musical instrument typically score significantly higher on math exams, and while we’re not expecting Max to attend medical school, you might be interested to learn that music majors are the most highly admitted college grads to medical school. There’s definitely something pretty amazing going on in the development of the mind when the language of music is incorporated into a child’s curriculum.
… I can’t imagine a better Christmas gift to give to a child on the spectrum… or any child for that matter, than the gift of music. These piano lessons are learned by playing a game, and taught in a series of steps that eventually lead to you and your student reading real musical notes, knowing how to properly sit at a piano, with correct hand-placement and timing, to generate beautiful music from a REAL piano!
… My son loves the outer-space background, but there are several to choose from. … it starts off as a matching game. Something anyone can do! As the child hits the correct key at the correct time, the object morphs from one image into another. If the game is running too fast, you can slow down the tempo. Max has been speeding it up!
You’re given a wide variety of songs to choose from and you’re even able to download your favorite music from the Internet into this game. There are so many games already provided with The Piano Wizard Academy, we’ve not felt the need to add any additional songs at this time, but eventually, we’ll no doubt go music hunting!
Have a great night! I never ate dinner… too much time blogging and decorating our Christmas tree with the family (finally!). So… I’m going to cook something up real quick and check that box!
Blessings,
“Maggie”[/i]
Hope this helps!
Thanks
Chris
Chirst,
Thanks for your prompt reply!
I plan to buy the PW without keyboard.
Can you please advise if my Yamaha NP-30
Works with PW?
Regarding the shipping cost to HK,
Shall I email to Mary to check?
Actually, after read through some of your post here and the video, I trust my daughter will like it.
As long as the kid like something, she will learn how to use it. Just like I don’t need to teach her how to use my iPhone/iPad but she can always find her favorite game.
The only thing that I worry is “Can I teach her to move through the 5 levels?”
I am very weak in music, I even cannot sing a song well. I always get very low score in my high school music lessons.
Thanks!
Yvonne
Yvonne,
Yes it will work, but you will need to also purchase a Yamaha brand USB to MIDI cable, called a ux16 I believe, to connect the keyboard with the computer.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/keyboards/accessories/usb-midi/ux16/?mode=model You can probably find that at a Yamaha dealer in Hong Kong. Other USB to MIDI cables don’t work as well because Yamaha adds extra signals that need to be translated or eliminated for best gameplay.
Also, while this one has sounds, you will probably want to use the sounds in the computer because of the backgrounds.
As for being able to take her to step 5, we literally guarantee it. Use the star stickers, be patient, but the videos are geared to people with NO music experience, the secret is (FUN) repetition, not abstract theory. You learn from each lesson enough to plus her game play and guide it to musical experiences. The star stickers get her on a path to reading from the beginning. Don’t obsess about it though, let her enjoy each level and invite her to "help"you on the next levels, taking one hand, or even a single key, soon she will ask you to let her do it alone because you are messing her up!
Model it, and she will follow.
Thanks
Chris
Chris,
I cannot send email to mailto:mmenger@musicwizard.com
Can you help to check the shipping cost for PW without keyboard?
Thanks!
Yvonne
Yvonne,
She got your email, and will respond soon.
She is the one who can look this up quickly.
Thanks
Chris
Dear Chris,
I have not receive any email from Mary yet, not sure if I miss any reply.
Thanks!
Yvonne
Yvonne,
Myko is handling this now, his email is Myko@MusicWizard.com
Here is the shipping info he found.
Shipping to Singapore via USPS Express Mail International:
From Here: $53.00 approximate.
Academy/no keyboard.
5 lb package 13x10x4
Thanks
Chris
Dear Chris,
May I know the software and hardware requirement for the computer to run the PW program? We can install PW in at most 3 computers, right? What if my computer hard-dish crash and I re-install the Window, then, the computer name changed?
Actually, I want to install it in my HP notebook.
Shipping cost to Singapore is USD50, how about to Hong Kong, should I assume the same? I tried to type in my address in the PW purchasing web page, it shows USD50 on shipping cost.
Thanks!
Yvonne
Yvonne,
Yes, I would assume the same on shipping. If you have a hard drive crash or upgrade or something, just drop us an email and install it on the new machine, we just monitor obvious pirating say at a school or selling it or giving it away, obviously three computers is more than fair, we are just trying to prevent abuse.
Keep me in the loop how it goes with your daughter!
Thanks
Chris
Dear Chris,
Would you please advise the hardware and software requirement on the computer to run PW?
Just want to make sure my notebook will work with it.
Thanks a lot!!
Yvonne
Yvonne,
Only real issue we have is the size of the video card, should be 32 meg, most are that and more. It will work on anything Windows 98SE and above, or Mac 10X and above.
You should be fine, most computers far exceed those specs, even laptops.
thanks
Chris
Dear Cris,
have you posted yet a reply to this question? If so, I think I have missed it, would you mind to repeat the answer please?
Another question I have got: When do you think a new version will be available?
If it isn´t too long in the future, I’d rather wait
Thank you
ISA
ISA,
The new version won’t be out for almost a year at least, and at that time we will offer an upgrade path to our current customers. By then your kids could be well through the coursework already, so I would not wait. As for the return shipping, I forgot to double check but will do that and post it soon.
Thanks
Chris
Recently we had a Piano Wizard Academy Home Party demo night, and these were a couple of people we moved through the 5 steps with. Notice how we adapted to their levels with the curriculum, sequence and timing of the coaching.
Maria, age 10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiAcvJYOQh8
Jesse, age 24 (had piano lessons as a teenager)
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC2cgsD8JO4
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BwbyBy3GKU
Jesse’s feedback on what it felt like to learn so quickly (uncut)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nemFCmrC9yk
In fifteen to twenty minutes they each mastered a challenging song with both hands, and were ready for more. . .
Enjoy,
Chris
ISA,
Thanks for reminding me, I did confirm our policy, we do pay for the shipping back, even on international orders. Fortunately for us the rate of returns is very low, so even those costs don’t hurt us, in fact he said he has had only 2 returns internationally since he started over a year and a half ago, and they were incompatibility issues (one had Windows 2000, a notoriously difficult operating system for games). Sorry for not getting back to you sooner on that, I thought that was the case but did not want to confirm without talking to him. We actually have a superb tech support and customer service department, I rarely have to get involved, and we often get very nice responses from the people they deal with.
As for the Suzuki lesson, we find this often, that no matter how good the instruction, the real progress is in the practice, and since they don’t have the teacher there, they feel unmotivated and unsure if they are even doing it right. Unlearning bad practice is no fun either. This ultimately is the core strength of our game system, is they love to practice and the game feedback tells them on the fly how they are doing. You may be able to incorporate both, as the Suzuki books may be in MIDI format somewhere, in which case she could follow along. What you will find though is they make much faster progress with the game and she will probably outstrip the lesson structure they have for her in Suzuki. In any case, if you do them in parallel, please keep us in the loop how it goes.
Thanks
Chris
PS Because this post is relevant to others, I am going to copy it on the general forum as well.
Dear Chris,
I order the PW at Feb 18, Order ID: 174336612.
When will I receive the product?
I send an email to ASMAdmin@musicwizard.com 2 days before but haven’t get any reply yet.
Would you please help?
Thanks!
Yvonne