Piano Coach Reviewer's Comments

Piano Coach Deluxe by Charanga is a six CD-ROM software suite designed for the absolute beginner to the intermediate player. The program includes a vast amount of information but lacks the games and recording options that higher-ranking products offer.

Ease of Use:  

Piano Coach Deluxe is split into six modules. Each module corresponds to one of the CDs and it will not function without the CD in the drive. Because of this, there will come a time when you will find yourself swapping disks in the drive.

Piano Coach Deluxe has done a good job at keeping the screen uncluttered and organized. You can click a history icon to see a list of the last ten pages visited, and you can click on bolded words and phrases to access a definitions window. These definitions are useful and helpful when it comes to better understanding the program and learning musical terms.

Feature Set:  

Each lesson in Piano Coach Deluxe comes with a video recording of a professional pianist playing the particular musical piece that is included in that lesson. You can play along with this video and even put it in slow motion to see exactly where to position the fingers and hands. Each piece of music comes with a five-step program to mastering the song. In addition, there are tips included with every lesson for added instruction and help.

Piano Coach Deluxe strangely enough has a music resources section that is full of resources for the guitar. It also has a guitar tuner icon always present.

Unfortunately, Piano Coach Deluxe does not track progress and cannot import MIDI files.

Ease of Installation:  

Loading and installing all six CDs takes some time and Charanga requires that you register the product before you can use it.

Lesson Coverage:  

Piano Coach Deluxe includes a large selection of lessons and topics. Four of the six CDs include comprehensive lessons on various aspects of piano playing. We commend Charanga for the extensive amount of information available in this program.

We would recommend that Piano Coach Deluxe include more exercises or games for learning to play by ear in the future.

Practice Options:  

Piano Coach Deluxe enables you to loop sections of music and practice right and left hands separately. Piano Coach Deluxe has a unique section where they offer scales and exercises for piano exams grades 1-5.

However, it does not supply interactive learning games or even a recording station. We feel that these are two key ingredients to a successful and enjoyable piano lesson program.

Help/Support:  

Piano Coach Deluxe offers phone and email support but not a FAQ section or tutorial. A manual can be found inside the program itself under the help icon.

Summary:  

Piano Coach Deluxe is at the top of the list in terms of lesson quality and quantity, but the lack of certain practice tools and no user history reports causes it to fall well behind some of the more versatile products.

To read our review of the #1 product click here.