If you want to play songs right away while using a program that covers a comprehensive list of options, check out Piano Suite Premier. The piano lesson program offers over 500 songs covering skill levels from beginner through intermediate. Genres covered in the music include jazz, religious, rock, country, classical, and even well known Christmas pieces. Multiple search tools help you quickly locate the song of your choice in their repertoire. This song database is one of the largest and most diverse of the programs reviewed. Many of the songs include the lyrics and some offer recordings of the artists performing them – including The Beatles, Barbra Streisand, R.E.M, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra.

The song format is multi-track, allowing you to adjust the background volume or turn off the accompaniment completely while you practice. A unique feature is the ability to change the tempo while using these songs. If it is too fast, slow it down to help you learn the piece more quickly.

Lesson screens use graphics giving the student the ability to watch the song progress with animated notes and an animated keyboard while following audio instructions and tips. You have the option to play hands separately or together, change the tempo, add a metronome beat, or turn off the sound while you practice. Lessons are on five different levels, color-coded by difficulty in an easy-to-use format. Music from the lessons can be printed to take to the keyboard or attach a MIDI keyboard to play along with the computer.

The Theory section covers topics such as posture and hand position, pitch and notation, clefs, rhythm, and fingering. These lessons just scratch the surface of the basics needed to understand the complex world of theory. For more in-depth coverage of theory we would suggest some of our higher ranked products or some of our products reviewed in Learn Piano Online where lessons (including theory) are added and updated on a regular basis. The history section offers over 150 famous composer’s biographies from all the major musical periods. Another plus is the ability to track your personal progress and create your own profile. Students can keep individual performance records to review their progress for games and lessons.

The composition section available in Piano Suite Premier gives you the ability to write your own music and then print it out to play. You can record pieces adding guitar, drums, or piano accompaniment if you wish. This product also includes eight interactive games aimed at helping you master music reading and ear training skills. They are simple and lack the complexity of other products that may help you progress to more advanced levels.

There is a toll free number to call for tech support during normal business hours or an email response form to fill out. Links for several patches are available online that should fix install problems you may run into. A FAQs section is also available online for those of you who siimply want to get quick answers to the most common questions.

Summary:

Piano Suite Premier is a good software program covering many basics and lessons to get you started in piano, but it doesn’t include video instruction, which is a key component of our higher ranked products. The composition and recording features, especially the ability to print your own masterpieces, are a real plus for this product.

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