Does it support midi-in? I've got a small midi keyboard, being able to hook that up to this would be ideal.
And if that's in there, what about a mode - like typing instructors - where the page only advances if you hit the right keys? I think that would be an ideal way to learn the notes, followed by a mode like Guitar Hero where you have to hit the right notes at the right time.
Finally, given that the app is aimed at teaching, I'd add a progression path, have the user start with simple music and gradually progress. Finding rights-free midi files and assessing difficulty might be difficult though.
No MIDI in for the moment. It’d be nice to have, for sure!
For learning - I agree - I wanted to have some kind of ‘difficulty’ heuristic for pieces, and recommend easy ones. I just haven’t been able to come up with anything yet.
You can look up the royal grading the UK uses for classical pieces and use that.
A single difficulty score is a bit difficult (hah) as a piece will have many technical dimensions to it, and ideally you're comfortable with most of it but a few dimensions push you out of your comfort zone.
I think these standard grade scores attempt to give some kind of loose ordering to when you might want to tackle the piece.
I'm actually from the UK. Is this the grade system people normally refer to - like they say they're grade 8?
I meant more an algorithm to determine the difficulty. Things like tempo and how much your fingers would need to move. But equally, I could probably just cherry pick some easier pieces far quicker
And if that's in there, what about a mode - like typing instructors - where the page only advances if you hit the right keys? I think that would be an ideal way to learn the notes, followed by a mode like Guitar Hero where you have to hit the right notes at the right time.
Finally, given that the app is aimed at teaching, I'd add a progression path, have the user start with simple music and gradually progress. Finding rights-free midi files and assessing difficulty might be difficult though.