Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Other people do Piano Marvel?

I’ve just signed up to playground sessions.

Has anyone used both, and which one did they prefer?

If you want to learn arranged pop songs like a parrot and also pay for every extra song, choose playgrounds. If you want to learn music and sight reading and classical pieces as well as pop and have a choice of a large free library, and the possibility to upload songs yourself, choose Piano Marvel. I prefer Piano Marvel ofcourse

Hanon, in PM is a lot easier than it looks, because your left hand is doing exactly what your right hand is doing, and every measure is exactly the same as the previous measure, just moved up one note. It is actually a muscle-strengthening exercise more than a technique exercise. Start out slow, smooth and steady, and as you get better at it speed up to what you are comfortable with. Remember, it's not a staccato exercise; play it smoothly and evenly. It builds consistency, especially in the 3-4-5 fingers of the weak hand. I highly recommend the Hanon book.

I have to do it left-hand only a couple times because my strong hand (right) tends to mask mistakes I make with my left hand.

I have practiced Hanon #6 a lot in the past but more for learning wrist rotation rather than speed.

On #5 I’m within a few seconds with the right hand. The left hand is a whole different matter.

I do like Hanon exercises so I’m quite happy to plod along with this for a few days/weeks.

I’m on 'Inversion of the Wizards' in method at the moment which gives me some variety.

Interesting question about the SASR test. I've been using PM less lately for the method and technique (kind of stalled at 6-B and 6-D respectively, though I've started tackling them again after about 6 months of dilly dallying) and I'm primarily using it for sight reading and learning some pieces. I had been doing the SASR every day. My highest score is in the mid 600's, but that was a fluke as my average is around 560. I stopped for a while, just needed a break, and my scored dropped to the low 500's. I'm now doing it regularly again and I'm up in the mid 500's again. There's been definite improvements, I think I was around 300's when I started about 2 (?) years ago, but it's been an inverse hockey stick, much more gradual improvement these days.

While I have not used Playground sessions for more than a few minutes I would say that "learning like a parrot" is the exact same process piano marvel uses with, slices, repetitions, mincing, etc. I don't think piano marvel teaches to sight read but the SASR test is fun and addicting. I do find that Playground sessions seems to be more up to date where PM still seems dated and clunky. I agree that PM does have a huge library. IMO Playground Sessions and Piano Marvel offer very similar thing it's just preference. I would say do a trial with each one and decide.

I am at 6A on both Method and Technique, and have backed away from working at it for a couple of weeks. It seems as soon as I hit Level 6 that things got exponentially more difficult. My SASR is typically mid-600's, but I have scored a few in the low 700's. It is really hit-and-miss based on what type of test it throws at you. If it is mostly chord-based, I do fine. If it requires a lot of different fingering/timing in the bass, I get the XXX. If my left hand was as strong as my right hand when it comes to sight reading, I think I would score over 800...but that isn't happening for a long time to come!

Hi everyone!
I am a complete newbie in Piano Marvel. I was deciding between Playground sessions and Piano Marvel and chose the latter because I've read on multiple sites that it's more a traditional approach to learning piano.
Considering I don't have much knowledge on Piano Marvel and couldn't find any useful instructions, I would kindly ask if someone could help me with a few things..
I am wondering if I should strive to being on the same level of method and technique at all times? I mean, if I'm level 1C on method should I finish 1C on techinque also before moving to 1D in method?
My other question is if I should do the method first or technique in the same level?
I see they have an extensive library but would you recommend to sticking to the lessons or taking a few songs from the library and learning them in parallel to lessons?
Maybe I just couldn't find it but there are no instructions on what to do in what order so I am a bit confused. Up until now I was working on AIO and it was pretty straight-forward because I just followed the book. On the app there are so many things and I don't know how to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much!

It would be logical to begin in technique level 1A. Then you do method 1A and you apply the technique you just learned. But you are actually completely free with what you do. Do not forget to look at the PDFs at the top of each level, there is more explanation. You can always choose a few pieces from the library, but make sure they are in line with the level you are learning, or slightly above. It is best not to do too much at the same time, and to focus on one thing and do it well. Also useful, the SASR test, do it every now and then, for example after you have done 1A and after 1B etc. You will notice the progress in the score. Good luck, and if you have any questions, always welcome.

By learning like a parrot I mean that in playgrounds some pianist makes a video and you play it back, without thinking about what you are doing and why. "slices, repetitions, mincing" is exactly the same thing you would do with a real teacher. In PM you just learn to read notes in a normal way, without all that blah blah and bells and whistles. But yes, everyone has his/her choice, most of them quit anyway after they have spent their money on "learn piano in 30 days" :p

Thank you so much, you helped me a lot! Just one more question...I am at level 1D at the moment and it's the first time the dotted quarter note appeared. I am fine with that because I did Alfred's book before so I am familiar with the rhytm but I am wondering how come there is no explanation on how to play it and there is no lesson video on that? It just suddenly appears in Aloutte...if someone doesn't know the rhytm from some other source, how could they learn it? Or am I missing something? There is no explanation in the technique book.

So it isn't just me, then. I've felt like I was thrown under a bus a few times. I never know if I'm being challenged to think for myself or it's an oversight. But if you put a gun to my head and made me place a bet, I'd bet that PM's staff is truly devoted to teaching others and is far better than average at achieving it (certainly for me). I'd love to have a 'mayday' button I could click on to tell me what it is I'm hoping to learn on a given exercise and here are the fingerings that I'm struggling with but I gave up on making suggestions to them years ago. For me this software seems to work better than anything else.

When I was in college, my Accounting 101 course was fond of having you solve homework problems that required knowledge they had yet to cover. The teacher found it amusing. I hated the book and the teacher...

This made me laugh so hard And I absolutely agree! I have no problem with doing additional research on my own but as I am a beginner and a newbie on Piano Marvel when something like this appears I have a feeling I missed something in the app or that I am not doing things in correct order. There should be at least a sentence or two, maybe a warning that something new is appearing in a particular lesson and that we should familiarize ourselves with it using different sources.
I like the app so far and I think I could get used to it with time but it's a bit complicated for beginners because there are no clear instructions or a suggestions how to use it to get the maximum out of it..
I feel pretty clueless sometimes.

Could you not just run the piece in ‘Access' mode without playing along? That’s what I do.
There is also a piece in 'Method' in that level called 'Dotted quarter note' that shows the timing on the music.

You might want to poke around and watch some of the videos. There are some great features that aren't intuitively obvious, like how to select a portion of the score, that are described in the videos.

And while I think they've done A level work on the application, I also think anything with this many features will seem complicated to a beginner. Don't even ask me about learning OBDII, and I was software developer for over 30 years.

Like Treefrog said, you are going to have to pass the Assessment Test, so if you have any questions about how the piece is played, just go to Assess and listen to it. That is also the fastest way to pass the test!

Thanks everyone for good advice! I didn't even consider using Asses for anything else than getting a trophy I will certainly use it for new stuff and rhytms from now on.
After a few days of using Piano Marvel I really like it. I am surprised how much easier it was for me to play in C position...when I did it with Alfred's book it didn't sit right.
And the best part...my motivation to play sky-rocketed again

Look in the method book, level 2D

Got it. I thought Playground also did same slicing, my mix up. It has been so long since I used it. I will say I'm still a PM user from time to time as that library and SASR is great to have.

Hi. Personally I am almost at the end of 3B (Arabia 😮 just done) on method (39%) & 2E (32%) on technique. Plus about 2/3 way through alfred book one.
So my regime is going between those three elements plus occasionally playing
something more pop I grabbed off simply piano before I ditched it.
I think I’ll always be lagging on the technique section, more so because of the ear training bits rather than the reading or flash cards.
I put way more time into method as need to drill the songs, maybe I should
divide my time more equally.
Curious to know how I’ll fare when 2 octave scales and Arpeggio come up.