Flowkey Review 2023: Is It The Best Online Piano Course?

Flowkey Reviews 2020

Many believed that this is an online piano course, however, it is not. In fact, a lot of users are disappointed to know that this is just a practice tool. So, for those who are actually looking for piano lessons, you might want to steer clear from the app. Although it is fun, interactive, and will help you practice songs with great speed, it does not provide lessons whatsoever. It is better to search for an actual teacher or look for a better online piano course.

Outline3

Course Outline

While there are basic introductory lessons, Flowkey does not engage students in learning techniques and music theory.

Money3

Value for Money

The app is affordable, but considering the fact that it does not provide you with lessons past the basics, you are basically paying what you get. It serves more as a practice app, yet for a practice app, it is quite expensive.

Platform

Flowkey is available on all platforms: PC, MAC, iOS, and Android. Aside from that, it creates a unique bridge between the real world and the digital world that makes learning fun and innovative.

Feedback3

Student Feedback

Some students who have tried Flowkey were generally disappointed for the fact that the supposed online piano course is no more than a practice tool.

Pros
  • A fun, interactive way to learn to play songs
  • Huge library of songs to learn
  • A revolutionary way of teaching songs through microphone or USB
  • Songs from every genre so everyone has something to enjoy
Cons
  • Subscription-based and a lifetime subscription is quite expensive.
  • More expensive than other subscription-based piano lessons
  • No emphasis on learning techniques and theory
  • Microphone connection can be a bit laggy so it is better to go for USB connection

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If you are looking for a practicing tool, on the other hand, then you might love this app.

If you’ve always wanted to play the piano but are not quite sure where to start, you are not alone. We are actually on the same page. Just by merely looking at terminologies and techniques of playing the piano can be so intimidating, especially for someone with little or no experience at all. 

Online piano lessons, coaches, and apps offer to simplify these things for people like us. Flowkey is one of those apps that provides easy and fun ways to learn the piano. However, is Flowkey worth it? Does it really give you a full-out piano lesson that is on par with other online courses?

This tell-all Flowkey review 2020 will keep you on your toes.

What and How Does Flowkey Work?

Flowkey is the best piano app that you can access on your PC, MAC, and any iOS or Android devices to teach you songs. It contains a huge library full of songs you can use to learn and practice and are categorized according to skill level. 

Aside from teaching you how to play songs, this online piano course also has a section for beginners. The courses all have a brief but educational discussion at the start. This discussion contains the most basic techniques you will need in order to start playing.

Who Is Flowkey Suitable For?

Flowkey is suitable for people who have never played the piano before and simply want to learn songs. It can also be for people who are currently taking lessons and would like something to supplement their learning. 

Personally, I highly encourage everyone to take actual piano lessons or find a good online course and use Flowkey for practice rather than solely depending on the app. 

What Makes Flowkey Unique?

The song library contains all genres, from classical to musicals, rock and pop, country and gospel, even R&B and Asian pop. There is something for everybody whatever musical interest they have.

Flowkey is quite similar to Playground Sessions, as both generally work as a rhythm game. The app displays the hand positions, the keys, and the music sheet on the screen while you play the notes on your acoustic piano, electric keyboard, grand piano, and/or MIDI keyboard. You may check the flowkey vs playground sessions review, and flowkey vs simply piano by joytunes review to learn more.

However, what sets Flowkey completely apart from other applications and programs is the fact that it utilizes your device’s microphone to pick up the notes you play to see if it matches the one in the sheet they provide. This allows you to use this app on any type of piano including acoustic and grand pianos.

Who Created Flowkey?

FlowkeyFlowkey was created by Ahmed Hassan (1), Jonas Gössling (2), and Alexander Heesing in collaboration with Yamaha Music back in 2015.  Their small but growing team of entrepreneurs is based in Berlin, Germany. 

They are a group of people who have a great love for music and a passion for sharing the joy it brings to people through education. This is why they created Flowkey.

What Does the Program Consist Of?

This smartphone app aims to help you expand the number of songs you can play by letting you choose and practice songs you like straight from their collection. The app guides you as you play through the notes either via your device’s microphone or via its USB connectivity. If you need help setting up your electric or MIDI keyboard, here is a helpful walkthrough (3).

Music Genres

As I have mentioned above, one of Flowkey’s strengths is its enormous library of songs. Here are the available song genres that you can learn through this online piano course:

Pop Classical Film & TV Romantic
Game Jazz Melancholy Evergreens
Happy Rock Partners Groovy
Kids Traditional R&B Energetic
Mellow Christmas Asian Pop Smooth

Difficulty

Aside from being able to select the music genre for your lessons, you also have the option to choose the level of difficulty wherein Flowkey has four levels of, including Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Pro.

Choose your level

Price

This app provides learners with free service and paid service. Below is a breakdown of what you’ll be getting from the Free and Subscription packages:

Free Subscription

– A small number of basic courses beginners need to start playing
– 8 Free Songs you can use for practice

– Access to more advanced lessons like playing with four chords and music reading
– Access to the entire library (over 500 songs)

Here is the Flowkey cost for a monthly subscription and Flowkey premium price for lifetime subscription:

Flowkey PremiumOnce you install and open their official app, you will be asked whether or not you have had any experience playing the piano. Based on this information, Flowkey will be able to suggest songs that are perfect for your skill level so you can start playing right away.

Modes

One more thing that gives this piano app an edge is the fact that you can select modes as you cruise through their songs. Each song has three play modes:

  • Wait Mode – This mode waits for you to create the note on your own keyboard before jumping unto the next one. You completely control the pace of this mode.
  • Slow Mode – This mode slows the song down by 50%. 
  • Fast Mode – This mode plays the song in its normal tempo. 

As you play through these different modes you will be looking at a split-screen where the top displays the proper hand location on the piano while the lower screen displays the sheet music.

Nuvole Bianche

Courses

Now, this is the part that seems to lack quite a few elements. Understandably, this course is meant as supplementary lessons to expand your song list. However, this could be misleading to total beginners. The lack of material that discusses proper technique and music theory could be disappointing to those who want to learn how to play the piano seriously.

Introduction

How Can I Know If Flowkey Is Not A Scam?

Yamaha Music (4), a big, international company is in collaboration with Flowkey. From a business perspective, a big company like Yamaha would not involve themselves in something that can be seen as scammy. 

Aside from this fact, Flowkey and its staff are actually very active online. You can find them on Twitter (5), and they will answer your questions and cater to your concerns, even complaints, within 24-hours.

You can also easily unsubscribe to your monthly subscription if you find that you have no more use for the application.

Flowkey Real Unbiased Text and Video Testimonials

Here are a few reviews that are taken from several testimonials on Twitter.

Flowkey testimonial1

According to a Twitter user (6).

Flowkey testimonial2

According to a Twitter user (7).

Flowkey testimonial3

According to a Twitter user (8).

On Reddit, however, people have something else to say.

Flowkey testimonial4

According to a Reddit user on this thread (9).

Flowkey testimonial5

According to a Reddit user on this thread (10).

To finish this off, let us go ahead and take a look at the reviews posted on their official site.

Flowkey team

If you want to read more in-depth reviews from Flowkey students, you can check out their User Stories section here (11). 

Video Reviews & Results

Our Rating:

My Final Verdict

Unfortunately, I am going to have to give Flowkey a rating of 3.5/5.

The thing is I want to like Flowkey so badly. Their song library has the widest selection of songs and music genres in all piano lessons I’ve reviewed. Aside from that, their way of teaching students how to learn songs on the piano is quite revolutionary. 

The app uses your device’s microphone to pick up the notes as you play them, which is pretty amazing. It can get better if you connect your device to your electric or MIDI keyboard.

However, Flowkey is not much of an online piano course. It is rather something you use to expand your repertoire. You learn songs from this app but you do not learn how to play the instrument from it. Yes, there are basic lessons that beginners can take to give them an idea of how to play the basics, but it is simply not enough to be considered a course.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

  1. https://twitter.com/y0siris?lang=en
  2. https://twitter.com/jonasgossling?lang=en
  3. https://www.flowkey.com/en?utm_campaign=aff_pianodreamers&utm_source=website&utm_medium=general
  4. https://au.yamaha.com/en/products/contents/pianos/flowkey/index.html
  5. https://twitter.com/flowkey_com?lang=en
  6. https://twitter.com/ricardojuchem/status/1248711745503444993
  7. https://twitter.com/joanabp/status/1238927156715163649
  8. https://twitter.com/MissWhiteMage/status/1238097218990727168
  9. https://www.reddit.com/r/piano/comments/ah5aab/a_beginners_thoughts_on_flowkey/
  10. https://www.reddit.com/r/piano/comments/446a33/whos_tried_flowkey_anything_your_likeddisliked/
  11. https://www.flowkey.com/en/user-stories
  12. https://youtu.be/I1wBgAeUr8M?t=25
Flowkey