Apps can help you learn an instrument, but they’re not enough

After months of piano practice driven by iPhone and iPad apps, the writer says the convenience—and dopamine—comes with real costs: confusing pricing, frustrating app behavior, and gaps that only a live teacher filled. The conclusion is blunt: apps can support

The first thing this writer does every morning isn’t open a piano. It’s open an app.

For 525 days, Duolingo Piano has been running in the background of their life—each short lesson timed to keep momentum. More recently, Simply Piano has been alongside it: 48 days of subscription-driven guidance that listens to what the keys sound like. And in the mix, there’s also been real-world practice—about eight half-hour lessons with a live piano teacher.

The tension is simple, and personal: technology can make practice easier to start, but it doesn’t make practice whole.

On the app side. Simply Piano comes with its own promise—and a problem the writer says feels hard to ignore. It’s a subscription service. and they describe the practical answer as “probably” around $150 a year if you follow a link they reference. But the App Store itself shows multiple plans, and then the app charges “completely different sums.”.

In their case in the UK, an individual plan listed at 105 pounds ends up charging 165 pounds. Simply Piano support tells them it’s a currency conversion issue. The writer calls that explanation plainly wrong because they’re in the UK. using the UK App Store. paying in UK currency. They add that, by following the link, they can save 10 pounds (which they give as $13.42) per month.

They also say the pricing inconsistency makes the app feel like a scam. even if they still want to acknowledge that the underlying tool can help. Simply Piano. they write. works on iPhone. with the iPad version easier to read when propped up on a music stand. They also wish there were a Mac version, but they say there isn’t one.

The app’s onboarding is built around sound. On their first sign-up, it shows a keyboard and asks them to press specific keys. From that. the app learns what the piano sounds like and then “forever afterwards” listens as they play—something they say continues to work even when they turn the piano’s volume down low for their neighbors.

Simply Piano’s standout pitch is pop-song lessons. The writer says the app guides them through those songs by using a backing track while requiring them to play only a small number of notes. The on-screen instruction relies on finger-numbering, with fingers numbered 1 to 5 from thumb to pinky. Notes are often shown with that number above them. though not always. and they say the app is clearly trying to wean learners off needing to see the numbering.

The visual flow is straightforward: a music stave with a cursor that scrolls along. When the cursor hits a note, the learner is supposed to play it. If it’s correct, the note turns blue. If it’s wrong—playing the wrong thing or playing late—the note turns red. After enough red notes, the app stops, rewinds, and starts again. If errors continue, it rewinds to the start and plays the track more slowly.

They point to additional features for identifying notes when they can’t play, and they say the app keeps adding more tracks. At the same time, they criticize the promotional pressure inside the app, including a push to sign up family members.

They also wish the iPad experience were smoother. What they want is a way not to take their hands off the keys just to tap buttons on the iPad. They say they only solved part of that by using Apple’s Universal Control. moving a Mac trackpad closer to the piano so they could operate the iPad without reaching.

Duolingo Piano is presented as a different kind of experience: faster, gamier, and—according to the writer—sometimes wrong in ways that matter.

They say Duolingo Piano has taught them “nothing” in “500-odd days,” though they also give credit to the speed. They can’t remember the last time a lesson took even a full minute. That rapid pacing, they admit, is appealing when they’re in a hurry.

They describe the Duolingo hardware as a cute 37-key keyboard, but expensive. They also say Duolingo Piano introduces new topics suddenly. including one point where it asks them to swipe across the screen to mark a measure. They respond by describing an immediate scramble to find out what a measure is through Google and YouTube—then returning to finish and get it right.

Their piano teacher, they add, doesn’t use any apps. The writer says the teacher believes apps can turn learning into a fast dopamine hit or a game. rather than building real skill. The writer agrees with that criticism. but still keeps coming back to the point of contradiction: Duolingo did give them some learning. They specifically say there were moments when Duolingo Piano taught them what a high F sounds like.

The app’s upsells and embedded distractions are a consistent theme. They describe Duolingo prompting the learner through game-like screens about opening a chest. with stages they say require tapping three times and reward the user. They call it “pointless aggravation,” and they criticize the self-promotion too.

They say the ads feel “dodgy. ” not because games usually advertise aggressively. but because Duolingo runs ads for itself pushing users to subscribe to the paid version. In one example. the app says subscribers are “4.7 times more likely to finish the course.” The writer reacts sharply: quoting any statistic without a source. they argue. means you’re being lied to. They also say that if there is an actual finish to the Duolingo Piano course. “I don’t believe anyone has found it.”.

They acknowledge they’re being harsh. pointing out Duolingo had once been singled out by Apple as one of the best iPhone apps—though that award was in 2013. After that. the company “turned to AI. ” they write. and this is framed as part of the reason the writer wants to get these irritations off their chest.

In their telling, Duolingo Piano can be wrong enough that the mistakes break trust. They describe programming errors such as asking them to drag notes to an image of a keyboard and being told they’re wrong when it’s not. They also describe an exercise matching note letters to the stave where the pairing is “just isn’t right.”.

The writer adds a line that lands like frustration: when the app says it will “fix a few mistakes,” it means the user’s mistakes—not the app’s.

They say Duolingo still keeps pulling them back, but not gently. They describe ending lessons by force-quitting the app because it’s the only way to get out of a “stupid game” or to escape “an unwanted connection to some random other user.”

Duolingo Piano itself is free, they say, with a subscription option costing $96 per year that removes ads. They also mention an actual Duolingo Piano branded keyboard. They say they like the hardware more than the app, but still warn readers to look for something else.

The story then turns to what “something else” can actually mean when it comes to money and time.

The writer says Duolingo Piano doesn’t require a real piano—you can tap on an iPhone screen instead. They mention GarageBand as an alternative. Simply Piano, they say, requires an actual keyboard.

And the writer argues this point with their own home setup. They say a physical piano keyboard is crucial, and they’ve ended up with two.

One is the physical Duolingo Piano: a 37-key piano keyboard made by Loog. They praise the feel. even while noting the keys are “a little short.” They also say it connects to an iPhone and iPad with a USB-C cable. but that since a daily lesson can be under 60 seconds. the time spent connecting and disconnecting can outweigh the practice itself.

The issue is cost. They say the Duolingo Piano currently costs $250 from Amazon. They ordered early. when it was first announced. and there may have been an early-bird discount. but they don’t remember it. They say any savings were consumed by the cost of importing it to England from the maker. They also note it’s now available in the UK and on Amazon US.

They add that even though they’ve had it for most of the 520 days they’ve been using the Duolingo app, they’ve only done a few dozen lessons on it.

Their second keyboard is an Oyayo 88-key folding piano given to them last Christmas. They say that with it, they didn’t drop hints—because it was a present—but they admit they would have bought it themselves after research on December 26. They say it would have cost $107 from Amazon.

They describe reading and watching reviews and concluding that it’s best for people learning. Their piano teacher hasn’t heard of a folding keyboard. they say. but the writer adds that the teacher “wouldn’t need to” know. because she already plays on what they describe as a baby grand in her living room.

The writer doesn’t just stop at the devices. They bring in the real-world cost of instruction. They say that in the US, you can expect to pay a teacher between $30 and around $100 per hour. On that basis, their own weekly half-hour lessons would add up to between $780 and $5,200 per year in the States.

That, they concede, is “undeniably” a reason to use apps.

But then they offer the clearest argument of the entire piece: a live teacher taught them what the apps never did.

They describe a basic but crucial fingering technique for scales. With the right hand. they write. the thumb starts on Middle C. then the next finger plays D. the next presses E. Then the thumb tucks underneath so the thumb plays F. The fingers then press G, A, B, and the next C. The writer says this is “simple and obvious” once you know it. but that in over 500 days of Duolingo Piano. they had “not one thin clue” that this was needed.

The result, they say, wasn’t just knowledge—it was a shift in confidence. Before the teacher, they were afraid of touching the keys and playing the wrong note. Now the piano sits next to their desk and they describe practice as something they look forward to. even if they joke that they don’t “stroke the keys lovingly.” They say on the busiest days. a 15-minute practice feels cleansing.

They end with a decision: they’re going to ditch Duolingo Piano now and “enjoy learning properly,” even though at the moment they can only aspire to playing “Chopsticks.”

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