Piano Tabs
Learning and science
piano learning app
SHOW HN2023
222points
255comments
#245of 3,109 in 2023
Top 8%of 2023 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
17 positive, 19 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 25 critical, out of 64 comments about the project. Thread score -0.07.
Idea: 8 for, 17 againstExecution: 3 for, 6 againstDesign: 3 for, 1 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Looks great and clean UI
From 2 comments
Congrats on the release, looks great! Reminds me of Synthesia[1], with a better UX but less features! How do you handle the displaying all notes on a portrait phone per your…
AntonyGarand on HNI recently started looking into cheap electric keyboards that I could use to teach myself piano, and this looks so awesome for learning. I would pay for this app, but…
conkeisterdoor on HN
Good for learning and playing along
From 2 comments
I recently started looking into cheap electric keyboards that I could use to teach myself piano, and this looks so awesome for learning. I would pay for this app, but…
conkeisterdoor on HNThanks for the suggestions! A few people are saying they were confused, so I'll put some more effort around that wording The import dialog is unfortunately just the system dialog…
jacobp100 on HN
Objections
Learning without sheet music will stunt development
From 2 comments
Looks cool design-wise, but who is this for? Although the upfront cost of learning sheet music is a few weeks of study, it quickly becomes worth it due to gains in speed of…
rwhyan on HNI've been playing the piano for 55+ years, and still practice daily. What makes piano difficult isn't reading music notation. You can learn to read music notation in a week. What…
fortran77 on HN
Subscription pricing is off-putting
From 1 comment
> It changed about a month ago from an up front price to in app purchases and/or a subscription - which has absolutely tanked revenue so far - but maybe it will pick up This…
irrational on HN
Requires iOS 15 and Apple devices only
From 2 comments
Two fatal issues I discovered: - the apple store was so biased, even when I typed in "piano tabs", it couldn't find your app in the top 10 results. I had to type in the name of…
pascalxus on HNI recently started looking into cheap electric keyboards that I could use to teach myself piano, and this looks so awesome for learning. I would pay for this app, but…
conkeisterdoor on HN
No dynamics, rubato or key signatures
From 1 comment
One problem I see with your design is that there's no way to deal with rubato, and presumably you can't alter the tempo on the fly as you're playing. The problem that sheet music…
duped on HN
Requests
MIDI input support
From 2 comments
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 -…
Cthulhu_ on HNNo 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…
jacobp100 on HN
Difficulty progression and guided lessons
From 1 comment
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 -…
Cthulhu_ on HN
Clearer pricing and onboarding
From 1 comment
The pricing model is confusing at first and not very clear until you start trying to use the app (tried the macOS version for now). The App Store description does not mention the…
ics on HN
Android version
From 1 comment
That honestly looks amazing. Do you plan to release on Android by any chance?
filcuk on HN
Questions
Who is this for
From 2 comments
Looks cool design-wise, but who is this for? Although the upfront cost of learning sheet music is a few weeks of study, it quickly becomes worth it due to gains in speed of…
rwhyan on HNI can play piano, trumpet, and trombone, but hardly ever do anymore. I have been able to read sheet music since I was 8. If the whole concept of this confuses me, and it does, it…
vcg3rd on HN
Does it support MIDI input
From 1 comment
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 -…
Cthulhu_ on HN
Alternatives named
Synthesia
From 2 comments
Congrats on the release, looks great! Reminds me of Synthesia[1], with a better UX but less features! How do you handle the displaying all notes on a portrait phone per your…
AntonyGarand on HNSynthesia has done this exact solution for well over a decade now. But there’s also the option to read generated sheet music and adjust the playback and gradung in many ways.…
Madmallard on HN
Flowkey
From 1 comment
If you're on an iPhone, landscape is definitely the better way to use it. I should advertise that more. Looking up flowkey, they have a video in landscape, and their screenshots…
jacobp100 on HN