Smule's Magic Piano

I have always been a sucker for music apps and when my daughter started getting to the age where she understood what was happening on the phone, her curiosity peaked and my total obsession began. I've downloaded drum machines, synthesizers, guitars and pianos which all have kept my daughter and I entertained for hours while my wife gets annoyed with us. But just the other day I was sitting there rummaging through free music apps when I saw another creation by Smule. I knew I had to at least stop by to see what this Magic Piano was all about.

Once it was downloaded, I wasted no time firing it up. The first thing to pop up was a menu screen that offered me the ability to play "solo" or freestyle play. After I hit the button to play solo, I was greeted by a very dream like keyboard that doenst give me any tradition keys to play. I'm no piano player in real life, so I thought "Mehhh....but I'll keep playing around." While in the "solo" feature, you can also, change your keyboard to a spiral keyboard which makes playing in the solo feature even more awkward. There is one last feature that will alow you to change the keyboard to your standard piano keyboard with one exception, it kind of floats around. I found this portion of the app completely useless. However, I know there are piano geniuses out there that can rock this thing with no problem. I'm just not one of them. So I went back to the main menu.

I clicked on the tab that said, "Songbook". This is where I found an array of songs that range from classical to children's songs to the latest in pop music. I selected "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" because its my daughters favorite song at the moment and I began to play. I was pleasantly surprised at the sound the app produced but I was a little bummed to find out that it is nothing more than a "Tap Tap" meets Guitar Hero kind of app. But I found myself completely involved with the app for quite sometime. Mainly because the songs were lovely and for some reason, I felt as if I was actually playing these songs.

I was especially pleased when I was playing Beethoven: Fur Elise and my wife's friend who was in our living room shouted to me in amazement, "Are you playing that on your phone?!" I simply giggled under my breath and said, "But of course! Where do you think my kiddo gets her music talents?!?" My wife's friend wanted to see the app and I quickly put it in my pocket because I didnt want to give up my new found secret to making myself look like a musical whiz and I said I had to leave.

If only all of the songs were free, it would make this app way cooler but they are not. You can purchase "Smoola" which doubles as currency within the app that you can use to buy new songs. The app also gives you the ability to give yourself a tagline that will appear under your name should your song be played worldwide.

I will say that one of the coolest features of this app is the fact that you can tune into anywhere in the world that someone has the app running and listen to them play the songs. For example, as I am writing this, I am listening to SKristyY play the theme song to Super Mario Brothers, somewhere off the coast of Africa.

Thats about it for Smule's Magic Piano. Its a fun app to play with, there is no doubt about it and I would highly suggest it for those of you that are interested in piano music or if you are trying to teach your kids musical timing and perhaps classical songs. Make sure to check in with it quite often as there is always a new FREE song featured that you can download.

Magic Piano by Smule