The working place for learning piano consists of a computer connected to an
electric piano keyboard or digital piano. If you are short of space, the
portable piano keyboard has an advantage in being smaller, and easily movable to
be installed before a lesson, and put away after practice to save some space.
However, if you can afford it, it is much better to organize a permanent place.
Our experience shows that your children or you will practice more often if the
piano keyboard is always available without any additional hustle.
Computer
To run the Soft Way to Mozart software, you may use any modern, the cheapest
on the market, computer, or even 5-year-old one, if it has a decent graphics
card and enough memory. We recommend using a good computer monitor for piano
practice. It will add enjoyment to the practice, and spare student's eyes.
Read more about computer specification>>
Piano
You may use any electronic piano keyboard or digital piano that has MIDI
functionality (nowadays, most of them do). The main criteria of choosing a piano
are the price and the quality of its sound.
Read more about how to select a digital piano or electric piano
keyboard>>
Piano to computer connection
To use the interactivity of our software, you must connect your electric
piano to your computer. Basically, there are two kinds of connections - the MIDI
cable and MIDI interface,
depending on your computer.
Read more about MIDI connection >>
Tables and stands
You may put the piano and computer monitor on the same table, use a special
table or a stand for the piano keyboard, or put the computer monitor or laptop
on the top of the digital piano. Be sure that the foundation for the piano and
monitor is stable. Many keyboard stands, especially folding ones, lack this
quality. Such stands have the ability to fall down after any accidental move,
which is inevitable when working with children. For a piano keyboard, we
recommend using an adjustable table or stand, that is lower than the monitor
table.
Chair
It is very important to match the height of the keyboard with the height of
the chair to achieve a correct posture of a student. If the student puts her
palms on the piano keyboard, her relaxed forearms must
be parallel to the floor. It is helpful if you can adjust the height of the
chair, the piano, or both.
Placing the monitor
During the piano practice, the monitor will play the role of the music sheet,
so put it behind the piano keyboard, or on the top of the digital piano. If it
is not possible to place it in the center of the piano because of a sheet stand,
you may shift the monitor to one side of the piano. It doesn't matter if the
student must turn his head a little while reading and playing.
Computer keyboard
We usually place the computer keyboard right on the top of the piano keyboard
or digital piano.
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