My quest to learn to play piano virtually with Roli Airwave

I’m no stranger to music, I sing and play the bajo and theremin in my band. Rubitrek. I’ve also taught myself guitar (still a work in progress). But there’s one instrument I haven’t been able to conquer yet: the piano.

Instead of taking private lessons or stumbling through video tutorials on YouTube, I went on a mission to see if a new tool could help me quickly learn how to read and play.

This is where the Roli Piano Learning System comes into play. It promises to make piano lessons fun using an iPad app paired with Roli’s Piano — a 49-key midi controller — along with Airwave, an instrument and controller that uses camera sensors to track your hand movements.

In this episode of Prove It, embedded above, I go through the process of teaching myself using a high-tech music system.

This isn’t just one device, it’s multiple devices coming together to be your teacher.

In the center is Rolly pianoa $599 midi controller with keys that light up like a Simon memory game. It has one port for a sustain or expression pedal, and has a USB-C port for charging and data transfer. You can also connect the piano to your phone or tablet using Bluetooth and access the ROLI Learn app.

Since it’s a midi controller and not a standalone keyboard, it doesn’t have a headphone jack or an output for an instrument cable on the piano; Its sound comes through any device connected to it. And if you connect it to your phone via Bluetooth and connect your phone to headphones or a Bluetooth speaker, you’ll notice latency between when you press the key and when you hear the note.

the Airwave It retails for $349 and is a new type of gadget that Rowley calls an “expressive controller.” It has two USB-C ports for charging and data, a pedal input, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It magnetically attaches to your Roli piano and uses USB-C to sync with the Roli Learn app on compatible iPads.

But the real draw of the Airwave lies in the infrared cameras it uses to track your hand movements at 90 frames per second using something called Vision Technology. These cameras track your hands in real time, and Airwave creates an animated version of them on the screen. This allows the Roli Learn app to help correct your hand position and color-codes your fingers to match the color of the keys you should play. If you’re an experienced pianist, you can use Airwave to create some cool musical effects, like merging multiple sounds with just a wave of your wrist.

the Rolly application for learning ($14.99 per month) It’s a lot of fun to use. It combines YouTube-style tutorial videos with an interactive interface that’s very similar to Guitar Hero. The introductory courses are really easy to follow, and anyone can do it. (My colleague Bridget Carey says her 6-year-old enjoys using the built-in toys to learn how to play.)

I really appreciate the variety of human instructors in the video lessons and love that the app features popular music, like “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter and “Kids” by MGMT, as well as piano classics and skill exercises.

If you want to get started with Roli, there are cheaper ways, such as using the iPhone app with the smaller device Rollie Piano M A model for $249 — and you can add from there.

The biggest problems I face when learning a new instrument is finding ways to keep it fun and staying motivated to practice. After playing with Rowley’s piano learning system for a month, I believe I can become a respectable pianist by learning this way.

Watch this episode of Prove It as I put it to the test, and see if this is something for you.