2021-10-07
Pluses outweigh minuses
I’m an adult preparing for a grade 3 piano exam. I used this app for grade 2 last year and found it helpful and the same applies now. However, to get the best out of it, you simply need to know that it has some idiosyncrasies and not get frustrated by them. If you use it regularly it is certainly an asset, but bear in mind the following:
1. Pulse and metre - the tolerances regarding your tapping on the screen are extremely small and I think children in particular could get discouraged when receiving a “false” fail. I also find that (despite buying the additional bonus examples) I can still sometimes get stuck in a loop of a very few recurring examples.
2. Echoes - works well enough but it took me a while to notice that (uniquely in the app) you get zero progress shown unless you hit a (fairly anonymous) self assessment button to generate (a completely subjective) outcome.
3. Differences - like pulse and metre, the tolerance has been set very strictly. If you don’t hit the button precisely at the instant of change, you fail. Even worse, you’re then prevented from answering the follow up question (even though you may well have got it right).
4. Musical features - not a shortcoming, per se, but it uses a number of technical terms which you will need to get used to.
Overall, however, I have given it four stars because I can recommend it. It has a lot of good features and I would be optimistic that it can help you improve your performance.
I hope this helps you (and the developers).