myself to master? Very easy, as it turns
out. For one thing, this ‘guitar’ never
needstuning,sothosedaysofbeing
hunched over the fretboard, craning
youreartothestringslikesome kind
of nosy neighbour, are over.
As for its teaching ability, sensors in
the device detect the placement of my
fingers, providing instant feedback,
via its myriad companion apps, to help
me play with utter harmonic precision.
Before I know it I’m strumming along
toaBeatlesclassic,andmywife
clearly recognises it as I can see her
mouthing the word “Help”.BOOGIE WOOGIE PIANO
As musical instruments go, the
keyboard is often seen as the drum kit
and the guitar’s less-cool sibling. Try
tellingthattoJerryLeeLewisor,erm,
Barry Manilow. I’m just as excited
about learning to tickle the ivories as
Iwasaboutpoundingthedrumsor
strumming the strings. Aiding me on
mymissiontoplaythepiano/keysis
the Yamaha EZ-220, a touch-sensitive,
392-voice keyboard that features 100
preset songs for me to play along to.This task is made somewhat easier
by the fact that the keys light up in
time with the melody. I’ve also got
the option to wirelessly connect the
keyboard to my iPad Pro and make
use of the Yamaha Page Turner app.
This displays the scores for every one
ofthepresettracks,andeventurns
thepagesformesothatIcanjust
concentrate on hitting the right notes.
I’ve also download the Simply Piano
app. This teaches me the basics, then
gives me the opportunity to play along
tobothmodernhitsandrockclassics,
providingfeedbackasIgo.Yamaha’s
smart keyboard makes me believe that
Icould(possibly)becomethenext
Elton John with a bit of patience.IWILLROCKYOU
Itonlytakesafewenjoyablehoursfor
these techy tune-makers to kick-start
my musical ability, which is something
I could never have dreamt of achieving
in such a short space of time on my
own with traditional instruments. I was
never going to churn out a 20-minute
prog-rock opus, but having spent
more time on my newly acquired skills
IreckonIcouldnowdoareasonable
job entertaining the elderly at my local
bingo hall (providing they’re slightly
hard of hearing).NEXT ISSUE
Will tech make you a better golfer?
T3 takes a swing at an answer.Discover more at techradar.com/au WINTER 2018T3 53
Learn to play
THEKEYBOARDLIGHTSUPTHEKEYSINEED
TO HIT, AND EVEN TURNS THE PAGES OF THE
SCORE FOR ME ON MY iPAD PRO
With Roland’s
portable TD-1KV
you can get the
excitement of a
proper drum kit
withoutallthenoise
complaints from
your neighbours