Adult beginner + (hopefully) 2 and 4 year old

Hi, Madsen!
It seems like you have a very powerful start!

Madsen wrote: OK, software arrived today. I think you are right, I need some help to figure out where to start. Please let me know what is the best way to determine it.

OK. I will be your guide. Let me go through your results to build your personal map for you!

For now I will list the scores from to day:

Fruit Lines, 5 min, 386 points
Guess key game, 5 min (seemed like A LOT more), 753 points
Note duration game, 5 min, 646 points

You have absolutely remarkable score !
Please, note: we call this 'games', but it is advanced interactive way to develop your eyes and ears to learn music literacy. Chose 1 game a month, play it 1-2 times a week for the same amount of time (let's say 5 minutes). Press F1 to stop the game, when the time is expired. Write the score in the basket down. Every time you start the same game, you go different rout, because the software register every move and bring you to more advanced level or keep you on some levels to improve.

The ultimate goal to play all the games through with minimum time, but it is achievable after a lot of practice. You also have to accomplish all the games with Alphabet and Solfeggio notes names (A and I letters on your computer keyboard to switch)

GUESS KEY finally has to be played... by ear with monitor covered.

So, do not rush! This is like a gym equipment. You have to exercise regularly and build your music muscles gradually

And yes! GAME time is much longer then actual time since it counts all your moves .

Gentle Piano:

French song
R1 24/28 -- 11
R4 26/28 -- 7
R5 28/28 -- 8

L3 10/10 -- 3

P5 36/38 -- 19
P5 37/38 -- 14
P5 38/38 -- 9

Ode to joy
P5 48/48 2 (OK, I practiced that one in the demo version...)

New Year tree
R5 30/33 -- 12
R5 31/33 -- 9
R5 32/33 -- 6
R5 33/33 -- 5

L5 21/24 -- 12
L5 24/24 -- 1

P5 46/57 -- 40
P5 54/57 -- 23

Separated (Got bored with intro songs)
R4 50/59 -- 54
R4 55/59 -- 36

Well, I can say: your coordination and sight-reading definitely need a lots of challenge! You also seems to have very good memory. By looking at your numbers I can say that you are not a beginner

Here is what I would recommend you to learn:
Piano technique
chords, staccato: S.Maikapar Garden from Music Pictures on P3 (see the notes name – it will help your muscles to develop better with less stress)
legato: A.Corelli Sarabanda from Classical Dances
Play Hanon Exercise softmozart.com/our-library/videos/9instr...ercise-hanon-1-.html
and Chromatic scale: softmozart.com/our-library/videos/9instr...hromatic-scale-.html
For the sight-reading we’ll choose the Albums with the pieces that are not as challenging for your coordination.
Please, work on Favorite Classics Primer and Nursery Songs 1. Play all the pieces on 5. Try to make no more than 3 mistakes. Record your score and let me know. Do not try to memorize pieces – play them once or twice. If it is a challenge, go to 4 or even 2. 2 will help you to imprint in your mind the direct visual connection between spaces and lines and music notation.
Please, video at least your hands, if possible, to see your level.

My older daughter played the musical alphabet, and I had a hard time figuring out the logic. On the office computer that I prefer to use for the keyboard games it looked strange. The game had a column of chests on the left side and for example a column of doors on the right. I could see that the door had to be in the beginning, but it was really hard for my little one. On the laptop which I use for the piano all was well, it had a column of doors to the left and a column of salt shakers on the right (3 spaces between). That made sense! Any idea what is wrong on the other computer?

It seems like the office computer has OS that is not working with our software properly. We had some cases like this with Vista. Please, let me know, what system installed on the office computer.

Madsen wrote: Thank you Hellene! It is very hard for me to see which pieces are easy/hard to play. Both your choices looked/sounded hard to me, but at least Sarabando seemed to be just the right level. Not too easy, not too hard. I haven't tried the other one yet.

Do not be intimidated! I am choosing pieces for you with the goal to DEVELOP certain techniques. Ability to see the notes' names will make the task fun and pleasant for you. By looking at your score I can say that you have good fine motor skills.

Look at this video. This girl is a friend of my daughter. She learned this piece in 3 weeks by herself from scratch. In Russian music school this piece belongs to 5-6th grade:

I have a quick question before I start the sight-reading: Can I listen to the piece or should I try to read it straight from the screen? Playing something without knowing how it is supposed to sound seems infinitely harder, but since the goal is to read the music and not play it by ear I can imagine it is better not to use the "s" key. What do you think?

I would recommend you to play piece 1st time 'dry' without listening. Write the score down. After that press S and listen, how it supposed to be sound and play again. Compare the scores.

I'll see if I can find someone to help me with that.

I know that some members use video cam from their computer. They say that it is the easiest way and do not require assistance.

It is Win7. I gave up getting the piano working with Win7, I couldn't get the midi connector to recognize the piano Everything works well with our old computer (which was the one I wanted to use anyway).

I know that Ultimate and Professional Win 7 should work fine. Mine do!