Great app that hasn’t yet reached its potential – Learn Piano Notes: Note Quest Review

Note quest Pro is a great app that does exactly what it sets out to do. I give it four stars instead of five because some features are still to come and the acoustic piano response is still being perfected. I should say at the outset that I am a piano teacher and I’ve lately been purchasing apps to research the best ones to use with my students. I love the clean and spacious graphic design, though you do get a choice of a several themed backgrounds which are nicely unobtrusive. The look and feel of the app was clearly well though out. The basic (free) version of the app allows you access to the basic level including 4 Su levels that focus only on landmark notes which is a great feature. Regarding the app response to playing an acoustic piano, I found that it had difficulty “hearing” some notes, e.g. high and low ‘C’ landmark notes. I tried to follow the developer recommendations: don’t play too loud and play with a staccato touch; even then I was still facing frustration having to repeat playing the notes until the app responded. As the quizzes are timed by default, you have to hear the “loser” music even when it’s not your fault the app can’t hear. Despite this, I have now gradually developed close to the ideal “touch” for the app to hear my piano more consistently. The dynamic range is pp - mp; the articulation that works best for me is not staccato exactly. I play an unaccented note for about a half second with a very, very clean release (think 8th note and 8th not rest). That seems to works best for me. With some development I expect the app will eventually be more tolerant of various dynamics and articulation. I understand more features such as ability to disable the timer and MIDI capability are coming soon, which will make the app even more appealing. I also hope that the ‘interval selector’ will continue to grow to include intervals of at least 4ths thru 8ves and beyond (9ths-13ths anyone?) I think it would be cool as a teacher to be able to “design” my own drills for students by ha Inge more choices to set note/interval parameters. Currently the interval selector has option to choose 2nds and 3rds. Assuming the developers are into this for the long haul it will only get better.
Review by Keys8309 on Learn Piano Notes: Note Quest.