|
eMedia Essential Keyboard Pack | 
| Brand: eMedia Music
Category: Musical Instruments
List Price: $179.95
Buy New: $82.71
as of 9/6/2010 22:42 EDT details
You Save: $97.24 (54%)
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 3379
Media: Electronics
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 10
Dimensions (in): 35 x 4 x 10
MPN: EK05091
Model: EK05091
UPC: 746290050911
EAN: 0746290050911
ASIN: B002K6EEJU
Release Date: August 2, 2009
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Features:
| • | 49-key, touch-sensitive USB MIDI keyboard (4 octaves) | | • | It has an USB cable | | • | eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method CD-ROM (300 piano lessons!) |
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Product Description
Get Started with the eMedia Play Piano Pack The eMedia Play Piano Pack includes everything you need to play piano straight out of the box. It's an ideal affordable solution for anyone who has thought about learning piano or keyboard. It includes a 49 full-size key MIDI keyboard with built-in speakers, 50 instrument sounds and LCD display, an AC Adapter, and the USB-MIDI interface for connecting the keyboard to the computer. What's more, it includes a great teacher: the eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method CD-ROM (for Windows & Mac computers).  | The award-winning eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method interactive educational software is what sets this keyboard pack apart from all others. Piano teacher Irma Irene Justicia, M.A., who has taught at the renowned Juilliard School of Music, guides you with videos and live recorded songs in over 300 lessons. The step-by-step curriculum features over 100 songs, and starts with such basics such as hand position, rhythm, and playing on black keys, moving on to playing with both hands, reading music notation, sight reading, scales, and much more! | Learn Quickly with the eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method
The eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method is ideal for beginners of all ages. You learn at your own pace, it's easy and fun. The Animated Keyboard shows where to put your fingers as the live recorded music plays. Music Tracking highlights the notes or chords being played on the screen so it's simple to follow along. The speed of the music can be adjusted with MIDI tracks, so you can learn at your own pace. Separate audio tracks (left/right hand, piano only/voice only) and colorful MIDI accompaniments provide engaging practice options. After you play a piece, you'll get interactive feedback on notes and rhythms played incorrectly and it will even show you what you should have played instead! Song Looping lets you highlight and repeat any section of music you wish to practice. |  |  | Also included are valuable tools such as a metronome that helps you keep time and a digital recorder for making your own recordings. eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method is the ultimate way to learn how to play! | Features over 100 songs including: "Piano Man" -- Billy Joel
"Candle in the Wind" -- Elton John
"Ode to Joy" -- Ludwig van Beethoven
"America the Beautiful" -- Samuel Ward
"La Bamba" -- made famous by Los Lobos
"Minuet in G" -- J.S. Bach
"Tishomingo Blues" -- Spencer Williams
"The Entertainer" -- Scott Joplin
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" -- Bob Dylan
eMedia Play Piano Pack Reviews "We found the software well planned and effective -- progress was quick."
-- Wall Street Journal 4 1/2 stars
-- PC Magazine "An impressive and thorough piano teaching program."
-- American Music Teacher Magazine "We tried out the method and within no time we were actually playing songs, something that we had no idea we would be able to do so quickly. It is simply amazing."
-- Music News |  |  | The eMedia Play Piano Pack electronic keyboard features: - 49 full-size keys
- Built-in speakers
- LCD display--shows music notes as played
- 50 instrument sounds (includes drum kit)
- 5 drum pads
- 30 auto-accompaniment styles
- Record and playback feature
- Metronome
- Sustain feature
- One touch accompaniment
- 50 demo songs
- 8-note polyphony
- Headphone jack
- DV 9V jack
| System Requirements: Windows:
Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7
64 MB of free RAM, CD-ROM Macintosh:
Mac OS X 10.3 or later (Intel OK)
64 MB of free RAM, CD-ROM What's in the Box Keyboard, AC Adapter, USB-MIDI interface, eMedia Piano & Keyboard Method CD-ROM
Product Description
49 full-size keys Built-in speakers LCD display shows music notes 50 instrument sounds (includes drum kit) 5 drum pads 30 auto-accompaniment styles Record & playback feature Metronome Sustain feature 1-touch accompaniment 50 demo songs 8-note polyphony Headphone jack DV 9V jack
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Great Keyboard ... Great Software December 10, 2009
Sandy Ulrich
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
I have always wanted to learn piano and got this package because it looked like a great deal and includes the teacher (piano software).
They keyboard is well made and sounds great. It has lot of features including plenty of instrument sounds, built-in songs and drums you can play along with. It is solid and looks very good in my den.
The best part of this product is the software in comes with. The program teaches everything you need to play piano. It comes with a cable to connect the keyboard to your computer. When you play with the songs, the program actually tells you when you make a mistake. There are video demonstrations by the teacher and then songs to practice new skills. It is very well done. There is a button that gives you a slider on the screen, so your can slow the song down if it is hard at first. It slows the music and the keyboard that shows you what to play. You can also take parts of the song and highlight them with your mouse to have the song play over and over while you work on it. All these things are very useful.
An excellent buy! January 2, 2010
Jack Jones
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The keyboard shown here looks exactly like the one I purchased from Amazon in June 2008 to get back to keyboard studies after a long downtime period. I still have that keyboard, it has had no problems whatsoever, after all the practice I put into it, it still works fine.
The current version of this keyboard now has some features which were not in the original one, software, etc., so I cannot comment on that, however, from the what the other reviewer said here, the teaching devices are probably just fine. This is the review I wrote in 06.08 about the original keyboard. My knowledge of the keyboard market is now extensive; this review still stands:
"This is an excellent buy and a great keyboard for beginners of all ages or even more advanced players who want an exercise keyboard or one to take with on trips. It's very well built, solid, with full size keys, is very light weight and small enough to store away easily. Has a volume control, sustain button, metromone, and some learning devices. Easy to use, just plug in and play. Comes with a music rack, adapter, and manual. The keys are easy to press, yet the action and feel of the keys is very good and similar to pro level keyboards, so you can play with proper technique on this. The grand piano voice is good and realistic enough for practice, the other voices could be better, but with the piano voice coming in OK, the keyboard is certainly worth the money. I have not used the learning devices, so I can't comment on them, but everything else about this keyboard is very good. I am an advanced guitarist and intermediate keyboardist, I am totally satisfied with this keyboard, you will be too!"
 Great way to start learning to play January 24, 2010
NayNay (Vallejo, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've never taken piano/keyboard lessons and I know I would find going out and taking lessons to be doomed to other things I have to do. So this is a convenient way to get me invested in learning to the point I will eventually want to make time to take lessons with a live piano/keyboard teacher. However, I think there needs to be a companion book to practice when you don't want to strain to see the laptop at the same time you're trying to play or you don't have access to your laptop or don't have a proper set up for both the laptop and keyboard (note: there should be a two-tier type stand offered to properly align the laptop with the keyboard to afford the best and most comfortable viewing of both and cut down on unnecessary neck/eye strain).
Also, there needs to be part of the first lesson on where to properly position your fingers on the keys (in the middle or the edge?), also the proper way to stroke the keys and tips on the most efficient way to transition from playing one key to another key and specific exercises that work to build on these techniques. Playing songs right off is great, but I think without addressing these issues--especially for pure beginners, I worry this could lead to the development of some bad habits/techniques that will frustratingly need to be unlearned when moving on to taking actual lessons.
I have to disagree with the comment about the software not working on Windows 7. I have Windows 7 and so far it works perfectly fine.
All in all, without the exceptions noted, I would have rated it a 5. I am very pleased with this purchase and I would recommend it anyone who has an interest in learning to play.
 Can I really learn to play the piano with this thing? August 27, 2010
Christopher T. Dahle (Del Norte, Colorado USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After 1 week of practice with this keyboard and the software, I am considering raising my rating to 4 stars. There are a few things that bug me about the software, but they may just be because of my learning style. I want to get through chapter 2 of the "book" before I decide, but by no means do I want to discourage anyone from buying this package. Scroll to the end of this review for the update.
Not having access to a piano teacher, I have tried to learn to play from a "teach yourself piano" book. I have not had any success partly because my two small children want to "help" whenever I sit down at the piano. I can practice with this early in the morning, using headphones so that I don't disturb anyone. I am confident because twenty years ago I was able to progress from two-fingered, to effortless-touch typing with the "Mavis Beacon teaches typing" computer program, after having failed using more conventional means. I always felt that a similar system could be applied to the piano, but I never had the means to try it until now.
I am going to get started with it this weekend. I'm going to come back to this review and add comments weekly until I either know how to play reasonably well, or I give up in disgust. But I AM determined to learn how to play the piano. Look for an update around August 30, and approximately each weekend after that.
Initial Impressions: Packaging--
The good news is that the keyboard and accessories are packed really well. This is a good thing because UPS really trashed the box. I almost refused the package, but when I opened it up, everything looked good inside.
Contents of the package--
I was pleased to discover that this package does come with the required MIDI to USB adapter. The product description and the "frequently bought together" recommendations left me worried that I would not be able to use it "right out of the box" but apparently, everything you need to get started, except for a computer of course, is included in the package. The keyboard has it's own speakers and can run from batteries without a computer attached, so you can take it with you when you go camping or whatever, though obviously you need a computer to do the lessons.
Added August 29, 2010 at 12:30 PM MDT
I was able to set up the keyboard and software quite easily. There were no glitches in the installation process, other than the usual Windows Vista nonsense. The keyboard appears to work quite nicely without being connected to the computer and I was able to play with it's many features while I waited for the software installation. Mind you, I'm no one's idea of a musician, so I don't know whether the keyboard features are all that useful, but they seem to work and it was fun to listen to some of the pre-programmed songs and see how the built-in display worked.
Once the software was installed, I started the program and worked through the on-screen user's guide. There is lots of information about how to manipulate the program...which I probably should read -- some day. Anyway, the menus are pretty straightforward, so after advancing through the list of shortcuts and so forth, the program starts right in with an introductory piano lesson. There are little videos of a human piano teacher and she seems nice enough.
I worked through the first 18 lessons in about 40 minutes. Only 4 of those lessons actually involve playing the piano, but there is a lot of theory stuff. I'm taking it on faith that I really need to know the theory, so I took notes and tried to apply the theory to the stuff I remembered from my elementary school music teacher, the last person who seriously tried to teach me something about music...God bless you Miss Althouse, wherever you are.
Anyway, I can play the melody for "Mary had a little lamb", "Aunt Rhody", and two French folk songs. After I put the electric keyboard away, I sat down at my wife's piano just to make sure that I really could play them, and I can. So, after about 2 hours of practice, I feel pretty optimistic that I will be able to at least play piano at a basic level. Two hours is probably more than I can afford to spend on this daily, but I am going to try to put in about 45 minutes a day for the next week. I'll update this review next Sunday.
Added September 3, 2010:
I discovered a new feature of the software which made me go back and redo lessons 1-20. The software has a progress report feature that tells you how well you have done on each of the lessons. While many of the first 20 lessons are text and theory lessons that you just have to work through, 6 of them are lessons played at the piano, and two are theory assessments (that is, "exams") that test your knowledge of the theory.
I reviewed the progress report and discovered that while I thought I had done pretty well, the program disagreed. For the keyboard lessons, the program reports your accuracy at hitting the right notes, and your skill at holding the notes for the right length of time. I was quite accurate at hitting the notes in the right order, but my counting was terrible. The program was reporting that I was only about 70-80% correct in my playing, mostly because I was holding the notes too long, or not long enough.
I discovered there are several features of the program that are really helpful in this regard. First, there is a feature where you can hear the instructor sing as she plays. I started playing along and singing with the instructor and found that after five or six attempts, my tempo was matching hers exactly. Once I was scoring in the high 90% by playing along with the instructor, I switched over to playing along with the digital accompaniment in which a note played wrongly, or for an improper count sounds really weird.
Once I started using these two features to practice the keyboard lessons, I was pretty rapidly able to hit 100% on many of the lessons. I'm still working through lesson 19, Little Liza Jane, but I hit 89% this evening before my fingers started to get achy. At this point I feel that I am progressing much faster at learning the piano than are my children who are taking lessons from a professional instructor, although probably it is my competitive desire to "beat the machine" that is responsible.
Look for another update next weekend.
 Dinky keyboard, no discernable tech support. January 7, 2010
Jack-S (LA USA)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have to disagree with the other reviewers of this product. The keyboard seems to me to be a toy keyboard with a thin sound. You can get a keyboard as good as this one for half the price. That leaves us with the lesson CD: mostly text stuff that you can get for free on the internet. Attempting to play along with the joke "lessons" is a joke! Then there is the problem of software compatibility. The keyboard will not produce sounds in the lesson program using Windows 7. A freeware piano program that I downloaded does work, so I know it's not a volume or driver problem, but an email to eMedia's tech support produced suggestions like "turn the volume up" and "check your drivers". This is simple-minded finger pointing, since the dinky little thing works fine with the freeware program.
Save your money and buy a toy keyboard for half the price, or get a real, name-brand keyboard for the same price as this piece of junk.
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Shop with confidence! We've teamed with Amazon.com to provide you with the most secure, reliable, and enjoyable shopping experience.
Terms | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
©2009 - 2010 Benefito Inc. All Rights Reserved. | |
