My Quest to Virtually Learn the Piano With Roli Airwave

The Roli virtual piano learning system, featuring the Roli Piano and Airwave controller with an iPad app, offers an engaging and fun way for beginners to learn piano, though it lacks the accountability and nuanced feedback of a human instructor.

• The Roli system offers an interactive and fun virtual piano learning experience with engaging app content.

• While effective for initial skill building, it lacks the personalized accountability and comprehensive music theory depth of a human instructor.

• The Roli Airwave enhances the learning experience, but some Roli Piano hardware quality issues have been reported and addressed.

The Roli learning system, combining the Roli Piano, Airwave controller, and the Roli Learn app on an iPad, provides an interactive and gamified approach to learning piano for beginners. While the app is engaging with diverse content and instructors, it falls short on holding users accountable and providing real-time technical feedback compared to a human teacher. Despite some hardware quality concerns, the system is recommended for serious learners with compatible iPads, especially with upcoming AI enhancements.

Roli System Overview

• 00:00:59 The Roli piano learning system consists of the Roli Piano, a 49 full-size key MIDI controller that lights up, and the Airwave, an expressive controller with infrared cameras for hand tracking. Both devices connect to a compatible iPad (Air or Pro) to sync with the Roli Learn app, providing an integrated virtual piano teaching experience. The Roli Piano sends sound through the connected device, while the Airwave includes a headphone jack for private practice and uses 'Roli Vision' technology to track hand movements, enabling features like finger positioning correction.

Roli Learn App Experience

• 00:02:09 The Roli Learn app offers a highly engaging learning experience, likened to 'Guitar Hero meets Simon meets YouTube piano tutorials,' featuring diverse human instructors, popular music, and classic piano pieces. While introductory courses are easy to follow and gamified exercises like 'Super Luminal' and 'Springboard' are addictive and help build skills, the vast amount of content can be overwhelming, making it difficult for users to stick to a structured learning path. The app includes different learning modes, such as 'Cascade View' with 'wait and play' for finger correction and 'Colored Note View' for sheet music, supporting various learning preferences.

Virtual vs. Human Instruction

• 00:05:06 The Roli Learn app sets weekly goals and tracks practice streaks, but it struggles to provide the same level of accountability as a human instructor. While its built-in AI assistant offers general advice, such as on wrist positioning, it cannot replicate the personalized, real-time feedback and physical adjustments a human teacher provides. A practical test revealed that while concepts learned on Roli could be applied to a real piano, the app lacked the depth in music theory explanation that a human teacher, like a private instructor with advanced degrees, would emphasize from the outset.

Hardware Quality & Value

• 00:07:06 The Roli Airwave, priced at $349, is considered a worthwhile investment for serious piano learners who already own a compatible iPad, especially given upcoming AI music coach updates that will leverage its hand-tracking capabilities. However, some customers, including the user, have reported cosmetic issues with the Roli Piano, such as scuffs upon arrival and disintegrating key tints, which Roli attributes to packaging and handling problems and is offering replacements for. Less expensive Roli Piano models are available for smartphones and other tablets, offering most app features without an iPad.