Music lessons 3.0 – Learn instruments via app
The world of music is a wonderland, to which countless people are utterly captivated as passive listeners. How many of them would love to be musicians themselves, to be able to actively play an instrument.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo @clemono, via Unsplash
Traditional music lessons and their challenges
Traditional music lessons have played an important role for decades. However, despite their significance for musical education, teachers constantly face challenges.
One of the biggest criticisms of traditional music lessons is their lack of flexibility . Often, fixed lesson plans are followed, and students have little room to explore their own interests and talents.
Finding suitable teaching material can also prove difficult, especially with regard to current topics or specific music genres such as classical or jazz.
Furthermore, rhythm exercises or reading music can be a challenge for some students.
Ultimately, the sometimes considerable costs for individual music lessons could add up significantly to the cost of musical education over the years.
Web 2.0 and innovative online learning platforms for needs-based music lessons
With Web 2.0 , this restricted access came to an end; everyone could now conquer the world of music, as music lessons were now available online.
online music instruction was made possible by new platforms like get2play.com (no longer available in 2023). The Berlin-based company of the same name launched an online music school
This portal allowed students to search for their personal best music teacher , thus offering many professional teachers a new marketing channel that significantly surpassed the attention achieved through other online advertising channels or local classified ads.
The website offered online video tutorials where music enthusiasts learn how to play their favorite instrument . The tutorial videos were well-structured and thoughtfully organized, and they offered a variety of features, such as three different camera perspectives, slow-motion and loop functions .
Each learner could immediately put this knowledge into practice by playing an online instrument in a live video chat . This allowed them to make the tedious practice a little more enjoyable, for example by learning and playing current songs or by practicing the techniques of their role models online.

Learning was further facilitated by video chat, convenient online booking, and interactive multi-camera tutorials – this was the kind of learning that only became possible in the age of Web 2.0. You learned what you wanted, when you wanted, from whom you wanted, and where you wanted – all in a truly simple way, with unprecedented individuality, and at an affordable price.
Get 2 play, the search for the perfect teacher was no longer limited to your immediate surroundings – the platform brought together teachers from Germany and around the world. Now you can truly find the perfect teacher; if not here, they probably don't exist.
Get 2 play stated that they set out the best e-learning platform for music . The company founders were enthusiastic about the new learning opportunities offered by the internet and interested in any experience, criticism, or opinion that could contribute to the platform's development.
The idea for this interesting start-up originated in 2012 when one of the founders published a video on YouTube in which he played a piece he had composed himself. It was his first video, and in no time at all, fans from all over the world contacted him, with thousands of clicks, requesting lessons via Skype or instructional videos on percussive fingerstyle.

Obviously, there was a great need for an e-learning platform for music, and with a view to developing this, founder Tobias first won at the Startup Weekend Hamburg and then found software engineer Jan, the two moved to Berlin and founded Get2play.
Unfortunately, the platform is no longer available, which could also be due to the fact that the range of online courses, platforms, virtual learning environments and adaptive learning apps has exploded in recent years – not least due to the surge in digitalization following the Corona pandemic – and has further revolutionized music teaching.
This brings us to Music Lessons 3.0 …
Music lessons 3.0 – Learn instruments via app
Modern apps can be a valuable supplement to traditional music lessons. For interested amateurs, learning an instrument completely independently with the help of an interactive app now also possible.
There are many different applications that can help students improve their musical skills. Some of these apps are specifically designed for primary school children, while others are also suitable for secondary school students.
The app's applications very diverse: from rhythm exercises to playing classical music to teaching basic knowledge in music lessons, there are numerous ways to make learning varied and interesting with the help of apps.
Traditional music lessons can make it difficult to address the individual needs and abilities of each student. However, modern apps offer an opportunity for precisely that: individualized learning in music lessons .
With free downloads of teaching materials or specialist information, students from primary to secondary school can find detailed information on various topics related to music.
Playing music is also made easier by apps, for example, rhythm apps or those that support the use of a metronome. Classical music can be taught in a playful way through interactive applications. This allows each student to improve their musical skills and develop at their own pace – a major advantage over the traditional teaching style.
Recent developments in artificial intelligence will provide an additional boost to innovation and will soon offer highly adaptive and intelligent one-to-one music lessons that are student-centered and intelligently support and promote their development.
On the website of MKM Musik & Kunst Schulen Management Niederösterreich GmbH, Mag. Dr. Wilfried Aigner, in cooperation with the Institute for Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elementary Music Making and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, published a clear overview of apps related to music lessons :
Unusual instruments & sounds
The list below includes examples of identical or similar apps, for both the Android and iOS smartphone operating systems.
| Android app | Information | App for iOS |
|---|---|---|
| NodeBeat | Gesture-controlled musical instrument | NodeBeat |
| Plasma Sound (HD) | Gesture-controlled sound generator | – |
| Sonorox, Music Grid, Arpio | Gesture-controlled musical instruments based on a "grid" system; step sequencer | Music Sound Key / TNR-i |
| Sphere Tones | Gesture-controlled musical instrument | Drop Dots |
| Reactable | Gesture-controlled (professional) musical instrument | Reactable |
| Ultra Voice Changer | Record your own sounds and modify them with effects | VoiceChangerPlus |
| Heat Synthesizer Demo/Pro | Sound synthesis, MIDI-compatible | Geo Synthesizer |
| Piano Voice – Record & Play | Recording & Sound Design | Soundoscope, Sampler |
| – | Sound generator and MIDI controller | Sound Prism (Pro) |
| EtherSurface, Saucillator | Gesture-controlled sound generators (EtherSurface: with dynamic control) | TC-Performer, Bebot |
| Pixelwave, SpectrumGen | (Experimental) Synthesizers | Pixelwave, SpectrumGen, Sylo Synthesizers |
| – | play chords | SoundPrism |
| – | gesture driven music synthesizer | GyroSynth |
“Ordinary” instruments
| Android app | Information | App for iOS |
|---|---|---|
| Drum Kit or Real Drum | drums | Drum Kit Pro |
| Real Guitar | guitar | Real Guitar |
| Solo 2 (Guitar Solo lite) | guitar | Orphion |
| Act Piano | Piano (+music display) | Virtuoso Piano Free 3 |
| Perfect Piano | Piano & other (keyboard) instruments | ThumbJam |
| My Piano | Piano & other instruments, own samples can be recorded; MIDI-compatible | ThumbJam |
| Strasser accordion | Replica of a 4-row button accordion | Strasser accordion, ocarina |
| Piano Voice – Record & Play | Recording & Sound Design | Soundoscope, Sampler |
| Toy Piano | Toy Piano – Replica | Toy Piano |
| Drum pads 24 (various versions) | Electronic drum & beatmaking pads | Drum Pads 24, iMaschine 2 |
| Beat Shaker free | Play percussion instruments by moving them around on your mobile phone | Shaker Box |
| Walk Band (Premium) | Easy-to-play band instruments (keys, guitar, bass, drums) + numerous instrumental plugins | Garage Garage Band |
| – | Band instruments | Rockmate |
| – | 40 different instruments | Thumb JAM |
| – | Piano – playing chords, songwriting | Navichord Lite |
| Bass Guitar Tutor | electric bass | Bass Guitar Tutor |
Further tips on participation and reception in the musical and artistic field can be found in the Kunstplaza categories Music and Art Courses & Artistic Training .

Owner and Managing Director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor, and passionate blogger in the fields of art, design, and creativity since 2011. Graduated with a degree in web design from university (2008). Further developed creative techniques through courses in freehand drawing, expressive painting, and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market gained through years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with key players and institutions in the arts and culture sector.
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