Flowkey vs Simply Piano – Which One is Better?

Ok so you want to know which is better, Flowkey vs Simply Piano? Both of them are known to be very good online piano lessons; but which should you choose; Flowkey or Simply Piano? Let’s find out.

Simply Piano has been around with a while now and Flowkey seems to be the relatively new kid on the block thats becoming very popular.

I will discuss each one separately to give you a better idea of what they are about and then do some comparisons.

Flowkey

I have a full Flowkey Review that goes into the program in more detail about the lessons and the content available. But here’s a brief idea of what to expect.

All you need to use Flowkey is your Laptop, Pc or tablet. You download the app onto your tablet or use through your devices’ web browser.

Flowkey is much better at teaching its students how to learn music theory, understanding how to read the theory and rhythm. It does this in a fun and enjoyable manner and not the boring way using theory books in the 90’s.

I really like the chord lessons you get with Flowkey. I must say you really do get a very good understanding of the chords without getting information overload.

Their chord lessons paired with their scale lessons really do offer some benefit when reading sheet music.

With Flowkey you get quiet advanced level chord classes; whereas Simply Piano doesn’t really offer this level of learning theory to actually read music.

You might be wondering why this is important? Well you might not always be looking to play a song through Flowkey or Simply Piano.

You might want to go find your own favourite songs to learn yourself. To do this you will need to have some understanding of reading music chords.

Flowkey Advantages

The standout feature of Flowkey is live video of the person playing the piano. It’s an amazing guide for when you are starting out.

You can follow the live video to make sure you are playing the right chords; and in the right time.

Why is this a standout feature? Well most online piano lessons, including Simply Piano only use animated keys.

So it’s nice to see a real person playing so you can do the finger placement right from the get go.

However, the only downside to this is sometimes you just follow along copying the player rather than learning the chords. So it’s important to keep an eye on the chords being displayed in the split screen so you start to understand them.

The flowkey layout is simple and easy to navigate. Its quick and easy to get started. See below how it looks.

You can quickly navigate to Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced & Pro level songs right at the top of the screen. The lessons can be found on the side bar.

One last major plus is the huge library of songs available to play with Flowkey. There’s no doubt you will find plenty of songs you will love to play. The library is updated weekly so you can learn the latest new releases.

I love how they have some odd music categories as well. Not your typical 70’s, 80’s, etc; but categories like Film, TV, Happy, Romantic & Game Music. You just don’t know what you will find in them.

Don’t worry, you still have some usual categories like ‘Pop Hits’ where you will find the like of Ed Sheeran, The Beatles, Elton John, Abba, Justin Bieber, etc.

Flowkey Disadvantages

Unlike Simply Piano, Flowkey does not allow you to slow down the speed of the song playing. Slowing down the song does help when you’re starting out or moving to more advanced lessons.

Flowkey’s volume is actually quiet low and can be hard to hear when you are actually playing the piano. So you might need to connected an external speaker using Bluetooth or AUX connection.

Although the layout of Flowkey is great and easy to navigate there is a drawback. While you’re playing the piano you constantly need to keep clicking pop ups to move on. It can be annoying and pointless.

Whereas with Simply Piano; their pop up notifications clear as soon as you press a key. So as soon as you start using Simply Piano; you can keep your hands on the piano or keyboard at all times which is great.

Simply Piano

Simply Piano is an app you download to your smartphone or tablet. I think its save to assume that everyone has a smartphone right? However a tablet is a little better if you have one for the bigger screen.

This app is a great fun way to start learning piano. It caters for everyone from beginners and intermediate level players, right up to pro level.

How Does Simply Piano Work? First of all you need your smartphone or tablet and place it on your keyboard or piano stand. As you start playing, Simply Piano will automatically pick up what you are playing; which is pretty cool.

Simply Piano Advantages

I love the course recaps. Each time you start a new lesson; you get a little summary of the last lesson.

You might think this is a little pointless if you are going lesson to lesson; but if you take a few weeks off between lessons these recaps are great for refreshing your memory.

The method Simply use to learn new songs is actually very clever. When you chose a song, it will split the song into a number of parts to learn.

In learning mode, as you are learning each part, you get little pop up tips for learning that song part.

As you are learning these songs parts, Simply Piano will also give you feedback to see how your timing is.

The best way to describe this is Guitar Hero where you need to land the chord at the right time. It will light up blue if you are in time and red if you are out of time or missed the key.

What’s great is that if you do miss the chord and it light up red; it will rewind and play it again until you get it right.

If you miss the chords a few times; it will swap back to practice mode and slow down the tempo to help you get it right. This is a great feature.

Simply Piano Disadvantages

You need a tablet to use it. I know its available on your phone also so its not all bad; but you don’t want to use your phone to use this do you?

Flowkey gives you the option to use it through your Mac or PC laptop which I think is handy.

I think nearly every household has a laptop; but not necessarily a tablet. But to be fair; you can pick up a tablet pretty cheap these these days, and they are very handy.

The theory with Simply Piano is ok; but no great. If you are serious about learning piano or keyboard; you will get a better understanding of reading chords and sheet music with Flowkey.

Simply Piano is a bit slower at teaching you how to play. What I mean by that is the lessons are very basic for too long. Flowkey does a much better job at helping you learn and progress faster to more advanced stages.

However; if you are a slow learner, maybe this could be a good thing. But for me; I like to try and learn fast and progress as quickly as possible.

Simply Piano has a great interface and they like to keep things fresh with updated to improve the user experience.

For example the auto clear of pop up notifications works really well. However, when changes and updates are made, you will likely experience some sort of bugs and glitches. They have since started rolling our Beta versions now to test the upgrades.

Flowkey vs Simply Piano Pricing

Unfortunately Simply Piano does not offer a monthly subscription like Flowkey does. The 1 month trial is useful and gives users are chance to see if they like it rather than dive into a 3 month subscription; which is Simply Piano’s shortage sub option.

If you compare Flowkey vs Simply Piano on a 3 month subscription; Flowkey works out a lot cheaper @ $12.99 compared to Simply Piano’s $19.99.

Unfortunately Flowkey doesn’t offer a 6 month plan to compare to Simply Piano head to head. But it doesn’t really matter because if you were to get another 3 month of Flowkey; it still works out cheaper @ $12.99 vs Simply Piano’s $14.99.

However, on a 12 month subscription Flowkey vs Simply Piano are the same price @ $9.99 monthly.

Flowkey does offer you the option of a lifetime membership; however, I wouldn’t really recommend it to be honest. Why pay all that money when you don’t necessarily need to?

Is Simply piano better than Flowkey?

If I had to choose; I would choose Flowkey over Simply Piano. Don’t get me wrong, Simply Piano is a lot of fun to use and great for beginners to learn piano.

But,

I think with Flowkey you are getting that and more. You are getting one of the fun and intuitive software that I think is one of the best ways to learn piano on your own.

The amazing music library provides hours of entertainment with songs for every music taste; no matter what you’re into. Flowkey continues to add more songs weekly; especially the latest release which is great.

I like how you can learn at a faster pace with Flowkey vs Simply Piano. I think the pace of learning is slower with Simply Piano unfortunately . This can be a drawback if you are committed to learning piano.

It’s hard to say how long it will take you to learn the piano, but it will be quicker with Flowkey in my opinion.

Overall after you use Flowkey I think you will get a far better understanding of the chords, scales and the ability to read sheet music. It makes you a better play.

If you really want to learn piano by yourself; Flowkey is the winner for me here.

Winner: Flowkey Piano

If you are interested in trying Flowkey; you can get a 14 day free trial using the link below.

I hope hope this article was helpful with choosing between two great piano softwares. If you have any comments or feedback; please leave them below in the comment box.

Try Flowkey For Free Here

Disclaimer

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