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We interviewed much more than three people, but the three however not all the interviews were helpful. The interviews that stood out the most are characterized below.
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- He started to learn piano this late because of lack of access to piano or the instructor.
- Other factors like finger techniques and musical score interpretation were more important than being able to differentiate notes.
- two hands didn't go independently while trying to play piano.
Wannabe
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Cappella Singer
This interviewee was fairly familiar with music, having some experience with piano, violin, drum, and choir. When we asked him about differentiating notes, he was very excited, and said that it was super important to him, since he wanted to sing a cappella. He was primarily interested in sight reading, but had actively spent time training his ability to differentiate notes.
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- He played exclusively guitar. The other interviewees all talked about the piano, and when he spoke of music, he referred to strumming the guitar. This reminded us that not everyone who is learning music is familiar with the piano interface.
- He strongly believed everything should be available online, and thought it wasreally was really cool to consider using a web application to help with steps in the music learning process.
Former Music School Attendee
This interviewee attended music school for a number of years. The following are the things some of the important things she noted
- Music learning in music school takes place much like you are taught math in primary school. You learn the different aspects of music (and piano) one by one, such as reading musical notation, playing simple songs with one hand (and finger exercises), distinguishing musical notes, music dictation, and more.
- In contrast to what many people believe, she thinks that you do not necessarily need a tutor to learn music. If given the right information, and with practice, one can figure it out by themselves.
- She also noted that there are no age barriers. It does become more difficult as you grow to learn a new instrument, but that doesn't mean that a 35 year old cannot learn a instrument he or she has never touched before.
- Lastly, she noted that, everything else remaining the same, she would definitely prefer going to a music school and playing with other people, than sitting in her room practicing music. However, if it reduces the costs associated with music schools and tutors, the freedom of being able to learn musical instruments from home at low cost would be much appreciated.
Other Interviewees
Other people we interviewed included someone with perfect pitch who believed the skill "couldn't be taught to an adult."
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