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Our Story

In 2009, Ken Ihara bought a piano and started taking piano lessons with the idea of eventually filling his Australian home with the sounds of Beethoven and Bach. He had not touched a piano for 15 years and struggled to understand how to read and play the right notes.

Whilst researching for ways to improve his piano skills, Ken noticed an abundance of old pianos and inexpensive laptop computers. This inspired Ken to try and connect the two, resulting in the creation of PianoMaestro.

It is hoped that PianoMaestro will continue to inspire more children and adults to take up the piano, and the millions of old pianos collecting dust in living rooms around the world will have a chance to make music again.

What is PianoMaestro?

PianoMaestro is a portable electronic USB device which enables children and adults to quickly and easily learn how to play the piano.

The PianoMaestro learning system is comprised of:

  1. A computer program that reads standard MIDI files and displays the notes on the screen and;
  2. A ruler-like strip of lights that is placed on the black keys of any acoustic or digital piano.

PianoMaestro’s 48 lights correspond and indicate which keys you play on the piano at any given time. Through connecting to your computer via the USB port, it allows you to study and follow along with the music scores on your computer. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can adjust the playback speed and repeat a few notes at a time!

Save Money

The PianoMaestro is designed to add guide-light technology to the piano that you already own. It works with readily available computers running through Windows Operating Systems.


You can have the benefits of guide-lights for 1/20th of the cost of purchasing a new digital piano with the guide-lights built in. As a student can learn to play the notes faster with the aid of the PianoMaestro, they can spend their lesson time perfecting a piece.

Save Time

Owning a PianoMaestro is like having a piano teacher 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to show you how to play any piano piece.

Learning the notes of a new song – Phase 2 in the graph – is the most time consuming and frustrating part of learning to play the piano. Hours of practice can yield disappointing results, leading many students to give up.

The PianoMaestro enables students to master new piano pieces more quickly and efficiently by reducing the amount of time required to learn the notes in a song. Student can then spend valuable piano instructor time focussing on the artistry and interpretation of a piece.

Students using the PianoMaestro are rewarded sooner with the ability to play the music they love.

Accomplish More

The PianoMaestro’s software has powerful features to help you confidently master the pieces you have always dreamed of playing.

  1. Watch the notes on the computer screen, and observe the patterns.
  2. Repeat sections over and over until committed to muscle memory
  3. Slown down the playback speed
  4. Separate the left and right hand, allowing you to focus upon each hand separately.

Students motivated by their accelerated progress will spend more time playing the piano.

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