Concert Hands -- The Machine That Teaches You to Play the Piano

Posted by John Farrier in Gadget, Music on August 19, 2009 at 8:37 pm



(YouTube Link)

Concert Hands is a gadget designed to replace traditional piano instruction by controlling the user’s hand and finger movements:

The software takes the song file and converts it to a proprietary file system where the controller box distributes the signal to the wrist pilots and finger sleeves. The finger sleeves are placed on all fingers of both hands and the user’s wrists lay gently on the wrist pilots. When the music begins the wrists pilots guide your hands across the piano to a specific location and the finger sleeves receive a pulse to indicate which key to press. The idea is after a period of time the repetitive motions and signals will develop muscle memory within the end user and enable him or her to play their favorite songs on their own.

Link via DVICE


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COMMENT

13 comments to "Concert Hands -- The Machine That Teaches You to Play the Piano"

  1. Mackers
    August 19th, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    Is it just me or does that seem really fake.

  2. Adi
    August 19th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    Great technology. But to me this takes the joy out of learning to play a song. I feel satisfied when I nail a difficult part of a song, knowing that I got myself to that point.

    However, I can see the potential of this technology for people with motor control disabilities, though perhaps for other uses.

    ...Watching the video, wouldn't that feel creepy to strap your arms and fingers to that contraption? And have it scoot them around? Weird.

  3. Dirit
    August 19th, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    Great.

    The Bataan Death march merges with Piano Lessons.

  4. Andrew Allen
    August 19th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    Isn't this the same kind of thing Robert Schumann used to become a virtuoso pianist, except the device ended up destroying his ligaments and he could never play professionally again?

  5. Paula
    August 19th, 2009 at 11:11 pm

    Even though that woman's voice was a little creepy to me, I want this so bad!

  6. ted
    August 20th, 2009 at 12:20 am

    Couldn't possibly work that well to be practical.

  7. health
    August 20th, 2009 at 1:55 am

    Yes! Now even YOU can learn to play the piano without ACTUALLY TRYING!

  8. bradbury
    August 20th, 2009 at 2:13 am

    Photoshopped!

  9. Lauren
    August 20th, 2009 at 5:30 am

    Sooooo..... your hands are strapped into mind-controlling restraints, forcing you to play music? Sounds like something an evil king would use for punishment.

  10. Nicholas Dollak
    August 20th, 2009 at 8:52 am

    @ Andrew Allen (4th from top) - Schumann was trying to strengthen his ring fingers, which are weaker than the others in the sense that one of the tendons is underdeveloped (Curl your fingers into a fist, then try to "flip the bird" using your ring finger, and you'll see the problem). He built some little exercise gadget for this purpose, but it did indeed make things worse, ending his professional performance career.

    Piano teachers everywhere, I wouldn't worry too much about this cyber-toy. Anyone remember those cheesy magazine ads from the 1950s and early 60s showing Mr. Businessman at home, grimly playing popular lite piano classics to entertain Mrs. Hausfrau? Supposedly by buying these instruction manuals, YOU TOO could play all these tunes YOU LIKE with VERY LITTLE PRACTICE, just by following these simple directions! Ultimately it boiled down to playing a small repertoire of simplified pieces --- and even though the practice time was small enough to shoehorn around one's 9-to-5 work day, it was still enough of an investment that it was abandoned by those who decided that it was easier to just put a record on the hi-fi.

    Professional musicianship will remain the heritage of those who truly desire it and put in the long hours of work. Concert Hands may or may not prove a bit useful in getting a kid started as far as the repetitious finger exercises go; but it will not turn them into the next van Cliburn. THAT is up to the student, and depends on what they do after they take Concert Hands off.

  11. astrodex
    August 20th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

    It's not typing. It's about the music, not just the movements. This just seems like another example of sucking the artistry out of something in order to make it accessible to the masses. If it was easy to master an instrument everyone would do it.

  12. tt
    August 21st, 2009 at 12:57 am

    whats the point on learning an instrument anymore.. if everyone can do it, thats no fun.. haha

  13. learn piano songs
    October 6th, 2009 at 8:11 am

    The technology so invented will be of great help to those who want to learn by them self..so its a great boon.


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