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‘There’s joy I haven’t felt for years!’ How an app finally got me hooked on the piano

Thirty years after failing his grade two exam, our writer is banging out Handel, Billie Eilish and Elton John - and he’s not alone. With apps to help with learning, there’s never been a better time to tinkle the ivories

There are hundreds, from “easy gems” and classics to pop hits from Elvis to Eilish, as well as K-pop, jazz, film themes and kids’ songs (I can confirm that Baby Shark is as irritating on the piano as anywhere else). It took years to perfect the interface and build relationships with music rights holders, but Flowkey took off when tech advances coincided with the pandemic and millions of us were suddenly confined to our homes and looking for ways to distract ourselves. Simply Piano, the biggest of all, was first developed over a decade ago by Yuval and Yigal Kaminka, two brothers based in Tel Aviv, who were inspired after watching a nephew play tennis on an old Nintendo Wii.

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