About this project
$25,454
313
THANK YOU! Music Wizard's Kickstarter is successfully funded, (YEAH!) (This project will be end and be funding on Saturday Sep 21, 1:45am MDT) but we will still honor the prizes for the Kickstarter listed
rewards for contributions toward our Stretch Goal via Paypal
(Paypal@MusicWizard.com) until midnight MST September 30, 2013.
Should we reach $32,000 total funding ($7000 more to go at
this time) through this, it will allow CoreMIDI and Keyboard
compatibility for the apps, otherwise we will have to wait for other
funding or another Kickstarter campaign to follow.
You can email us at Chris@MusicWizard.com and visit our website at www.PianoWizardAcademy.com Our backers will receive a survey from us via Kickstarter shortly after the close of the campaign for contact info, shipping addresses, download links, app codes etc. for fulfillment of the rewards and updates. We will also be updating Paypal contributors as they come in after the campaign on Kickstarter ends as to info Kickstarter backers get, including a survey. Thank you for your warm support, for believing in us and our vision, and we look forward to helping your musical dreams come true.
Thanks
The Music Wizard Team
YEAH! Our first milestone has been achieved! And here is (drum roll)
First Stretch Goal of $32,000 will allow CoreMIDI and Keyboard compatibility
The Promise of our Kickstarter Campaign
The Piano Wizard
Academy system has already transformed thousands of lives of children and adults for years, won dozens of rave reviews, awards and heartfelt grateful testimonials (below).
The new Piano Wizard iOS applications will now allow millions more to easily enjoy the benefits of playing music in a quick and affordable way, starting with YOU. You can get great music rewards and bring the joy of playing music into your life and your family's life by pledging and pre-purchasing these great products today on the right.
The Problem
Cutbacks on educational music programs, confusing musical
notation, burdensome time and expense of private lessons and materials, and boredom and frustration of
practicing are all contributing factors to fewer and fewer children learning
how to play instruments. Interactive video games consume their time and attention, but are largely violent, mind numbing or both.
The Piano Wizard Academy Solution
By supporting a VERY budget-friendly, fun, effective system proven to produce results, our iOS apps will help reach students who typically would never have the opportunity to learn how to play the piano or any other musical instrument, much less read and play with proficiency.
Our Proof?
To understand better the full story of Jed, as well as the inner workings of the game system, and a sneak peek at our next stage of development, please view the full story video below. It is a very exciting and moving true story, with implications for all because of the recent scientific studies on the brain and music's effects on it.
Our promise. You (even you!) can play real music on real instruments, in minutes. We guarantee it.
Most importantly, with your help, we can finish the iPad and iPhone versions to reach many
more children and not only get them started on learning music, but give them a
clear path to a life of real musicianship.
Our Secret? Our approach mimics the way people learn their native language, first by speaking (playing), then reading (notation) and then grammar (theory). Virtually any one can enjoy learning the language and basic elements of music through games in a fraction of the time and expense of traditional lessons with Piano Wizard. Yet the game bridges them to reading sheet music fluently at the piano in a natural game like progression that makes practicing fun. Fun practice is the key to mastery, and our awards, reviews and testimonials prove we can deliver just that.
Why learn how to play the piano?
Playing the piano, besides the sheer joy, and deep satisfaction, has significant, scientifically proven neurological benefits. Examples of these dramatic benefits include:
·Actual physical and mental increases your brain’s memory capacity
·Dramatic (as much as 30-40%) improvements in math, reading and comprehension skills
·Coordinated multitasking of playing piano refines your time management and organizational skills on a primary level
·Affects both sides of the brain, especially coordination of left and right hemispheres because of the high density of nerves in the hands.
·Sharpens concentration, attention to detail and discipline to stick with a task or song.
·Better SAT scores, higher admissions to Med school, better social skills, self esteem and more.
In the past decade, advanced research and studies about "neuroplasticity" prove that the brain can continue to form new connections, new neurons,
even grow new brain cells at any stage of life or development, with the
proper stimulus. This research indicates that learning to play piano may be key to children's fullest mental, emotional and scholastic development. (There is a great summary of the latest music/brain articles in the links at the end of the text below.)
With your help, as a "Patron of Music", we can bring that impact to millions more via the iOS platform, at a fraction of the cost of our PC and Mac program, and save you thousands of dollars over traditional piano lessons, with no nagging.
What Makes Piano Wizard So Unique?
The Piano Wizard Academy approach emulates the process of
learning one's native language in a simple five-step system that
transitions the player from simple hand eye coordination and instant
music making, to subtle transitions to music notation, fingering, note
names, and more. The unique system
teaches basic "elements" of music through "gamefication", in a way that allows
students to
play, read and create real music in a fraction of the time and expense
of
traditional lessons, while having fun.
Sound too good to be true? We get that a lot. Many people felt that, here are real people playing and reacting to the game, none of their reactions were scripted, in fact we through the script out because their words were so much better, and real.
Awards
Piano Wizard has received countless accolades and awards for its transformation of musical education, however, the most powerful and inspiring success is Jed’s story. Jed was born with severe mental challenges, leaving him unable to reach basic development milestones. He did not even learn to walk until he was four, and at age seven, Jed could not even ask for a glass of water. His family was watching over him around the clock since his condition left him unable to do simple tasks for himself. However, with a basic recognition of colors, he somehow took to our Piano Wizard game and through that was able to not only learn how to play the piano, but has shown significant improvement in comprehension and language, including the ability to do basic math, solve puzzles, and converse. Jed shows significant process since learning to play the piano through Piano Wizard and is now enrolled in school, with high hopes for the future. Learning to play the piano profoundly affected Jed’s life and it is stories like his that have inspired the Piano Wizard team to bring their music learning system to the world.
Where Piano Wizard is Headed
Music Wizard’s goal is to bring the award-winning Piano Wizard Academy into the hands of everyone. Help us bring Piano Wizard to iOS devices and provide students of all ages with the necessary tools to dramatically lower the cost and decrease the time needed to learn how to play an instrument.
Touch screen devices are being used even by the very young, toddlers whose brains are in an impressionable phase of growth as they acquire language. Music can become one of their "native languages". By reaching a larger audience, especially in the critical language acquisition phase of 2-7 years old, music can dramatically enhance their brain power for life according to numerous music brain studies. Imagine the ripple of impact you could have, kickstarting the minds of millions of children, through simple, fun games that teach the underlying language of music.
We’re on the cusp of a breakthrough, leveraging years of research and development to bring real music education to the palms of millions worldwide. Having successfully developed various game engines for multiple platforms and operating systems, our next step is to finalize the mobile touchscreen development and release the application to the iOS market. We need your help to finalize development of the app platform for Music Wizard and begin a musical revolution.
Who Are We?
Piano Wizard Academy creator, Chris Salter, holds degrees in both music and linguistics and has done research on how they overlap, especially how we learn. He played a game to improve his typing skills and was inspired to combine the ease of learning through video games with his passion for music. Chris partnered with Don and Delayna Beattie, acclaimed musicians, authors and teachers, to create Piano Wizard Academy curriculum and lessons. What started as a piano boot camp was then recorded and transformed into an instructional video series, which evolved over time to become the Piano Wizard Academy system we know today. Music Wizard's goal is to bring the award-winning classic Piano Wizard Academy to widly used touchscreen platforms. These simple, accessible games are designed to teach the "elements" of music through play, yet allow users to naturally grow into real musicianship, reading notation and all the way to music theory if they wish, with unlimited song content and a lifetime of joy.
Our Invitation To You:
Be among our first delighted supporters for these new iPhone and iPad platforms and games, get valuable, perhaps life changing rewards as our Music Patrons, saving you thousands of dollars in pianos and lessons, and helping us reach millions more kids, of all ages!
One of our customers put the gift of music in perspective for us. She said, "Being able to play music is like having a lifelong friend." We couldn't agree more.
We
hope you will join us and help ensure that our global dream of changing the world, one child's heart and mind at a time.
Chris and Eliana Salter
and the whole Music Wizard team.
Resources for Further Music/Brain Research, Founder's Vision, and more details on your Music Rewards for pledging to our project.
Babies' Brains Benefit from Music Lessons, Even Before They Can Walk and Talk
Music Underlies Language Acquisition, Theorists Propose
Adolescents Involved With Music Do Better In School
Listening to Music Lights Up the Whole Brain
"The Power of Music: Enriching Cognitive, Physical and Emotional Health in Seniors"
Dementia Patients Frequently Make Gains in Cognitive Function After Music Therapy.
"Music Training and Neuroplasticity"
Some cool game screen shots from our full PC and Mac versions and our iPad prototypes, as well as more videos from our founders.
These are some of the rich deep features we intend to port to the iPhone and iPad versions where suitable, with your help.
Music Professors Don and Delayna Beattie creating and testing the Piano Wizard Academy curriculum and teaching program in 2006
Founder Chris Salter Shares His Roots and Vision for Music Wizard.
Music Rewards Details For Your Pledge
Since we are an established company with many cool versions of our products, we have a wide range of great musical gifts to share with you, above and beyond the iPhone and iPad versions you will help build with your support!
Music Patronage is important. Imagine if Bach, Beethoven or Tchaikovsky had had to quit composing and deliver pizzas or lay bricks to survive? No Brandenburg Concertos, no Ninth Symphony, no Nutcracker Suite. When you look at the fragile role of music patronage in their lives, it could easily have happened. Even Mozart suffered terribly to find good patrons. Without music patronage, more that HALF of all of the greatest music we know and love would never have been written! Music patrons changed history, leaving a priceless legacy. You can continue that noble tradition of supporting the arts.
By
pledging to our campaign, you will be helping create (starting with yourself!) the next wave of new musicians and composers on a
potentially MASSIVE, GLOBAL scale. . . for generations! How cool is that?
Music Patron Reward Levels (Click to See More Details)
Risks and challenges
Risks and challenges
We do not anticipate or expect any issues delivering the rewards since our higher end products have been shipping and in use for years. However, we are aware and understand the potential risks in any creative venture. We need to finalize the iOS application to our specifications and standards, which can encounter slight delays outside of our control.
We’ve intentionally limited our project’s scope to achieving realistic results with minimal risks, since the research and development is already complete. Additionally, our game theory is proven, the application platforms are solid and our prototypes are successfully working. We simply need to finalize the builds and submit the Piano Wizard iOS application.
Our developers have nearly 20 years of experience building games on multiple platforms, and we’ve precisely mapped out the strategy to release Piano Wizard to the App Store. The Music Wizard Academy has additional projects to share with you, so we’ve taken every measure to ensure this first mobile video game will lead the way for many developments to come.
We hope you will join us and help ensure our success.
Thanks
Chris and Eliana Salter
and the Music Wizard team.
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Funding period
- (40 days)