Hello all,

Bit of a newb request here.

There is a song I would like to learn the piano part for. Sheet music is out because I am borderline illiterate for reading music. So I got me the MIDI for the song. There are two MIDI parts I need to learn (because in the original, the part assigned to Vibraphone in the MIDI import in FL Studio is in fact the left hand piano).

What I am looking for is the best software that would allow me see the MIDI and the keyboard keys played, possibly with notes displayed, and to be able to slow it down to learn the more difficult parts.

I know there are some tools that do that: just never owned one and I would be really grateful for your suggestions. And if you think a different kind of tool is better suited to what I want to do, then please let me know. Free or commercial, happy to buy: but it must dislay the keyboard as the MIDI plays.

Thank you.

 

Will do. Thanks a lot.

 

Just took a look. Absolutely perfect for what I want to do. Love that it can display the score as well: it's not going to do my (atrocious)sight reading any harm. Thanks again.

 

Best hands down. AFAIK the only problem you could have is that the program doesn't split well the notes for each hand with certain MIDIs. But in that case there're tons of MIDI files Synthesia-friendly.

 

I would have to go with Synthesia, as well. I used it for a while, and though it's a nice program, my playing progressed much faster just memorizing a part of what I was working on everyday and slowly learning it from memory--it seems to stick better that way. That being said, everyone *is different in how they learn to retain (and spit back out,) any data but, without trying to sound puritanical, I would recommend trying to learn the piece without a program first; you might surprise yourself.

 

A nice alternative to Synthesia.
I'm not saying it's better - but it's well worth checking out. Tiny, versatile, no installation, etc.
http://midisheetmusic.com/
http://midisheetmusic.com/features.html

 

I might just do that, but probably using synthesia and the score display only. What I want to learn is an old jazzy piece and there have been a number of arrangements. On paper, I wouldn't know what arrangement I'm playing until I'm actually done learning it. With the MIDI, I know I have the arrangement I want and I don't know that I could find the sheet music for that exact arrangement.
But I take the point. I spent a lifetime doing (a little) music with almost no formal training and almost no sight-reading. Getting old now, but need to bite the bullet.

 

Thanks a lot. I'll check them out. Actually, having had a quick look, I would say it's a perfect complement to Synthesai. It certainly seems stronger on the score display and the conversion from MIDI to score looks nice and easy. Perfect to fllow eXACT_Beats_'s suggestion too and start reading music in earnest. Thanks a lot.

EDIT: and it's free. Wow. Nice addition, thank you.

 

Last edited: Aug 25, 2019

Yes, I noticed that with the piece I'm trying to learn. I mute the display of all the MIDI parts I don't need. That leaves me with the left and right had as two or three (yes, in parts the left hand is picked up as an third channel).

More of a problem is not being able to lix the sound (to keep the other parts playing but emphasising the volume for the parts I learn). I don't seem to be able to do that.

 

Here's another free program that can help with that.
http://www.chrishills.org.uk/ChrisHills/midiplay/index.html
Note that this looks like old fashioned, slightly amateurish, software and you might initially think it's too quirky to bother with. But it's actually pretty good; if you're prepared to explore it, and forgive it a few quirks here and there, it will do what you described. e.g., you can persuade it to display a separate score window for each midi channel; mute or solo individual midi channels; adjust volumes for each midi channel, etc.

 

Very cool. Thanks a lot. I have everything I need now. Thank you all.