Tonara releases Wolfie for Piano, an app designed to enhance piano teaching and learning.

Learning to play the piano just got easier with Wolfie for Piano from Tonara. Wolfie is hailed as the first interactive piano teaching tool that provides teachers and students with everything they are already used to, while adding many useful features to their interaction.

Tonara is a company that is at the crest of technology. Tonara's team is made up from leading Israeli scientists and programmers who are all musicians, as well as leading Israeli musicians who know how dabble in music technology. The company is also known for developing sheet music software and has found the way to combine tablet based learning and interactive technology with the Wolfie app.

It is Tonara's belief that although music education has not changed in 200 years, Wolfie for Piano can definitely be the smart way for the children to learn with their tablet.

The application has been specifically designed for iPad and according to Ron Regev, Chief Executive Officer of Music at Tonara, it is not meant to replace the music teacher or geared to give lessons. He chooses to call it an “interactive aid that gives teachers and students everything they need for teaching, learning and practicing in one elegant tool.”

In a recent interview with Asha Brodie Jazz, Chief Executive Officer of Music Ron Regev provided more information about Wolfie for Piano.

Asha Brodie Jazz: Wolfie for Piano was launched last month and it seems like something interesting for the kids. Tell us more about this interactive piano teaching tool.

Ron Regev, Tonara: Wolfie for Piano is an iPad application, which has been designed as a comprehensive aid for piano teaching and practicing, with emphasis on facilitating the communications between teachers and students, and motivating the students during their practice sessions.

ABJ: What are some of the features that one can expect on Wolfie?

RR, Tonara: Wolfie has an extensive catalogue of the core educational piano repertoire, as well as popular songs. Its core technology includes the ability to listen to live piano playing, indicate its location on the score (regardless of tempo changes, mistakes and skips) and automatically flip pages. Using that technology, it boasts shareable, score-synchronized recordings (i.e., when you playback your recordings you can tap anywhere in the score to skip to that place). Wolfie also includes MIDI playback of the pieces (in a tempo of the user's choosing), and an intuitive, comprehensive system for writing notes and annotations.

Finally, Wolfie provides information about practice sessions (including practice time, which pages were practiced more, tempi of playing, etc.) and awards students with badges - for practice time, for practice dedication (i.e. the number of consecutive days in which they worked on a piece) and for completing pieces.

ABJ: Why did Tonara decide to create this? Did they think there was a need for it somehow... well to make piano playing easier for the kids and their teachers.

RR Tonara: Music and music education are very close to the hearts of everyone here at Tonara. Our company includes musicians with great love for music education and music technology, and scientists and programmers who are all musicians themselves. Studies have already shown many times that music education is priceless for the advancement of children in all areas of their studies, and of life in general; however, in this day and age, in which instrumental practicing has to compete with both social and online activities, and in which instrumental teachers find it increasingly more difficult to engage their students, music education requires the aid of modern technology to facilitate practicing and teaching. For this end we created Wolfie for Piano, and our pilots and data already show an increase in the practice time of our users.

ABJ: Can you tell us more about how the student and teacher can interact with the program?

RR, Tonara: We strongly believe that the interaction between student and teacher lies at the core of music education. Wolfie was created to aid that interaction, and not to try and replace the teacher. Teachers and students will find in Wolfie all they need to bring their current interaction to the 21st century, with all of the tools of the trade brought to the iPad platform.

ABJ: I know you said earlier that it is available on tablet, can one also access it from the PC as well? 

RR, Tonara: At the moment, Wolfie is an iPad app available for free download at the App Store (where it has been featured for several weeks as one of the best new music apps). It is not available for the PC.

ABJ: Is there a chance that PC users will ever get a chance to experience Wolfie from their computer?

RR, Tonara: We constantly interact with our users and ask for their feedback. If the demand for a PC version becomes noticeable, we will do what's necessary.

AJB: How does this tool differ from similar items on the market like say a piano learning app or even a YouTube video lesson?

RR, Tonara: As mentioned before, Wolfie is not meant to replace the teacher or give lessons. It is an interactive aid that gives teachers and students everything they need for teaching, learning and practicing in one elegant tool. Since Wolfie's team includes first rate musicians, music pedagogues, scientists and programmers, it ended up being the most comprehensive tool, to date, for its purposes - it boasts the most advanced music technology, and the most comprehensive, most aptly designed, pedagogical tools, that we know of.

AJB: What have you done different to simplify the learning process?

RR, Tonara: Every one of Wolfie's features was designed with the teacher and the student in mind. For example, Wolfie's catalogue, which is divided to 9 distinct levels, includes all the repertoire needed for the student to make progress, and it is constantly updated with new pieces and songs. The Magic Cursor that indicates the location of the live playing within the score serves to help visual focus on the notes played, and improves rhythmic accuracy. The information graphics and the badges motivate the students, and provide them tangible feedback on their progress. The notes and annotations are far simpler to access and organize than those you create with paper and pencil. The list goes on - every one of Wolfie's feature is an answer to a real, tangible need of teachers and students.

AJB: What type of success are you having with the tool since the launch?

RR, Tonara: Even before the launch we tested Wolfie in leading music schools in Israel and in New York, such as the Special Music School at the Kaufman Center in Manhattan. These pilots were very successful, and the enthusiasm of the participants was such, that even after the official pilot was over, most of the students and the teacher remained Wolfie users.

The download numbers are incredible - we are talking tens of thousands within a month, with very little publicity. We are even happier about the usage statistics that we see - our subscribers' average practice time is over 20 minutes daily. Apple has chosen us as their no. 1 new music app at the US app store. Great reviews are coming in, and we try to be attentive to the feedback and the needs of our users.

ABJ: That's wonderful! In the future, are you considering adding other instruments for learning on the tablet?

RR, Tonara: Definitely. Wolfie for Piano is the first among a series of apps that we call "Tonara's Prodigy Series". Apps for other major instruments are soon to follow.

ABJ: Please remind our readers about the price for the app; what is the price of the item?

RR, Tonara: It is free to download Wolfie for Piano, and upon registration you are allowed to download two pieces for free, so that you can try Wolfie out and see if it is suitable for you. After that, the pricing is subscription based. A subscription gives you unlimited access to all of Wolfie's catalogue and features (including the ability to upload your own PDF files to Wolfie). It sells for $14.99 for one month, $29.99 for three months and $59.99 for nine months.

ABJ: Finally what are your views on how technology is changing the future of music learning.

RR, Tonara: The world of education is changing. With the great benefits and temptations created by technology also comes a shorter attention span, and the interaction between students and teachers is hindered by the many duties and responsibilities of both sides. Music education is in need of tools that make it more accessible, and more fun; it is in need of tools that eliminate time-consuming annoyances such as having to get sheet music from store and libraries (or even obtain them via illegal photocopies); it is in need of tools that can provide social connections and feedback, even when a student is practicing alone at home.

Technology has been able to provide solutions to similar problems for many other disciplines. By incorporating into these solutions the special technology developed by Tonara, similar solutions are now available for instrumental students.

When we think about the future of reading in general, it is clear to us that it will shift mostly from paper to tablet-like devices. In fact, ebooks have been out-selling regular books for a while now. The same shift will happen with sheet music, and will provide music students, teachers, amateurs and professional alike with great solutions for their musical needs.

To learn more about Wolfie Piano and the company that makes it, visit Wolfie at www.wolfiepiano.com and about Tonara, the inventing company, at www.tonara.com