WG: How can one purchase the software and the keyboard?

Chris Salter: First of all, there are several distinct versions of our game. Fisher-Price licensed the concept from us and produced a great toy version that plugs straight into your TV, called “I Can Play Piano” with Piano Wizard method. It has Dora, Barbie, Spongebob, Scooby Doo cartridges and game you can buy separately. They did a great job. That product is everywhere toys are sold, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears, Target, ToysRus, KB Toys, you name it. Allegro sells the Windows PC or MAC software versions, and our game is available online at www.PianoWizard.com, and in Target Superstores and Apple stores. FAO Schwartz, the classic upscale toy icon, has interactive demos going on during the holidays, but our real push is direct channels like QVC, and our own infomercial that we are testing this fall. This is an infomercial like none I have seen, it is full of heartfelt testimonials by parents, kids, teachers and even seniors. Lives changed, not because of the game, but because of the music. The game merely empowered them to finally be able to express their own musical soul. Trust me, that is magical, especially for people who gave up on it as a possibility long ago. One other benefit we see in the game is that it only has positive feedback. To see my daughter’s’ face when she first realized she can be good at music, and can learn any song she wants, to see all those green lights go off in her head, that is priceless, and we see it every time we demo the game. It happens that fast.

WG: What age range is PianoWizard recommended for? Will you be making different products for different age ranges?

Chris Salter: We have seen children as young as two play the game, but at that age developmental variance is very high, so we recommend 3 and above. Fisher-Price’s version, the I Can Play Piano really serves that youngest market best, because the kids don’t want to stop, and you don’t want to tie up your computer for a four year old very long, so since the toy version just plugs into the TV, it is a great start. As the kids get excited however, and the parents see the value and interest, they generally want something with a more educational path, something with a real curriculum to take them from just fooling around to playing and reading music. That would be Piano Wizard EASY MODE, which can be started as young as three, but may need more parental guidance and setup for the youngest ones. Once the game is on though, the kids can navigate on their own, passing up mom pretty quickly. So for EASY MODE, you look at more like 5 or 6 years old and up, and we mean up. EASY MODE is perfect for adults, teens, seniors, anyone who wants to play and has limited or no experience. Piano Wizard PREMIER is for more the pre-teen and up, because now their musical tastes are differentiating, and they want more than the 100 preset songs included with EASY MODE, they want to be able to import and play the music they love. I would say 7 and 8 years old and up for PREMIER. Because you can import virtually any MIDI file or song, it is truly an open ended learning system for life. You could play Piano Wizard PREMIER for 50 years and not get tired, you just load a new song and you have a new game and challenge. It ROCKS!

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