New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Sunshine Sachs) Playground Sessions, (www.PlaygroundSessions.com) the downloadable software application that teaches people to play the piano using popular songs, announced today the addition of two original arrangements written by 11-year-old piano prodigy Emily Bear . The songs, "Diversity" and "Alika" appear on Bear's debut album Diversity and will be featured in Playground Sessions' iTunes-like lesson library for students to pick from when learning piano.
Playground Sessions was co-created by Chris Vance and multi-Grammy winning producer, composer and arranger
Quincy Jones. The program teaches people to play piano in a fun, convenient way that keeps them engaged and brings the joy of playing music to the learning process. Playground Sessions uses the biggest pop hits to teach musical concepts and principles quickly and effectively since students are familiar with the songs.
The software integrates a sophisticated music curriculum that creatively covers a wide range of topics and incorporates gaming elements such as real-time feedback, scoring, leaderboards, and progress-tracking visualizations. These features engage and entertain students, helping them learn faster by identifying problem areas, and reward them for their progress. In addition to Bear's new songs, the play-to-learn application features songs popularized by the likes of Michael Jackson, Beyoncé and Justin Bieber.
"As one of the brightest piano prodigies in the world whose playing exudes joy, freedom and youthful enthusiasm - Emily truly embodies the spirit of Playground Sessions and is an inspiration to all of our students," said Vance. "Emily's songs are incredibly beautiful; we were especially careful to ensure the arrangements of her compositions showcased their musical qualities. One of the biggest hindrances to learning the piano is teaching students using now-forgotten songs. We believe Emily's arrangements - along with the other popular songs in our catalog - will make learning the piano more enjoyable and fulfilling earlier in the process."
Bear recently released her debut album Diversity on Concord Records/Qwest Records. The album was produced by Jones and features 13 original songs written by Bear. She first broke into the national spotlight at age six as a guest on the
Ellen DeGeneres Show by performing Mozart, jazz and an original song she composed. Bear plays all of her music from memory, including 45-page classical concertos, and made her Carnegie Hall debut with a 110-piece orchestra, 220-voice choir, and featured R&B soloists performing her original song, "Peace - We Are The Future."
Playground Sessions' revolutionary approach to learning the piano includes a major breakthrough in technology with its real-time feedback system. Through this feature, Playground Sessions provides students with the best part of private lessons - instant feedback on their playing. The real-time feedback shows which notes students played correctly and incorrectly as soon as they play a key. The application also includes video tutorials from YouTube piano sensation
David Sides, whose videos have nearly 200 million views. Sides' relatable and supportive rapport in the videos has helped students from around the world learn to play piano.
With the addition of Bear's arrangements, Playground Sessions' lesson library now includes more than 100 songs and 50 video tutorials across the Rookie, Intermediate and Advanced levels. Other songs available to students include Katy Perry's "Firework," One Republic's "Apologize," and Rihanna's "
We Found Love" as well as classical and traditional songs like Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise and Wedding March. When learning piano through these songs students can track their progress, receive scores for accuracy and play alongside budding piano players around the world using the application's social features.
Playground Sessions' membership options allow students to save on individual songs and videos and the Bootcamp series by joining on a yearly or quarterly basis, $9.99 and $14.99 per month, respectively. More advanced players can purchase lessons, songs and sheet music a la carte. In contrast, piano lessons often cost up to $100 per hour of instruction.
Playground Sessions is compatible with any MIDI or USB keyboard. For more information and to download the application, please visit www.PlaygroundSessions.com.
