Will PC Piano instruction make it more interesting for uninterested 8-year old son

I have an extremely talented 8-year old who has taken piano lessons from a very good instructor for two years or so. He has great potential but doesn't apply himself very much becuase he doesn't want to put forth the effort. I'm wondering if we bought him a keyboard that would interface with a PC and some piano software, if that would make him more interested in learning. He loves doing other stuff on the PC. Can anyone speak to this idea?

I'm also interested in any suggestions on piano software for this situation?

Is there anything in particular to look out for in choosing a keyboard? Does it need to be fancy or will a plain one work fine?

Thanks in advance.

David Jensen

Replace the xx with MJ

Most children show talent in something when they *enjoy* doing it. Does your son not enjoy what he is 'talented' at?

He enjoys is when he gets a particular piece down pat where he can play it without effort. It is the effort required that saps his motivation. He'd play the piano frequently without being prompted if it didn't require any effort on his part.

Hi David,

You might not neccessarily need a keyboard to keep his interest.

If you have a decent soundcard that really *sounds* like a piano, (and the rest of the instruments) (wave table syntheis cards will do this) and a midi 'sequnecer' program, then he can listen to midi recordings of the songs that he's interested in and watch the notation as the music plays.. Television and movie themes might be fun for him, or whatever else he's interested in. A simple midi program that lets him repeat / slow down the sections that he's trying to learn could make it more interesting for him.

There are also keyboards apparently that will indicate which keys are actually to be pressed while the music is playing.

On the other hand, a midi keyboard does open up the possiblities of doing midi sequencing, i.e. multi track recording, where he could have his own 'one man band'. You can either buy a keyboard with the sounds 'built in', or just a keyboard/controller that needs an external sound source, e.g. a p.c. sound card. Visit a music store that deals in MIDI, and they can show you what's available.