# Piano Apprentice

> Interactive piano lessons with video, sheet music, and jam modes. (iPhone/iPad app by ION Audio.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [ION Audio](https://appshunter.io/developer/456471027)
- Category: Music, Education
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.40/5 from 17 App Store ratings · 99 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 8.0 · 75 MB
- Languages: American English, Dutch, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, European Spanish
- Released: 2011-08-23
- Data updated: 2026-08-23
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024/reviews.md

## What is Piano Apprentice?

Learn to play piano the easy way with Piano Apprentice! Piano lesson videos are provided by The Piano Guy, a.k.a. Scott Houston. Just press “Piano Lessons”, pick the song you want to learn and he will show you how easy it is to play popular melodies. Start with the Right Hand alone, then the Left. Once those are mastered he will show you how to put your hands together!
 
If you are using the Ion Piano Apprentice keyboard, the notes will light up along with Scott’s hands. Follow the lights and begin playing music instantly!
 
Or, if you want to learn to read notes, select “Sheet Music” from the home screen. Then, you can choose to watch a basic tutorial on reading notes, or just dive right in to the song of your choice. Speed controls are provided for controlling the playback tempo, so you can learn at your own pace.
 
Of course you can just have fun playing the piano and making up your own melodies by selecting “Piano Jam”.

## Key features

- Video piano lessons
- Interactive keyboard lighting
- Sheet music tutorials
- Adjustable playback speed
- Piano jam mode

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Holiday Song 3-Pack | $0.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Piano Apprentice?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 👨‍🏫 Excellent instructor (Piano Guy) with patient, friendly teaching style
- 🎹 Works well with ION keyboard and other MIDI keyboards
- 📚 Sheet music feature helps with music reading
- 🆓 Free app with no paywall for core content
- 🎯 Effective for beginners learning basic songs quickly
- 💡 Innovative concept with keyboard key illumination
- 🎵 Good selection of familiar, recognizable songs

**Cons**

- 🐛 Video playback controls broken - cannot rewind/fast-forward
- 📥 Frequent download failures and missing content
- ⚡ App crashes and compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- 🎬 No video display in lessons (audio only)
- ⌨️ Keyboard keys unresponsive or not lighting up
- 🔊 No headphone jack on keyboard hardware
- ⏱️ Instructor plays too fast for beginners
- 📱 Requires iPad/iPhone to be plugged in to use keyboard
- 🎵 Very limited song library (only 15-16 songs)
- ❌ No pause/resume functionality in tutorials
- 🔧 Lacks comprehensive piano fundamentals instruction

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Video seek/scrub functionality resets to beginning on iOS 6.1+
- Lessons fail to download or download incomplete
- Video displays blank screen with audio only
- Keys not lighting up during playback
- App fails to update or gets stuck on update screen
- Content vanishes after app closure
- Keyboard unresponsive without app connection
- Playback controls broken on iPad 2 and newer iOS versions
- Sheet music playback has same seek issues as video
- Download pending indefinitely without completion

**Most requested features**

- Add more songs to the library
- Implement proper video scrubbing/seek functionality
- Slow down instructor playback speed
- Add pause and rewind controls for videos
- Include left-hand chord notation in sheet music
- Add chord training and music theory lessons
- Implement adjustable tempo/BPM controls
- Add different difficulty levels for beginners vs advanced
- Include note labeling on sheet music
- Add voice-over identifying note names
- Provide downloadable content for offline use
- Create in-app song purchase options
- Add headphone jack to keyboard
- Extend keyboard to full octave range

## Recent user reviews (10 of 99)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Lesson all fail to download in 2024

*2024-06-27, version 2.0*

Maybe no support for this app anymore ?

### 1/5 — No more video

*2023-05-07, version 2.0*

You ah e to listen and guess for yourself.  I still like the sheet music.  I even use it for my recorder.

### 1/5 — Needs Update

*2021-04-18, version 2.0*

App does not function properly. Tutorials have sound but no video, there is no connection with the piano

### 4/5 — Video doesn’t play (lessons) after iOS update

*2021-02-18, version 2.0*

After applying 14.4 the video screen is blank on the lessons.  You can hear the audio.  Would love to get the update

### 1/5 — No video only audio ☹️

*2020-11-01, version 2.0*

App was great on my iPhone. Purchased and iPad but after the most recent updates to iOS, app launches fine but when you click to watch any videos, you can only get audio. Keys also not responding. Need an update ASAP to fix this. App can’t be used if there is no video.

### 5/5 — Piano Guy and ION made best App ever!!!

*2020-05-15, version 2.0*

Piano Guy is wonderful and helps me learn to play the Piano!  He is the Teacher in the App.

This App works with the little portable piano, very small and affordable.

Great App!  Highly recommended!

### 1/5 — Fine.....

*2018-01-09, version 2.0*

No way to change ANY settings!!!! You can't make the note last longer, you can't change the key size, and the sheet music shows NO left hand chords!!!!!! AND I REALLY DON'T WANNA WATCH A BORING TUTORIAL!!!!!!! SHALL I ADD THAT NO PHONE TODAY WILL FIT THE PLUG ANYMORE CAUSE THEY NO LONGER MAKE PLUGS THAT WAY ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!😫😤😡

### 2/5 — Stardust

*2017-02-06, version 1.5*

Wow, is this a brand new version of the original song, I would thing Hoagy would be less than happy to hear it.....

### 1/5 — Really bad app

*2017-01-03, version 1.5*

I bought the ion keyboard with the anticipation that I would be able to learn to play lots of songs but there is only 16 in the app! And the piano man is American when they could provide an English accent! And there's no pause and rewind for heavens sake surely it wouldn't be that difficult to make these changes seems like another big company just want to take your money and run I won't buy anything of Ion again that's for sure but I bet they don't care and won't bother contacting me! So much for customer care!also they don't update the app which is really bad because there's no extra songs and you cant pause the song and skip back! An absolute waste of money buying the keyboard and I contacted the USA app designers and heard nothing back at all a total waste of space and utterly disappointed

### 5/5 — Excellent that can be used on any midi piano

*2016-11-21, version 1.5*

This app was my first venture into learning piano and I think it is excellent. I've been able to play all songs both following the excellent videos by Scott "Piano Guy" and the sheet music. I started withe iON Piano Apprentice (small size is excellent for taking it with you) but then migrated to the Yamaha EZ220 where the sheet music part of the app works (no audio for the tutorials, but by this time I don't need them).

Point to note is that the Piano Guy teaches "lead sheet" style playing with left hand chords and right hand melody - as opposed to Garage Band (also free) which is really left hand root and right hand chord. 

It plays on older iPODs an PADs and is free so nothing to lose.

Regarding the iON Piano - it has its limitations but is compact and can work with other iTune apps that for teaching music notation.

## Frequently asked questions about Piano Apprentice

### What is Piano Apprentice?

Piano Apprentice is an application designed to help users learn to play the piano. It offers video lessons from a professional instructor, Scott Houston, and provides interactive features to guide users through learning songs.

### What are the key features of Piano Apprentice?

Key features include video lessons that break down songs for right and left hands, an optional mode where notes light up on a compatible keyboard, sheet music tutorials for learning to read music, adjustable playback speed for lessons, and a 'Piano Jam' mode for free improvisation.

### How much does Piano Apprentice cost?

The application is free to download and use, but it offers in-app purchases. This means that while the core functionality is available for free, certain content or advanced features may require a purchase.

### What devices is Piano Apprentice compatible with?

The description mentions compatibility with the Ion Piano Apprentice keyboard for interactive note lighting. While not explicitly stated for other devices, it is generally designed for mobile use on smartphones and tablets.

### Who is the instructor for the piano lessons?

The piano lessons are provided by Scott Houston, also known as 'The Piano Guy'. He is a professional instructor who guides users through learning popular melodies and piano techniques.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.0 — 2017-06-05

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

Performance Enhancements.

Improved support for newer iOS devices.

### 1.5 — 2012-02-28

This update adds three new songs: Amazing Grace, Frere Jacques, and La Bamba.

### 1.4 — 2011-12-11

New lessons and sheet music.

### 1.3 — 2011-11-15

Three new Holiday songs now available for In-App purchase at one low price.

### 1.2 — 2011-10-18

Bug fixes and updates for iOS 5.

## Apps similar to Piano Apprentice

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Piano Vista](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-vista/id6468502856) | 2.0 (1) | Free | Music |
| [Ensemble Piano](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ensemble-piano/id6738069680) | 4.9 (11) | Free | Music |
| [Falling Notes Piano Trainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/falling-notes-piano-trainer/id6447489785) | 4.7 (6) | Free | Music |
| [PianoLIT](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pianolit/id1435702585) | 4.7 (25) | Free | Music |
| [Violin Instrument](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/violin-instrument/id6505035979) | 4.8 (9) | Free | Music |

## More apps by ION Audio

- [iDJ2GO](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/idj2go/id508949462)
- [All-Star Guitar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/all-star-guitar/id547387133)
- [ION Block Rocker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ion-block-rocker/id895206119)
- [Party Rocker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/party-rocker/id918496428)
- [Sound Shine](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sound-shine/id968061188)

All apps by ION Audio: https://appshunter.io/developer/456471027

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-23.*