There are many apps that let you play piano on your iPhone and iPad, but Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD stands apart from the crowd by allowing you and a friend to play piano at the same time, on the same iPad.
The virtual piano has two racks of keys, one on top of the other. Each rack can be set to whatever range of the piano you want it to replicate. For example, you can have the top rack sound like the high pitches and the bottom rack sound like the low pitches. This is done by tapping the single arrow to move one key at a time, the double arrow to move one octave (eight notes) at a time, or the slider to quickly move anywhere on the keyboard.
You also have options to show the key labels, so you can practice learning what note each key is. Then, when you feel comfortable enough, you can turn off the key labels. There’s also an option for volume control.
As stated above, the best part about this application is the duet feature. In duet mode, the top rack is flipped upside down, so one person can play on the bottom rack, and the other can play on the top rack. This has some really great possibilities, not only just for the fun of playing with a friend, but also for gaming and educational potential. You could challenge your friend to a piano duel to see who plays a song better. Or, a music teacher could teach a student how to play a song, right on the iPad.
This free version of the app is ad-free, but also missing some premium features such as tuning, metronome and recording. However, for a free application, it is absolutely worth the download. As a music teacher, this is something I will keep on my iPad permanently. Even if you’re not a music teacher, it’s still fun to play around with. It’s one of the few apps that allows two people to interact on the iPad at the same time.
