Playground Sessions is a music-learning technology company headquartered in NY City, that focuses on teaching people how to play the piano. The company develops an at-home piano learning application that combines interactive expert videos with learning science and artificial intelligence. The company was founded in 2010 by brand marketer and entrepreneur Chris Vance. In 2012, music and film producerQuincy Jones joined the company. Pianists Harry Connick Jr. and David Sides are among the company's video instructors.
History
Playground Sessions, originally formed as ZAG Music Group, Inc., was incorporated in August of 2010 as a spinoff from brand incubator ZAG, a wholly owned subsidiary of advertising agencyBartle Bogle Hegarty. Founder Chris Vance, who was running ZAG at the time, partnered with BBH and digital development firm Rain Interactive to address what he saw as a shortcoming in the field of piano instruction. He teamed up with producer Quincy Jones and YouTube pianist David Sides to develop the video lessons and incorporate techniques to modernize the instruction format. In November 2011, ZAG Music Group, Inc. changed their name to Playground Sessions, Inc. The company officially launched in February 2014. By the end of 2018, the company reported they had delivered 20 million practice sessions and were averaging more than 1 million per month. In January 2019, the company announced they'd partnered with pianist Harry Connick Jr. as one of their video teachers and brand ambassadors.
Instruction
The company's video lessons were developed to emulate the educational style of Rosetta Stone language lessons but with interactive technology and the gamification techniques seen in video games such as Guitar Hero. There are also social features to allow users to play with others around the world. The software has different levels of difficulty. The system uses a MIDI keyboard, video demonstrations, and software including interactive sheet music that provides feedback on how well players match each note. Students connect their keyboards to iOS or Android devices running the software.
