Piano

Roland has announced the FP-E50, a portable piano and creativity workstation that's designed as an easy intro for beginners while including enough advanced features to keep the pros happy, including Roland's flagship synthesis engine.

Japanese music gear titan Roland is celebrating 50 years in business this year, and has combined the timeless beauty of wood with cutting-edge digital technology for its latest party piece – the 50th Anniversary Concept Model Piano.

Anyone who uses a smartphone will be familiar with NFC technology, which is used for such things as contactless payments. To demonstrate the versatility of the technology when combined with printed circuitry, Prelonic has created the Paper Piano.

Could an existing piano player adapt to playing the instrument with an extra, robotic thumb? A new study suggests that the answer is yes, and interestingly enough, even people who are new to the piano are equally adept at using the added appendage.

The world's finest hand-made concert grands can now capture every nuance of a piano performance and replicate it in real time on the Steinways in living rooms, bars and studios across the world – even if Yamaha's been doing it for nearly a decade.

It's easy to imagine a program that could visually identify which pieces of music were being performed in silent piano-playing videos. A new AI system goes further, however, by reproducing the sound of that piano-playing in a realistic fashion.

We've seen a few learning systems that help students to learn at their own pace by having them follow lights to form chords on a guitar or nail songs on a piano keyboard. The latest from Yamaha to do so is the EZ-300, which comes with songs built-in.

Augmented reality has previously allowed us to place furniture in a room before buying, bring photos to life and go gaming on the streets. Now you can have a life-like avatar perform an upbeat version of a Beethoven classic in your front room.

If you've always wanted a grand piano in your living room but thought you simply wouldn't have the room, think again. Lego Ideas has just launched the 21323 Grand Piano set, an 8.5-inch high show piece that works with a smartphone app to play tunes.

Learning to play the piano is tough, and can be a bit boring. Many people hire a tutor, but technology can help maintain your interest and keep you motivated too. MeloQuest has launched a mobile adventure game that's designed to do just that.

Roland has spent decades making professional-grade digital musical instruments, and put a call out to designers to envision an ambitious digital grand piano. Here it is – the GPX-F1 designed by Jong Chan Kim.

Musicians often make playing an instrument look deceptively easy. But learning can be tough. Technology can help take the edge off, such as the One Keyboard Pro Essential piano which guides students through the learning process using LEDs and an app.