Founding Families
Lifetime access, for the first 20 families.
KeyStage is a real piano curriculum on your iPad. Before it launches to everyone at $99 a year, I'm inviting 20 founding families in for a one-time $50.
I'm a professional pianist and composer, and a dad of four. Every music app I tried with my own kids was a game with colored lights. They tapped along, collected stars, and still couldn't read a line of music or sit down at a real piano and play. So I built the thing I couldn't find: a curriculum that teaches reading, rhythm, and ear training the way a teacher does.
Matthew Carrier · professional composer, pianist and dad to 4
What makes it different
- It reads the actual keys your child presses. KeyStage plugs into any MIDI keyboard. No microphone guessing: your child is never marked wrong when they got it right, and sees exactly what to fix when they didn't.
- A real curriculum, not a song list. Twelve levels with a published scope and sequence, from first notes to early-intermediate repertoire. Reading, rhythm, and ear training from the first lesson.
- You don't need to play piano to teach piano. The app is the teacher's ears. Your dashboard shows practice days, minutes, and where each child is stuck.
- Records you can stand behind. Practice hours are verified by the keyboard itself, so your logs and portfolio documentation are ones an evaluator can trust.
- Built for households. Up to 8 kids, one price. No ads, no chat, no microphone, and it works offline.
Public launch will be $99 per year. Founding families never pay it.
- Lifetime access for your household, up to 8 profiles, every feature, forever.
- First into the family beta this fall, ahead of the public launch.
- A direct line to me, and a real vote on what gets built next.
- Full refund during the beta if it's not for your family. No questions asked.
Secure checkout by Stripe. You'll get a receipt right away and your beta invitation by email this fall.
What you'll need
- An iPad (iPadOS 17 or newer).
- Any USB or Bluetooth MIDI keyboard. The one in your closet almost certainly works, and used ones start around $60. See the keyboard guide for three named models and the one cable you need, or email me before you buy anything.
Where it stands, honestly
The app is built and working: the full practice engine, twelve curriculum levels, rhythm and ear-training gyms, the parent dashboard, and sync across iPads. Family beta starts this fall through Apple's TestFlight. Founding families are first in, and what you tell me shapes what ships.
Questions
- Does my keyboard work?
- If it has USB or Bluetooth MIDI, yes. Almost every keyboard made in the last twenty years does. The keyboard guide has specifics.
- What does lifetime mean?
- Your household's subscription, free, for as long as KeyStage exists. Not per child: the whole family, up to 8 profiles.
- When do I get access?
- Beta invitations go out by email this fall. You'll hear from me personally.
- What if it's not for us?
- Tell me and I'll refund the $50 in full. No questions, no hard feelings.
- Is it safe for kids?
- No ads, no chat, no microphone, no external links in kid-facing screens. Here's the privacy policy, in plain language.