How Did PopPianoAI Begin?
PopPianoAI did not start with technology.
It started with a very practical experience at the piano.
I regularly play piano in church. New worship songs appear all the time, but very often, the songs come without piano sheet music. In real worship settings, no sheet music usually means the song will not be used at all. Worship leaders tend to skip songs that have no score—not because the song isn’t good, but because without sheet music, it’s simply too difficult to lead.
That experience made one thing very clear to me:
whether a song has sheet music directly determines whether it can be played, led, or used.
And this problem is not limited to church music.
Pop Songs Face the Same Reality
When I returned to practicing and playing pop songs, I realized the situation was almost identical.
Very often, the problem isn’t a lack of interest—it’s that:
- The song is new and has no piano sheet music yet
- Sheet music exists, but the quality varies widely
- Some arrangements are playable but uninspiring
- Others sound impressive but are exhausting to play
The issue isn’t that there aren’t enough songs.
It’s that there aren’t enough piano scores people actually want to play.
Human-Written Scores Are Still Better Than AI’s
This needs to be stated clearly and honestly:
At this stage, most human-written piano arrangements are still better than AI-generated ones.
Humans are better at judging musical layering, emotional flow, and physical playability at the piano. Writing for the instrument—not just transcribing notes—requires real playing experience, something AI still struggles with.
PopPianoAI was never built on the assumption that AI is already superior.
The real problem is not quality.
It’s output.
How Much Time Does Writing a Piano Score Actually Take?
People who have never written sheet music often think it’s just about “writing the notes down.”
In reality, the typical workflow looks more like this:
Listen to the song → find the melody → identify the chords → analyze the drum groove → arrange everything for piano → add embellishments.
Every step is separate work, and every step takes time.
Melody Is Only the First Step
Melody is usually the easiest part, but even then, it requires careful checking of pitch, rhythm, and phrasing. Compared to what comes next, this is often the least time-consuming step.
Chords Are Where Time Disappears
Chords define a song’s emotional direction, but they are rarely obvious.
Inversions, layered instruments, and dense production often blur harmonic clarity. Finding the correct chords usually means listening repeatedly, testing voicings, and second-guessing decisions.
This step alone can consume hours.
Turning Drum Grooves into Piano Rhythm
This part is often underestimated—and it’s one of the most time-consuming.
Much of a pop song’s groove comes from drums.
But the piano is not a percussion instrument.
You have to translate rhythm into something the piano can express:
- Should the left hand use broken chords?
- How do you represent syncopation?
- How do patterns evolve to build energy across sections?
This is creative work, not copying.
Arranging for Piano Is Where Writing Truly Begins
Once melody, chords, and rhythm are identified, the real arranging work starts.
Questions like:
- Do the hands move naturally?
- Is the texture too dense?
- Can this be played for several minutes without fatigue?
These answers usually come only from sitting at the piano and revising again and again.
Layering and Embellishment Come Last
A good piano score needs layers.
But layers are not decorative extras—they rely on everything underneath being solid. Because of time constraints, this is often the first part to be sacrificed, even though it makes the biggest difference in how enjoyable a score feels.
The Real Bottleneck Is Time, Not Skill
The issue has never been a lack of capable arrangers.
The issue is that no one can afford to go through this entire process for every single song.
Even if humans do it better, the time cost makes it impossible to scale.
AI’s Role Today: Not Better, Just Faster
This is where AI becomes relevant.
To be clear:
AI-generated piano scores are still not as refined as human-written ones.
But AI excels at speed.
It can quickly handle the most repetitive and time-consuming steps—creating a usable first draft where none existed before. For songs that would otherwise have no sheet music at all, this alone matters.
AI solves the problem of having nothing, not the problem of perfection.
Today’s Workflow: AI First, Human Judgment Last
In PopPianoAI:
- AI handles speed and initial drafts
- Humans refine layering, playability, and musical decisions
Every score ultimately returns to the piano to be tested, adjusted, and validated.
The Long-Term Goal Is Clear
PopPianoAI’s long-term goal is not vague:
AI should eventually be able to replace human-written piano arrangements.
Not because humans lack value—but because relying on humans to arrange every song is fundamentally unsustainable.
We are not there yet.
But that is the direction.
Why Start Now?
Because music doesn’t wait.
New songs keep coming, and people keep wanting to play them.
PopPianoAI exists to close the gap—to ensure that more songs at least have a playable starting point instead of being skipped entirely due to the absence of sheet music.
What PopPianoAI Ultimately Wants
It’s not about proving AI is impressive.
It’s about making sure that when you want to play a pop song on the piano,
you don’t get stuck at the very first step: “There’s no sheet music.”
If PopPianoAI can help more songs reach the piano bench—even imperfectly—
then it has already fulfilled its purpose for this stage.