• by Colin Kirkland , October 11, 2023

Popular language-learning mobile app Duolingo is expanding its repertoire this fall by launching a new music course.

First announced last month, the course material is taught to users through “hundreds of bite-sized lessons,” including games and exercises surrounding musical notes, rhythm, and basic songs on virtual piano keys. 

“While other apps focus on training learners for a performance on a specific instrument, we decided to take a much broader (and more accessible) approach,” the company said in a blog post. “With the new course, anyone can learn music literacy, including reading and identifying notes and playing familiar songs.”

Much like its current language lessons, Duolingo has gamified music learning through a swath of levels that users must complete by accumulating a certain number of points. 

Unlike traditional music learning models, the company uses an onscreen keyboard to help users practice playing without having to buy or rent a costly instrument. To make the experience as accessible to as many users as possible, Duolingo is offering the material for free, like its other classes. 

Super Duolingo subscribers will be able to work through the lessons without ads.

Karen Chow, senior learning scientist at Duolingo, told Fast Company that the company’s style of instruction lends well to this new offering because learning to read music and recognize notes is linked to learning a language. 

Users can sign up to be on the waitlist for the upcoming music course, which will launch first in English and Spanish on iOS devices, although the company has plans to expanding the course to more languages post-launch. 

While this is Duolingo’s first music instruction offering, the company expanded beyond language last year when it debuted its math program, of which there are new skills being added now, like calculating tips and hourly wages.