To help more people learn how to play the violin, a Chicago startup is simplifying the learning process by eliminating the need for expensive private lessons and giving beginners all the tools they need right on their phone.
Trala, co-founded by CEO Sam Walder, who has played the violin for most of his life and is a computer science graduate from the University of Illinois, is an app that uses Julliard-approved methodologies to teach users how to play the violin.
Using artificial intelligence, the app, which can also be used on a tablet device, listens to a user play the violin and informs them of all their mistakes. Trala, which currently employs four people, says it can teach beginners to play songs like “Amazing Grace” in only 30 days.
“If you’ve never touched the violin before, you could be learning your first song in 10 minutes, which is something that your standard, psychologically-abusive violin teacher, who costs $80 an hour, won’t be able to do,” Walder said. “It takes them weeks, sometimes even months to teach you basic things.”
And of course, hitting the correct notes in songs played on the violin is important, but so is posture and form, Walder said. When it comes to learning these concepts, Trala provides short instructional videos that show players how they should hold and position their violin.
Trala, which originally launched in 2017, was one of 10 startups in the latest Techstars Chicago cohort.
“Techstars is really intense,” said Walder, who was also named one of Chicago Inno's 25 Under 25. “But it was great. The mentorship and being around the other founders was incredible.”
Walder said he chose to launch Trala because violin instruction is an underserved education market. He says there’s about 30 million people worldwide that practice the violin and so far, not much tech to help support that education.
Trala charges users $120 per year for unlimited violin lessons. Walder would not disclose how many users Trala has, but said the app is downloaded about 1,000 times per week.
He said he is open to expanding his app-based education model to other instruments, but said for now, his team is focusing on raising a seed round of funding to grow the business it has now and attract new users that otherwise wouldn’t have access to violin training.
“Our users come from all over the place, and a lot of them don’t have access to a violin teacher or somebody in their life who is a musician,” Walder said. “They’re really on their own. But we took all of the difficult stuff and demystified it.”
