The key to realizing this vision was found in Yamaha’s Disklavier™ player piano and in its automatic accompaniment technology. They sought to develop an instrument in which the performer was still the central component, using their hands and legs, in whatever capacity, to produce beautiful music.

This experience inspired the researcher to create an instrument that could be used to perform entire pieces with a single finger. One day, a researcher on this theme visited a special needs school, where they saw high school students with cerebral palsy trying to play pianos and digital keyboards with fingers that could barely move. This is a theme that was researched by Tokyo University of the Arts even prior to the launch of its COI program. The concept of inclusive arts involves pursuing the ideals of a society in which everyone is able to connect equally through art and in which art is more accessible to all. Our involvement has included the provision of technical support to an inclusive arts research group. Yamaha Corporation has been involved in the COI Site of Tokyo University of the Arts, a facility that is part of the COI STREAM innovation creation program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Japan Science and Technology Agency, since October 2015. The development of Daredemo Piano was born out of the dream of a single high school student, who happened to have disabilities affecting their hands and legs, to play Frédéric Chopin’s nocturnes by themselves.

Piano for everyone