Everyone Wants to Learn an Instrument
85% of US adults wish they had learned to play an instrument. Yet only 1 in 10 actually know how. We're making it easy for anyone to express themselves with music.
Magic Instruments is about giving everyone access to music. It is for all ages and anyone who ever had a pipe dream about someday being able to play guitar. MI Guitar is a new instrument to help everyone create and play music instantly, and it's here right now.
85% of Americans
Wish they had learned to play an instrument
12%
US Adults play an instrument
90%
Of those learning guitar quit in the first year
$7 Billion
Spent per year on instruments in the US
So We Designed a Guitar Anyone Can Learn
Beginners can actually play and sing along to their favorite songs in minutes
Like a traditional model, this guitar features strings for fingerpicking and strumming. But on the fretboard it has buttons that act just like strings. Pair it with our companion mobile app to just start playing or use the MI Guitar just like a traditional guitar with real chord finger positions. It scales perfectly from beginner to intermediate to advanced for singers and song writers alike.
Magic Mode / Traditional Mode
A single button press and a strum of the strings is all it takes to play your first song in Magic Mode. Switch to Traditional Mode to play with traditional guitar chord fingerings.
Mobile App
Our song catalog offers a vast library of well-known hits for playing and singing along instantly and provides a fun, easier way to learn traditional guitar.
Amazing Sound
A powerful built-in speaker with volume control can be set to play to a crowd or around a campfire. Choose from a range of on-board guitar sounds, from acoustics to electrics.
Metal Strings
Six velocity-sensitive strings can be strummed or picked for expressive sound. The best part? They never need to be tuned or changed.
We're Sold Out!
We just launched in April and cleared our Indiegogo goal by 753%
$416,000
Revenue to date
1,200
Guitar pre-orders sold
Designed for Both Beginners and Professional Musicians
Play and sing your favorite song with just a few minutes practice or use our software to learn advanced guitar techniques and music theory
We designed the MI Guitar to solve two important problems. First we train motor skills and muscle memory by abstracting the complexity of chords into simple buttons. We also built a companion app that educates users on music theory and how one strings together notes and chords.
We invited some beginners in to try the MI Guitar. Check out their progress after ~1 hour
Even Grammy winners play and write songs on the MI Guitar
"For people who don't have the time to learn the guitar, Magic Instruments is the ultimate shortcut - you’ll be strumming your favorite songs in minutes. For singers and non-guitar playing musicians, it’s also great tool for songwriting."
"The experience is, for lack of a better phrase, fun as hell."
"I have to admit it was both totally fun and shockingly simple to use."
Our Journey Since April Launch
We attended the world's foremost startup accelerator: Y Combinator (alumni include Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe). We also exceeded our Indiegogo goal by over 700%! Now we're focused on scaling production before expanding sales this coming Winter.
Prototype
CEO Brian Fan develops first Magic Instruments Guitar prototype.
Highway1 Accelerator
Magic Instruments accepted into Highway1, a leading hardware startup accelerator in San Francisco.
Y Combinator
Magic Instruments accepted into Y Combinator, a leading Silicon Valley startup accelerator. Other alumni include Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, and Lendup.
Raised $1 million in pre-seed funding
More Funding
Raised an additional $900k in pre-seed funding.
700%+ Indiegogo Campaign
Successful Indiegogo campaign, pre-sold 1,200 guitars, generated $415k revenues.
Winner MusicTech 2016
We won the San Francisco MusicTech 2016 Startup Competition.
Traditional Guitar Mode
This Fall we’re building "traditional guitar mode" software to ensure MI Guitar is beneficial for players of all skill levels.
Asian Manufacturing
We need to scale up production from prototyping to a full production line. So we’ll spend several weeks in Asia locking down production partners.
Expand Music Library
We need more popular songs! This winter we’ll sign licensing agreements with music publishers to expand our library.
Production begins!
Delivery!
We’ll deliver initial units to Indiegogo backers before other online orders and eventually retail partners.
Let's Teach Guitar Together!
Music is magic. It speaks without words, creates connections between strangers, and touches all human beings. Almost everyone wishes they could play a musical instrument, but only those lucky enough to learn as kids (and practice for years) can do so.
I was one of the lucky few. I started learning piano at the age of 5, and attended one of the world's top music schools, The Juilliard School, for 9 years. I can play just about anything on the piano, and have performed in concerts and played in rock bands. As a grownup, I wanted to learn guitar so I stand by my baby daughter's crib and play music to help her fall asleep. But like the rest of us, I failed. Not only was it hard to learn, but practice was no fun, and I realized I would never be able to practice 1-2 hours every day for years, like I did as a kid. In today's busy world, most people don't have a minute to spare!
I decided to incorporate technology into musical instruments to solve this problem, to make playing music accessible to everyone. Similar to how technology simplified photography from something highly technical and complex to something everyone can now enjoy, our guitar enables people to instantly enjoy the incredible delight of making music. Yet at the same time, we give those with more musical ambition a fun and easier way to develop traditional guitar mastery.
Only 12% of US adults play an instrument - but 85% wishes they had learned. The guitar is the #1 dream instrument. The market potential is massive, and global, because the desire to play music is shared by people in every country around the world.
Please join me and my co-founders Mark and Andrew on our journey, and help us with an investment.
Brian, Mark and Andrew
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