Kikuchan: the piano practice buddy that listens.

Getting your child to practise shouldn't cost you your relationship.

A palm-sized companion that sits by the piano and feeds its little hamster only when it hears real playing. Five minutes a day. No iPad on the music stand, no subscription, no playing the “practice police.”

Join the waitlist → Free to join · 30% off at launch

A round, fluffy hamster-shaped Kikuchan device, seen at an angle, whose screen shows a pixel-art hamster dancing on piano keys above a tempo gauge — Concept render. The final design may change.

Sound familiar?

Practice time shouldn't feel like a battle.

Somewhere along the way I stopped being the parent who's proud of my child's music and became the one who enforces it.

Things I've tried:

Sticker charts
Timers and countdowns
Rewards for finishing the week
Reminders (so many reminders)
Sitting beside them for every minute
Leaving them to it

What if the reminder came from someone they want to look after?

See how it works

How it works

Five minutes of real piano keeps the hamster fed.

Your child plays. Kikuchan listens, the hamster dances and eats, and you get to be the proud parent again.

The real screen software, recorded in our simulator.

A small daily goal they can win. Five minutes of playing fills the hamster's bowl for the day. Keep showing up and it grows. The goal is small on purpose: it's a habit, not a marathon.
It listens for piano, not noise. A sound model trained on piano runs on the device itself. Credit comes from recognising piano, not from how loud the room is. We're still tuning it with recordings from the real device, and it won't ship until it reliably tells piano from other sounds.
A live tempo gauge. Once they've played steadily for a few bars, a pulse gauge shows their tempo in beats per minute, and whether they're keeping it even.
Gentle streaks, zero meltdowns. Miss a day and the hamster gets sleepy, never sick. Its growth is never taken away, so busy family nights don't undo a good week.
See the week on your phone, no app. Press Share and open the page on your phone, straight from the device: a streak calendar and short recordings of their playing. No app, no account.
Pick their animal. Hamster, cat or frog. Same rules, different friend.
No cloud, no ads, nothing else to tap. Listening and recordings stay on the device. There's no browser, no videos and no games beyond the pet. Wi-Fi is only used for software updates.

Questions parents ask

The fine print, up front.

When does it ship, and how much will it cost?

We haven't set the price or the ship date yet. We'll share both with the waitlist first, and waitlist families get 30% off the launch price. Joining is free, there's nothing to pay now, and you can leave any time.

Does it work with an acoustic piano? A digital one?

Both, as long as the piano plays out loud. Kikuchan listens through its built-in microphones, so it hears an acoustic piano or a digital piano's speakers the same way.

What if my child practises with headphones?

The first version needs to hear the piano, so headphone-only practice won't count yet. We're looking at a cable input for digital pianos. If your child uses headphones, tell us when you sign up. It helps us decide.

Can my child fool it by banging on the keys?

Credit comes from a sound model trained to recognise piano playing, not from volume or button presses. It isn't finished: we're retraining it on recordings made through the real device, and we'll only ship once it passes our accuracy tests. We'll share how it does with the waitlist.

Does it record my child? Where does that go?

Kikuchan keeps short recordings of piano practice on the device so you can hear how it's going. They're only shared when you press Share and open the page on your phone, which connects straight to the device. Nothing is uploaded to the cloud, and there's no account.

Does it need Wi-Fi?

No. Practice, the pet and the phone page all work without it. If you connect it to Wi-Fi, Kikuchan uses it for software updates and to set its clock.

Isn't this just more screen time?

The screen shows the pet and a tempo gauge. There are no videos, no browser, no ads and no games to play instead of the piano. The pet only reacts to playing, so it stays on the piano and isn't one more device to argue about.

How big is it, and how is it powered?

It's palm-sized, small enough to sit on the piano lid or beside the music. It has a rechargeable battery and charges over USB-C. We'll publish battery life once we've measured it on production units.

What age is it for?

It's designed for children learning piano at home. We'll confirm the recommended age once safety testing is complete.

Where is it made?

Kikuchan is designed in Melbourne by Savvy Minions. Like most consumer electronics, it will be built by an electronics manufacturer overseas, and we'll test it against Australian safety standards before selling any units.

I'm a piano teacher. Is this for my students?

We'd love your view. Choose “I'm a piano teacher” when you join and tell us what would make it useful in your studio.