What makes a relationship in music meaningful after more than a decade?
At TheONE, we've spent years exploring a simple idea: how can technology help more people begin learning music, keep playing, and experience the joy that comes with it?
Our relationship with Lang Lang has grown alongside that journey. It began during the early years of TheONE and has continued as our work expanded from smart instruments to new learning experiences and, eventually, music education in classrooms.
The technology has changed. The products have evolved. The ways people learn music continue to change too.
But the question that brought us here remains remarkably consistent: how can more people find their way into music?
The Educator Behind TheONE's Partnership
Lang Lang is known worldwide not only as a pianist, but also for his work as an educator and philanthropist.
Music education has become an important part of that work. Alongside his performing career, he has spoken about the role of technology and innovation in how people learn music, while devoting much of his education work to widening access to it.
In a 2021 interview on music education, Lang Lang described technology as being at the heart of learning and sharing music. He called for “a new formula” for learning piano and classical music, while also making clear that serious practice remains part of the process.
Musicianship. Education. Innovation. And a belief that serious learning can still be enjoyable. These ideas would continue to appear throughout the years that followed.
When Our Paths Met
Our own journey began with a question about technology and music learning.
In 2013, we developed the first product idea and prototype for what would become TheONE Smart Piano. From the beginning, we were exploring how technology could lower some of the barriers around learning and create a more intuitive way for people to begin playing.
In 2015, our relationship with Lang Lang began. That same year, we launched TheONE Smart Piano Classroom, extending our exploration from individual learning into group piano education.
Lang Lang was approaching music education from the experience of a musician and educator. We were approaching it through instruments, technology, and the learning experience.
Different starting points, but the relationship brought both perspectives into the same journey, one that would continue to evolve well beyond those early products.
Building Our Own Path
A relationship that lasts more than a decade also has to be supported by the work itself.
Over the years, we've continued developing smart instruments and music learning experiences of our own. Along the way, our products have earned recognition across music education and design.
At the 2016 NAMM Show, “TheONE” was named Best Teaching Tool for Beginning Students in the Best Tools for Schools Awards. TheONE Light Keyboard and TheONE Keyboard Pro were later recognized by the iF Design Award.
For us, these recognitions are milestones rather than the destination. What matters more is the work behind them: continuing to explore how technology and thoughtful product design can solve real problems in music learning.
From an Idea to Real Music Education
Over time, our relationship with Lang Lang also moved beyond the early connection around smart instruments.
In 2020, we partnered with the Lang Lang International Music Foundation to donate 500 electronic keyboards to schools across the United States, bringing instruments and music-learning opportunities to more young learners.
The relationship has continued into classroom-based music education.
Today, the Foundation's Keys of Inspiration® program is built around access, equity, and sustainability. Through the program, selected schools receive permanent piano labs, curriculum resources, teacher development, and technology-integrated classroom support.
TheONE smart pianos are part of that learning environment, bringing our technology into classrooms where students learn together with their teachers.
For us, this is where the story becomes more meaningful. An idea that began around a smart piano eventually found its way into real classrooms, with real teachers and students. And the relationship that began more than a decade ago is still evolving.
Why It Still Matters
More than a decade is a long time in technology.
Instruments have changed. Software has changed. The way people learn and practice music has changed. We've kept changing too.
What has remained is the purpose behind that progress.
At TheONE, we continue to explore how instruments, technology, and learning experiences can make the path into music more approachable and engaging.
The technology will keep evolving. So will we.
But the reason we started remains the same: to help more people experience the joy of learning and playing music.
