I think there's also a lot to be said about having a real score in front of you. I used to sight-read for a living (guitarist on cruise ships) and thought that the first grok of the visual where you take in the form was more important than the up/down of a melody.
That is quite humbling. He is obviously a very skilled musician and can play ragtime like Scott Joplin but picking up a new piece and playing it by sight without any mistakes that I could see or hear, is amazing.
I'm missing the pitch too. (Edit: ah you're supposed to connect it to a MIDI device, but who owns that/how does that cater to mobile users). What good is it knowing the note is C5 without knowing what C5 sounds like, in other words I'd be able to identify the notes but I wouldn't know what the song sounds like...
yeah no, this is horrible all around. the only way this kind of UI (no actual keyboard) would be useful is if it had voice recognition and you spoke the notes.
Much more value having the fingers on a real keyboard and hearing each note's pitch.