Learn Piano Online
Playing piano online is just as rewarding as learning with a private piano teacher. I teach piano through one-to-one lessons online, where it is as if I am in the room with the student. I can see and hear everything being played, and the student can see and hear everything I demonstrate. The experience is similar to a student coming to my studio. (I am usually fully booked for these lessons)
That is not what this article is about. I want to talk about pre-recorded piano lessons as a method to learn piano online, what is required of a student to be able to take classes, and what is required of a student to become successful.
There is a difference between a piano course and a piano learning membership site!
First of all, let’s look at the disadvantages of online piano lessons:
- If you make a mistake, the teacher will not correct you.
- The teacher is not there to ask if you can’t understand anything.
- Many online piano courses do not have any support
- No guarantee the teacher is qualified
- There is no follow on after the course is completed.
There are advantages:
- Costs! learning to play the piano online is a fraction of the cost of a private tutor.
- The lessons can be re-taken repeatedly, which means mistakes can be realized and not repeated. This eliminates the not being able to ask the teacher questions.
- The better courses do offer support where your questions can be answered.
- After completing a course, A good membership site will already have a new course to take you to the next level in a natural progression.
- Some membership sites do offer an assessment of your playing periodical.
- Lessons are available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Buying a Piano Course
This is the most straightforward way. You buy a course. Use a computer, keyboard, or phone on the piano or keyboard, start the first lesson and follow the instructions. Then practice what was learned until the next lesson. Take the next lesson, and so on. This is a straightforward, easy-to-do method. I have a few courses like that myself.
The main disadvantage is that the quality of teaching varies from the absolute expert who provides superb teaching, to someone who has learned to play the piano but has little idea how to teach. Some instructors seem to spend more time showing off their abilities by playing rather than teaching.
Joining a Membership Site
A membership site will have a number of courses for a student to choose from. Once a course is complete, a new one can be started until the level of playing is reached that a student requires has been achieved.
The courses of a membership site are similar to buying a single course with the exception that if the quality is not in the course, the member will not continue as a member. This results in membership sites having better content and good support.
How Do You Wish To Lean Piano
We are all different in our requirements for everything in life. Learning to play piano is just the same. Some people would like to learn music; some prefer just playing chords, and some a mixture of both.
The choices are well catered for. There are piano lessons to teach every way of playing the piano. My preferred method is to play by learning music simultaneously with learning the piano. I have catered to those who prefer just chords. Some teachers have developed methods with letters on keys, different color keys, and some following scrolling patterns, to name a few. Some follow a textbook that has to be downloaded and printed. Others require you to buy a recognized textbook to follow.
My experience has shown that learning through music is no slower than any of the other methods. An advantage is that by learning with music, a pianist can discuss and jam with friends. If the pianist learned by a different method, they would need to learn music anyway later.
Student's Learning Piano Online Responsibilities
Responsibility is a strong word and does not sound like fun. The pianist only has a few to concern themselves with.
- Have a piano or keyboard
- If a piano, have it regularly tuned
- Look after your textbooks
- Take each lesson in turn
- Practice everything learned in the lesson every day. 15 minutes a day is all that is required.
The most important is the last one. Practice! It doesn’t matter how brilliant a teacher is. If the work is not practiced, the student will never learn the piano.
The word practice seems to be the offending word. No one worries about going to football training, basketball training, running training, or any other sort of training. Mention practice, and the barriers go up. From now on, we should call it piano training.
Learning to Play piano Online Practicalities
So can you learn piano online with a reasonable degree of success? The answer has to be yes; you can. You have to be sure the type of lessons taken is right for you. A classical course will not suit you if you want to play a few pop songs with friends and sing.
Should you spend time at home and be able to take one-to-one private lessons, and can afford them, then that would be a better method, especially if you wish to take exams. My online students take exams, but I am fully booked with these classes.
If cost is an issue or the time when you can be available varies, then taking online lessons could be the best way to learn piano.
Then you need to decide on a membership site such as this one with several courses available and complete video support or a single course of lessons.
