best online piano lessons for beginners
Anyone can claim the best online piano lessons for beginners on any site, but what are the best online piano lessons?
Indeed, the best piano lessons can mean many things. Someone only interested in playing a few rock songs would not think lessons with learning scales and reading music would be the best. Similarly, someone wishing for a rounded education in music and the piano would feel that piano lessons that teach a few songs are not the best.
As we can see, the best lessons for the piano are subjective according to a student’s needs.
My experience with piano lessons
With over 25 years of teaching experience, I have seen successes and failures in many types of piano lessons with students who have taken a wide range of lesson types.
I have expressed my views many times on this subject and feel that a private piano teacher is the best method. This is regardless of the type of music a student wishes to play. In today’s world, this is rarely possible due to school and work commitments.
Many students do not want to learn everything and enjoy what understanding music means with their playing. As long as they make the right sound, they are happy to be able to play the piano.
So this leads to the question of what the alternatives are.
Alternative online piano lessons
Here are some best online piano lesons for beginners alternative learning methods for playing the piano or keyboard, in no particular order, as learning is the same in the beginning.
- Get a friend who can play piano to help you.
- Use videos on YouTube or other streaming site.
- Buy an online course.
- Teach yourself by trial and error.
- Take one-to-one online lessons.
- Join a membership site and learn to play piano through video lessons.
Each option in detail.
Number 1:
If you have a friend who can play the piano, they can teach you several things to help you play the piano. This method is cheap and could be successful depending on how advanced the friend plays the piano. The disadvantage is that the friend may not be very good or advanced, which limits progress, and you could be taught incorrectly.
Number 2:
Some YouTube videos are excellent and can teach you a lot. They are also free of charge, which is an obvious advantage.
The disadvantages are that you may not find a good set of videos; you also need to find videos that start at the beginning. Unless you learn the basics, bad habits will begin, which will need correcting later. YouTube videos rarely go from start to advanced, so different sets of videos are required. And there is little or no support to check that your playing is correct.
Number 3:
Buying a complete online course overcomes the problems associated with YouTube, as the course will have a start and end. This means that a beginner can be satisfied that they will start properly. Good course platforms will allow for contact with the course tutor. Sadly, this is not always the case, so the student has problems overcoming them. Many courses are sold, and that’s it. You succeed, or you don’t. This type of piano teaching is not all negative. Many people successfully learn piano this way, so don’t dismiss it out of hand.
Number 4:
Teach yourself by trial and error. Is it possible? Yes, of course it is. It is a free way to learn, but it does take a long time. Famously, Jerry Lee Lewis had a very successful career playing the piano. He taught himself. Not everyone has the natural talent to do this. Many people try this before realizing it’s more complicated than it looks. Then they take lessons.
Number 5:
Taking one-to-one online lessons is second only to lessons with a private tutor. No, the tutor is not in the room with you physically, but they are in the room with you on a screen. The advantage of this method is that the tutor can see and hear you playing and can correct any mistakes you make instantly—the same as if the tutor were in the room physically. The online method has an advantage over the private tutor in this respect. The tutor can play a part in helping the student and demonstrate the errors. A private tutor in the room has to ask the students to give access to the piano to play for them. This is not quite as good as the tutor instantly playing the error and even playing with the student.
Online teaching has a further advantage in that written lesson notes and practice notes are usually provided with each lesson, so practicing will be easy. Regular contact with the tutor will be possible. No problem is left unhelped. Within hours questions can be asked and dealt with. These lessons are usually around 35 to 50% less costly than a physical private tutor. All that is generally needed is a piano/keyboard and a laptop. Some people even use two or more mobile phones.
Number 6:
A membership site has several advantages, from methods 1 to 4. Support is easy to obtain (if it is a good piano membership site.) A wide range of courses allows students to move from course to course if the level of course they chose is too high or low for them. Often, courses are added to expand students’ knowledge or teach varying music styles. A good membership site would provide piano lessons to take a six-year lol as far as their teenage years and intermediate-level playing. After intermediate a site can teach the more advanced levels, however propbaly online one to one levels are probably best to bring out the best a student has.
The required equipment is as little as any computer, laptop, desktop, tablet, or mobile phone. Video lessons will normally auto-convert to suit the device used automatically. You will need time to take classes and, more importantly, to practice. With lessons available 24 hours a day, learning becomes more accessible than a fixed time for a private tutor would involve. It is not a problem if you arrive home late or can’t arrive in time. Anytime you have will suit lessons fine. Do try to find 10 minutes to practice every day though. That’s all it takes 10 minutes.
Costs are minimal. Membership is usually around $10 to $30 for a month’s access to everything a site has. (Mine is usually around $10.) You will need an internet connection, and if the site uses proper textbooks, you will need to obtain them for each course. These range between $7 for young children and $20 for more advanced adults and everything in between.
What are the best online piano lessons for beginners
The best online piano lessons for beginners will depend on your circumstances. Do you have time to take classes and practice, and can you attend classes at the same time each week? If so, go for a private piano teacher. Or an online private teacher.
Alternatively, joining a membership site such as this, although there are many to choose from, is a good option. This option can be used 24 hours a day and comes at a much lower cost than a private teacher would. The quality of the teaching can be equal to that of a private or online teacher with similar results, at least up to an approaching intermediate level of playing. Look for a site that teaches music at the same time as teaching the actual piano playing. I almost always recommend it with music. It is truly the finest and, in many ways, the easiest method of learning to play the piano for beginners. to learn the piano.