I have been spending a ton of time exploring online piano lessons. I signed up for at least half a dozen of them and thoroughly studied each one, trying all of their introductory courses, trying out their music library, and checking out the pricing system. This is what I learned!
You will find a lot of similarities in each of them, but several differences that can make or break your experience of online piano learning. Here is a list of online piano lessons and what they do best so you can figure out what is the best online piano lessons for YOU!
So, what are you looking for? When you start your online piano lessons, you want to make sure you are signed up the program that best fits YOUR needs.
Best Online Piano Lessons for the Value: Pianoforall
Cost: $39 lifetime access
+ Lifetime access for an incredible price
+ The most positive reviews you can find on any of the online piano courses
+ A DVD purchase option, so you can work offline
+ Chord based approach makes for quick learning
– Not a full musicianship approach (lacks technique and theory if you want a more whole musicianship approach)
– Not a great emphasis on reading music as much as just learning how to play piano
– No tools and no interaction
Of all the piano online lessons I explored, Pianoforall has been around the longest and likely has the largest following of them all. They have over a quarter million students and the reviews are phenomenal. If you are looking for a program that is low cost, and will get you start playing piano, this is the one for you.
Pianoforall will provide you all that you need in their lessons. It has worked time and time again for many students. It is a chord based learning approach. Which means that you will learn fast and it will be easy.
Because they get you playing on the piano so quickly (and incidentally, you also can begin improvising and composing quite easily from this as well), you may lack a full musicianship. That means that you will miss some theory, though that’s what can bog down some students and makes them lose interest.
I would suggest Pianoforall for those who are looking to learn piano quickly and be able to play popular songs and compose.
This program will not give you a thorough education of music if you are looking for advanced technique and understanding. It also does not do a great job about teaching you how to read music and/or sight read.
Pianoforall is an excellent option to online piano learning, if it’s what YOU are looking for!
Best Online Piano Lessons for the Music Song Library (over 10,000 songs!): Piano Marvel
Cost: $12.99/month (with PianoTels promo)
+ An incredible Music Song Library – 10,000+ songs with multiple level options on tons of songs
+ 3,000 exercises to help you gain technique
+ A unique sight reading tool (something you won’t find anywhere else)
+ Ability to create teacher/student accounts
+ Awards and badges given to help motivation
– No video instruction (concepts are taught through application)
– Interface is less visually appealing than some other online apps
+/- Does not have a visual keyboard with their music to see notes on a keyboard
It’s almost shocking how much you get with an account to Piano Marvel. It blows me away by the amount of songs that are available. There are thousands of super cool songs for free. Piano Marvel works with an impressive list of other publishers (Hal Leonard, Alfred, among others) and does require an additional low fee for the royalties to some of their music.
Besides the music library, that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, they also have an incredible amount of exercises with technique and method to help you learn hands on. Also included is a sight reading tool that is pretty cool. Of all the other online lessons I checked out, this was the only one that had this kind of tool. While other online lessons will teach you what to do, Piano Marvel will teach you how to sight read with this tool by actually doing it.
Piano Marvel shines in a classroom setting. It works fabulously for teachers to use with their students! It would be such an asset to any music studio. Thus, it really would make a powerful supplement to traditional lessons, a piano class, or for those who already have some piano knowledge and would like to improve their skills.
What Piano Marvel does not have is video instruction. While you can learn a lot through their exercises, you will likely just miss personal instruction — or just a face at all! There isn’t anybody teaching you what to do, just built in software to help you learn as you go. You could supplement video instruction with YouTube videos, if you so desired.
Piano Marvel has a remarkable free account. What it gives you access to, simply for free, blows all the other online lessons out of the water. Their free account includes:
- Assessment and Scores with MIDI
- Over 200 exercises (level 1)
- Over 125 songs (Levels 1-9)
- 3 Sight Reading Tests
- 25+ Lesson Videos
- Practice Reports
Piano Marvel would be an excellent choice for online piano lessons, if it’s what YOU are looking for!
Best Online Piano Lessons for Kids: Hoffman Academy
Cost: Free – YouTube, or a premium version that includes printables
+ Has a whole musicianship approach (including teaching solfege, ear training, etc)
+ Specifically tailored to younger children, I would suggest around ages 5-10
+ Hoffman Academy’s YouTube is organized by lessons, so you can move through in an organized manner and not get gaps in your child’s musical education
– Not tools and no interaction
As a piano teacher, I often get asked what is the best online piano lessons for kids? While you can adapt most any program to fit a child, the one I would recommend specifically for elementary ages would be Hoffman Academy.
You can find Hoffman Academy on YouTube and even if you sign up for their premium version, you are basically getting the same thing you will find for free on YouTube. The premium version includes a few games and some printables to supplement the lessons.
What I love about Hoffman Academy is that he actually teaches a whole musicianship approach! This is a rare find — even in private lessons. What this means is that your child will not only learn how to play piano, he/she will be understand music! This is a fabulous way to build a solid foundation before moving onto more advanced stuff.
Seriously, I got so excited when I started watching these YouTubes (also available in his free trial of the premium version) and saw him teaching solfege! The basics of music can be taught, adapted, and understood even at this young age and Hoffman Academy is spot on to be teaching it — something that all the other programs out there seem to miss.
Thus, this would also make a great supplement to your child’s music education, even if you use it with other resources. As such, I would begin a child with Hoffman Academy, and pair it with a subscription to Piano Marvel . Where Piano Marvel lacks introductory video, Hoffman Academy can be used. And where Hoffman Academy lacks, Piano Marvel fills in.
Best Online Piano Lessons for Cutting Edge Technology: Playground Sessions
Cost: $17.99/mo
+ The highest credentials on the market
+ Celebrities teaching you through video
+ Back tracks to play along to
+ Professional quality video, games, and software
+ Teacher/student accounts
– Song library not as extensive as some (but still has 1,000 songs to choose from)
+/- Well rounded app, but doesn’t exactly shine in anything except its professionally made video and program
Playground Sessions is arguably the most well known online learning piano app you will find. It has been well rated (as #1 best online learning piano app by TopTenReviews for 7 years in a row) and referred to by some big names, including USA Today and Yamaha.
Those are some great credentials, but does Playground Sessions truly meet up to its reputation?
Because of all that has been said of it, I have probably spent the most time researching and exploring this app of any of the online piano lessons I have been studying. Here’s what I think.
Yes, it does have the latest and greatest technology. The videos are the highest quality and professionalism you will find on the market.
They pull in celebrities to teach the piano and who doesn’t enjoy that? Harry Connick JR is a Grammy and Emmy award winner. Quincy Jones, the producer of Michael Jackson’s best selling album of all time, Thriller, co-created Playground Sessions as well. So you have some pros you are working with in this app for sure.
Playground sessions does, of all the online piano lessons I have looked at, have the most well-rounded, all inclusive material for learning the piano. It has the lessons as well as fairly extensive library including many popular songs, but doesn’t have quite the song choices you would find in some other apps.
Playground sessions is by far, the most professionally made online lessons you will find – but not necessarily the most quality filled online lessons you can get. The teaching is basic, brings you through step by step, just as typical traditional lessons will do. But I wouldn’t say that it is the best way to learn piano, for it really doesn’t have anything to set it apart other than it’s professionally made way that it presents it.
If you are wanting to learn piano and are wanting a professionally presented way to do that, you could find yourself quite pleased with Playground Sessions!
Best Online Piano Lessons for Classical Learning: ArtistWorks with Christie Peery
Cost: $30/month (= $105 for 3 months)
Save $80 on all 1-Year Plans! Use Code: BETTER
+ over 50,000 video lessons for over 40 instruments, 100’s of lessons for classical piano
+ Video exchange platform (the ability to submit practice videos)
+ Work directly with platinum selling, Grammy winning artists through their video exchange
+ Excels at teaching classical music – the real deal
– No tools or interactive ability
– No song library
So if you are serious about learning piano, then ArtistWorks with Christie Peery is the online lessons for you. The other online lessons we have explored are great and definitely have their place, but if you are wanting some serious learning because you want to play for life and you want to play for real, then this is the place.
If you are the type of person that would be okay with taking private lessons, then this is the kind of lessons you would enjoy. You will go through a series of lessons and have the opportunity to submit video to your Grammy award winning artists who will critique it and return an individualized video for you.
You won’t find a music library, because this online lesson is built for you to be able to do it on your own – without the aid of a music library teaching you how to play song by song. So in that regard, you leave all the fluff behind and get down to the nitty gritty.
As a piano teacher and player for many years, this would be the kind of course I am more interested in for myself because it can help me tone my skills and take me to the next level.
You can get a taste of Christie Peery on YouTube by some sample piano lessons she has.
So buckle in, cause ArtistWorks with Christie Peery will lead you to become an excellent classical pianist from the ground up.
Best Online Piano Lessons for Jazz: Piano with Willie
Cost: $29.97/mo
+ One-on-one lessons available with Willie (for an additional fee)
+ Group coach sessions every 2 weeks where direct questions can be asked
+ Live events that you can attend and perform with a band
+ 1,000’s of lessons that are absolutely fabulous for the new player or the seasoned player (high quality content)
+ Excels in Jazz and Rock
– No tools or interactive ability
– No song library
I personally have never been that interested in learning jazz, but after exploring this online learning, I am going to have to follow through with Piano with Willie! I have been teaching and playing piano for years, but even after going through just one lesson, I was already learning new things. Which is why I would recommend this for a beginner, or for anyone looking to learn something! You will find high quality content here, that’s for sure.
Piano with Willie definitely has the MOST extensive ability to interact one-on-one with a live teacher. This is the only program that I worked through that would have live interactive lessons with a teacher, and it’s every 2 weeks! As a group session, you can learn not only from Willie, but from the others participating as well. Group lessons can be a powerful learning opportunity.
You become part of a community when you join Piano with Willie. Besides the coaching sessions, you can attend a live event with other players just like you and get your chance to perform in a band. This is completely unique to Piano with Willie and it will guarantee you experience!
Piano with Willie also enables you to go straight into Jazz. You do need a solid foundation with music before you can play Jazz, and Willie walks you through that step-by-step. The support you get through their emails and through what they call, Piano Transformation Paths, are also unique to them. All of the support you get in Piano with Willie definitely sets this program apart from the others.
What you lack in Piano with Willie, is a song library or other interactive tools (what I would like to call the bells and whistles). Instead, you get high quality content and learn a solid foundation, gain a support system, and the knowledge to move forward without the crutch of the tools you may find elsewhere.
Piano with Willie are for those that want to have a solid foundation in piano and learn Jazz as well as become an excellent pianist. This program is for those that are serious about becoming the best pianist they can!
I would be positive that Piano with Willie, if utilized correctly, could be completely successful for you!
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Tel loves her life as a piano player, a piano teacher, and a mom. Amid piano blogging, piano teaching, and piano playing, she loves a chance to fit in a good exercise class, volunteer at her kids’ school and at her church, and go on long dates with her husband. Full bio at About Tel.
