Best Online Piano Lessons Programs for 2010

Taking online piano lessons isn’t as easy as some other instruments such as the guitar. Primarily because you’re instrument isn’t as portable.

While there are some online piano lesson alternatives I want to introduce you to my top 3 products to learn piano online. Two of these courses are actually available online but are in fact dvd courses and the third is an online course that uses a mixture of books, video clips and audio snippets to teach you how to play the piano online.

When comparing these courses we considered who the course was targeted at, the lesson content and quality of that content, the instructor qualifications, support and over all value.

#1 Learn and Master the Piano

Learn and Master Piano is a DVD/CD/Lesson Book self study course that targets beginner and intermediate piano players. While it’s not designed to learn piano online it can be used on your computer or on your home DVD player.

The first lesson videos start with the basics of learning the piano. This is perfect for those of you who have never touched or played a piano before. For those of you who are intermediate players you can skip ahead a couple of DVDs until instructor Will Barrow gets into more technical instruction.

Beginners will find there is more then a years worth of lesson content included on these dvds, so in terms of value you could be saving several hundred dollars worth of expense on private lessons.

The video quality of each lesson is bar none top quality. The videos use multiple camera angles as well as an on screen keyboard that lights up in real time letting you know which keys are being pressed by the teacher.

The author and instructor of this course is Will Barrow, he is an Grammy award winning composer, pianist and song writer. There’s no question that he’s more then qualified to be teach you how to play piano online.

There is a big support website for all owners of the Learn and Master Piano system. This website is visited by other owners of the course as well as the instructor. Here you can ask questions, get answers and receive feedback and support as you learn.

From a value stand point Learn and Master Piano includes 14 DVDs, 5 Jam Along CD’s for practicing, a complete workbook and access to online support. For the $149 price point I don’t think you’ll find a better value. If you consider there’s a year or more worth of lessons on those DVDs that’s less then $13 bucks a month.

#2 The Piano System

The Piano System is was designed to target beginners who really want to learn to play popular songs they hear on the radio. The course focuses on ear training so you can pick out patterns and keys of particular songs you want to learn.

While it’s not as advanced as the Learn and Master Piano course it is good value for those who are looking to learn songs rather then master the piano.

The course includes 6 DVDs, a Jam CD and a spiral bound workbook.

The first three DVDs offer beginner, intermediate and advanced lesson content for you to progress through while the workbook offers a review of what you learn in the video lessons.

The video quality is on par with any other online piano lesson provider and their videos also use an on screen keyboard to let you know what keys to play during the lessons.

Course instructor Nate Bosch holds a degree in music and performs workshops on the piano as well as teaches privately. He has ample qualifications to be teaching beginner and intermediate piano players the ropes.

One down fall to this learn piano online course is that it’s newer. Because of this the support end is still growing. There isn’t a big community around the course like there is with Learn and Master Piano. This isn’t the end of the world, but it is nice to have a group of people to chat with as you learn.

For value, this course sells for $97, if you want to learn songs quickly I feel this is a solid online piano course. How ever if you do want to learn to read music and understand more theory and techniques I’d spend the extra $50 or so dollars and get Learn and Master Piano

#3 Rocket Piano

Rocket Piano comes in two forms, one you can use to learn piano online since it’s downloaded and a second version which is a hard copy sent to your home. Both course versions provide the same content but the online version is a lot cheaper.

You can purchase Rocket Piano’s online piano lessons for under $40.

This course focuses on teaching you to play songs, similar to the Piano System. The downfall to Rocket Piano is that it uses workbooks to teach you the basics and then supplements those workbooks with videos. This is the opposite to Learn & Master Piano and The Piano System which use videos first supplemented by their workbooks.

I personally find online piano lesson videos or dvds easier to learn from then reading a book.

Ruth Searle, the instructor of Rocket Piano, holds a musical degree, is versed in several styles on the piano and has won awards for her compositions in her home country of Australia.

There isn’t a lot of online support available with Rocket Piano, nor is there a members forum to discuss and chat with other students. How ever for the price point of $39.95 you get what you pay for.

Rocket Piano is great value for someone unsure if they are going to stick with learning piano or if they really need a learn piano online course. How ever if you’re serious about learning the instrument I believe you should save the $40 here and put it towards a course like Learn & Master Piano. You’ll get video lessons, more content and a lot more online support.