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At the
Musician's Training Academy, we are frequently asked about good
training courses for learning various instruments, and often
it's piano. As teachers, we
naturally feel that the very best way to learn is from a private
instructor, but we also recognize that this is simply not
possible for everyone. For that reason, we felt it would
be helpful to test several of the most popular home training
courses and share our results with those of you who are trying
to learn on your own.
In addition to our
own staff instructors, we also added several total beginners to
our review panel in order to get both teacher and student
perspectives on the quality of these courses.
Here is a quick
summary of our findings, as well as links to the full reviews.
We've also condensed everything into a
course comparison chart
to help simplify things even further. Best wishes with
your studies, and we hope this helps!
 Learn & Master
Piano is the high end of piano training courses.
Honestly, if you are serious about learning to play piano and
you don't have access to a private instructor, this would be the
next best thing. The material is presented on fourteen DVDs,
five play-along CDs, and a rather detailed lesson book.
It is easy to follow and guides students from the very basics all
the way through advanced techniques for playing piano in a
variety of genres.
Rating: Five Stars
Read our
Complete
Review
 There are a lot of
new "e-courses" coming out that attempt to allow you to
take
piano lessons from your computer. The majority of
"e-courses" we tested were pretty much worthless, but
Rocket Piano
was a notable exception. The instruction was at least
decent, and the price is low. It still requires that you
practice your piano in front of a computer every day, however,
which our testers found to be cumbersome.
However, if Learn & Master Piano is out of your price range,
and you don't mind practicing along with a computer, Rocket
Piano is worth looking at.
Rating: Three & Half Stars
Complete Review
 Piano
is Fun is a wonderful little course for children. It is
software based, so they must be reasonably comfortable with a
computer (as most children are), and it is quite easy to use.
Although not a great choice for adults or teenagers, it works
well for young children.
Rating: Three & Half Stars
Full Review
 Play
Piano Like a Pro by "Mr. Ron's Music" is
a series of piano instruction products. The full
series has enough instructional content to keep you busy
for a long time. However, we did not like it as
much as some of the other courses, particularly because of the lesson
structure and production quality. The products are also quite expensive.
The beginners bundle, for example, costs nearly $200 for
one DVD and an eBook. The instructor does receive
high marks for service and after-the-sale student
support.
Rating:
Two & Half Stars
Full Review
January, 2008:
Piano Teachers Caught in Ordinance Flap -
Zoning laws make it increasingly difficult for neighborhood
piano instructors.
School of Rock coming to Seattle
- Music lessons for Seattle kids focuses on rock music.
Keep Piano Simple - Tips
for parents on how to keep their children interested in piano
lessons.
Camp Isn't Only for Summer
- Music camps increase in popularity.
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