Welcome to Piano Course Reviews dot Com

Looking for a good piano course?

If you're looking for objective piano course reviews, information and resaources to help you select a piano course to help you learn to play the piano, then you've come to the right place. Piano Course Reviews dot Com has all kinds of information that will help you make the best possible selection and get the absolute best value for your money.

Avoid the SCAMS!

When we went looking for a piano course we found a pretty bumpy road, and that you couldn't take things at face value. Many of the piano course reviews that we found were pretty worthless.

The fact is that it's difficult to make an informed decision about products that you see advertised online. Many of them are scams or poorly put together courses that just don't deliver what they promise. That's why we put together this website - to get you good information and save you some of the heartache and frustration that we went through trying to find a good piano course.

How we found a good piano course

After our rather hit and miss effort to find a good piano course here's what we were decided we were looking for in a course:

In our case we didn't particularly care if the course was books or DVDs with video as long as it met our criteria. What we found was that while there are a lot of very poor courses, there actually ARE a number of courses that will take you from being an absolute beginner to playing well, and in a reasonable amount of time, for not too much money.

A LOT of information for you

Have a look through this website. We have posted articles on learning the piano, tips on playing and even links to free starter lessons. In fact you'll find a LOT more on this site than just piano course reviews.

We hope that our research, "learning the hard way" and this website are helpful and save you some time and money!

We HATE “secrets”!

Before we begin we’d like to say that when we were looking for a piano course we found all kinds of sites that sold lessons, and many of them promised to show us the “secrets” of playing piano. GIVE ME A BREAK! How long have pianos been around since the 18th century – THERE ARE NO SECRETS.

The REAL "secret" to learning piano

If you want secrets, learn magic or become a spy. Learning to play the piano is a process, and what makes a piano course good is the method, clarity of instruction and the layout and gradient (learning curve) of the lesson path. A good course teaches skills clearly, at a pace that the student can follow, and builds on skills to help the student master the instrument.

After looking through more than 25 courses online and reading many more piano course reviews, we narrowed our search down to a handful and will share what we found and what our experiences were. These courses represent the best available and many hours of sometimes painful experimentation. We hope that this information is useful.

Don't go through what WE did!

This website contains the accumulated wisdom of two people who went looking for a piano course and did it the “hard way”. In the end we opted to use Rocket Piano because it was inexpensive, offered us the support we wanted and came with useful bonuses. We weren’t concerned with advanced lessons – we wanted to get through beginner and intermediate first, then decide where we wanted our playing to go.

We’re still working through Rocket Piano and enjoying it very much. We wish you luck and enjoyment with your learning and hope this information helps.

The reviews of the best courses follow. We hopr that this helps you make an informed decision and that you have the best possible experience learning to play the piano.

Best regards,
John and Patricia
Piano Course Reviews dot com

Piano Course Reviews

The "Big 4" piano courses

After it was all said and done there were only a few courses that we found that we could recommend. Interestingly enough, they each have diffent objectives and fall into different "categories". So there is likely to be a course here to suit your needs, whatever they are!

One piano course stood out above all the rest – Ruth Searle’s “Rocket Piano”. There are also three specialized courses that are well worth considering: Scott Jordan’s “Piano by Pattern” (probably the best “play by ear” course available), Duane Shinn’s “Power Piano Chords” (an excellent chord reference and guide to using chords), and Anthony Fernando’s “Piano is Fun” (an exceptional program for kids or people working with kids).

We'll compare all five then talk about each one individually.

Best General Learn to Play Piano Courses

Rocket Piano

We want to begin by saying that there is one course that we found that is exceptional and meets all our criteria for being a good course. It's easy to use and teaches piano as fast as possible. It's also a well-rounded course.

It's packaged as downloadable, multimedia ebooks with video demonstrations and lessons. Rocket Piano starts at beginner and takes you through to playing at a solid intermediate level.

Rocket Piano also has free bonuses. These are additional ebooks and targeted software games that help develop specific piano and music reading skills. Rocket Piano also offers after-sales service by e-mail.

Rocket Piano goes for about $40. It also has a free six part intro piano course and newsletter that we found well worth signing up to. (See the section on FREE LESSONS.)

Conclusion: We wanted to get started with basic lessons and make decisions about advanced playing after we knew a bit more about what we were getting into. We also didn't want to spend a lot of money, especially after trying several less-than-satisfactory courses so we went for the cheaper alternative with Rocket Piano and we were VERY pleased with our decision.

Read more about Rocket Piano - $39.95
Visit the Rocket Piano website

Best Play by Ear Course

Piano by Pattern
I have to admit we were put off by the sales pitch for this course. There is a bit too much "secret stuff" here inclusing a claim that you will learn everything in 74 minutes. The thrust of this course, however, is good in that you learn to play by ear as quickly as possible. Don't expect extensive music theory or instruction.

Bonuses include a songwriting video and a "tips and tricks" ebook. The course sells for $49.95.

Read more about Piano by Pattern
Visit the Piano by Pattern website.

Best Chord Method Piano Course

Exciting Chords and Chords Pregressions
This more of a resources than a self-contained course. It's an excellent chord and progression resource with 39 lessons on all major, minor, diminished and augmented chords. You'll also learn 4th, 5th, 9th, 11th and 13th chords and chord progressions. There are pictures and sound files of each chord. $39

Read more about Exciting Chords and Chord Progressions
Visit the Exciting Chords and Chord Progressions website.

Best Course Suitable for Kids

Piano is Fun - If you're buying a piano course for a child or you will be working with a child then this is the piano course for you. Piano Is Fun is geared toward younger learners with a more gradual approach and bright and colorful animation to make learning easy and fun. You can even print out certificates for the student to display when they have completed a section of the course.

NOTE: Piano Is Fun runs on a PC only, and the Vista operating system is not supported.

Read more about Piano Is Fun
Visit the Piano Is Fun website.