free piano lesson – The Schoolin' Swag Blog

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Ready for some exciting news? I just got this announcement from Angela Hoffman at Hoffman Piano Academy! Read here:

Are you looking for a piano teacher? Meet Mr. Hoffman!

Joseph Hoffman has always wanted one thing, for more people to be able to learn music and to love it while they’re learning. He spent years developing his own comprehensive piano method based on research in early childhood education and great music teaching methods like Suzuki and Kodaly. After receiving his master’s degree in music and founding a very successful music academy in Portland, Oregon, he wanted to find a way to teach music to children whose families might not be able to afford private music lessons, or who might live far away from a piano teacher.

Five years ago, Joseph and his wife Kelly came up with the idea to create piano video lessons and post them online, for free, so that anyone in the world could learn piano with the Hoffman Method. To support their project, they sold downloadable lesson materials, like sheet music and audio files, to accompany the video lessons. Mr. Hoffman’s video lessons now have over 5 million views, with thousands of students watching lessons every day. But he’s not done yet.

Right now, Mr. Hoffman has 120 piano video lessons online. He wants to double that number in the next 16 months, then continue to make more. His ultimate goal is to make Hoffman Academy a complete piano learning program, so that a student who completes all the lessons would be ready to major in music at any university and become a professional musician.

The Hoffman Academy team is also working on building a new, interactive, subscription-based website that will include music learning games and online progress tracking. Video lessons alone can’t give personalized feedback, but the new Hoffman Academy will be able to guide students through developing their skills in rhythm, staff reading, music theory, and ear training, and make learning the piano even more fun and engaging.

In order to fund these projects, Mr. Hoffman is running a Kickstarter campaign through the month of February. Campaign backers can try out the new Hoffman Academy premium subscription for themselves at a great discount. Or, you can contribute to our campaign and fund a Hoffman Academy premium subscription scholarship for a child in need. Come on over and check it out!

Do you believe in music education for everyone? Contribute to our Kickstarter and help make it happen.

Visit our Kickstarter page to learn more.

Our youngest is 9 years old. She is very musical, so I decided to search for some budget-friendly options for her to get some piano and voice lessons started during summer break. I was so delighted when I found Hoffman Piano Academy!

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that all of the actual lessons (100 of them!) on the Hoffman Academy website are FREE! You heard that right. And they are not slipshod or boring!

Our daughter was engaged from the moment I pushed the “play” button. Joseph Hoffman is entertaining and very kid-friendly. Lessons go at a nice, doable pace. Because they are recorded, you can go back and review as many times as you like, you can progress as quickly or slowly as you need to. Lessons are available 24/7, so you can plug in your piano lessons when they fit best in your schedule. All very convenient “perks”!

By the end of the first lesson, our daughter could play a song. What she learned was “Hot Cross Buns”…a very simple tune, but because she could say “I can play a song” it was immediately gratifying to her. A great move on Mr. Hoffman’s part. Even in the very first lessons, children are taught to think in terms of high and low notes and where they will occur on a musical staff later on.

At the end of the lessons, there is a little fun moment for the children to enjoy. Our daughter looks forward to these, and they serve as an incentive for her to stick with the session until the end. Another great, kid-friendly idea!

There are printed materials available for each Unit of study (for instance, Lessons 1-20 would comprise the first Unit). These printable materials support the concepts learned, and review important ideas. I highly recommend purchasing them to accompany the free lessons. They are extremely reasonable, at only $19 per Unit (or you can purchase the materials for all five units for just $85.50 by clicking here). Students learn in this first set of materials how to think in terms of note values, high and low, notes on a scale, and more.

Our daughter looks forward to every lesson with Mr. Hoffman. Click here to get started with Lesson 1!

Click here to sign up for their free newsletter which gives weekly Piano Parent Tips, as well as to receive the 5 Piano Parent Boot Camp emails. You’ll also get some Bonus Materials for Lesson 1, free!

Enjoy!

Note, I received a copy of the printed materials for Unit 1 free in exchange for an honest review.