The Hoffman Academy Piano Lessons Review

I was just given the opportunity to learn how to play piano from the Hoffman Academy. They gave me PDFs which included: Unit 1 Lesson 1-20 Complete Materials for Lesson 1, a Guide to Using and Listening to Practice CDs, a Parent Guide, and both the Listening CD and Practicing CD.

I took piano lessons when I was a kid, but I mostly just enjoyed jamming to my own tune. Sometimes even singing and playing with a band. The thing is that I'm not really good at the fundamentals of playing piano. I find reading music difficult and cumbersome and I'm skeptical about paying someone else to fail at teaching me piano (notice how I take zero responsibility for my lack of practice or talent).

The good news is that there are 60 lessons from the Hoffman Academy on their website for FREE!  Another good reason why the Hoffman Method is a better and more economical way for someone to learn piano is that their lessons come out to be less than $1 each if you purchase the full class materials for each unit which is so much less than hiring a piano instructor. The different units are available for purchase/download, including all the audio and PDFs mentioned above at the  Hoffman Academy's website.

Here is FREE Piano Lesson 1 if you want to check it out:

Joseph Hoffman's music method may be considered unique compared to the traditional piano lessons where you are simply trying to learn to read music from a book and follow a piano teacher. There are a number of different exercises for the user to acclimate to the musical alphabet and different technique in the Complete Materials for Lesson 1.

These lessons are great for the teaching children, they are also great for adults (like me!). They teach you correct playing technique and posture, reading and writing notes, listening skills, improvisation, basic music theory and my favorite - chords in cute and fun ways.

The Listening CD is fun to listen to. You are supposed to listen to it every day wherever and whenever you feel like it. You will supposedly be better at learning these songs by familiarizing yourself with the them. This is a new and cool concept to me. I was never given anything to listen to or play along to in my childhood piano lessons. We at least had record-able cassettes in those days, so maybe some of those old piano teachers may have thought of it!

Another key to the Hoffman Academy method is their Practicing CD. I think this is a new useful and progressive concept to me as well. You are supposed to use these songs to play along to once you've mastered them. I love that they provide other instruments, vocals, sounds, and a cue for you to start playing along. Each song also gives you time to improvise.

I feel that the materials provided by the Hoffman Academy are a wonderfully, rounded out system of learning piano with written materials, listening and practicing audio, and various exercises. It is not guaranteed to make everyone into a professional, but it will lay the foundation for almost anyone willing to give it a try.



* I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.