Online Piano Lessons from Hoffman Academy: A Review

WOW! Our lives have been crazy the past few months. I don’t have time, nor do I want to hash it all out here, so we’re just going to leave it at that. Earlier this year, I decided it was time to get Mister Bull started on piano lessons. So I was thrilled when Hoffman Academy approached me to do a review of their Online Piano Lessons. I’ll admit, I was seriously skeptical at first. I mean, online piano lessons…really? But, I did some research and read some of the reviews and decided we would give it a shot.

We were blessed with the family pack (for up to 4) valued at $29.00 for Unit One. Although I was only planning on using it for Mister Bull (9), I wanted to see if it would also work for Mister Mouse (5). Most of you know my husband and I were both music majors in college. In fact, I was a piano major because that meant I didn’t have to sing for my senior recital – just memorize long pieces of music to fill an hour time slot. (Not sure how I thought that was any easier, but I did.) So to say music is a part of our family would be an understatement. We love music.

I sang in our church choir while pregnant with the oldest and played keyboard on the praise team while I was pregnant with the younger 3 kids. So they came out loving music. All of them love to sing and dance around the house – some more than others. So, I have wanted to get our nine year old started with piano lessons for a while, I just wanted to make sure he was ready. I mean…he is a boy after all. And money is tight around our house, so outside lessons were out of the question. But, this year we decided was the year. We felt he was ready and willing to not only listen and learn, but put forth the effort to really excel.

First, I downloaded the lessons from Hoffman Academy to get us started. Then, we set off on our first day of lessons. Mister Bull breezed through thefirst 5 lessons in no time. I finally made him stop, so we could go over things together and I could make sure he really understood what he was doing and learning. He was!! I was so pleased. I had to literally peel him away from the piano though. He was so happy with his accomplishments. In fact, he called all the grandparents and Daddy to let them hear his first song on the piano! He even memorized it. So for several days we heard “Hot Cross Buns” every day for an hour – or so it seemed.

I finally made him do the next couple lessons, just so we could “learn” a new song! LOL

So, what did I like about the program? Here are 5 PLUSES about Hoffman Academy:

1. Easy to use – This program is designed for kids, but is quite adaptable for even non-musical parents. If you’ve always wanted to learn piano, buy the family pack and learn with your kids!! The lessons are very simple and really start from the basics and build a solid foundation.
2. Online – The videos are online and easy to access from any device (iPad, tablet, laptop). It really can go anywhere! And since the videos are online and accessible at any time, you can easily fit the lessons into your schedule. Lesson times can vary, depending on your day and what you have going on! That was one of my favorite parts. It didn’t have to be done on a certain day at a certain time. If we had a conflict or needed to change it around we could, no problem. Flexibility is KEY!
3. Short lessons – The lessons took anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes a day. They weren’t 30-45 minutes of time and then hours of practicing. I like that they were short and concise so as not to overwhelm the student with too much information at once. You want them to really process it and understand it. Music is more than just playing notes. And I think this format does a wonderful job to teach that aspect. This also means we could be done with a lesson and practice time in about an hour, which worked well with our schedule.
4. Printable – Not only were there video lessons, but there were also printable worksheets, which I highly recommend! Having downloadable printables keeps the cost of this course down and only gives you the cost of paper and ink!
5. Low Cost – As I mentioned before, the cost is very reasonable. Just $19 for a single user or $29 for a family (up to 4 users)!! What a DEAL!!

As with any product, there are always some negatives. While mine might seem trite, I am always honest with you. So here they are.

1. Personally, I like more theory in the lessons, even from the beginning. I’m a firm believer in theory being taught alongside music lessons of any kind. I don’t think you can really understand a musical instrument without knowing the theory behind the music. But this is really more of a personal preference and not a make-or-break deal in my opinion.
2. This study is not suited for young children. I was hopeful that I could use this program with our 5 year old, and possibly the 4 year old, but it would not be possible without a lot of adjustment. So for us, that was a slight downfall. But again, not a deal breaker.

Overall, I really like this program. Mister Bull (9) loved being able to do lessons at the piano on his own tablet. And with his age, he was able to most of it by himself, which is also a plus! Although I’m not sure we’ll continue with the online lessons, simply because my husband and I are both music majors, I HIGHLY recommend this program for anyone wanting to get started. Especially if you have little or no musical experience. I do believe this program is a great starting point and students can learn at their own pace, which is another plus.

The best part about Hoffman Academy is that the video lessons are available for FREE to anyone!! The only thing you have to pay for are the printable lessons, which I do highly recommend doing. There is some minimal theory in the first unit as well as hands-on activities that kids will benefit from in the printables.

We have been a little lax on our practicing schedule, but I was able to find some {free} Christmas music in both pre-note-reading form and sheet music for Mister Bull to work on this year. In the new year we will begin working on learning the names of notes on the staff and work our way up from there. But, Hoffman Academy was a wonderful starting point for him.

Do your kids take piano lessons? Or another instrument? I’d love to hear about it!

Be sure to read more about Hoffman Academy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!!