Top 5 Piano Teachers on Youtube - Learn @ Home
As students, teachers, and parents all across the country return to our previous strategies for facilitating online learning at home, it is so important to remember to make proper time and space to engage with music and the arts. Young people who can engage in a tactile experience, connecting the mind and body, as they use their sensitivity to make music will experience lower levels of anxiety and learn the discipline to be creative. Learning an instrument from home is a perfect integration of all of these feelings, but it demands that students make a commitment to online learning, in order to truly pursue musical excellence at home.
Many apps are wonderful for self-driven education, but they often charge for their services or subscriptions. Apps like Yousician and Simply Piano are great ideas, but if you’re looking for a more low-tech solution, Youtube is one of the greatest and most widely-accessible resources we have available for supplementing music education. So, I’m reviewing content from the teachers with the most appealing channels. Keep reading to choose who you should follow!
Choose a Teacher (Yellow Rose Top 5 Youtube Picks):
Finding a teacher on the Internet is similar to how you might choose a teacher in real life… you want to find someone whose approach to music automatically makes sense to you, whose musical style interests you, and who meets you at your level of skill. I have organized my “Top 5 Piano Teaching Youtubers” by level, starting from easiest to most challenging). Many teachers also have different courses, ranging from Beginning to Intermediate, and then Advanced. So even if someone is below your ability level, you could probably explore their page and find more rigorous engaging content.
1. Dylan Laine
First, I want to discuss my favorite piano teaching Youtuber… the infamous!! The clarity in her videos and presentations is unsurpassed by any other teaching musician I have seen on the platform, and she is so consistent. Dylan’s organization is an essential quality in her teaching because her effects and pacing make the learning objectives manageable for beginning students. She takes this aspect of her teaching very seriously, which is something that will make students want to continue playing in the long term. Her teaching technique goes all the way from basics (including posture) to beginning music theory, tutorials for worship songs, and finally branching out into songwriting and creative music. I appreciate how her beginning tutorials are broken down into playlists of short videos (2-5 min). This is perfect for breaking learning off in bite-size chunks (for learners of all ages), and helps to keep learning objectives clearly organized. She also loves to teach ukulele, so it seems like she presents a great pathway and role model for young children. Check out her videos, website, and keep exploring her channel.
Next, I will introduce Joseph Hoffman, from the Hoffman Academy on Youtube. I love how polished his presentations are, and how he encourages learners by incorporating inspiring music-making and models musicianship right from the start. His aesthetic feels like a Mr. Rogers for the piano - complete with a sweater vest and gentle smile. On his well-loved channel, Hoffman organizes his curriculum from three ranges of Beginning level technique, which provides an essential foundation for becoming physically acclimated to the piano. Then, he has an organized series comprising his Intermediate curriculum. After completing that part of the program, his lessons are specialized by topic, which may be intriguing for the beginning Advanced student struggling with a particular concept. Like Laine, Hoffman’s curriculum is oriented towards American pedagogical techniques, derived from the European school of Western piano playing. He seems to genuinely care about students cultivating a love and dedication for the instrument. Check out his fun, highly viewed, and thorough music videos!
On his channel, the Piano Keyboard Guide, I have found Mantius Cazaubon’s teaching style to be very hands-on and encouraging. Compared to the other teachers I have seen on Youtube, he has more subscribers than some of them, so I think he is able to create a wide appeal among his student base. It seems that he gives a lot of attention to students beginning the piano from the way the curriculum is organized in his playlists. Plus, the comments on his page indicate that t students seem to find him very comfortable and approachable to play along with. One reason for this is that his theory and pedagogy are rather light compared to the other teachers: he teaches the basics of the note names, some chords, and then jumps right into approachable and appealing piano tutorials. He covers a lot of popular music, which I know also increases his viewership, coupled to his sensitive and positive approach to the music. It seems he understands the inner emotional goals that students have when they come to Youtube to learn how to play the piano: they want to communicate, to be creative, to experience that positive feeling of making something simply beautiful. I appreciate that his simple teaching style and variety of piano tutorials (from in person to colorful MIDI versions - even with slowed down tempos) can reach this student demographic.. Check out his beginning piano lessons below, and find more of the colorful tutorials on his channel!
The next teacher on our list is Canadian pianist and pedagogue, Lisa, from the channel PianoVideoLessons. Out of all the teachers on my list, Lisa most closely resembles the types of pedagogical approaches I like to use in my own teaching. It is so important for students to learn study skills alongside the work that they are committing to their instrument. In many of Lisa’s videos especially when she teaches beginning music theory integrated with piano, students will notice her uses of posters, colorful markers, manipulatives, and flashcards to break down musical concepts and unite students’ cognitive and aural understanding with the new sounds they are physically making. Students must learn that playing an instrument, or improving at anything in life truly relies on your self-organization and habits of study to truly internalize content. After all, there is truth to all the Youtube videos telling you that you can learn something new in 10 minutes. In her videos, Lisa provides plenty of strategies to help students accomplish just that. She focuses on creating an effective foundation for beginner students, and she even branches out to include tutorials on classical and popular repertoire. Be sure to pause the videos and take notes when you check out her lessons!
Finally, the last teacher I am glad to feature on this list is gospel and jazz pianist, Warren McPherson. His channel Piano Lesson with Warren details the development of playing entirely by ear. He is very thorough in his foundation with helping students learn intervals, which has many implications for learning to play chords and melodies, as well as learning how to improvise. Moreover, his curriculum is very sequenced, with hundreds of videos numbered layering new skills on top of each other with each lesson. Students who already have some familiarity with the note names (C,D,E,F,G,A,B) on the piano, as well as a mastery of their flats and sharps, may have more interest in learning in this style if they want to try something other than classical and pop music. Once you learn the chords and style of Warren’s style of playing, this beautiful music has bridges to gospel, jazz, and even beyond that to Latin, bossa nova, dance music, and more. Warren McPherson focuses heavily for beginners on ear training, general musical knowledge, chord fingerings and physical technique, and then eventually exploring repertoire gospel music and holy songs. His musicianship is impeccable, and he even explores the psychology and spirituality of building a truly powerful musical foundation. I feel that more people in this world need to learn those secrets. Once music is inside of you, you will always have a gift to be grateful for. Check out his curriculum, playlists, tutorials, and more on his channel!
Although having a teacher on Youtube isn’t the same as having live piano lessons in person, this approach to learning gives students the modern advantage of being able to learn at their own pace, and from the safety of home during this time. Remote learning doesn’t disable our ability to learn new things, it only asks that seek out creative ways to learn by seeking the truest connections we can find.
Who are your favorite Youtube piano teachers? Let me know in the comments below.
