Everything You Need to Know About Online Piano Lessons for Adults

Are you thinking about taking online piano lessons for adults?

Whether you are looking at taking online piano lessons for adults for the first time, or coming back to piano lessons after having taken them as a child and you haven't played piano for a while, there are a lot of barriers that make it difficult for you to even take the plunge and start taking remote piano lessons to begin with.

As a seasoned piano teacher for adults, I’m going to break down some of those barriers standing between you and learning piano, and give you tools that will help you to finally learn how to play piano in online piano lessons for adults.

Moving through the Fear of Learning How to Play Piano as an Adult

Here’s a dose of truth for you: learning how to play piano as an adult is really scary! Learning to do anything new as an adult can be intimidating, because we are opening ourselves up to be seen and heard, and to receive criticism.

Don’t let your fear of being heard keep you from taking online piano lessons for adults. It can make it intimidating to start with online piano lessons for adults and can keep us trapped in this period of waiting and not just moving forward and doing the thing that we'd like to do. What are you afraid of? And how does your life start to look different once you step out of that fear?

Playing music is really scary! When I think about the fear we have to overcome, I think of that statistic about giving a public speech.

If 77% of people are afraid to speak in public, how many are afraid to sing? To play an instrument??

You don't have to live in that fear- because no growth comes from hiding in the shadows. If you want to unlock new skills and feel more in control of your own experience, you're going to have to step into the unfamiliar and shake things up a little bit. Taking online piano lessons for adults can be a way to control the elements that making learning piano seem daunting, because you have control over your environment and scheduling in remote piano lessons. The experience of learning how to play piano can give you the skills and experience to move through limiting fears in other areas of your life. Part of learning how to play piano as an adult is learning how to move through discomfort, be a beginner again, and project confidence while you gain new skills.

Making the Time for Online Piano Lessons for Adults

There's also the commitment of making the time to learn how to play piano. A lot of adults feel as if there's not enough time in our schedule to learn something new, or are afraid they don’t know how much time they need to practice piano. In reality, your commitment to learning piano as an adult may be 20 minutes a day or less, but the idea of committing that time often feels like you don't have any time left to spare.

In my own experience trying to dedicate time to learning something new, I find that when I'm feeling like there’s not enough time, that by structuring my time intentionally and making a commitment to what I really want to do I uncover more time than I had before. This is especially true when you are learning how to play piano as an adult. By carving out an intentional 30 or 60 minutes a week for private piano lessons for adults, or dedicating 10-20 minutes a day to practicing piano, not only will you surprise yourself at just how fast you learn piano, but you will also find new moments of calm, meditative and joyful time that you are spending doing something that brings you fulfillment. One of the best things about learning piano as an adult is the amount of purpose and satisfaction learning something new can bring.

Gathering Resources

Another barrier standing between people and taking online piano lessons for adults is access to a piano keyboard. There is the financial limitation of having access to a piano keyboard, but a lot of people find difficulty, especially in urban areas find difficulty finding physical space for a keyboard. I have had many students that confess to me that they've owned a piano keyboard for years, but it’s lived in a closet the entire time because there's no space to keep it out and about from day to day.

This is a really important issue because if you own a piano keyboard, and you store it in a closet and you think you're going to get it out each day to practice piano, you probably won't actually do that. You have to commit physical space and be prepared to sacrifice that space or to let go of another object in your home for the sake of having your instrument there. Pianos and keyboards are very large, and an electronic piano keyboard requires access to power.

Another barrier for adults wanting to take private piano lessons is economy of noise. This is especially true of people living with family partners or roommates, or other shared housing situations. We are socially conditioned to feel like we can only make so much noise, or we feel embarrassed about the types of noise that we are making when we are learning piano for the first time. Some adults learning piano want the learning experience to be very private, but by the very nature of making music is to make noise! You have to give yourself permission to make sounds in order to make music, and trust that the people around you want to hear your noise and sound and music, or find a way that you can do these things in a way that feels safe and private while you develop that confidence in playing piano. This is one advantage to playing an electronic piano keyboard, because you can add headphones as a part of your piano practice while you are learning how to play piano. That is something that you can’t do with voice lessons, learning most other instruments, or learning how to dance.

Learning How to Play Piano as an Investment in Ourselves

Of course, the big obvious barrier standing between us and learning a new instrument is money. Money can be like time in that when we feel scarcity, we are often spreading ourselves too thin, without intention and purpose. You'll never feel like you have enough. This is another thing that I find when I use my money in an intentional and meaningful way. It seems to last forever compared to the times where I feel a point of scarcity. And so it gets scattered on all sorts of things that don't really mean anything to me. For example, I’ve seen many people ready to subscribe to big box solutions to learning an instrument- paying for apps from major music distributors and instrument makers. This is not to say that apps and videos are completely ineffective ways of learning how to play piano, but if you really want to know the best way to take online piano lessons for adults, it’s not by paying a low fee once a month and playing along. While I consider piano apps a great resources when you’re learning, putting that money towards private piano lessons will have a greater payoff. By paying for online piano lessons for adults, you prioritize your dedication of time, and get to make a personal connection that will hold you accountable in a way that an app notification will not. Even better, by working with another person directly, you are engaging with a lineage of music makers and learning in the time-honored way of studying art with another artist. In this way, we learn how to play in ways that are meaningful and expressive, and we can tailor our music learning to be personalized and a reflection of our own experiences. If learning how to make music really means something to you, you can show that value to yourself by making this investment in yourself and in online piano lessons for adults. Remember that this investment is money you are investing in yourself. You are the person that you're investing in when you choose to learn an instrument or when you choose to make music. Learning how to play piano is one of the truly selfish and wonderful things that we can give ourselves in the society where we're encouraged to only be giving to others over and over and over again.

Learning New Truths about Ourselves

You don’t need permission from anyone to start taking online piano lessons for adults. As adults learning how to play piano, we've internalized a lot of messages from other people, usually from people who were adults when we were children. When we are first stepping into learning usic to begin with, there were probably people who told you you couldn't sing. That you have no innate musical talent. Someone may have told you that you have no sense of rhythm, or that you have two left feet. There are people who've told you that you don't sound good. So why would you even try to learn how to play piano? What's the point in making music if you think you sound bad?

Here’s the deal: people spread these messages about innate musical ability as if it is a fixed truth. But musical ability is based on one thing only, and that is the time we spend learning and practicing. The more music that you are exposed to, the more you soak up intentionally, and the better you are. Music is not a fixed ability. Some people seem to learn music easier than others, and every time that is based on the music they are exposed to early on, and the ways that they are encouraged to play and explore. So if you feel like you are “bad” because you never learned it, you need to reframe that. You are new, or a beginner, because you never had the opportunity to learn. The people that said you were bad? They felt like they didn’t have permission to make music, so they took yours away, too. You don’t need anyone’s permission to learn piano as an adult.

My biggest piece of advice to you, as someone trying to unlearn these lessons about whether or not you are “good enough” to learn how to play piano is this: start treating people around you like they are the most expressive, creative, musical people you have ever met. Especially if they are just finding their voice! If you have children in your life, tell them that you like their voice, or that the song they made up on their keyboard or is awesome. Because it is! Your friend is learning guitar for the first time and you can tell? Every nurturing comment that you pass on to your friends and family that are in the formative stages of learning music is a word of encouragement that you are giving to yourself. Your voices sounds amazing. I can tell you’re learning a lot. I love how expressive your songs are!

Music isn’t about anyone else. When we’re learning how to play an instrument, it isn’t for anyone else. Eventually, it is performative, and something we can share. But at this stage, it serves no function to other people. You have to let go of the words we’ve internalized about our ability or purpose, and give ourselves permission to make music to be creative to engage with art to be expressive. And as long as you're listening to those old messages from other people, you'll never be able to do that. So if you feel like you're waiting for permission from someone to learn how to play piano, like you are waiting for an invitation from a teacher, the okay from your significant other, an apology from your parent who said you could never do it- let go of that. It's time for you to go ahead and give yourself permission to learn how to play piano and take that step out of fear and into the spotlight.

What You Need to Get Started with Online Piano Lessons for Adults

When you’re ready to learn how to play piano and start online piano lessons for adults, there are a few physical elements to prepare. First off, there’s the matter of finding a piano or electric piano keyboard that works for you. There are options for you to get started with these lessons before you have access to a piano, of course. What I love about my beginner piano class for adults play piano anywhere is that it eliminates the physical need of having a keyboard. This class starts with visualization of a keyboard or the use of a mobile device to play along. Partway through the class. I guide people into how to find a keyboard if they want one, or how to get started if they don't have all the resources available. If this sounds like you, you can join the waitlist and start there.

If you're trying to take private piano lessons and not a group piano class, you're going to want a piano to play along with. You don't need the nicest keyboard to start out in private piano lessons for adults. You can start learning piano with a free or super cheap entry level keyboard. If you are looking for a fast and easy way to get started learning piano, I recommend finding a piano keyboard by exploring buy nothing groups online, posting in community groups, or asking around in group chats with friends. You won’t believe how many free and cheap piano keyboards are available online. Parents will buy piano keyboards for their children with the best of intentions of having their child learn how to play piano, and then discover their kid has no interest in it. That's why buy nothing groups and Facebook marketplace are so saturated with free piano keyboards. Seriously, you don't have to have any money to get a keyboard. Actually, you can even get an acoustic piano for cheap if you have the physical space for one. You can probably find one for free or dirt cheap on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. The catch is that you'll need to pay to have it moved and you'll need to pay to have it tuned.

When you’re just getting started with online piano lessons for adults, an electric piano keyboard is definitely the most affordable and potentially free option. It doesn't have to be a nice piano keyboard for you to get started with private piano lessons. If you're just experimenting to see if you're ready to stick with remote piano lessons, or you are just looking for a new practice that brings you joy, then you can start with an entry level keyboard. An entry level keyboard means that the keyboard might be small, it may not have the full 88 keys that an acoustic piano would have, and it might not have weighted keys which is what allows us to play louder or softer based on touch alone. But that’s okay, because you don’t need any of those things when you are taking beginner piano lessons for adults. At the beginning, you’ll be learning where the keys are on the piano keyboard, and the basics of how to read music. If you're ready for a higher level keyboard, or you know this is something you want to stick with in the long run and you're looking for a lifelong instrument, then you’ll want to look for a keyboard with weighted keys that has the full range of 88 keys, one that looks and feels like an acoustic piano.

Extra Things that You Don’t Really Need to Start Learning Piano!

If you’re making a big investment for a lifelong piano keyboard, you're also going to want a few accessories that make this keyboard feel more like an acoustic piano, including a sustain pedal, a stand or desk made specifically for your piano, and some way to prop up your music, such as a music stand or an iPad stand. It's also helpful to have headphones that can connect to your keyboard so that you can practice and privacy and share your music when you feel ready to share it with other people. If you live with other people, you will find that having an option to practice with headphones will increase your range of piano practice time. Headphones are especially useful if you feel makes you feel nervous or self conscious about practicing around others.

If you are taking zoom piano lessons for adults, then you'll want a device to join your piano lessons. While a phone works, you will have the best experience with a computer or tablet. You don't need a fancy overhead camera to take piano lessons- that's your teacher's job! All you need to start online piano lessons for adults is a device, and some way to hold the device up in a stable position where you can see the teacher and interact with them. Most students put their computer on a table or laptop stand to the side of the piano, where the zoom piano teacher can see you to give you feedback about how you are positioning your body or help to identify any potential issues that may come up as you are learning. Some people may prefer to see things modeled up close, and have the device closer to eye level throughout the lesson.

Other accessories that you might find useful for your piano keyboard include a case for storing it or moving it, and an amplifier if it doesn't have built in speakers. If you are using printed music or physical music books in addition to a music stand, or a stand that attaches to your keyboard, you may also want some sort of music stand light. They make these specific devices for sheet music, but honestly just a normal clip-on reading lamp should do the trick. If you are using an iPad, you may consider an iPad stand and a foot pedal switch for turning the pages. I recommend the app for score and I use Muse score for a lot of free music on my iPad. I also use Google Play or similar ereader book apps to download the method books that I use in private piano lessons. And of course, you're going to need the actual sheet music for your lessons. But choosing which music to have is a conversation that you'll have with your teacher.

Starting Online Piano Lessons for Adults

Communication and consistency are really vital parts of taking private piano lessons. I start all of my private piano lessons consultation, so that we have chance to get to know each other and ensure that we are a good fit. You have an opportunity to gauge whether my teaching style resonates with you, and I have an opportunity to learn more about your musical journey. I find that while I have while I have many adults who come to me having had no musical experience at all, I do have many people who come to me who are almost recovering from a lifetime of piano lessons that didn't give them the relationship with music that they had hoped for. All of my students learning in online piano lessons for adults seem to come to me with internalized messages about their musical skills or perceive lack their of. These introductory calls let me learn what your goals are and helps us figure out what you actually want to work on during your online piano lessons for adults! We also figure out what stories you want to relearn about your own ability to play piano, because we all have that ability to learn how to play piano. No one is completely without rhythm, or will just never be able to read sheet music. Those are all things that we can grow in together, if that's what you want. This introduction is a chance to align our goals and plan our expectations for future piano lessons.

Chase Your Enthusiasm for Music

In these first initial calls, everyone I talked to is so excited and motivated to learn piano. They have their instrument or they can’t wait to get one, everyone is so excited to get started. They're gushing about how much they love it and dreaming up songs they want to play one day. The funny thing about starting online piano lessons for adults is that people end up diluting their enthusiasm from that first call instead of matching it. Oftentimes will talk themselves into fear when thinking about what it's going to be like to actually play for another person and start to put off that first lesson. It is scary to play for another person and it is a huge commitment to actually buy these piano lessons and show up and connect with another person but by matching your enthusiasm that you feel about learning how to play piano, you are showing yourself that you deserve this. You value art, you value music and you deserve to have it in your life. It brings you joy and you are allowed to connect with that joy every day. You don't have to shy away from those feelings. Our society rewards us for shying away from those feelings. If you don't take music lessons, you might have more money. If you aren't practicing piano, you'll have more time to do other things like work even more hours or scroll more on your phone. We all know these cycles! So match your enthusiasm from that first call. Don't dilute it. If you're feeling excited about learning piano, go ahead and do the things that you need to do to feel ready to start lessons. Go ahead and buy your piano lessons. Buy your sheet music, set up your keyboard do what you need to do to feel ready and maintain that enthusiasm and excitement.

The Truth About Cancelling Your Piano Lessons

As you schedule your first online piano lessons for adults, know that consistent lessons will lead to consistent growth, and occasional lessons will lead to occasional growth. I know some people are afraid of adding pressure of having to grow and increase in ability each week, and I’m not here to add that pressure to you. I invite you to reframe this skill you are learning as a way to engage with play. In your online piano lessons for adults, I want to move at the pace that you're comfortable moving forward with. However, I do want you to feel growth and I don't want you to be afraid of it. Don’t be afraid that by getting better you are going to let yourself down along the way. That ebb and flow or growth and new personal expectations is part of the emotional experience of learning something new and growing and stepping into that discomfort. So as you think about what you want to learn and the things that you want to do as you learn how to play the piano, I want you to remember that that consistency that you create for yourself is only going to pay you back. Knowing that even if you don't feel prepared for a lesson, it's not a waste of that time with your online piano teacher. This is probably something that you were told as you were taking piano lessons or some other kinds of classes as a child, or maybe this is a message you have passed along to other people in your life. Maybe this was a gymnastics class or Taekwondo but, I know that I've been told that there was no point to even coming to a lesson if I didn't practice and that there was nothing new to work on. Guess what? That’s never actually true! In fact, the only time it feels like there might not be something to work on is when you have practiced your butt off and you are playing everything with complete accuracy and detail. Music is a lifelong journey, so there are always different things we can explore and learn and work on together, especially when our lessons are structured to have an easy routine that leads to long-term growth, with more in depth projects to work on over time. Maybe you didn't work on your longer projects, but we can move forward in your routine and learn something new in this lesson. Right now.

The problem with canceling a lesson because you feel unprepared is that you're probably not going to practice this week either. If you cancelled your piano lesson because you didn’t feel like you practiced enough, now it’s been two weeks since you’re last lesson, and maybe even two weeks since you practiced, so you're going to feel even less prepared when it's time for your next lesson. You can see where I'm going with this. It's a vicious cycle. The truth is: know one ever feels like they practice enough. This isn’t a feeling worth cancelling a lesson over. The more that you show up, the more that you will learn. The more prepared you will feel to show up again, and play piano with confidence and learn new things.

The Secret to Learning Piano Fast? Lean In

With this consistency comes an agreement about how communication works for you and your piano teacher. As an online piano teacher, I value face to face conversations. I find back and forth messaging dilutes the message that we’re trying to communicate. And as such, when folks are finding they need more guidance, the solution is not constant access through emails and questions and direct messages, but is actually increasing the frequency of lessons so that we can really catalyze this process and jumpstart your understanding. That's the magic of my learn piano fast program, to help people learn how to play piano in a short amount of time and to answer a lot of questions in one stream of consciousness, rather than having that back and forth that interrupts the flow and the understanding of what we're trying to communicate. You can join the private piano lessons waitlist to be the first to learn about this new offering.

Ready to start you journey learning how to play the piano? Try a free beginner piano lesson for adults, or join the waitlist to be the first to know when private piano lessons open up.

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Answers to Your Questions About Online Piano Lessons for Adults

• How can an adult learn to play piano online?

  If you’re ready to learn how to play piano, you have a wealth of online resources. You can use online videos and subscribe to apps, but the most transformative tool available is online piano lessons for adults.

• Are online piano lessons cheaper?

  Nope! Your piano teacher is putting in the same amount of time and allocating resources to be available just for you! You save in the convenience of being able to join from home and saving yourself the commute, and you are making a commitment to work with a teacher that is the best fit for you.

• How often should adults take piano lessons?

  You get what you put into it. The more frequent the lesson, the more consistent the growth. It is typical to start with weekly half hour lessons, and to increase that lesson time as needed. You can also join the waitlist for the Learn Piano Fast program if you want to jump start your piano learning with a week of daily lessons.

• Do online piano lessons really work?

  Online piano lessons have a lot of perks that in person piano lessons don’t have. You can find a teacher that is the best fit for you, they are able to see your piano set-up at home, and you can schedule lessons that work with your availability.

• How long do you need piano lessons?

  This depends on your goal! Play piano is a lifelong skill, where you may continue piano lessons consistently to keep challenging yourself, or you may move from regular piano lessons to learning independently as you grow.