Learn and Master Piano Review

Play Piano Music may be compensated through the links in the post below, but the opinions are our own.

First off, let me say that receiving Learn and Master Piano in the mail was quite exciting. It arrived in a white box with a large "Learn and Master Piano" sticker on it, perhaps a little embarrassing if you don't want your neighbors knowing you want to learn to play piano! I didn't see anything wrong with it however. Once I opened up the package I was struck by how nice of a case this course comes in.

P.S. That photo above isn't just the usual Photoshop version of a fake product cover like most online products are nowadays. That is exactly what it looked like when I received my copy in the mail. The large box on the left is the case everything comes in and snaps shut magnetically...very nice.

What's included?

It honestly looks like something I could have gone down to Guitar Center and picked up or ordered off of Musician's Friend! It is a sturdy case that has a magnetic closure to keep everything from falling out if you drop it or something. This is what is inside:

• 14 DVDs, on them are 28 lesson videos and 28 workshop videos to go along with the lessons
• 5 play along CDs that give you a sense of playing in a real band
• A lesson book (~110 pages) that has the important information for each lesson in it
• A nice case to hold everything in (handy for keeping everything together)

There are disc sleeves for the 14 DVDs and 5 CDs, plus several extra so that you can put in your other piano CDs in there too. This might not mean anything to anyone, but all the discs were oriented right side up, rather than just put in there in any direction. To me this shows that they care about their product, but I'm weird and kind of OCD like that.

So first things first (that's actually what the first lesson is called), I pop the first DVD into my computer, set up my piano and start learning!

Course content

The Learn and Master Piano DVD's are structured so that you have two lessons on each disc, with each one being about 45 minutes long. In addition to the lesson, there is also a "workshop" video that accompanies the lessons. These are used to guide you through a practice routine and really help you practice correctly. They basically cover everything that the lesson tells you to practice.

The course is divided into 28 lessons, with a couple of pages in the book dedicated to each lesson. The book has things like diagrams, pictures and sheet music for you to follow along with while you watch the DVD.

There is a "You're ready to move on when..." section that gives you an idea of whether or not you should move on to the next lesson. This will come in really handy if you don't want to sit through the beginning lessons if you can already do those things in the "You're ready to move on when..." sections.

This course can be used by anyone...beginners, intermediate, and even advanced players. The lessons are structured so that you can start as someone who has never sat at a piano before or if you , just read through each lesson and assess whether the content discussed is at your level of play.

Even as an experienced piano player myself, the first few lessons were great review to remind me about how the different muscle groups in your arm contribute to different sounds on the keyboard. There is also TONS of cool stuff for me to play through as the lessons get more advanced.

This course will keep you learning for quite a while and will always be an excellent reference guide to come back to later on down the road. Especially the way the case is built...it will make a great addition to my bookshelf of music books!

Play along CDs

These are a great addition to any piano course. They really help instill the lessons that you learned and reinforce your confidence and ability to play with other instruments playing around you.

After listening to the first three play along CDs, I was definitely impressed by the quality of the background music. It's nice to know that they hired professional musicians to play along with you because it totally makes it sound like you are in a band.

Even in the first few CDs, I found several songs that I recognized and would love to play along with again. Hits such as Lean on Me, Hotel California, Louie Louie (this one is fun!), and Let it Be. I would be listening to a simple chord progression with the background music and realize...'hey, this is that song!' It was pretty cool. This is surely a key aspect of learning to play piano...playing songs you recognize.

Ease of the Instruction

The course DVDs are actually easy to follow. I have seen a few piano courses where the instructor or program moves to fast for you to actually learn and remember anything. While this course does move, it does so at a pace that you can keep up with. You of course can pause the DVD to practice parts you just learned and there are nice breaks in the sections to take a rest or practice some more.

The instruction is in English, so if you have a problem with understanding it, then this is probably not the course for you. Though I must say, music is universal, and I would encourage you to check out other options if you want to learn piano.

Anyone Can Do It!

After going through the program, I even lent the program to my Mother-in-Law because she has been wanting to learn to play piano for a while and she absolutely loved it. She said it was great for her because she could pick up wherever she left off and learn new things on her schedule. Just a testimony to how easy this program is to use.

What Next?

Go and learn piano! Make sure you check out Learn and Master Piano for yourself, they have a no hassle return policy if you don't like what you get! What do you have to lose? I absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a solid piano course.