Build a musical life on firm foundations

The fruit of over a decade of private teaching, The Traditional Piano Curriculum’s goal is to preserve the craft of music making, systematically guiding children and adults into the skills required to participate in the tradition of Western Classical Music.

CONTEXT MATTERS

Will the Traditional Piano Program work for you?

This method is designed to work for diligent students in a variety of circumstances.

Homeschool

Parents are essential to a child’s musical growth, and so in a sense all piano students are homeschooled, whatever their school situation. But homeschool families will take very well to this program.

Adults

Adults often believe that they cannot effectively learn to play an instrument. I’ve taught many adults successfully and understand the advantages and challenges of adult learners.

After School Lessons

This curriculum can be used in the same manner as ordinary piano lessons, with weekly videos either providing the sole plan of study or supplementing other programs.

how traditional piano lessons developed

Don’t learn to play the piano. Learn to think like a musician.

This is the most comprehensive moderns design course I’ve taken and believe me, I’ve taken a lot! Well done! Absolutely suggest anyone serious about design take this course!
Jim Smith
Founder, TechWiz
This is the most comprehensive moderns design course I’ve taken and believe me, I’ve taken a lot! Well done! Absolutely suggest anyone serious about design take this course!
Elizabeth Jones
Web Designer
This is the most comprehensive moderns design course I’ve taken and believe me, I’ve taken a lot! Well done! Absolutely suggest anyone serious about design take this course!
Tom Reeves
VP of Design, GitHub
This is the most comprehensive moderns design course I’ve taken and believe me, I’ve taken a lot! Well done! Absolutely suggest anyone serious about design take this course!
Alexa Chase
Founder, Simply Design

Basic Subscription

$27/mo

The most complete and effective curriculum for learning Classical Music at home.

  • All video lessons recorded in high definition.
  • All necessary course materials available for download
  • Train your eyes, ears, body, and intellect
  • Develop a correct physical technique
  • Learn to both sight read and memorize music

Annual Payment Plan Discount (2 months off):

Student Subscription

$57/mo

Take advantage of the personal support of an experienced teacher.

Includes Basic Subscription, plus:

  • Discussion Forums
  • Submit video for evaluation at key checkpoints
  • Submit questions for recorded Office Hours
  • Access to bonus videos on student questions, tips and tricks, and common problems
  • Discounted tuition rates on live virtual lessons
  • Access to all future course offerings on composition, music theory, and appreciation.

Annual Payment Plan Discount (2 months off):

TEST YOUR READINESS

Experience the power of this unique approach

Free Introduction

Includes:

  • Simplified lessons that focus on just one of our core skills
  • Requires a five minute commitment daily
  • Learn how fluent musicians think about the musical scale
  • Discover if you or your student is ready for the full program
  • Get a head start on the main course sequence

Virtual Piano Lessons

$140 *one 30 minute lesson

  • Get your questions answered from an experienced teacher
  • Get motivated and inspired to keep on practicing
  • Receive a detailed practice plan tailored to your unique circumstances.
  • Virtual lessons with a high quality technical setup.
  • Flexible scheduling options
  • Discounts on bulk lesson scheduling

Common Questions

We offer a no questions asked, 30 day money back guarantee. If after four weeks of work you are not satisfied with this unique approach to piano pedagogy, or you don’t believe you will be able to keep up your practice routine, simply contact us and we will refund your tuition. If you cancel any time after 30 days, there are no refunds.

Lessons are delivered by video, recorded in high definition. Subscribers receive a weekly lesson plan with all activities presented in detail, all relevant supporting materials provided, and a checklist to track student progress.

The Traditional Piano Curriculum does not use any contemporary pedagogical materials. That means no lesson books, no workbooks, no cute pictures and busy work. All the preparatory exercises are designed by George, and all the music that you will play are real pieces of music from the classical tradition. All pieces are available within the public domain and are accessible on the internet, but I have collected all of these materials and made them available in your course pages, in some cases making my own simplified editions with all editing removed for ease of reading. I will also recommend physical books that contain the pieces you will be playing in the event that you would like to have your own editions.

If you sign up for the Free Introduction you should expect to work at least five minutes, and up to ten minutes at each practice session. I recommend that you practice six days a week, and no less than five days. If you sign up for the full Traditional Piano Curriculum, you should expect to start at twenty minutes a day. In general your practice is not time based, but task based. If you complete your work well, you are done. The course is based on a 40 week academic year, and is organized around the average time spent by my private students. If it takes you a little more time to complete a year’s worth of work, that is fine, and if you are making quick progress you can continue on to Year Two as soon as you complete Year One, and so on.

My ultimate goal is to use the internet to spread resources for maintaining a living tradition of Western Art Music in these difficult times. I believe that we cannot rely on current institutions to maintain that mission, and that is why I want to make an elite curriculum widely available at a cost savings, especially for homeschooling families, who are most likely to value this curriculum but not necessarily have the time or resources to place all of their children in private instruction.

But if you would feel more secure receiving feedback, I suggest you consider the student subscription. I have marked set checkpoints where you can upload a video of your student and I can let you know whether your progress is sufficient to keep moving forward. This way you can be confident that you are progressing appropriately.

I also use my private piano studio as a laboratory, taking notes on common problems and the solutions that I develop for those problems, and I present those common problems and their solutions as bonus content for student subscribers within the lessons wherever it is relevant. And I take new questions via our private online forums, and develop video content around those questions to add to the bonus materials.

You can succeed at this project following the basic curriculum, but if you want to get into this detailed feedback loop, have your questions answered, and grow along with the program as it develops into a complete music-at-home curriculum, then consider the student subscription.

Within my private studio I have never had problems teaching children seven and up with these methods. It is possible to start younger – I have started as young as five – but at that age having some teaching experience may be helpful, because a certain amount of flexibility is required. If you start that young, it is important that you are relaxed and not anxious about necessarily completing all the dimensions of work – visual, cognitive, physical, auditory – at the same pace.

If you are not sure about your child’s readiness, please sign up for the free introduction. The introduction presents the most challenging aspect of the preparatory work, which requires good recognition of the letters of the alphabet. If the introduction is successful, you are ready to go. If you do use the free introduction with a child younger than seven years old and you run into difficulty, please drop me a line and I’ll be happy to help get you started.

You’ve always wanted to do this right. Now you can.

Don’t learn to play the piano. Learn to think like a musician.

CONTACT FORM

View Privacy Policy

Start The Traditional Piano Curriculum today.

Build your musical life on firm foundations.