Youtube nowadays has become the biggest video sharing platform in the world: lots of stuff that you can see and lots of choices.
The downside, though, is that sometimes a lot of choice can make you feel confused, or maybe you can lose some hidden gems because well it’s almost impossible to know everyone in every section.
For this reason, in this blog post we’ll see some of the best youtuber that have made of piano playing/teaching their own focus, and that can both entertain and teach you something.
Let’s begin!
EDUCATIVE PIANO YOUTUBE CHANNELS FOR BEGINNERS
1. HOFFMAN ACADEMY (VERY, VERY BEGINNER FRIENDLY)!
The Hoffman Academy Youtube Channel is run by Joseph Hoffman, a piano teacher and educator that has a lot of content specificaly focused on the beginning of learning piano, and is very clear (and also funny and very entertaining) in outlining the first concepts (as well as more advanced stuff) for a novice that usually has very limited knowledge and methods to find for himself the right route for how to properly continue piano.
Here you can find:
- Fun tutorials for managing to play famous songs and other educative pieces;
- Playlists subdivided in difficulty levels: from “Super Easy” to “Easy”, Late Elementary, Early Intermediate and Intermediate;
- Music theory stuff , divided into modules and playlists;
- Videos on learning to read music scores even if you’ve never seen a music sheet before;
- Live sessions;
- Ear training videos;
- Composition videos
- Videos going from 3 mins up to 15 minutes (here there aren’t very long videos in order to help students maintaing proper attention)
2. PIANO TV
Piano TV is another great Youtube channel for piano/keyboard players, as the host Allysia is a teacher and musician and covers mostly classical music (but also more modern aspects as well) and offers a lot of different angles and insights on this instrument, for example:
- A lot of classical music videos that answers some common questions about this genre and also explains the terms and the glossary of the classical compostitions (for example what is a waltz, a minuet, famous pieces of specific composers such as Mozart and also analysis of pieces, all in her channel’s playlist named “listening to classical music“;
- Theory for beginners, such as reading the notes, chords and rhythm;
- Composition videos, melody and harmony insights and ear training (in the playlist “Ear Training, Composition and Harmony“;
- How to stay motivated and how to practice efficiently setting realistic goals (this playlist);
- Several playlists that makes up an extensive piano course based on the RCM/ABSMR system, that help in “tracking” your progress, despite being just an indicator and not a certification or standard)
3. Andrew Furmanczyk
Andrew Furmanczyk’s channel has a lot of learning stuff (yeah it’s the third time I say the same thing) as well as random playlists of cats and random stuff, but in this case the teacher’s project for his pianists’s audience doesn’t stop on Youtube but also goes to his own website, that has updates about his projects and also 2 full courses (100% free) about “How to learn piano” and “How to learn Music Theory”, that are made with lots of usefull stuff:
HOW TO LEARN PIANO
- 40 videos with a total of 17 hours of educative content;
- How to read sheet music as well as how to play chords, scales, arpeggios and other fundamental concepts and skills that are a must for piano novices;
- An organised subdivision into modules and difficulty levels going from beginner to intermediate
HOW TO LEARN MUSIC THEORY
- 50 videos for 25 hours of content;
- “Homework” given for testing the learned concepts and your understanding of the lessons;
- 3 written exams for a more general check about the broad concepts and the core topics of this course;
- Organised from beginner level to advanced level
As you can read on his website, also, he is currently working on an app (still not finished, as for now there is only available an alpha iOS version) that has the goal of making learning piano accesible to everyone (by the waym you can read the current stage of the development, learn what kind of features it will have and support it here)
4. BILL HILTON
The Bill Hilton YT channel has mostly tutorials , for beginners first starting practising this instrument and also for more advanced players that want to go into improvisation, composition, exploring more genres of piano music (blues piano, jazz and rock as well as pop) and also covering songwriting topics.
There is also a playlist of Q&A for answering some common questions (you can find it here) adn a great amount of videos about chords and comping.
5. NAHRE SOL
Nahre Sol’s Channel is a very interesting and also very entertaining channel that explores piano music in a broader way, making videos about practising efficiently as well as genre swaps of famous songs, synthetisers mixed with classical music and creative processes’s advices.
The approach is usually very light and funny, but the value is also very high: it really focuses on a lot of things, and surely it’s hard to get bored watching these videos on an insane amount of different topics.
There is also a linked website for Nahre Sol’s stuff, with updates on her projects and a shop that sometimes has free stuff as well, so despite being mostly a showcase of the channel’s materials it’s still worth checking.
SONGS LISTENING/PLAYTHROUGH (WITH MUSIC SHEETS)
6. TUTORIALS BY HUGO
Tutorials by Hugo, as the name suggests, is a tutorial-focused channel (who would have thought it!) that has materials on some of the most famous songs of all time, as well as trending ones and playlists made specifically for beginners.
There are also accompaniments (piano only) that can be useful for singers.
The videos are very well made, with the upper half of the screen with the scrolling music sheet for sight reading, and in the lower half there is a Sinthesia window showing which keys on your piano or keyboard you have to play and for how long, allowing you to learn both if you can read music scores or not.
7. MUSECHICK
MuseChick’s channel is another tutorial-based one, but this time the pieces are played showing the actual playing but also showing the chords and the keys to play as well (similarly to the previous channel, with playing in the lower half and chords in the upper half).
The songs are mainly from pop, but you can find all-time classics (for example Frank Sinatra or The Smiths) as well as film’s songs: the playthrough of the song, also, can really help you as you can see how to place hands while playing and therefore giving you a more “real” vibe for the tutorial.
8. COSTANTINO CARRARA MUSIC
Costantino Carrara Music’s Channel focuses on live perfomances videos and playthrough of songs (as Costantino Carrara is a pianist that performs all around the world and a composer too), so you can find some great versions of popular songs and music (films mainly) on here.
There also is his website with updates and piano sheets music, where you can also buy his own arrangemets that he plays in his videos.
9. GLENN GOULD
Glenn Gould’s YT has the registrations of some of the pieces played by this great Canadian pianist (who died in 1982) and therefore a lot of classical music that you can listen played with his astounding articulation and dynamic.
Gould is considered one of the most brilliant pianists of the 20th Century, and also very well know for his personal interpretation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, that highlighted the layers and the polyphonic nature of his compositions.
If you’re looking for some great classical music interpretations and/or you want to hear some really great recordings of a great pianist playing Bach then this channel is definitely a must!
10. PAUL BARTON
Paul Barton mainly uploads videos about classical music playtrough as well as tutorials, and you can find all the played pieces subdivided into playlists (each one having a specific composer’s music).
Also, most of his videos have sheet music as well, so you can see the piano score while he plays, helping you in understanding the rhythm and the piece itself.
11. ANIMENZ PIANO SHEETS
Animenz Piano Sheets is anime music-themed youtube channel: you can hear and see the playing of a lot of famous (and also less famous) soundtracks, openings and endings with beautiful and often virtuosistic arrangements (as the player is classically trained and tries to make his arrangements as close as an actual classical piece).
You can also buy his own arrangements here (single pieces) or on Animenz official shop, published in 2 official Music books by Yamaha.
JAZZ PIANO YOUTUBE CHANNELS
12. JAZZ PIANO SCHOOL
Jazz Piano School videos focuses, as the name says, on jazz and also on tips for improving creativity for your playing.
You can also find a lot of tips for improving improvisation and music theory lessons, as well as lessons that speaks of a topic analysing a particular piece and the characteristics of that song (for example focusing on the rhythm, the chords used in that or on a particular style used in the song).
13. CEDAIRVILLE MUSIC
Cedairville Music mainly focuses on improvisation, taking interesting comparations with classical music, and you can also find a lot of material about how to articulate the sound of your piano (using pedals, correcting and improving the tension that you use to play, how to control your tone…), so you can find more tips on how to manage your sound here.
Beyond those, you can also hear to pieces as well, finding useful tips about how to practice effectively.
