Learning the piano is a fun way for kids to learn more about music and for adults to keep their brains and hands active. However, in these uncertain times, finding a piano teacher might be a challenge. With that in mind, many people turn to the internet searching for quality lessons, but how do you find the right teacher for you?
The best piano teachers on YouTube include Josh Wright, NewJazz, Bill Hilton, David Magyel, Nahre Sol, and Sons of Thunder Pro. Though each differs according to their specified musical genre, there are several excellent options for all skill ranges from classical and jazz to gospel and pop.
It’s impossible to pinpoint the best channel for an entire musical genre, so instead, this article is devoted to a range of pianists that you can choose based on which one you like the best. We hope that this simplifies your search to find good piano tutorials.
Can YouTube Channels Teach You To Play the Piano?
It’s impossible to pinpoint the best channel for an entire musical genre, so instead, this article is devoted to a range of pianists that you can choose based on which one you like the best. We hope that this simplifies your search to find good piano tutorials.
Although YouTube channels can teach you quite a bit, you should always seek a piano teacher if you’re a complete beginner. It doesn’t matter if you’re taking online or in-person private lessons; you need a live instructor to teach you the fundamentals of the piano.
This doesn’t just include learning the basics of music theory or finding out where the notes are on a piano. It also encompasses proper posture and hand technique, which is essential to playing well, creating good habits, and preventing injury.
If you learn to play from an online channel, you will never receive any criticism or feedback on the way you play. This could lead to the adoption of repetitive hand movements that could seriously harm you in the future. You might not know it, but the way you position your finger pads on the piano could lead to an early onset of tendonitis.
However, suppose you have a piano teacher, and you want to learn some additional piano techniques, different styles, or new pieces. In that case, you should definitely look to YouTube channels as they will provide you with that variety.
Even if you don’t have a piano teacher yet, some of these YouTube channels listed below provide online tuition in one form or another. Watching the free videos they post online; you can get a feel for what and how they teach and whether you want to sign up with them for their paid courses.
The following section splits available piano channels on YouTube into different categories – classical, jazz, gospel, pop, and mixed. Depending on your musical preferences, one area will probably be more suited to you than others.
Classical
Classical YouTube channels are dedicated to the study of Western classical music encompassing the various eras. They usually distinguish between playing techniques for the different eras and providing a base for Western music theory.
Below are three of the best YouTube channels to help you in your pursuit of classical music.
Josh Wright
Josh Wright is an acclaimed American pianist described to have “rarer gifts – touch, intelligence and the ability to surprise,” according to the Washington Post. Along with being a Billboard #3 artist for his classical music album and an excellent concert pianist, he also holds a doctorate in music and is passionate about teaching.
With over 145k subscribers and 500 free videos on his YouTube channel, Josh Wright Piano TV is an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to learn more about classical music. No matter your level of piano mastery, you will be able to find a video appropriate for your skillset. Josh teaches basic concepts like playing a trill properly with the same nuance as analyzing a complex Chopin piece.
Here’s a great example of his videos:
Besides his free videos, Josh also offers online private lessons. You can also buy his ProPractice course that is continually being updated with new videos.
Josh’s videos are geared towards general pianistic technique and harmonic analysis on occasion, making them suitable for anybody, no matter their skill level.
Heart of the Keys
Heart of the Keys is a YouTube channel run by Annique Gottler, a classical pianist hailing from Stuttgart, Germany. A Boston ambassador and famous concert pianist, she has a “large expressive range, both with a powerful, virile touch and with the creative power of female sensitivity,” according to the Schwabische paper.
With over 50k subscribers and over 40 free videos, Annique offers general advice that she has picked up from practicing an extensive repertoire. Although she gives detailed explanations of concepts, it is advisable to learn more about piano playing fundamentals before looking into her channel.
Here’s what I mean:
Her YouTube channel is great for intermediate students who know quite a bit about the theory but don’t ultimately realize how it shapes practical playing.
Nahre Sol
Nahre Sol is a Canadian pianist who “performs, composes and teaches an eclectic mixture of music that draws from aspects of improvisation, the avant-garde, traditional Western forms and harmony, jazz, and minimalism,” according to her website.
Her channel has over 400k subscribers and 100 videos. Nahre stands out from the rest because she focuses on innovation, exploration, and re-invention. There’s nothing wrong with playing classical Chopin pieces, but Nahre might show you her process of modifying a Chopin etude or even composing a piece in the style of Chopin.
Here’s a great example of what she does:
Nahre’s channel is great for intermediate or advanced pianists. It will expand their horizons beyond the traditional classical scope of music and make familiar concepts more interesting by re-inventing them.
Jazz/Blues
Jazz is typically a skill that you learn after building a basic piano background. It’s challenging to learn jazz without any prior training, so most of the channels you will find here are for players familiar with music theory basics.
Jazz Tutorial
Jazz Tutorial is a YouTube channel headed by Julian Bradley, a performer from the UK. The channel does exactly what you would expect from the name – provide a beginner’s introduction to jazz piano techniques, chords, and voicings.
Julian’s videos usually begin by establishing a concept, such as playing more interesting jazz chords, before providing various musical examples to accomplish that concept. They also come with sheet music for the aforementioned musical examples, so you can go back to it as needed.
Here’s how a typical video goes:
Jazz comes with various voicings that could be difficult to analyze. Despite this, Julian attempts to deconstruct it and leave the viewer with a better understanding of jazz music. His channel is excellent for anybody with a basic jazz background trying to apply the theory.
He also offers various courses, ranging from Improvisation Step by Step to Chord Voicing Fundamentals.
NewJazz
NewJazz is a channel boasting over 200k subscribers and 60 videos, headed by Oliver Prehn, who has a master’s degree in Music and Multimedia. He has a passion for improvisation and looking for new ways to do things.
The channel has various handy playlists for whatever you feel like learning that day, from the ‘Easy & Beginner’ playlist to ‘Rhythmic Exercises’ to improve hand dexterity while playing jazz.
This unpretentious channel offers a humorous and enthusiastic insight into letting anybody play jazz – no complicated music theory background required. Although the theory is essential to jazz, Prahn understands that most viewers want to learn how to play something quickly, and he offers videos that let you do exactly that.
Here’s an example:
Although his teaching methods might be unconventional, like using weather patterns such as rainy, sunny, then rainy again to convey the ABA style in a piece, it considerably simplifies things for the player.
If you’re trying to learn jazz but are scared away by the theory, this is the channel for you.
Home Cooked Blues
Home Cooked Blues is a modest jazz channel with around 20k subscribers and 30 videos. This channel is devoted to all those pianists trying to learn the very basics of blues piano. Beyond knowing about the major scales and chords, you don’t need to have any prior knowledge about blues.
Although this channel has been dormant for about five years, it still offers gems of insight to introductory blues students and can get you all set on the basics.
In the videos, the instructor talks you through common techniques used by blues or rock players based on his own experience. You’ll be learning the way things really are in the industry and playing like that too.
Here’s a short video so you get an idea of the way blues are taught:
As you can see, the channel breaks everything down into chunks and doesn’t require much theory knowledge, if any. Happy learning!
David Magyel
David Magyel, is a Norweigian pianist who thinks ‘talking about music is like dancing about architecture.’ His course, Sound of Emotions, promises to teach budding blues musicians how to play well, improvise well, and above all, enjoy it.
Besides his course, he also has over 100 videos on his YouTube channel, with a loyal audience of about 120k subscribers. The free videos on his channel are not catered to beginner blues players – for that, you should look to his course.
His videos usually illustrate the same concept over varying levels of difficulty, accompanied with sheet music that has detailed notes about the chord positions so that you can clearly break down what he is trying to teach you. He does not talk at all in his videos, instead preferring to show the concept through playing and scores.
Here’s an example:
Intermediate or advanced blues students trying to learn new concepts or challenge themselves by playing more should come to David’s channel.
Christian Fuchs
A piano teacher from Germany, Christian Fuchs runs a YouTube channel with over 400 videos and 28k subscribers. His channel is an exciting amalgamation of videos serving as a beginner’s introduction to blues and tutorials playing blues songs. Where the latter differentiates him from other blues channels.
While other teachers might tackle just the theory or the improvisation, Fuchs goes through various popular blues songs or pieces that you might want to play and shows you how to do it.
This is detailed in his introductory video:
Christian’s past experience working as a cocktail pianist and jazz pianist has lent him this enormous repertoire. This also leads to many humorous anecdotes of him trying to make it as a struggling cocktail pianist, making the learning from him all the more enjoyable.
No matter your skill level, as long as you’re passionate about learning, you’ll be able to learn a lot from him.
Arthur Migliazza
Arthur Migliazza is an American pianist with years of musical experience under his belt, receiving various musical awards for his blues playing skills. He was also featured on a Broadway show called Boogie Stomp!
Arthur’s love for Boogie Woogie and blues led him to create the world’s first Boogie Woogie school, which connects students from all around the world and provides them with informational videos to watch for free.
These videos are available on his YouTube channel, which has over 45k subscribers and 90 videos. However, you should access them through his site School of Boogie, as they are divided into multiple easily read categories. You can learn Boogie Woogie’s basics, some much-needed historical context, and several other things like piano tutorials.
Here’s what I mean:
His videos might not be the most beautifully edited, but they get the message across. It’s like hiring a piano teacher and watching them explain something to you.
Anybody who’s never explored the world of Boogie Woogie but wants to do so should head over to Arthur’s channel. He also offers private Skype lessons on his website.
Gospel
Gospel piano is a mixture of many American styles, including jazz, ragtime, and blues. It’s associated with African-American churches, where the piano is played as a singer sings a tune. Unlike classical music, gospel piano also requires improvisation and ‘playing by ear.’
Hear and Play
Hear and Play is a company founded by Jermaine Griggs, an American pianist. His company’s main motto is to teach pianists to play by ear, and they house the world’s largest training center for gospel musicians.
Their YouTube channel is geared towards selling his gospel course and other courses, showcasing both videos for complete beginners and some more advanced videos where they talk about chords that can better your playing.
Here’s an example of their video style:
With a conversational and friendly approach to guide you through the very basics of gospel piano, videos from this channel feel more like your good-natured friend patiently explaining a concept to you, complete with pop culture references, instead of an educational video.
Hear and Play also offers online private lessons, which you can take up after you’ve gone through all their beginner videos.
In summary, this channel with over 97k subscribers and 500 videos is a great introduction to gospel for complete novices.
Sons of Thunder Pro
Like Hear and Play, Sons of Thunder Pro is also a company that focuses on teaching students how to play gospel piano. Founded by American pianist Darrell K. Cook, who is described as ‘one of the best musicians and the life of today’s church,’ Sons of Thunder Productions offers both free courses and premium courses that students can take to improve their playing.
Unlike Hear and Play, their YouTube channel is more academically focused and less informal. These videos have a point to convey, and Darrell systematically goes through every part of the concept so the viewer can understand it in full by the end.
One unique feature about this channel’s videos is that they have a split-screen with the sheet music, real piano, synced online piano, and the instructor’s face. This feature is not commonly found in most other YouTube channels.
Here’s what I mean:
Sons of Thunder Productions is geared towards beginner gospel piano players, providing real-life examples of hymns that could be sung in the church and how you should improvise accordingly.
Piano Lesson With Warren
Piano Lesson with Warren is run by Warren McPherson, a Jamaican pianist currently acting as musical director for the Green Memorial AME Zion Church of Portland. The channel is divided into several clearly labeled playlists like ‘Beginner Tutorials’ or ‘Advanced Tutorials’ that you can delve into depending on your playing proficiency.
Unlike other channels, where beginner videos still assume that you know music theory basics like major or minor scales, Warren’s videos aim to the complete novice. He goes through fundamental concepts like intervals and then builds upon them to slowly teach you how to play gospel music.
Here’s an example of his teaching style:
Although his YouTube channel gives you access to a lot of his material, for more, you can join his membership course to get access to all his resources and be part of his monthly group coaching sessions.
Pop
For many, learning the piano with Pop music is a more fun way to incorporate theory and teachings. For young students especially, learning to play with familiar music will likely make the process much easier when compared to learning an unknown classical piece.
Piano in 21 Days
Piano in 21 Days was founded by Jacques Hopkins, who says his method is for “regular people who want to learn to play their favorite songs with the fastest online piano course.” His entire motto is based on his students being able to play well in just 21 days.
His YouTube channel, which has around 80k subscribers and 38 videos, is veered towards selling his course, containing many testimonials from grateful students. However, he does have a few videos where he explains basic piano concepts like chord inversions, so you know what you’re in for before buying his course.
Here’s how he teaches:
At its core, pop piano is centered around basic chords and patterns, a fact which Jacques recognizes and utilizes in his course teachings.
Coen Modder – Piano Couture
Coen Modder, the founder of Piano Couture, believes in the mantra of ‘Love.Live.Learn.’ According to him, your love for the music should let you live it, resulting in a desire to learn. This philosophy underpins his course ‘The Chord Piano Blueprint’ and his book ‘Hack the Piano.’
Coen’s YouTube channel primarily features harmonic analysis of pop or hip-hop songs, along with the occasional delve into purely theory-based videos explaining specific concepts like the pentatonic scale.
Here’s what you can expect to find on his channel:
His videos are very high-energy and easy to understand. He helpfully displays the chord name and note position on the keyboard throughout his explanation of its deconstruction or modification in a particular song.
Despite this, his channel is not for complete novices as you need to know the basics of chordal theory to understand their use in a song. To learn this, you can look to his beginner course or book.
HDPiano
HDPiano is one of the largest piano channels on YouTube, with over a million subscribers and a thousand videos. Founded by Sean Lee, it claims “HDPiano will have you playing the songs you love immediately,” whether you’re a beginner or a piano veteran.
The channel solely uploads piano tutorials on pop songs. However, HDPiano is preferred over other piano tutorials on the internet because they use Synthesia, a visually appealing digital program to denote the note played and its duration.
A typical HDPiano tutorial shows how the song is played at the start and then breaks it down slowly. You can follow along even if you’re a complete beginner because Synthesia will show you which note to press and how long you should press it for.
Here’s what I mean:
However, the channel never uploads the entire tutorial. Instead, it divides it into parts and only uploads the first part to YouTube. The company uses their channel as a lead generator to their main website to incentivize people to buy their course and learn the whole song.
Mixture of Styles
The piano teachers that fall under this category either teach piano theory, different musical genres that aren’t as popular as the previous sections, or general playing techniques. Most of the teachers under this umbrella don’t teach hardcore music theory, so you can visit any of these channels for some relaxed playing.
Piano Lessons on the Web
Tim Wurn, the founder of Piano Lessons on the Web, wants to “create more piano players around the world, even if they don’t have access to private lessons.” His YouTube channel has amassed over 700 videos and 240k subscribers.
On his channel, you’ll find a lot of videos on traditional music theory, along with ways to play the piano better. He has also helpfully curated playlists to guide you through which videos you should be watching first based on your skill level. His video style is informative, with a no-nonsense attitude that retains your attention.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
If you’re a fan of his YouTube work, you can also sign up for his beginner, intermediate, or advanced courses found on his website.
PianoPig
PianoPig Academy is headed by Simon Warner, who promises to improve “every single aspect of your playing” once you sign up to be a PianoPig member.
Like Piano Lessons on the Web, the PianoPig YouTube channel focuses on a lot of music theory. However, PianoPig diversifies their theory material, approaching various piano genres, from classical to funk, to jazz.
They also use a split-screen approach with a live keyboard, synced virtual keyboard, and sheet music when playing a piece or illustrating with an example so you can figure out what’s happening no matter your learning style, as shown in the video below:
Having over 300k subscribers and 160 videos, PianoPig videos are the ones you should look for if you want to learn more about chordal music theory.
Bill Hilton
Bill’s piano channel lays the modest claim to over 270k subscribers and 240 videos. Like most other piano channels, he focuses a great deal on theory but with greater versatility. On his channel, you will be able to learn anything from cocktail jazz piano improvisations to pop piano exercises.
His no-frills approach includes a simple top-down view of the piano – he doesn’t include additional sheet music unless absolutely necessary. Despite this, he breaks down concepts so well that you don’t need the added material.
This handy video will show you what I mean:
If you’re a fan of his videos, you can purchase his books to detail these concepts further.
Pianote
Pianote is a video course designed to teach you how to play songs on the piano by watching specific videos and tuning in to weekly live lessons. Some of these videos are also available on their YouTube channel, with more than 700,000 subscribers with the same name.
As these videos are designed to be part of their course, they have a very professional, sleek atmosphere, with multiple camera angles and an added synced online keyboard to better illustrate which notes should be played.
The Pianote channel has many piano tutorials. These stand out not only due to the split-screen but also because the instructor details how you can modify the sheet music using techniques like inversion to make it sound more interesting.
Here’s a sample tutorial from Pianote:
Besides piano tutorials, the Pianote channel also has some general piano tips and jazz basics if you’re interested in learning to play jazz songs.
Jason Zac – Nathaniel School of Music
Jason Zac, the founder of the Nathaniel School of Music, was inspired to start his school up based on Walter Satyaraj Nathaniel’s vision of Western music. Nathaniel’s Indian roots resulted in a greater diversity of sound, as he sought to merge aspects of the Indian and Western musical systems.
This inspiration is evident on Jason’s YouTube channel, where he details interesting chord connections and improvisation methods that differ from a traditional Western performer.
Here’s what I mean:
While the channel delves deeply into music theory, it does so with a creative twist. If you’re looking to find more exciting ways to play the same old chords, or improvise differently, head over to this channel. It’s perfect for intermediate students seeking freshness in their musical journey.
Piano With Jonny
Piano with Jonny takes us on an adventure with founder Jonny May, who promises that you will “unlock your true potential” by joining his community. This is possibly true, simply due to Jonny’s sheer amount of material on his channel.
Jonny goes into every fathomable music genre, from blues to Latin piano to even Disney songs. You’ll either find him tackling piano tutorials for a particular genre or explaining how to perform a specific lick or chord progression.
He also has an infectious passion for the piano – you’ll find yourself smiling and getting excited to start playing just by watching him play.
Here’s an example of one of his videos:
Jonny’s YouTube channel would be a good idea for those with some piano background who have never delved outside the classical realm simply because it exposes you to such a vast number of musical genres.
Mangold Project
The Mangold Project is run by Israeli pianist Assaf, tackling various theoretical topics related to harmony and jazz piano. Many YouTubers tackle jazz theory, but none do it as well as Assaf.
Although others will teach the fundamentals, it is often disorganized and missing the gravitas needed for serious study. In contrast, Assaf offers detailed and pertinent harmonic analysis, which sounds like it could have been taken straight from a book. Updating about once a month, he is one of the few solely academic piano channels on YouTube.
Here’s what I mean:
The Mangold Project is for intermediate piano students who are serious about learning music theory and expanding their theoretical musical horizons. With over 260 videos to peruse, Assaf’s audience of 460,000 subscribers is well-merited.
Andrew Furmanczyk
Andrew Furmanczyk heads the Furmanczyk Academy of Music. Due to his passion for music and his desire to allow other people to learn music, he offers courses that are 100% free. Currently, he has two free courses – Learn Free Music Theory, and Learn How to Play Piano.
Although his YouTube channel has been dormant now for many years, you can still find the videos from his free courses on this channel. As all these videos were uploaded over ten years ago, they do not employ more sophisticated methods like split screens or different camera angles.
Instead, he uses the more traditional whiteboard and marker to explain the concept of music theory, using a simple downward camera angle on the keys. The atmosphere is comparable to a conventional classroom environment, but for the piano.
Here’s an example:
Andrew’s YouTube channel would be an excellent choice for complete novices who want to learn the piano.
Become a Piano Superhuman
Become a Piano Superhuman is run by Zach Evans, who also has a free piano course that claims to “end hand coordination issues forever.” Although his channel was previously dormant, it has recently been revitalized, though there is no guarantee of how long this will continue.
Nevertheless, his channel offers videos with general tips on piano playing, ranging from sight-reading to proper hand coordination. However, it’s primarily geared to encourage you to get his free course, which has a greater library of resources.
Here’s an example video:
Despite this, his high energy, clean editing, and the matter-of-fact presentation should be more than enough reason to look up videos on his growing channel with over 260k subscribers and 50 videos.
Anyone who wants to get general tips to play better should look his channel up no matter their skill level.
Bitesize Piano
Operated solely by Francesca Murray, Bitesize Piano offers digestible online videos suited to complete novices. Like Pianote, the majority of the content on the channel is pop piano tutorials.
However, these pop piano tutorials are much easier to play than those on Pianote. Francesca also does not display sheet music but provides written alphabetical notes that novices can read more easily.
She focuses less on teaching us the potential ways to interpret sheet music based on harmony and more on teaching the standard way to play it. This is helpful to completely green players as they won’t be interested or able to understand a re-imagination of the piece.
Here’s what her videos look like:
Overall, this channel is excellent for newly-inducted piano players who just want to play songs.
Creative Piano Academy
Creative Piano Academy is founded by Josef Sykora and is geared to adult beginners. As adults, Josef recognizes that we learn differently from children and addresses this in his free piano course. He aims to teach individuals to just “sit and play the piano.”
On his growing YouTube channel with 250k subscribers, Josef has more than 100 videos, with most of them targeted at beginners. Using a split-screen method, Josef meticulously goes through every single note that he will be playing, along with exactly how to play it.
Here’s a video to illustrate what I mean:
Many piano instructors sometimes forget that beginners need a bit more time to grasp things, but Josef understands how to get through to a novice without being condescending.
In summary, this channel is great for anybody who is starting out and intimidated by the potential of failure because it ensures that you won’t fail.
Hoffman Academy
Joseph and Kelly Hoffman founded Hoffman Academy. They offer a child-friendly premium course, with many games incorporated in the lessons for your little ones. Their YouTube channel has over 200k subscribers and approximately 750 videos, with videos for every skill level.
As their videos are aimed at children, they include anything and everything to keep the children entertained, from puppets to exciting facts about etymology. This automatically makes their videos much more entertaining for adults to watch than other channels, which might go on about the drier theory and facts.
Here’s a standard video structure:
Hoffman Academy is excellent not only for children but also for adults who are tired of the knowledge overload that comes with adults’ channels. Their videos manage to walk the fine line between being fun and informational.
Playground Sessions
Playground Sessions is the YouTube counterpart to the online application by the same name that teaches you to play songs on the piano. This channel veers in the same direction, providing song breakdowns that have varying levels of difficulty.
In their piano tutorials, the pianist goes through the song first and then displays the sheet music, playing it with the correct intonation at a slower speed before giving you time to play it. It very much feels like your music teacher sitting beside you, going through the song slowly on the higher range while you play on the lower.
Here’s a video example:
Playground Sessions is excellent for anybody who has learned to read sheet music and now wants to play basic pop songs.
Final Thoughts
Nothing compares to learning the piano from an instructor, as you will often need in-person guidance to ensure your hands and posture are correct. However, to learn the basics or help with practice, YouTube has plenty of piano teachers to choose from. Try out a variety until you find a teaching style that works for you.
Many channels are entirely free, but some use YouTube to gain customers for their paying courses. There is nothing wrong with that per se, as you can follow their free videos to see if you like their teaching style before making any further commitments.
However you use Youtube, some excellent piano teachers are on there with tips and tricks to help you improve or learn a new style. But as always, getting better at playing the piano comes down to you and the effort you are prepared to put in.
