Children who grow up in a home where good music is always being played are the lucky ones. Yes, there are people who are addicted to just one genre, but diversity is also a good thing. People who can switch from Elvis Presley to Glenn Miller to Diana Krall to Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift and to Asia’s biggest k-pop star, CL will be dancing and singing throughout life.
Music isn’t meant to just be listened to– it is meant to be learned and played simply because life is better with music.
My six year old daughter is taking the lessons from the website and she is so happy with them, she can follow the lessons with ease and with the interactive games it makes the learning so much fun.
About the Hoffman Academy
Hoffman Academy started out in 2007 in Oregon, providing private- and group piano lessons for both children and adults. As more people started showing an interest in music, the Academy grew, and Joseph Hoffman soon realized that the only way to cater for the huge demand was to provide piano lessons online.
Learn to Play the Piano completely Free
The Hoffmans wanted to ensure that every video lesson be free. They wanted to ensure that nothing would stand in the way for a child to learn to play the piano. Yes, there would be a small charge for the lesson materials, created to supplement the learning in the video lessons, but the video lessons themselves would always be free.
These videos, only about 5 to 15 minutes long, ensure kids are engaged throughout. The videos are hosted on the Hoffman Academy YouTube channels, and the videos can be viewed on your computer, your Internet connected TV or on your mobile device.
While you can create an excellent musical experience with just the videos, Hoffman Academy also offers additional materials to enhance your study. You can purchase the materials such as sheet music, activity pages and practice CDs in a bundle or individual units.
Interactive Learning Games
From the very interactive learning games on site, students will learn how to read, understand, play- and also create music. Kids are immersed in the training methods – the creativity and humor. Both adults and kids love the simple, clear step-by-step teaching style combined with the fun side.
The new interactive, subscription-based website includes music-learning games as well as online progress tracking. Students will be guided through developing their skills in music theory, ear training and staff reading, making learning the piano ever more enthralling.
Premium Members will also have access to a suite of music learning games. These interactive learning games will help with developing sight reading, rhythm, ear training, as well as music theory skills.
These games make it fun but also easy to build the skills that lead to fluency in music. The games will be included in daily Practice Sessions, and students will also be able to play these games whenever they want to through their profile page.
Some other exciting Features –
- Learn and Grow with Daily PracticeEach of the Hoffman Academy units comes with a Listening Album as well as a Practice Album. The Listening Album is a set of recordings for a child to listen to before learning a song while the Practice Album is for when your child has learned a song and needs motivation to continue with practising as well as to develop important musical skills.There are many benefits to having your child use the Practice Album as part of their daily practice routine. The Practice Album allows students to experience a wide range of musical styles in a fun, immersive way. After each lesson, you receive a practice session for that specific lesson and once the practice session is complete, the child receives points for it as well. These points are indicative of whether the child can move on to the next lesson.●New Video Lessons Being Added – Right up to AdvancedHoffman have created a series of 168 video lessons, but the lessons don’t end there. With support from Kickstarter, this number is expected to reach in the region of 260 video lessons by the end of 2017. These lessons will take students up to an intermediate level, with the aim being to add in even more lessons, right up to advanced levels.●Easy-to-Manage Accounts with Each ChildOne of the newer features with Hoffman Academy with the very affordable premium membership is that there are now easy-to-manage accounts for each student in the home. With Hoffman Academy 2.0, you can log in from the site and simply set up accounts for each child participating. This makes it easy to check your account settings and to also upload materials and mp3 files all ‘under one roof’ and in the same place.When you click on ‘lessons’ from the top manual, the site will ask you which student is doing the lesson. This is so that it can record each child’s progress. Each child can work through the lessons at their own pace and also repeat lessons if they need to.
Always inTouch
With these online lessons, users scarcely feel as though they’re online. Students feel totally connected and ‘with it’ as there are regular updates on Hoffman’s Facebook page, there are email newsletters as well as their blog. Joseph Hoffman writes short tips on the Hoffman Academy Blog such as ‘Is Piano the Best First Instrument?’
Say what you like, the Hoffmans have simply re-invented how piano is taught, using modern technology.
