Hi. I'm Mario Ajero and in this video, I'm
going to review the Hoffman Academy
online piano lessons found at hoffmanacademy.com
with close to 120 online videos, the Hoffman Academy
offers a progressive series of lessons
to address the 21st century piano
student to view and consume at his or
her pace and leisure for free.
Now many people might be very skeptical on how
effective these online piano lessons are
if they aren't even being charged for them
However Hoffman is able to sustain
this business model by tying the videos
into the method materials that are sold
on the website as online downloads of
PDF pages of the method materials and
also mp3 albums of all the music that is being taught.
Yet students will still
find plenty of educational value in the
Hoffman academy videos even without
purchasing these materials.
Mr. Hoffman comes across as a very personal online
piano teacher
the lessons are aimed mainly for
elementary school-aged children but they
aren't so kiddie that students of all
ages can benefit from them keeping
students engage in a video medium is of
course very difficult. It would be ideal
to probably break up the video lectures
with authentic interactive experiences
between the student and the teacher
however Hoffman simulates this as best
as he can by asking questions to
audience members at appropriate times
perhaps in the future the videos could
be programmed in such a way that they
pause and wait for the students
responses and give important feedback
parents can certainly do this manually
with their own children so that they
remain engaged in the learning process
and avoid daydreaming in the middle of
these video lessons
regardless of how effective these online
video piano lessons are, I think it's
important for parents to realize that
they need to stay active in their
children's music education and not have
unrealistic expectations as far as the
videos doing all of the work for them.
They still need to be engaged in their
children's musical education.
Parents can easily learn along because
the Hoffman academy videos have clear
lesson objectives listed down with the
titles and what you'll learn. Most video
lessons are limited to about 10 minutes
in length which is fine to address short
attention spans of online learners.
Although some of the more advanced
videos can go close to a half hour long.
In my own experience, I've found that
even shorter 4-5 minute videos to be
even more effective in keeping students
engaged. Some piano teachers and parents
might be dismissive on the effectiveness
of the online piano lesson experience.
However it only seems natural to me for
something like the Hoffman academy
videos to shake things up quite a bit here.
Joseph Hoffman has obviously put in
a lot of time and effort into this
project and he has the educational
background and experience to be taken
seriously. In addition to playing music
on traditional notation, Hoffman also
includes lessons on singing and ear
training which are an essential part of
developing the whole musician.
Another innovative feature of the Hoffman
academy website is the virtual recital
hall. Traditionally piano teachers get
students to play on stage in recitals
and festivals to give them a tangible
and meaningful goal for their practice.
But since this is an online environment
the Hoffman Academy has a section of
their website devoted to feature
submitted video performances by students
who take the online lessons Hoffman
reviews the videos and chooses the ones
to be featured on the website based on
the students accuracy, fluency, and posture.
This is a very 21st century way of
making students feel they've made a
significant accomplishment when their
video is posted for a large community of
learners to watch as they please.
In summary, the Hoffman Academy has
probably one of the most comprehensive
collection of video piano lessons for beginner students.
They move in such a progressive and logical manner
that it brings true legitimacy to online piano
lessons that are often dismissed as not
being as good as the real traditional
piano lessons.
Remember if you want to learn more about
the Hoffman Academy visit their website
at hoffmanacademy.com and don't forget
to subscribe to my videos
connect with me through various social networks
and keep up your practice with piano. Bye!