Simply Music Review - Free Resource Friday

Today's Free Resource Friday is a review of Simply Music.
Simply Music is an online piano curriculum designed to teach kids how to play piano by ear. We received the Music & Creativity - Foundation Course, which teaches you the basics of how to play, in exchange for our honest review.  All of my kids enjoy music and we have introduced instruments in the past, however, they have never learned how to play by ear.  My oldest daughter was blessed with a Keyboard for Christmas last year and has been wanting to learn how to play.   She and her younger sister has watched several YouTube videos, but nothing has been concrete, therefore, we were pretty excited to give Simply Music a try. 

What We Received

We are reviewing the  Music & Creativity - Foundation Course from Simply Music.  This is an online piano curriculum, which includes video-based instruction, downloadable soundtracks, and three pdf documents, which are a reference book, a piano practice pad, and Music and the Art of Long-Term Relationships the Key to Staying Committed book.

The Lessons 

0 Quickstart
1 Lesson 1: The Basics
2 Lesson 2: Learning Strategy – Learn Slowly, Small Doses & Control the Events
3 Lesson 3: “Dreams Come True”
4 Lesson 4: Improvising “Eliza”
5 Lesson 5: Learning Strategy – What to Play / How to Play
6 Lesson 6: “Christowel”
7 Lesson 7: Learning Strategy – Using the Pedal
8 Lesson 8: “Black is Blue”
9 Lesson 9: Accompaniment – “Dreams Come True”
10 Lesson 10: “Night Storm”
11 Lesson 11: “Deep Valley” & “Dark Valley”
12 Lesson 12: “For Augus”
13 Lesson 13: “Ode to Joy”
14 Lesson 14: Accompaniment – “Amazing Grace”
15 Lesson 15: “Jackson Blues”
16 Lesson 16: Accompaniment – “Happy Birthday”
17 Lesson 17: “Hunter’s Blues”
18 Lesson 18: Accompaniment – “Honey Dew”
19 Lesson 19: “Blue Jay”

How Did We Use It

My original intention was to use this with our two girls, who are 16 and 12 years old, because they are the most interested in learning to play.  However, shortly after listening in to their lessons I became interested in giving it a try and to my surprise, I picked it up rather quickly.  Both my girls had basic knowledge of the keys and I had absolutely no knowledge of anything before starting, so we worked at different paces.

Before getting started there is a "Quick Start" video, this is for those that are more knowledgeable of the piano and would like to jump right in.  We decided to take it slow and start at the very beginning to get a better background.

Our goal was to complete a lesson a week, but we sometimes did more.
The instructor encourages slow learning so although most lessons were short we keep a steady pace so that we could process what we were learning.
This is a self-paced program so after you complete each lesson you will need to mark it complete in order to move forward.

You can not move to the next lesson before completing the previous lesson.

There is only one login for the family unless you have multiple email addresses, we used the one login and just kept track of where we left off by scheduling the lessons ahead of time in our planners.

What a Typical Lesson Look Like for Us

• Log in and select our course
• Click on our lesson
• Print off a reference material that is needed
• If there is a soundtrack listen to it first to get a feel for what we will be playing
• Watch the video lesson 
• Practice what was taught
• Mark complete after we finish

We own a 61-Key Yamaha Keyboard so that is what we have been practicing on.

Our Final Thoughts

 Simply Music is a wonderful online piano course that teaches you how to play the piano.  The instructor teaches in a very approachable way.   There are printables and reference books to use to make your experience more enjoyable and easier to grasp.

My older daughter said, "I like the teaching method that he uses it is different than I used before but it is effective. A lesson a week is a great speed for me.  I find that starting a lesson on Monday give me the rest of the week to practice playing what I learned.  I find myself still writing the notes down because it is easier for me.  I eventually plan to play without having to look at the notes, but for now, I m still using them.  I would recommend this program for anyone that would like to learn how to play the piano. "

My younger daughter said, "I love how he explains in detail how to play, and how he shows you.  I don't the songs, but I like learning how to play them.  I like the practice keyboard that we printed out because I can practice my hand movements anywhere. I like to do two lessons a week because I get to move to the next song faster.  I hope to get so good that I can play any song just by listening to it."

Overall, I think we all are enjoying this program and would definitely recommend it to anyone that is wanting to learn how to play the piano.  At first, I thought the approach would be too difficult for a beginner, but I actually find this way easier to learn.  The Music & Creativity - Foundation Course is absolutely free.  We are looking forward to completing this course and moving on to the next one.

Finding a comfortable way to hold my hands has been hard.

Don't forget to click the banner below so that you can see what other families on the Homeschool Review Crew is saying about Simply Music.






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Thank you for joining us for another Free Resource Friday!  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!