Hoffman Academy Piano Lessons Online (Review)

Have you been looking into starting your kids on piano lessons for your homeschool? I know you’re not alone! Piano is a wonderful skill for any family to invest in. However, it can be challenging to find fun, quality piano lessons without spending and arm and a leg. Especially if you have a whole gaggle of kids who want to learn! Hoffman Academy piano lessons are a resource we’ve come back to again and again through our years of homeschooling. Read on to find out more and give it a try!

(Disclosure: I requested a copy of the Hoffman Academy Premium level in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own and we’ve been happily using this program for years!)

Fun online piano lessons to fit your family's schedule and budget! Try out Hoffman Academy piano lessons for your homeschool.

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Back story: I have, possibly, the most musical husband ever. He seems to know how to play everything and all the kids are learning some instrument or another. When they were all young, my husband said “I would love to have a musical family.” With a piano in the home and a husband always playing it, it was only a matter of time before all six kids were wanting to learn piano. 

But, woah, piano lessons for 6 kids!? That can get VERY expensive! I went on a search for an affordable solution and came to some conclusions:

  • Private lessons cost so much, especially for multiple children.
  • With littles in tow, carting kids to piano lessons isn’t practical. 
  • Youtube videos can be found, but they don’t really hold my kids’ attention long enough. 

Enter Hoffman Academy piano lessons.

Hoffman Academy has been my go-to resource for over 10 years when introducing my children to piano. Nowadays, I have a 10th grader looking into becoming a music major. He takes private piano lessons and does recitals (you kind of need that level when you’ve chosen that track). But where did he start? Hoffman Academy! And now I’ve had several children jump into piano using this fantastic resource. 

Cost of piano lessons got you down? We save a TON of money with this fun and highly effective program with Hoffman Academy!
Aren’t they cute? This is when my now 10th-grader was just 9. 😍

Here’s why Hoffman Academy piano lessons have been a win for us: 

  • Uses a well-tested and effective teaching approach.
  • Can be done from the comfort of our own home. (No carting the kids to lessons!)
  • Is easily scalable to multiple children.
  • Has great FREE lessons available to get started with.
  • Offers a Premium level when they’re ready to dive deeper.
  • The Premium level is SUPER affordable compared to in-person lessons
  • My kids love Mr. Hoffman and find the program engaging and fun!

What is Hoffman Academy and What Methods Does It Use? 

I love the story and purpose behind Hoffman Academy. It started in 2007 by Mr. Hoffman and his wife, who have a passion for providing accessible and affordable music education for any child who wants to learn. Mr. Hoffman runs a brick and mortar academy in Portland, Oregon, (in our corner of the country!) as well as HoffmanAcademy.com, where you’ll find a great library of free video lessons available to kids! They teach piano in a fun and effective way, and have been used by over 2 million students so far. 

Hoffman Academy uses the most current teaching methods mixed with Mr. Hoffman’s own approach to piano instruction. The Hoffman Method, a product of Mr. Hoffman’s extensive experience in music education and childhood learning, allows students to learn music by experiencing it. The approach is engaging for kids, gets them playing actual pieces right away, and as a result, they WANT to do piano lessons! 

Hoffman Academy piano lessons are an affordable option for homeschool families!

Hoffman Academy piano lessons include fun and engaging videos that teach songs, music theory, and more!

Hoffman Academy piano lessons include fun and engaging videos that teach songs, music theory, and more!

Hoffman Academy piano lessons include fun and engaging videos that teach songs, music theory, and more!

What’s Included in the FREE Version of the Hoffman Academy Piano Lessons? 

If you’re just starting out, the free version of Hoffman Academy piano lessons has a lot to offer. It’s a great way to see if your student will stay interested and pursue the lessons on their own, too!

  • 16 units with a total of 322 lessons.
  • Engaging and fun lesson videos that teach songs, theory, improvisation, and more!
  • Fantastic library of themed lesson videos (classical, holiday/religious, movies & tv, etc.) that you can sort by difficulty level.

What Does the Premium Membership Provide? 

We really love the Premium Membership of Hoffman Academy

Here’s what you get with Premium: 

  • All video lessons and themed lesson library available in the free version.
  • Interactive learning games – Fun online piano games that challenge your students to practice what they’ve learned, such as rhythm, note recognition, sight reading, ear dictation, and more.
  • Practice tools – to help with learning and retention, for each lesson you can access step-by-step practice guides, audio tracks, and review exercises. 
  • Downloadable materials – Lessons have printable companion pages with sheet music, music theory worksheets, and interactive pages.
  • More learning resources – For extra learning, you’ll get printable flash cards, games, and song sheet music.

The interactive games, practice lessons, and the printable companion pages really make the Premium membership worth it, in my opinion! And children should be able to do lessons independently or with very little help. 

Method book for Hoffman Academy piano lessons

How We Use Hoffman Piano Lessons

This time around, my 5th child, Henry, asked to start piano lessons in earnest. He’s almost 9 years old and as been playing by ear whatever he can for over a year. Of course, we turned to Hoffman Academy piano lessons and started the Premium membership! He was especially motivated by the games and access to the practice sessions.

I printed off the companion pages ahead of time and put them into a binder for him to use with each lesson.

Here’s how he uses the program:

  • Every week he does 2-3 video lessons on his own and completes the accompanying printed pages It takes about 15-20 minutes.
  • Other days, he uses the step-by-step guided practice. 
  • When he finishes each day, he is allowed to work through some of the games.
  • If he gets stuck, he uses the audio recordings and other learning materials.
  • I let him explore the library of themed lessons to pick up some new songs. Right now he’s learning some Christmas songs!

Hoffman Academy piano lessons are incredibly flexible to fit your student’s needs and your family’s schedule. That’s pretty much a MUST for a busy large homeschool family. The lessons are short and engaging, they can be worked into any schedule and homeschool routine, and they can be done independently. 

A few notes to consider…

  • One thing I noticed is that parents and students 13 and older are able to post comments on the video lessons. We are careful about communications online, but if my kids wanted to comment or ask a question, I’d have no problem posting to the comments for them myself. They appear to be moderated and I didn’t see anything questionable. 
  • You’ll want to browse the library of themed songs to see if it’s a feature you want your child to use or if there are songs that don’t fit your family rules. We saw some songs there from movies our kids don’t watch, but I wouldn’t be concerned with them playing the songs. I know some other families might not feel the same way, so it’s something to look at and decide how you’ll approach it!

Bottom Line On Hoffman Academy Piano Lessons

We will continue to use Hoffman Academy piano lessons for our family and are so happy to see the features and songs they’ve added over the years. But the best part is the quality lesson videos and Hoffman’s engaging style, which has been there all along!

If you’re a large family like ours or just want to do quality piano lessons on a budget, definitely check out Hoffman Academy piano lessons

SPECIAL COUPON CODE!

Want to try out the Premium Membership? Get 10% off when you subscribe and use code LEARN at checkout! 

Hoffman Academy piano lessons are an affordable option for homeschool families!

 

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