Quick Access:
- Absolute Beginners: Buying a Keyboard, Beginning Piano, Piano Lessons Year 1
- Chords, Harmony, and Rhythm: Piano Lessons for Beginners, Pianoforall, Everything About Piano Chording
- Beginner/Intermediate: Beginner Piano Lessons, 24+ Hours of Piano Lessons, Piano Techniques for Modern Music
- Classical Music Appreciation: Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas
Finding the best online piano courses for beginners is harder than it looks. There are hundreds of options from 30-minute YouTube lessons to 24-hour Udemy courses.
I reviewed 200+ piano courses in Class Central’s catalog to find the 10 best for beginners in 2026. Seven of them are free or free-to-audit. These courses will help you if you’re buying your first keyboard, learning your first chords, learning songs, or exploring classical music through Beethoven’s sonatas.
I know what it’s like to learn piano from scratch. I (Archisha) studied with Kaushik Das at The Calcutta School of Music for years and I wish I’d had a guide like this when I started. That experience shapes how I evaluated these courses: I looked for clear instruction, good pacing, and real musical outcomes, not just high enrollment numbers.
Click on the shortcuts for more details:
- Top Picks
- Why Trust Us and This Guide
- How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them
- What is a Piano?
- Courses Overview
Here are my top 10 picks.
Why Trust Us and This Guide
Class Central, a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 100 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 250,000 online courses and 250,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees. I am a Guided Project Instructor and a Beta Tester at Coursera, having tested many courses before they’re officially launched. I have taken over 50 online courses in various subjects.
My experience as a pianist and an online learner and teacher has given me some perspective on what to look for in an online course. I used my experience to evaluate each course in this list.
How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them
I built this guide following the now tried-and-tested methodology I used in previous guides (you can find them all here). I started by leveraging Class Central’s database. Then, I made a preliminary selection of Piano courses by rating, reviews, and bookmarks. I read through reviews on Class Central and course providers to understand what other learners thought about each course and combined it with my own experience as a learner. Well-made courses were picked if they presented valuable and engaging content. Selection criteria includes comprehensive curriculum, affordability, release date, ratings and enrollments.
The end result is a unique selection of courses that combines a decade of Class Central data and my own experience as an online learner to get the best of both worlds.
Courses Overview
- Combined, these courses have accrued over 580K enrollments and over 20 million views onYouTube
- 7 courses are free or free-to-audit and 3 courses are paid
- The most-represented course provider in the ranking is YouTube, with 5 courses
- The Piano subject is followed by 9.7K learners on Class Central, and accounts for over 230 courses in Class Central catalog.
What is a Piano?
Before getting into the technical definition of piano, let’s take a look at how a piano looks like. I’m sure you’ve seen it before.
According to Britannica:
“piano, also called pianoforte, French piano or pianoforte, German Klavier, a keyboard musical instrument having wire strings that sound when struck by felt-covered hammers operated from a keyboard. The standard modern piano contains 88 keys and has a compass of seven full octaves plus a few keys.”
If you’re interested to learn what goes on inside a piano, here’s a cool video:
The Fascinating World Inside of a Piano
Why are Piano Skills Important?
According to Steinway, the benefits of playing piano are numerous, and they range from physical to mental and even lifelong health benefits.
Regular piano playing can improve fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and immune response. It also reduces anxiety, heart and respiratory rates, cardiac complications, and blood pressure. Playing the piano sharpens cognitive and intellectual abilities, and activating parts of the brain used in spatial reasoning and math.
Piano study can improve memory, build good focus and perseverance habits, and increase spatial-temporal ability. Playing piano also improves mental health by reducing anxiety, loneliness, and depression. It provides stress relief and is used as therapy for Attention Deficit Disorder. Finally, playing the piano allows you to join a deep cultural network and historical tradition, bringing families and friends together with the power of music.
In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median hourly wage for musicians and singers, which includes pianists, was $42.45 as of May 2024. However, the range of salaries can vary greatly, with some top performers earning millions of dollars per year, while many others earn far less. Pianists may work as solo performers, accompanists, teachers, or members of an orchestra or other ensemble.
If you’re interested in other instruments or aspects of music, see our guides to the best Guitar, Ukulele, Singing, Music Theory, Music Production and Songwriting online courses.
Best Free Short First Piano Lesson (Udemy)
If you’re an absolute beginner, How to Play Piano – Your First Lesson! will help you choose your first keyboard and make sense of the arrangement of the notes on the piano. It’s a free course designed for those who have always dreamed of playing the piano but are hesitant to invest in private lessons or expensive courses. By the end of the course, you’ll have a solid foundation, so you can view the piano not as a complex challenge but as an inviting opportunity for musical exploration.
This course includes:
- Introduction to different types of keyboards and tips on purchasing the right one
- Understanding the structure of the 88 notes on a piano/keyboard
- Learning the 12 unique notes and how they make memorizing the 88 keys easier
- Overview of how the piano is spaced out and its logical layout
- Exploring the piano’s relationship with other instruments and singers
- Gaining a big picture understanding of what the piano represents musically.
| Institution | Musicians Inspired |
| Provider | Udemy |
| Level | Beginner |
| Enrollments | 29.2K |
| Rating | 4.6/5.0 (770) |
| Workload | 31 mins |
| Certificate | Not available |
Great Free Absolute Beginners Piano and Music Basics Course (Hoffman Academy)
Beginning Piano Unit 1 is the perfect starting point for absolute beginners in music and piano. It will guide you through the basics of music theory, using fun stories to help you navigate the keyboard and start making music from the very first lesson. By the end of this free course, you’ll have a solid foundation in piano playing.
What you’ll learn:
- Basics: finding the keys and understanding rhythm
- Simple songs: “Hot Cross Buns” and “Five Woodpeckers,” as well as how to improvise with them
- Posture and finger placement, so you can develop good habits from the beginning
- Chords and composing your own rhythms
- More complex songs: “Chocolate” and “Listen for Bells”
- Musical notation and terminology: half notes and finger numbers.
You can find more online piano lessons from Hoffman Academy for you and your family at their own website.
| Channel | Hoffman Academy |
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Joseph Hoffman |
| Level | Beginner |
| Views | 2.2M |
| Workload | 3-4 hours |
| Certificate | Not available |
Best Free Beginner Chords and Harmonies Course (MangolProject)
Piano Lessons for Beginners will help you take your playing to the next level by teaching you essential skills for creating dynamic and engaging chord progressions. By the end of this free course, you’ll have the skills you need to play beautiful accompaniments and create your own unique sound on the piano.
In this course:
- Learn the basics of playing simple chords
- Interesting chord accompaniment patterns that will make your playing sound more dynamic and engaging
- Important chords that every beginner pianist should know
- Left-hand techniques that will help you create a fuller sound.
- Create a strumming effect on the piano, chord inversions and voice leading; essential skills to create more complex harmonies
- Sustain pedal tips and tricks that will help you create a beautiful and rich sound on the piano.
Assaf has been playing the keys for over 20 years. Find more videos on his YouTube channel here.
| Channel | MangolProject |
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Assaf |
| Level | Beginner |
| Views (First Video) | 17M |
| Workload | 1-2 hours |
| Certificate | Not available |
Best Free Beginner/Intermediate Piano Course (Dylan Laine)
Dylan Laine’s free Beginner Piano Lessons will guide you through all the essential skills you need to become a proficient player.
What you’ll learn:
- Proper hand positioning, how to find middle C, the musical alphabet, sharps and flats, how to label keys
- How to sit at the piano and use finger numbers to play notes
- Chords, rhythm, reading music, and playing with both hands
- Tricks for memorizing notes, read chord charts and play popular chord progressions
- Easy songs including Happy Birthday and Amazing Grace.
Laine has over 320,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel where she shares beginner-friendly tutorials for ukulele, piano and guitar.
| Channel | Dylan Laine |
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Dylan Laine |
| Level | Beginner |
| Views (First Video) | 236K |
| Workload | 2-3 hours |
| Certificate | Not available |
Best Comprehensive Beginner/Intermediate Course (Skillshare)
Learn Piano! Play Songs, Chords, Scales and Learn About Music Theory, 20000+ Piano Students! will teach you the basics of piano and progress to advanced techniques.
In this course you’ll learn:
- Note names, play your first song, major scales, and even play Bach
- Major and minor chords, how to incorporate chords in major scales, and chord progressions
- Una Mattina and Nuvole Bianche, advanced chords, and how to find chords for any song
- How to read sheet music, advanced scales, modes, intermediate melodies, and how to combine the left and right hand
- How to play by ear, recognize chords, and compose your own music.
Heide also teaches piano online for free on YouTube on his channel, Marks Piano – PGN Piano.
| Provider | Skillshare |
| Instructor | Mark de Heide |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 24 hours |
| Enrollments | 23.4K |
| Rating | 100% |
| Certificate | Not available |
Great Free Piano Foundations Course (PianoVideoLessons)
A free course specifically designed for beginner self-learners is Piano Lessons Year 1. These lessons can also be used as a supplementary resource for home-schoolers or piano students looking for extra practice or to review piano concepts. After completing this course, you’ll have a strong foundation in the basics of piano.
What you’ll learn:
- The grand staff, the treble clef G, bass clef F and middle C
- Rhythm and some finger exercises
- How to sight-read
- Dynamics, intervals, ear training, and playing sharps and flats, among other topics.
You can find more videos and ebooks from PianoVideoLessons at their own website.
| Channel | PianoVideoLessons |
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Lisa |
| Level | Beginner |
| Views (First Video) | 766K |
| Workload | 18 hours |
| Certificate | Not available |
Best Free-to-audit University Beginner Course for Contemporary Music (Berklee College of Music)
Whether you’re a complete beginner or have some experience with the piano, Piano Techniques for Modern Music by Berklee College of Music is designed to teach you the fundamental skills you need to build your playing capability quickly and healthily. By the end of this course, you’ll have a dependable piano technique for performing contemporary music.
This course will teach you:
- The basics: healthy piano playing, including posture, breathing, and finger placement, C major scale and popular cadences, and have fun with improvisation
- Go up a notch: adding greater finger independence and moving your hands with minimal tension. Expand your dynamic range and apply these techniques to contemporary music
- Advanced harmonic techniques: expand your chord knowledge and increase playing speed, learn proper wrist technique to minimize tension and focus on building hand independence
- Pedaling: combine all the hand techniques we’ve learned with pedaling, which requires coordinating your hands and feet. Practice these techniques using classical music and contemporary tunes, and discuss how to organize practice time to learn difficult pieces.
Zamora is a pianist, composer, bandleader, arranger, and educator. She started playing piano at the age of 6 and graduated from the National School of Music with a performance degree. Her Afro-Cuban jazz trio, MIXCLA, has headlined at the landmark Scullers Jazz Club in Boston since 2018.
| Institution | Berklee College of Music |
| Provider | Coursera |
| Instructor | Zahili Gonzalez Zamora |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 12 hours |
| Enrollments | 16.9K |
| Rating | 5.0/5.0 (24) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Practical, Extensive Course for Piano and Keyboard (Udemy)
In Pianoforall – Incredible New Way To Learn Piano & Keyboard, you’ll start by learning popular rhythm styles of Elton John, Coldplay, and Billy Joel, giving you the ability to sound like a pro right from the beginning.
What you’ll learn:
- How to play by ear, basic blues and rock ’n’ roll, inversions, chords, ballad style and improvisation, jazz, advanced blues
- Play Fake Stride and The Entertainer, and understand the classics
- Expand into ballad style, blues, jazz, ragtime, improvisation, and even learn to create your own melodies.
Hall is the creator of Pianoforall, a beginner-friendly course where you can learn how to play piano by ear, improvise, create compositions and eventually read piano sheet music.
| Provider | Udemy |
| Instructor | Robin Hall |
| Level | Beginner |
| Workload | 23-24 hours |
| Enrollments | 420.3K |
| Rating | 4.8/5.0 (52.5K) |
| Certificate | Paid |
Great Free Beginners Piano Chords Course (Pianote)
In this short free course, Everything You Need to Know About Piano Chording, offered by Pianote on YouTube, you’ll learn everything you need to know about chord inversions, left-hand techniques, and how to add color to your chords. The course also includes tips for practicing chords effectively, so you can master them with ease.
What you’ll learn:
- Chord inversions, left-hand techniques, and ways to add color to your chords
- Different types of chords, such as suspended chords, major and minor 7th chords, and slash chords
- Playing piano for specific settings: church or cocktail piano.
Witt has been teaching piano for 19 years and has helped hundreds of students learn to play the songs they love. She received classical piano training through the Royal Conservatory of Music. You can find more online piano lessons from Pianote at their own website and on YouTube.
| Channel | Pianote |
| Provider | YouTube |
| Instructor | Lisa Witt, Jordan Leibel, Brett |
| Level | Beginner |
| Views | 283.8K |
| Workload | 2-3 hours |
| Certificate | Not available |
Intermediate-Level Course Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas (Curtis Institute of Music)
While more of a music appreciation course rather than actually learning the piano, Exploring Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas offers an in-depth examination of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas from a performer’s perspective. Each lecture will focus on one sonata and an aspect of Beethoven’s music, such as his relationship with improvisation and the influence of his personal life on his compositions. While some analysis and historical background will be provided in this free course, the focus is on exploring and demystifying the work of the performer.
In this course:
- Examine origins and role of the sonata in music during Haydn and Mozart’s time
- Focus on Sonata No. 4, Op. 7, and sonatas Op. 26 through 28 for innovations
- Explore Beethoven’s life from 1793 until 1809
- Focus on works from Beethoven’s fallow period, including Op. 77, Op. 78, and Op. 81a
- Delve into characteristics of early sonatas, focusing on Op. 57 “Appassionata” and Op. 101
- Discuss Beethoven’s legacy and his influence on generations of composers.
Biss studied at Indiana University and at the Curtis Institute of Music where he was appointed the Neubauer Family Chair in Piano Studies in 2012. He performs a diverse repertoire ranging from Mozart and Beethoven, through the Romantics to Janáček and Schoenberg, as well as works by contemporary composer Gyorgy Kurtág.
His bestselling ebook, Beethoven’s Shadow, published in 2011, was the first Kindle Single written by a classical musician.
| Institution | Curtis Institute of Music |
| Provider | Coursera |
| Instructor | Jonathan Biss |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Workload | 18 hours |
| Enrollments | 85.5K |
| Rating | 4.8/5.0 (612) |
| Certificate | Not available |
Pat revised the latest version of this article.
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