Flex Lessons is Changing!

In February 2025, I announced the newest version of my curriculum. This page contains information to help members of my original program transition to the new program.

If you joined Flex Lessons as a paid member after February 2025, you already have access to the new curriculum.

If you have a question and you don’t see it here, or if you would like more clarification on something, please leave a comment below this post.

What’s New?

Here’s a high level overview of what’s changing:

• The new plans have brand new courses and content. Most of the existing content is not being reused.

• The Masterwork Classics books will no longer be needed. All repertoire will be downloadable.

• Each course will have a discussions area for uploading recordings (rather than using the “video submissions” area in the community).

• Level 1 courses will be separate from Level 2 courses (instead of being combined into Level 1-2).

• Beginner and intermediate level content will be separated into different plans. The new Beginner Plan contains Level 1-3 content, and the Intermediate Plan contains Level 4-7 content.

• All course content will fall into 3 categories: Piano Essentials, Piano Repertoire, and Piano Studies. There will be no “Daily Progression” or “Performance Repertoire” courses.

• Piano Essentials courses will be more substantial and include content that would have originally been found in the Daily Progression courses.

• There will be no more “premium” vs “essentials” distinction. Everyone at a particular skill level will have access to the same content.

• The new Beginner Plan is currently priced at $40/mo and the Intermediate Plan will be priced at $60. There will no longer be annual subscriptions for the new plans.

When should I switch to one of the new plans?

At this time, I would like to encourage all students to switch to one of the new plans. The best time to do this is at the end of your current level.

All V2 content through Level 5 has been completed, and Level 6 is actively being prepared. Even though the V1 program went up partially through Level 6, the new Level 5 content is actually more comprehensive, more challenging, and more interesting.

Unless there are specific pieces that you would like to learn from the old program, the new program is vastly superior and more comprehensive. The sooner you switch, the sooner you benefit from the changes and improvements!

Will it be possible to switch back to one of the old plans?

Once you switch to one of the new plans, you will not be able to switch back to the previous Studio Essentials or Studio Premium Plan. Additionally, these plans are no longer available to purchase.

It’s very important that you consider your options carefully before switching. If you need help with this, please reach out to me and I will help you pick the best option for your situation.

Will the new program be part of the same subscription I own at the moment?

The new program requires a new subscription, and you are only able to have one subscription at a time. This means that you must choose between the old and the new program.

Why is the content being updated?

Now that I have been doing this for a few years, I have learned a lot of lessons and see room for significant improvement, especially in the area of reducing complexity. In my opinion, the original program was too overwhelming with too many courses. I have been interested in simplifying things for quite a while now.

Also, a good portion of the current content features my original setup and needed to be brought to my current standard. For example, much of my beginner content was originally filmed with a top down camera which doesn’t show wrist movement.

Another important reason for updating is that I was previously running into too many issues with students not being able to order the Masterwork Classics books where they live. I decided to use this as an opportunity to move away from Masterwork Classics and choose my own repertoire.

Lastly, students previously had to complete two preparatory courses before joining the membership. Now that Level 1-2 has been split up, I was able to lower the entry point and eliminate the second preparatory course. In my opinion, the new Level 1 experience is significantly more helpful and informative with a much smoother progression.

What happens to the previous membership plans?

The previous Studio Essentials and Studio Premium plans have been retired and are no longer available to purchase. However, anyone still using these plans can continue to use them for the foreseeable future.

Please note that I will be retiring the V1 content throughout 2026.

Why is beginner content separated from the intermediate content?

There are two important reasons for this:

1. There is now a significant reduction in the amount of courses in the course list at a time when using one of the new plans. It is simply not necessary for beginner students to have access to higher level courses when the pieces are basically impossible to understand as a beginner. The same is true for intermediate students not needing access to the most elementary material.

2. Separating the content allows for two entry points into the program rather than one. In my experience, almost everyone who joined my original program chose to start at the beginning, regardless of their actual skill level. Everyone wants to fill holes in their knowledge. However, it really isn’t necessary to start at the beginning as an intermediate student. In the new system, Level 4 is the entry point for more experienced pianists, and the content will be tuned accordingly.

If I switch to one of the new plans, will my progress carry over?

Unfortunately, your progress will not carry over. This is because all of the courses in the new program are brand new with new content. The content is labeled similarly to the current program, and so you should easily be able to find and mark items that you recognize as completed.

With that said, there is a great deal of new content (such as videos on counting or using your wrist) that you will definitely want to go back and review.

Is there a new introduction course?

I have worked to eliminate as many items as possible from the course and product list for members. This includes the introduction course as well as any others that aren't directly related to the curriculum.

Instead of having a course that introduces you to the program, I now refer students to this blog post which explains how everything works (considering the new updates). If you are thinking about switching to one of the new plans, you should definitely read through the new post.

Why didn’t you just replace the content in the current courses?

I thought about doing this at first. However, I realized that this would have been too confusing and disruptive to current members. I decided to leave the current courses how they are so that students who wish to remain on the older version of the program can do so for as long as possible.

Why does the curriculum no longer use Masterwork Classics?

While I am a huge fan of the Masterwork Classics books, there were a few issues that could be solved by choosing my own repertoire. Here’s my thinking based on how students have progressed through these courses over the past few years:

• We didn’t need all of the Masterwork pieces for each level. This created some confusion as some of the pieces had content support while others did not.

• Many students in other countries were unable to purchase copies of the Masterwork book. This was actually a major issue that prevented people from using my program. I didn’t like the fact that my program was reliant on a student’s ability to purchase books that may or may not be out of print at some point.

• Masterwork Classics leaves out too many important pieces that are critical to my teaching. Two glaring examples of this are the lack of pieces by Grieg and Debussy. In all of the Masterwork Classics, there is only one piece by each of these composers.

What happens to the repertoire from the Performance Courses?

All of these pieces are included in the new courses. These pieces were my original inspiration to choose my own repertoire for the entire program. I may refilm this content at some point. However, since it was most recently filmed, it is a low priority for me.

Are there any downsides to switching?

If you loved the length and variety of the Masterwork Classics, you may experience some aspects of the new program somewhat negatively, at least initially.

Here are two major things to consider before you switch:

1. There are less pieces compared to exercises per level. At this time, only 10 pieces are planned for each level. This is in contrast to the 20+ pieces per level under the Masterworks system. The new program generally leans a bit more on the study of etudes and exercises (such as Mikrokosmos and Czerny). This is why Piano Studies courses are included as part of the program for all students. While there may be fewer pieces per level, the are generally more impactful and involved, especially in the higher levels, which ends up working out better overall, in my opinion.

2. Repertoire is generally limited to Baroque, Classical, and Romantic historical periods. Since I am unable to secure public domain scores for most 20th century composers, we unfortunately will miss out on modern composers like Kabalevsky. To compensate for this, I have included music from other wonderful composers (such as Grieg), so not all is lost!

If I will choose to switch to the new program, will I be able to also study the Masterwork Classics repertoire at the same time?

You are welcome to study pieces from Masterwork Classics at the same time. In fact, some of the pieces in the new courses are also in the Masterwork Classics books. However, I would generally advise that you study Masterwork pieces in two scenarios:

1. You need more repertoire practice at your current level before moving on to a more challenging level.

2. You want to experience 20th century composers (such as Kabalevsky).

With this said, you won’t be able to access any tutorial content for Masterwork pieces once you switch to the new program. You can always get lessons with me on this content, and you are also welcome to post recordings of these pieces in the new repertoire courses (of the equivalent level).

Will the new program also be divided in levels, like the current one?

Yes. The leveling system works exactly the same. The new courses have direct parity with the old ones.

Why is the intermediate plan more expensive than the beginner plan?

Now that I have been creating content for the curriculum and reviewing student recordings for a few years, I now have a good idea of how involved it is to support each level.

As it turns out, the level 4 to 7 content takes a good bit more planning and preparation to put together, and also there is more of it. It also takes me significantly longer to review recordings in this level range, compared to the level 1 to 3 range.

Considering this, I decided to charge different amounts for the different plans. This makes the program very accessible to beginners while factoring in the increased time required of me to support students at higher levels. If you are experiencing financial hardship or an unfavorable currency situation, please let me know and I will try to work something out with you.

Assuming that I would switch to this program, what would the curriculum look like after finishing Level 3?

Once a student finishes the content from the Beginner Plan, they should switch to the Intermediate Plan. When this happens, they will no longer be able to view Level 1-3 content. Instead, they will gain access to the new Level 4-7 courses.

Since Level 4 is considered an entry point for intermediate students, the content will be specifically tuned to both introduce and review material at the same time.

What happened to the annual subscription option?

I decided to remove the annual subscription option because there were too many students forgetting that they chose this option (who ended up getting charged unexpectedly).

This was getting a bit expensive for me, considering surprise refunds and transaction fees, and so I decided to move to a monthly only option. All things considered, I prefer to have members who are active participants, and so I think this option is the best one.

When is the best time to switch?

I will be sending out periodic emails as I reach certain milestones in this process. Right now, all content through Level 4 is finished and ready to go. If you are early on in one of the old programs or you would like a fresh start, I highly suggest switching over to the new plan. If you are almost finished with the Level 4 content, you should wait until I announce that Level 5 is ready. Keep in mind that Level 4+ students in the new program will not be able to access Level 1-3 content.

Once you join, you will want to revisit all of the courses and look for things that were not included in the original program.

Are there any differences between the Beginner and Intermediate plan?

While both plans follow a similar format, the Beginner and Intermediate plan are each associated with a unique set of courses. The beginner courses assume little to no experience on the part of the student while the intermediate courses assume that students already know what they are doing.

Another notable difference between the two plans is the presentation of the sheet music. The Beginner Plan includes repertoire that I had engraved specifically for this plan. I did this so that the scores would look consistent and provide an experience similar to studying out of the Masterwork Classics books. Once a student reaches the intermediate level, they are presented with conventional scores from the public domain (with a few exceptions).

Will there ever be an advanced plan?

Once I finish all of the level 4 to 7 content, I will reach out to members and assess the level of interest for a higher tier. This would include repertoire such as easier Chopin Nocturnes and Beethoven Sonatas (and similar sorts of pieces).

This material will take me significant time to develop tutorials on, and recordings at this level would be relatively involved for me to review. Naturally, the price will need to be a bit higher for this to all work out. Considering this, assuming folks are interested, I would very much like to create content at this level. This is actually the range of music that I was originally most familiar with. However, I need to finish creating content that leads up to this point first.

Note that professional level literature (such as Chopin Etudes) does not fall within this range, and would best be studied in a private lesson environment.

Can students from one of the new plans view the recordings of students from the previous plans?

Students who are in different plans cannot view recordings from one another. This is because they will be posting their recordings in different areas that are unique to those specific plans.

However, students can post in the community and share their recordings with each other across the plans.

Does this mean that Beginner Plan members and Intermediate Plan members can no longer see each other’s recordings?

Currently, yes. Because beginners will only have access to Beginner Plan courses, and the same with intermediate students, and because the recordings will be uploaded in the course discussion areas, there is no way for students to view the recordings from a different plan. There are positives and negatives to this, but I ultimately decided that the positives outweigh the negatives.

How do I switch plans?

To switch plans, visit your account settings, scroll down to "community", and select "change plan".

A Request…

In the coming months, I will be sending announcements via email. Once the next level of your study becomes available, I would like to encourage you to switch to the new system. It is just straight-up better in pretty much every way.

Please note that I will no longer be adding new content to the old plans. The only way to reach Level 7 in my program is to participate in the new curriculum.

If you decide to join my new program, I would like to encourage you to ask questions, leave comments, and upload recordings. This will help new folks feel like there is a sense of community. You all have been wonderful to me and one another and I would like that to be evident to anyone who uses the new program.

If you have other questions list them below, and I will incorporate them into this post.

The path ahead is an exciting one for all of us! If you aren't already a Flex Lessons Studio Member, click below to learn more!