The Flex Lessons Piano Academy is a complete classical piano education with expert instruction, personal feedback, and a supportive learning community.

Here's how it works:

• Students follow a curriculum which is divided into levels. Each level is associated with a set of courses.

• Each course contains a series of lessons that all focus on a specific category of practice (such as repertoire or technique).

• Students refer to courses as needed to develop their skills, systematically checking off items as they go until each course is complete.

• Throughout this process, students can upload recordings to a private discussion area for my review. I will offer feedback, encourage students to move on, or request additional recordings.

• If a student needs extra help, they can schedule private Zoom lessons with me as needed. These lessons are paid for separately.

Outside of being online and related to piano learning, the Academy is a completely different type of learning experience. This program is much more comparable to what you would experience with private lessons using a curriculum.

Here are a few very important advantages offered by the Flex Lessons Academy experience:

• Focus on classical and historical art music (no pop, jazz, etc.)

• Very detailed leveling system with large amounts of progressive content at each level

• Integrated support from a teacher in response to student uploads

• Beginners actually start at the beginning using sheet music (no chord-based approach)

Many other options function as a library of various types of content for students to browse and consume at their convenience.

While the Academy also incorporates a library of content, the application is totally different. Rather than browsing and working on whatever seems interesting, Academy students are intended to work through ALL content in a specific order so that they don’t miss anything.

If you combine this with the ongoing instructor feedback, you end up with a legitimate means of developing skills at the piano.

The Academy is right for you if:

• You are an absolute beginner and you want to learn to play piano using sheet music.

• You are a returning pianist who wants to continue learning.

• You have some experience but have not reached the late intermediate or advanced levels.

• You want to experience classical and historical music famous composers.

• You want a deep and comprehensive piano education (and aren’t afraid of hard work).

The Academy is NOT for you if:

• You prefer not to use sheet music for learning.

• You have no interest in classical or historical music.

• You are already an advanced student.

Choose the program that best matches your current abilities.

The Beginner Program is the best place to begin if you're new to piano, returning after a long break, or still developing your reading skills and technique. You'll learn through simple classical pieces and progressive exercises, as well as selections from Mikrokosmos Book 1.

The Intermediate Program is designed for pianists who already have solid fundamentals. You should be comfortable reading from the bass and treble clefs fluidly and you should be able to count using quarter notes, 8th notes, and 16th notes. You should also be familiar with beginner repertoire already.

The intermediate curriculum explores works such as Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena, Little Preludes, and technical studies from Czerny Op. 599. The program eventually progresses to pieces such as Bach Inventions, easier Chopin Waltzes, and easier Sonatas by Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart.

If you've already played pieces like Bach's Minuet in G, early Clementi Sonatinas, or similar repertoire with confidence, you'll likely feel at home in the Intermediate Program. If you struggled with pieces like this, you might consider starting with the Beginner program.

If you have previous playing experience, and feel like you might be between the programs, I would like to encourage you to start with the easier option. You can always switch your plan later.

If you're still unsure, don't worry. Choosing the right starting point doesn't lock you into a fixed path, and I'm happy to help you decide before you enroll.

You may find it helpful to sample some music before you choose. In this case, you can download my Piano Repertoire Placement Guide to get a rough idea of where your abilities are.

• If you find the Level 1-3 material most comfortable, you should join the Beginner Program.

• If you prefer the Level 4-7 material, you should join the Intermediate Program.

• If you can handle Level 8-10 material, you are above the current scope of the Academy and should consider online piano coaching.

Your membership is billed on a month-to-month basis, with no commitment beyond the month you've already paid for. You can cancel at any time by visiting your account settings.

If you choose to cancel your membership, your account and all of your course progress will be preserved, allowing you to return at any time. Your progress and account settings will remain intact unless you choose to permanently delete your account.

I will give you feedback based on videos that you upload while you are working through the program. You will be hard pressed to find this level of access in another program!

Here are some of the ways that I can help you when you upload a video of your playing:

• I‘ll let you know when it’s time to move on from a piece or exercise.

• I can mark up a copy of your music just as a teacher would in an actual lesson.

• I’ll make musical or technical suggestions to help you optimize your playing.

• In some cases, I’ll even make a video or audio recording specific to your situation.

You’ll still benefit from this feature even if you don’t upload recordings!

This is because many other students have already uploaded their recordings and received feedback from me. It's also incredibly helpful to know what various pieces and exercises sound like in the hands of a typical adult student.

Everything is searchable, sortable, and easy to access. Keep in mind that this feature is only accessible to paid members and is not publicly accessible.

While most of the music that you'll need is included, you will still need to purchase a few books. I'll prompt you in the program when it's time to order something.

• Beginner students will need to purchase a copy of Progressive Sight Reading Exercises by Hannah Smith and Mikrokosmos: Volume 1 by Bela Bartók.

• Intermediate students will need to purchase a copy of the same Hannah Smith book as well as The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Cadences, and Arpeggios.

The intermediate curriculum is substantially larger and was significantly more involved for me to create. Additionally, it takes me longer to review recordings from intermediate-level students. These things are factored into the price.

Students will likely find many aspects of these courses to be superior to something like YouTube. The most obvious difference is consistency, organization, and direct access to a teacher.

By using a course platform to deliver content, the subjects discussed can be very granular yet easy to reference quickly. Additionally, these courses are intended to help you place yourself using a rating system, and offer consistent instruction regardless of piece difficulty. Also, there are no ads. 

Another important distinguishing feature of these courses is that they look and sound beautiful and are designed to be as helpful as possible to the student. Everything was recorded using high quality cameras and stereo microphones. Many lessons feature an overview camera view which shows a clean and well-lit view of the keyboard. There is also a consistent quality throughout the program.

This experience is intended to be an "asynchronous" version of what you would experience with a teacher. Asynchronous learning refers to interactions that don't occur in real time. Technically speaking, the Academy experience fits this definition in a few ways:

1. Lessons have been prerecorded and made available for students to access on-demand.

2. Students can upload recordings of their work based on lesson materials.

3. Students receive direct feedback, which may occasionally prompt them to create new recordings.

4. We continue to go back and forth until the goals for each piece are met.

In some cases, private weekly lessons can be more efficient at dealing with certain issues. However, they are also significantly more expensive compared to enrolling in my programs. Additionally, weekly lessons are inherently inflexible because you would need to commit to a set schedule for a certain period of time to study with most teachers.

Keep in mind that I also offer weekly lessons as a service outside of the Academy. For students who are within the scope of the Academy curriculum, they will generally be better served by enrolling in the Academy as their primary mode of education. If needed, these students can schedule a lesson with me to deal with specific problems that come up.

With the Academy experience, it's no longer necessary to explain concepts and introduce pieces to each student, one at a time, in real time. This asynchronous model ends up assisting a much greater number of students at far less cost for each student.

You are not required to submit recordings. However, you really should consider uploading to take full advantage of my program. You are unlikely to advance past a certain point without regular feedback from a teacher.

When I view student recordings, I check for note and rhythm accuracy and musical fluency. I am also looking out for bad habits (such as playing with a rigid wrist). I can help keep you on track and maximize your chance of advancing.

If you don't want to upload recordings, you can always schedule a Zoom lesson with me and get feedback privately.

Recordings are uploaded to a private feedback spaces and are only visible to other members. Additionally, beginner and intermediate students have separate feedback spaces.

There are many advantages to using these shared spaces for feedback:

• Videos and other media can be uploaded directly without having to host your files elsewhere.

• Students benefit significantly from viewing each others recordings (along with my feedback).

• Students often encourage one another and help each other out.

• I will respond to students in video format when I feel it is necessary.

• Sometimes I may go back and forth several times with a student while they are working on a piece. The design of the course discussions feature makes this possible.

It's also worth mentioning that students can also delete their recordings as they wish.

If you finish all of the course work, you are welcome to continue your study with me or another teacher privately. You will also have developed your skills to the point where you can begin to explore repertoire on your own.

I don't expect students to remain members forever! Rather, I anticipate that students will use my program for a period of time in their life and be on their way at some point.

Pieces are rated on a scale of 1-10, where 10 represents the most difficult teaching repertoire below the professional level. This allows for a more granular comparison of pieces at lower levels.

All courses in the Academy range from Level 1 to Level 7.

You can read more about ratings and piano levels in this blog post.

Yes! All students will have access to various private spaces as part of this educational experience. You'll be able to create posts and reply to other members. Note that many of the spaces are reserved for gathering feedback from me, but you'll still be able to interact with other students.

There is no need for an app. All you have to do is visit the main site and log in. You can access all of this content on any device, as all pages are fully mobile responsive. For best results, use a device with a larger screen such as an iPad or laptop. 

Yes! Visit the page below to view a list of all included courses and topics covered within this program.

https://www.flexlessons.com/syllabus

At this time, it is not possible to purchase a single course. There are many reasons for this:

• Flex Lessons courses relate to one another and depend on one another.

• Courses are constantly being developed, modified, and updated.

• Membership is required to get feedback for your playing, which is needed to keep students on track.