If you’re going a little stir crazy self-quarantining at home, maybe it’s time to consider picking up an instrument or sharpening up your skills. If you’ve got a guitar or keyboard collecting dust in your closet, or you’ve thought about buying one online, now may be a great time to become that musician you always thought you could be.
We could all use an outlet for our stress and anxiety right now {and from that WFH grind} so there’s no better way to relax than with music. For those of you with an instrument at home or a burning desire to finally learn how to play one, we’ve got a list of some of the best online instrument lessons for you.
For Piano Lessons
Online Classes
Improv Piano Tips offers lessons on improvising scales and sharpening your jazz skills. These classes offer tons of free videos as well as paid courses and mentorship programs with skilled pianists. Check out the lessons here.
Music greatness is one of the best YouTube channels for learning songs on the piano for free. The Instructor slowly takes you through the right and left-hand chords and melodies, step by step. If you already know the basics of piano, then diving into song playing is one of the best ways to advance your skills. The instructor has tons of modern songs to choose from, and he makes it easy to learn here.
Piano Pig is a great resource for learning to play piano. The videos cover basic chords, chord progressions, and scales from different genres. If you already know the basics of notes and techniques, this is a great place for slightly more advanced beginners to improve. Check out the videos here.
Pianote’s free YouTube channel is basically like having a teacher come to your home. The instructor, Lisa Witt, not only teaches the basics, like scales, but also more advanced things like training your dexterity, which is very important to developing your skills broadly. She also posts song-playing tutorials. Check out her videos here.
Lessons Via Apps
Jelly note is an app that offers free music sheets for the piano. While showing the notes on the screen, it also offers the option to play the songs along, as well. This is a great app to learn new songs for those who know how to read music. Download it in the app store for IOS.
Yousician is a personal music tutor right on your phone. With a curriculum designed by experts and technology that gives instant feedback, this app is perfect for pianists of any skill level. For $9.99/month for a yearly subscription or $19.99 for a monthly subscription, you will gain access to thousands of songs, lessons, and exercises across dozens of music genres. Click here to get a free trial.
This piano app is great for Android users looking to learn the piano. The app offers games, sheet music, and multi-touch learning to help Android users learn to play like a pro. It comes fully loaded with 10 full octaves, recording capabilities, various music, and beat playback features. Download it in the app store for Android.
For $10 per month, Piano Academy offers its users unlimited access to individualized lessons, top music hits for practice, and unlimited games to refine your skills. If you’re not ready to commit, you can try the three-day free trial. Download it in the app store for IOS.
This app has a free version and a more advanced premium version for purchase. It allows users to play all their favorite songs and learn everything about notes, chords, and proper technique. Download it in the app store for IOS.
Simply piano is good for any pianist from a beginner to a pro. Simply Piano gives free access to a range of lessons and tutorials on how to play your favorite songs. The app also has a premium membership for $20 per month that offers much more in-depth lessons and a wider range of songs to choose from. Download it in the Google Play app store.
For Guitar Lessons
Online Classes
Guitar Bar {Multiple Locations in Hoboken + Jersey City}
For $42 per lesson or $150 per month, Guitar Bar in both Hoboken and Jersey City offers online, private, one on one lessons for just about any style or genre. Guitar bar is offering virtual classes seven days per week, day or night. Book your first lesson here.
Read More: Guitar Bar: A Music Lover’s Paradise in Hoboken
Justin Guitar’s website is probably one of the best resources out there for those who are serious about learning the guitar. His free videos and lessons go far beyond just learning notes, chords, scales, and songs. He teaches everything from alternate tunings to overall essential music theory. If you’re ready to master the guitar and become a holistically better musician, check out his website here.
Marty Music’s YouTube channel is an excellent resource for improving your guitar skills. His videos cover a wide range of topics, like guitar lessons for learning songs, guitar techniques, and even guitar gear reviews. Check out his videos here.
This is another great YouTube resource for learning to play the guitar, full of a wide range of videos and instructors. With Guitar Lessons, you can learn songs and scales but also dabble in music theory — how to discern root notes, matching pitch, and differentiating scales. This site covers all ability levels and all music genres. Check it out here.
Andy Crowley is a guitar instructor who posts free YouTube videos to help guitarists learn new songs. If you know basic chords and notes, this is a great channel to check out. Learning songs in different styles and genres is the quickest way to improve your guitar skills. Check out his videos here.
Lessons Via Apps
If you already know the basics of the guitar, how to read tabs, or how to play some chords, you need to have Guitar Tabs on your phone. Any song you could hope to learn is listed on this app, with multiple versions depending on skill level. Each song also offers the ability to transpose the key to customize it to your style or voice. Download it in the iTunes app store for iOS.
Yousician is a personal music tutor right on your phone for $9.99/month for a yearly subscription or $19.99 for a monthly subscription. With a curriculum designed by experts and technology that gives instant feedback, this app is perfect for guitarists of any skill level. Unique to Yousician are the virtual guitar games they offer students to refine their skills, all while having fun. Click here to get a free trial and download it in the iTunes or Android app store on your phone or computer.
For Singing Lessons
Online Classes
Eric Arceneaux is a voice instructor who can really help you to improve your singing voice. While not all his more advanced videos are free, he does offer a good selection of free singing tutorials that can help you learn the basics of a healthy singing voice.
Paul McKay is a great instructor for singers looking to improve their voices. He offers great tutorials on vocal agility, riffs, and runs, and increasing your range. For those who know the basics of maintaining a healthy voice, this channel is a great next step.
Aaron Anastasi’s YouTube channel, Superior Singing, is an excellent jumping-off point for people who want to learn to sing. His videos offer lots of great tips and touch on the basics of harnessing the voice and advance to important topics like increasing range or addressing healthy high notes.
Tim Welch Vocal Studio {143 Christopher Columbus Drive, Jersey City}
Jersey City’s Tim Welch Studio brings the joy of singing to your home — virtually. This amazing team of seasoned instructors can give you the confidence in your voice you’ve always wanted with online individual or group lessons.
Singing with Molly {135 Erie Street, Jersey City}
Singing with Molly is a Jersey City-based singing school that has now gone virtual. The instructors offer private lessons for anyone, from children to advanced students. The website offers a range of course listings for students to enroll in.
Tonal Art Music Center {1018 Washington St 2nd floor, Hoboken}
Tonal Art Music Center has embraced the online format for music lessons. Utilizing the Zoom platform during this unusual time. Students can interact with their teachers virtually, and teachers can listen to their students’ progress, correct mistakes, and give assignments. Equally important is for the teacher to provide motivation to continue practicing! Lessons are $30 per 30 minutes. To book a lesson, contact tonalartmusic@gmail.com or text Matt at 646-667-0091.
Lessons Via App
Sing! Karaoke is an Android and IOS app that’s great for practicing vocal skills in between lessons or just for having fun at home. The app features a library of over 800,000 songs and allows users to sing duets with other people — including featured artists. Users can experiment with voice filters and record their singing to share with the world. Download the app for free in the android app store or iTunes app store.
See More: All the Local Musicians to Listen to While Social Distancing
Sing Harmonies is an IOS app for vocalists who have difficulty singing harmonies in group settings. The app allows you to rotate through four-part vocal arrangements in order to train you to hear the harmonies, with all different sorts of popular songs. You can change the volume settings of each singer or mute them all together to see how each piece fits together within the arrangement. Then you can test your skills by singing along. Purchase it in the iTunes app store for $1.99.
For those who need an extra boost of motivation to be consistent with their singing practice, this IOS app is an excellent resource. The app features 16 different scale patterns to help warm up the voice. With the options of bass, baritone, tenor, alto, mezzo-soprano, and soprano settings, it’s easy to warm up in the correct vocal range. Purchase it in the iTunes app store for $3.99.
Warm Me Up is available for both Android and iPhone, and it features 50 vocal warm-up exercises across five different categories. The app allows you to choose exercises based on how long you wish to warm up or make up your own exercises. Its on-screen tips will make your warm-up as dynamic as possible in order to help you feel prepared for performances. Download the app in your android app store or iTunes app store for $7.05 for Android and $5.99 for iOS.
Pocket Pitch is an Android and IOS app that allows users to find notes without an instrument in hand. This app is an excellent resource for warming up, playing around with different notes, and improving pitch by listening to and learning to identify notes. Purchase it for $4.99 in the android app store or iTunes app store.
Additional Music Lessons
For Online Lessons
Lessonface is a NY-based digital platform for live online music lessons with highly qualified musicians from around the world, connecting students of all ages. Lessonface teachers are highly regarded musicians and educators with unique skill sets— some even have experience recording with notable artists, broadway stints, Grammy-nominated tracks, world-wide tours, and more. Classes include piano, ukulele, guitar, violin, tuba, and lots more, it also offers music related classes such as voice lessons, rap, and beatboxing.
Virtu.Academy offers violin lessons for $29 per lesson from experienced violinists. All lessons are virtual and done with real instructors online. Book a session here.
Offering guitar, piano, ukulele, bass, organ, synth, drums and percussion, voice, and beat production lessons for all skill levels. For weekly lessons, the cost is $99 per month. Learn more here.
Offering guitar, piano, ukulele, bass, and singing lessons for $9.99/month for a yearly subscription or $19.99 for a monthly subscription. Click here to get a free trial.
Know of another online instrument instructor you love? Let us know in the comments!
Did you know: We started a podcast about all things news and lifestyle in Hoboken + Jersey City! Listen to the latest episode of Tea on the Hudson here and subscribe.
