Practicing Musician instructorPrivate lessons are the most effective method of instrumental music education. Unfortunately, many people cannot afford or access private lessons. That is why Practicing Musician was built to simulate the private lesson process online, completely free.

In fact, Practicing Musician more closely simulates the private lesson process than any other current teaching tool or self-regulated learning method. Current teaching tools and self-regulated learning methods include method books, YouTube channels, e-learning tools, and subscription services, among others.

To understand how Practicing Musician achieves this, you first need to understand the fundamental steps in every private lesson. Private teachers guide their students to become inspired, learn, practice, receive and accept feedback, and take notes on their progress. Then the process repeats.

Removing any step from this process results in a less effective method of learning. Method books, for example, will never be as effective as private instruction because they do not provide auditory demonstrations of written exercises and songs. Even method books with an accompanying CD are less effective because CDs cannot provide feedback. Feedback is an especially important step in the learning process for beginning musicians. And the visual explanation written in a method book is not as effective as a visual demonstration provided by a teacher.

YouTube channels and subscription services are more comprehensive than method books. These tools provide visual and auditory demonstrations together. Some even provide sheet music on screen to help students learn to read music while watching. But as with method books, these cannot provide real feedback.

Every K-12 music director who has their students use Practicing Musician reports narrowed achievement gaps between students who can afford a private teacher and students who cannot.

How Practicing Musician Simulates the Private Lesson

Our service is built around 8 distinct categories of teaching tools: interviews, performances, video lessons, practices, songs, assessments, an achievements showcase, and community forums.

Interviews and performances with our teachers share the same intention. Both provide insight, inspire and motivate, and develop curiosity and discipline within students. This matters because the number of students in K-12 music programs almost always prevents sufficient, ongoing one-on-one question and answer sessions between music directors and individual students. Our interview and performance content fills that gap, giving every student direct access to world-class musicians at any time.

Video lessons allow students to listen to their instructor explain a theory concept, etude or song preparation, and accompanying demonstration. They also provide visual information such as superimposed graphics or animations of each theory concept, superimposed sheet music while an exercise or song is demonstrated, and close-ups of the instructor’s technique while playing.

Every Practicing Musician teacher begins their lesson plan by providing detailed suggestions about acquiring equipment. Neither Practicing Musician nor our instructors receive payment from any manufacturers for endorsing their products. All suggestions are purely each teacher’s honest preferences.

Students can watch detailed lessons covering the parts of their instrument, how to assemble and disassemble it, how to maintain and clean it, proper safety protocols, posture, embouchure and bow hold, articulation, and other fundamental concepts that need to be learned before music theory and actual playing begin.

Practices are etudes incorporated into our feedback application and systematically organized into our lesson plans. Practices are directly related to the music theory concepts taught in each lesson. There are between 6 and 40 practices per chapter. This is the step that separates Practicing Musician from every other online music education tool. Practices give students real feedback on their playing, which is the most critical component of the private lesson process that no other self-regulated learning method provides.

Songs are organized into skill-specific song libraries, giving students music to play that matches exactly where they are in their progression. There is nothing quite like watching a student’s face light up after they play a new song for the first time.

Assessments give students and teachers a clear picture of progress over time, so learning stays focused and measurable.

The achievements showcase celebrates student milestones, giving students recognition for the work they put in.

Community forums connect students with each other, creating a sense of shared experience and mutual encouragement that is hard to replicate in a traditional classroom setting.

Designed to Keep Students Moving Forward

To ensure maximum information retention, most video lessons run between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. This also means music directors can assign manageable homework because learning and practicing multiple concepts still only requires 10 to 15 minutes of a student’s time.

After a lesson finishes, the next lesson, practice, or song loads automatically. After completing a practice or song, students simply click “Results” to review feedback and replay, or “Next” to continue. This reduces idle time and keeps students focused on learning.

Practicing Musician’s full library of 3,500+ video lessons across 15 instruments is completely free for every student, teacher, and at-home learner. No subscriptions, no fees, no applications required.

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