Practicing Musician: Completing Our Vision

“Every person everywhere joyfully engaged in music”

It is no secret that private music lessons are the most effective form of music education. But if you are like many people around the world, affording them is a challenge.

We at Practicing Musician set out to create a revolutionary online service that delivers the effectiveness of private music lessons to everyone, everywhere. Our combination of industry-leading e-learning tools and world-class, award-winning music teachers takes self-regulated music learning to a new level, making learning to play an instrument possible for everyone, everywhere.

Does Practicing Musician produce results? Absolutely. Students and educators in private and public schools love our service, as do individuals between the ages of 8 and 70 who have successfully learned an instrument using our service at home. Teachers using Practicing Musician report a marked improvement in proficiency for students using our service, compared to students who did not.

In this post you will learn more about our vision, how Practicing Musician works, and a progress report on where we stand today after six years of building toward that vision.

How It Works

In order to deliver our uniquely effective e-learning experience, the Practicing Musician team deconstructed the private lesson process:

Then we spent three years combining that process with the most recent data from research that studied human development, cognition, and learning technologies. The result is that you can access the private lesson experience right from the comfort of your own home:

Simplicity is at the heart of the Practicing Musician method. We walk you through meeting your world-class teacher, picking out your instrument, then learning how to play via step-by-step video tutorials. Our video production team is composed of Emmy Award-winning talent, and our video tutorials are organized into a growing library of chapters.

We seamlessly integrate sheet music with built-in assessment software so you receive immediate feedback on your playing — as if a private teacher had listened to you play. You will either play sheet music previously demonstrated in video tutorials, or sight-read new material to practice recently learned concepts.

Private teachers know that students only learn when they are inspired and motivated. Our video interviews and performances are designed to do exactly that, regardless of your level of proficiency.

Practicing Musician teachers are top talent from prestigious and renowned music organizations, including the Seattle Symphony and The Juilliard School. We suggest you watch interviews and performances with all of our teachers as you continue on your path as a Practicing Musician.

Some lofty claims have been made here — but seeing is believing. We invite you to try Practicing Musician’s private lesson experience for yourself and judge whether it is the easiest, most effective way to learn to play an instrument available today. It is completely free to get started.

The Progress Report: Where We Stand in 2026

When this post was first written in 2020, much of what Practicing Musician is today was still being built. The assessment software was still in development. The teacher roster was still growing. The platform was still finding its footing.

Here is what has been accomplished since.

• 3,500+ video tutorials across 15 instruments covering the full range of K-12 band and orchestra
• 3,000+ exercises and songs organized into skill-specific libraries
• 3,000+ written assignments aligned to lesson concepts
• Built-in assessment software fully integrated and live, providing real-time feedback on student playing
• Hundreds of thousands of students actively learning across 46 countries
• 2,000+ teachers using Practicing Musician in their K-12 classrooms worldwide
• Free professional development for music educators — a full self-paced PD library taught by master educators
• One-on-one mentorship available for music directors with master educators Stephen Nelson and Dr. Frederick Burrack

The vision Jake described in 2020 is no longer a roadmap. It is a working platform used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. And the work continues.

Practicing Musician has appeared at NAMM, NAYDO, and national music education conferences. We have partnered with the Boulanger Initiative to expand diverse composer representation in music education, joined America 250 to bring music education to communities across the country, and launched a GoFundMe to bring free music education to community centers nationwide.

The Vision Is Not Complete Yet

The mission that drove Practicing Musician from day one has not changed: every person, everywhere, joyfully engaged in music. Hundreds of thousands of students in 46 countries is remarkable progress. But there are still millions of students who do not have access to quality music education.

That is why the work continues. If you believe every student deserves access to world-class music education, here is how you can be part of it today.

Create a free account and start learning today
Sign up as a teacher and give your students free access
Learn about one-on-one mentorship
Support our GoFundMe to bring music to community centers nationwide