Leave your email, phone and how you found us. I read every message and listen to every recording myself.
You do not need an hour a day. You need twenty focused minutes and someone who tells you what to do with them.
Most people in their thirties have tried piano already: an app, a keyboard bought during a lockdown, a few lessons as a kid. The keyboard is probably still in a corner. The problem was never talent. It was a plan.
Online Piano University is a free, ordered course for adults who learn on their own. Each lesson fits in a lunch break, and you can send me a recording and get a written answer, so you are not guessing whether you are improving.
Twenty minutes, one clear thing to do, and a recording you can send for a written reply. The newness is not another app: it is feeling yourself get better week by week.
A private hour that is yours, a skill you can pass to your children by sitting next to them at the keyboard, and the songs of your own childhood, finally playable.
Being the one who can play at a family evening, a wedding or a party, and the one who finished what they started, is respected by the people whose opinion you care about.
What adult students say about Dr. Maria Pisarenko as their teacher · 5.0★ on Yelp, 4.9★ on Google.
★★★★★
“I've spent years struggling to find the passion to stick with piano, and I finally found a teacher who exceeded any expectations I had for myself. Dr. Pisarenko's No Red Button philosophy has transformed me from a timid perfectionist into a player with realistic goals, a clear understanding of what it takes to achieve them, and a step by step path to actualize my version of success with the piano.”
— Sterling D., adult student · Yelp
★★★★★
“After being away from piano lessons for 15 years, I'd always wanted to start up again... Dr. Pisarenko is a great instructor for me. She's kind and patient and encouraging... very reasonable rates and top notch instruction. She's the best!”
— Guillo L., returning adult student · Yelp
★★★★★
“I took piano lessons for a few years as a kid... Dr Pisarenko has been wonderful!!! She is very patient, very flexible with scheduling and I have learned so much from her in such a short period of time!”
— Sarah K., adult beginner · Yelp
The songs and themes that were everywhere when you were growing up.
Tell me which one you want and I will point you to the lessons that lead to it. Write to me or start the course and aim at it from day one. Titles are named for reference; the sheet music for each is published by its own rights holders.
Send a message or attach a recording. Email, phone and how you found us help me answer you properly.
Fifteen to twenty focused minutes, six days a week, beats one long session. The trick is knowing exactly what to do in them: five minutes slowly on one thing, ten on the smallest broken spot, five playing something you already enjoy.
An app can tell you that you hit the right note. It cannot tell you your hand is tight, your rhythm is rushed or your sound is thin. That is what feedback on a real recording is for.
Almost every adult who quits does so in the first three months, usually because the pieces were too hard or the plan was unclear. We start with a melody on day one so you win early.
Digital piano plus headphones solves the noise. The free course is built so that you can practice quietly and still develop real touch.
Twenty minutes is small enough to protect. Put it at the same time every day and it stops being a decision.
Lesson 1. Set up your keyboard height and play your first melody by ear.
Follow the course in order, twenty minutes a day. Keep a one-line log of what you practiced.
Send a recording for feedback and pick your first goal piece from the list above.
I am Dr. Maria Pisarenko, DMA, a concert pianist and university professor. I trained in the Russian school at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory and the Gnessin Academy, and I teach at the college level. My work with adult beginners is the reason this course exists. You can read what the press and students say on the press and reviews pages.
I am writing a piano method book for adults who teach themselves, built on the same order as these lessons: sound first, then the hand, then the page. A free note-reading practice app is also in development. Both are works in progress, and anyone on my email list hears first. Join the list or see the books and gear I recommend now.
The first steps, the right instrument and how to practice, in one free PDF from Online Piano University.
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With twenty minutes of focused practice a day, most adults are playing simple pieces with both hands within a few months. Pieces like Someone Like You or All of Me come when chords, rhythm and reading are each reasonably steady, which the course builds in order.
Both work. A structured free course plus occasional written feedback covers most of what a beginner needs. If you want a live teacher on Zoom, I also teach private lessons.
Yes. You start by ear and by shape, and reading comes in step by step once your hand knows what to do.
Yes. Most of my adult students in their thirties started from zero or from a few childhood lessons they barely remember. Twenty focused minutes a day, in the right order, is enough to play real pieces within months.
Other decades: Your 20s · Your 40s · Your 50s · Your 60s · Your 70s and beyond · All ages
Online Piano University is run by one teacher. I read every message and listen to every recording myself.
Contact
maria@onlinepianouniversity.com
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