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My 2024 Teaching/Learning Resources (So Far)

If you were reading my blog back in January/February, you might remember that those were heady days of trying to figure out what learning resources I wanted to use. Here's an update on that.

Option 1: Private Classical Teacher

This was the obvious first choice because ... well, it's always the obvious first choice. Every time I "get back into piano," I immediately look for a good teacher. And I've found some great ones: Deborah worked some serious magic with my technique for a few years starting in 2004, and Carol was the stickler I needed to bring even more precision and musicality to my playing in 2019-2020.

But this time around, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the time or money for an hour a week of lessons, along with the hour or more a day for practicing. Sure, I wanted to play classical music, but I also wanted to (finally) learn other styles, primarily jazz, blues, ragtime, and gospel.

Option 2: Private Jazz Teacher

So, I wondered, should I find a jazz teacher? I found an online jazz pianist/teacher that I liked, and he could do private lessons for an hour every other week.

Option 3: Online Classical Resource

Around this time, I discovered Tonebase, which is a great site for learning classical music--and there's a lot on it for late intermediate/advanced pianists!

I signed up for a trial and liked what I saw. I even thought about ditching the idea of private teachers and just soaking up all I could from Tonebase. (It also has a few blues and jazz courses, which was a plus.)

Option 4: Online Jazz, Ragtime, Blues, and Gospel Resource

And then. AND THEN. I discovered Piano With Jonny.

At first I thought it was one of those "Play Like A Pro In Five Days!" kinds of sites (titles like "The 5-Lesson Blues Challenge" and "Learn 10 Flashy Runs!" gave me that idea), but then I joined some of the free challenges. I didn't actually do them, but I watched bits and pieces of the videos and realized this was no scam for the gullible.

Decisions, Decisions!

So I had a choice to make. Private? Local? Online? Classical? Everything else?

Reader, I did it all. Or tried to.

I've already written about my local teacher and my fence-sitting on the usefulness of 30-minute "lessons" every other week. I put "lessons" in quotes because they are really more like feedback sessions ... which I find very beneficial. But it's hard to go into any real depth in just 30 minutes.

The jazz teacher didn't last long. He was good, but I was working on Chopin and Maple Leaf Rag a lot, and I just wasn't motivated to do jazz theory and lead sheets. I stopped those lessons a couple of months in, though I may consider them again later.

Once I found that Tonebase offers a blues course AND some jazz courses by Jeremy Siskind, I signed up. I've moved away from jazz and into blues via PWJ, but I'm still using Tonebase for its classical resources.

And, of course, I signed up for PWJ, which I've also written about a lot. I only signed up because of the 40% discount. Otherwise, I couldn't justify yet another source of piano learning when I was already paying for two private teachers and Tonebase. But now? When it's time to renew, I'll happily pay full price.


I discovered IROCKU about a month ago. Two words: Chuck Leavell. As in the guy who plays that amazing blues piano solo in "Alberta" from Eric Clapton's "Unplugged" album. (The solo starts at around 1:39 of this link.) He has his own rock/blues piano teaching site, which includes a course on that "Alberta" solo! I am so, so very tempted.

Where I Am Now

Now, where was I?

Oh. So I'm very happy with PWJ and Tonebase, and I'm also learning a lot from YouTubers such as Josh Wright and Kate Boyd. I'm going to stick with the 30-minute lessons through the summer, but if I decide at some point that I need more, I'll look at finding a classical teacher at the local university's music school.

I know this has been a ramble, but I've been feeling reflective lately. I just can't believe where I am now, compared to where I was on January 1--depressed, borderline suicidal, with no hope in the world. My spiritual life was in a shambles, and I'd just bought a piano but was too depressed to play it. All of that has changed. God used the PWJ site to pull me out of that depression, and all the rest has led me to a very good place.

I'll soon be adding links to all of my "online teachers" in the right-hand column of this blog, for anyone who is interested.

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