Have you ever wondered whether you should take private piano lessons or learn from piano courses? Let me share with you my recent experience when learning to play the violin.

I decided early in 2011 I wanted to learn another instrument. I picked the violin since, I believe, the sound of a violin is beautiful, but I never played a stringed instrument before.After talking to a few people who play violin, I decided to invest in a decent violin.

Within a few days I started playing some simple melodies and Christmas carols; talk about an odd time to play Christmas carols. I know, it was a bit easier for me to get started since I already know how to read notes and improvise. I also had no problem finding the different notes on my violin. My biggest problem was my bowing technique. After some thought I decided to take private violin lessons. My initial feeling was that private lessons may help me more. I was wrong!

I told my violin teacher about my goals during the interview: to enjoy music-making on the violin, to play nice songs and to have good posture and techniques. We ran into problems before I even started the first lesson: schedule and time. We’re busy people and constantly juggle family, business and various other activities. so it's difficult to commit to a weekly schedule. In fact, I had to be out of town during the first lesson.

When I finally started my private lesson, I had already worked on a few songs and felt pretty good about the tone of my playing. I thought I was ready to take my playing to the next level. Do you want to guess what my teacher had me work on during the first lesson?

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"

Ouch, not a kiddie song again! Can you feel my frustration?

I can feel your pain and frustration if you're starting to learn the piano, and your private teacher has you playing kiddie tunes.

This isn't the worst part. I felt as if the teacher didn't understand me when I explained to her I wanted to make music and not get tied up playing everything exactly as written in the book and have no room for creative music making.

My 60-minute violin lesson went by quickly, but I learned little new information. It was disappointing. The financial part was not that big an issue because I was eager to improve my playing and I was willing to spend the money ($60 USD/hour). My biggest frustrations were that the teacher didn't want to listen to me or to understand my needs. Toward the end of the lesson I played a few non-kiddie tunes for her, but there was no input whatsoever since the melodies I played were not part of the Suzuki Method Book 1.

After coming back from the first private lesson, I decided to invest in a few DVD violin courses. (I should have thought about that in the first place!) I get to pick what I like to learn with the DVD violin courses, and I get to choose my own schedule, not to mention, I get to watch the courses over and over again, And you know what? There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee with the courses.

Why am I sharing this with you?

I understand your situation. If you're like me, a busy adult, it's very difficult to schedule a private piano lesson on a consistent basis. If you finally have the time to take private lessons, it isn't easy to find someone who understands an adult's learning style.

Adults do not enjoy playing children's tunes. We don't have five to 10 years to invest in traditional learning methods. Unfortunately, most music learning books are designed for children, and there just aren't many resources out there for adults. Even if there are resources, most of them focus on classical music. Don't get me wrong; I was classically trained and enjoy playing classical music. However, classical music is only one genre of music. There are many genres out there.

If you're an adult with limited time, I urge you to take a look at our piano courses. We have it categorized so you get to learn what you want to learn. If you're a beginner and want to learn classical music, we have the beginner course in favorite classical, favorite hymns or beautiful love song series. (Don’t worry, no children’s songs.)

If you're somebody who already plays piano and has taken private lessons, you get to improve on different aspects of piano techniques such as piano improvisation, sight reading, hand coordination, etc. And if you’re someone who just likes to play from a fake book or lead sheet, we have the "Play Piano With Fake Book" series. There's also a Christmas carol arrangements course

Remember, you get to choose what you want to learn in your own time, in your own home. Plus, we provide a 30-day, money-back guarantee I really think DVD courses are the best option for a busy adult.

However, if you think you have time for regular private lessons and are ready to spend the next three to seven years in weekly lessons and you also found a teacher who understands your needs and learning style, private piano lessons may be right for you.

When learning a new language as an adult, we get adult subjects and topics that matter most. There are crash language courses in which you get to immerse yourself in the new language from a few months to a year, and then you’re ready to speak and communicate in that language. It’s the same with music. Music instruction for adults should also be flexible and help the learner gain the most out of it.