Review of the Piano University Course by Zach Evans

If you’ve been searching for an online piano course geared toward adult piano students, I have great news!

The Piano University courses, created by Zach Evans, are the most accessible way to start playing recognizable popular songs from the very beginning of the learning process.

No more ridiculous 5 finger exercises created for toddlers.

Evans teaches you the skills you need to start playing the music you love now!

His premium courses cover various skills to take your piano playing to the next level.

And if you decide that his online courses are not the right fit, I’ll give you a couple of other courses to explore.

Ready? Let’s get to it!

This post may contain affiliate links. As an affiliate of the Amazon associate program, Modacity, Dr. Josh Wright ProPractice, Piano University, Musicnotes, Playground Sessions, and Piano Marvel, I may receive a commission at no extra cost if you purchase through a link. Please see my full disclosure for further information and privacy policy. I take no credit for the images appearing on this page. Specific photos are courtesy of Canva. Although I am a nurse practitioner, I am not YOUR medical provider. The information in this post is for informational purposes only. It does NOT replace individualized health information from a qualified medical professional. Please see a qualified medical professional for individualized assistance with your health and wellness.

My Piano Journey

If you’re new to the blog, let me take a minute to discuss my piano background.

I started private lessons with the local piano teacher at age 7.

And I continued lessons through high school, although I fully admit I was not a model student!

I loved to play piano but had terrible practice habits and basically only played what I wanted whenever I wanted.

When I got to college, I initially wanted to pursue veterinary medicine; however, I ultimately missed my time playing the piano.

After a visit to the music department one week into freshman year, I completely switched my major and graduated with a bachelor of science in fine arts five years later.

Although my full-time profession has taken a different path, I continue to be passionate about developing my piano skills and helping others discover a love for the instrument.

And I continue to play piano and organ for several local churches, teach a limited number of students, and take on accompanying gigs whenever possible.

This blog is the culmination of my efforts at encouraging busy adults to pursue their passion for music despite the busyness of life!

Who is Zach Evans?

Now that you have my backstory let’s cover a bit about Zach Evans, creator of the Piano University courses.

Zach graduated with a music degree from UW-Oshkosh after studying with Dr. Eli Kalman. 

He’s had extensive experience across a variety of performance genres and teaching students of all ages.

He maintains an active YouTube channel geared toward helping adults get a solid foundation in learning to play the piano. 

One of the things I admire most about Zach is that he emphasizes the most important thing about learning is having fun while playing.

He gives you the foundational elements of playing. Still, his curriculum is entertaining and gets you playing recognizable music quicker than other courses I’ve explored.

His entire philosophy on playing and teaching piano can be summed up by watching his incredibly inspiring TEDx video.

After stumbling across his video over a year ago, I knew I had to learn more about his piano education program, and I am still impressed!

Let’s dive into the various programs he offers.

Super Simple Piano

If you’re an absolute beginner at the keyboard, this program is where you need to start. 

Although Zach started piano lessons early in life, he didn’t pick it up again until college, when he began learning on YouTube.

He understands the challenges of learning this way as someone who has tried to piece things together on YouTube.

But he also understands that you want to learn to play piano NOW.

You don’t want to spend a year learning a bunch of useless exercises so you can possibly play a crappy rendition of Jingle Bells. 

You’re researching online piano lessons because you want to play a fun, recognizable song NOW!

After teaching thousands of adults to play, he’s learned a thing or two about how adults learn.

And the result is a course that teaches you the fundamentals you need.

Not a bunch of theoretical nonsense you’ll never use. 

Again, this is the course designed for piano beginners to take you from knowing nothing to being able to play fun songs almost immediately.

Technique Mastery

The next course offered by Zach covers a daily workout plan to improve finger dexterity, independence, and other foundational skills.

Zach’s Technique Mastery course has beginner through advanced exercises to improve your piano technique. 

This course also explains how to improve your tone at the keys, making your playing a little bit more epic!

If you struggle with weak pinkies, ghost notes, or don’t know where to start when it comes to arpeggios, this is your course.

Project Captivate

This next one is often bundled as a bonus with the Technique Mastery course but is designed to take your piano skills up a level.

Project Captivate covers all the showy stuff that professional musicians love!

You’ll learn all about fast arpeggios, trills, and glissandos.

This is the stuff you can use to “wow” your family and friends!

Supercharge Your Piano Practice

The Supercharge course is a book all about learning music faster than you’ve ever imagined.

In it, you will learn tactics to cut your practice time in half by teaching you to look for patterns in the music.

And pretty soon, you’ll be learning music so fast that you’ll be shocking yourself!

This course complements any of the other courses because it helps you learn how to pick things up faster.

Music Theory Mastery Course

At certain points in your piano learning journey, you’ll realize that your knowledge of music theory is lacking.

And it’s not a bad thing!

Music theory is often taught alongside other concepts with more traditional methods of learning to play the piano.

But sometimes, it falls by the wayside.

As someone who has taken 2 years’ worth of college music theory, believe me when I say it’s not always the most riveting material!

But Zach has found a way to make music theory fun and engaging.

This is the kind of stuff that will make your playing that much better.

When learned well, a solid foundation in music theory helps in all aspects of playing, including sight reading, improvisation, and even gig playing with a band.

These are valuable skills applicable to many areas of playing.

Play by Ear Mastery

This next one is a fun one!

I did the traditional piano lesson learning route, and my ability to play by ear is not good.

I’ve been working on it recently, but it takes time to master.

But with the Play by Ear Mastery course, you’ll learn how to listen to something and figure out how to play it.

No sheet music involved!

This course is often bundled with the Music Theory Mastery course.

Hands Together Domination

One aspect of playing that adults often struggle with is playing with both hands together.

Hand coordination takes time to develop but can be frustrating when you only want to learn to play fun songs.

As someone who has taught thousands of adult learners over the years, Zach has recognized this issue and developed his own course to help coordinate your left and right hands.

This course gives you 80 different exercises to improve coordination between the hands. 

Although this can be an issue anyone can struggle with, it’s typically encountered by adult beginners. It is a great add-on course for this type of piano student. 

And with this course, you’ll have access to a daily goal sheet to know exactly what you need to practice.

Piano University – Full Access

And for those of you who think every course on this list sounds excellent, there’s the option to enroll in the full Piano University access.

With this option, you’ll have access to all of it!

It’s a great option for students who align with Zach’s philosophies on learning and just want guidance on what to learn and when.

You then have the option to pick and choose the courses that fit with your goals at any given time. 

It’s the best of all worlds!

Benefits of Piano University Courses

Zach is open about the fact that he spent a great deal of time learning to play from online videos.

Ultimately, he did become a music major and studied with an instructor at the college level.

He’s had firsthand experience with a variety of learning methods, and the mash-up of learning styles is evident in his courses.

Here are a few other benefits of his courses:

• Course materials, including online videos, are designed for adult beginners rather than for children, unlike other online courses out there
• Piano University courses are designed to help you learn to play popular music quickly
• Courses give you only the necessary information to start playing piano right away
• Customer service is excellent
• There are practice incentives built into several of his courses to encourage you to practice regularly
• Piano University courses are encouraging for people of all ages but are focused on adults

Drawbacks of Piano University Courses

This wouldn’t be an honest review without a few drawbacks:

• Lack of emphasis on classical music
• The learning platform itself is not as visually appealing as some of the other courses out there

Reasons Piano University Might Be a Great Fit for You

If you’re an adult who desperately wants to learn to play the piano without a lot of extra information, this is the course for you.

Zach cuts out all the noise and gives you only the most pertinent information you need to get started playing the piano right away.

If you’re looking to fill in the gaps in your previous learning, some of his individual classes might be a great fit.

And who wouldn’t want to learn how to learn music faster!?

I’ve been part of Zach’s email list for over a year, and his content is incredibly encouraging and inspiring.

He often features success stories of his students who come from all walks of life.

So if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines for a while now and secretly feel that you’re too old, slow, or distracted (you fill in the blanks about reasons why you can’t learn to play the piano), his courses are definitely for you!

Reasons Piano University Might Not Be a Great Fit for You

If you’re looking for a course with traditional learning tactics, this course might not be a great fit.

Likewise, it’s not a course that’s designed to be done alongside a piano teacher. If you’re looking for a course alongside in-person piano lessons, check out my previous post reviewing the Piano Marvel program. 

I also wouldn’t recommend full access to anyone who wants to play classical music exclusively.

But if you have some gaps in your learning, his individual courses, such as the Music Theory and Play by Ear Mastery courses, might still be a great option for you.

Alternatives to Piano University courses

As promised, here are a few alternatives if you feel the Piano University courses are not quite the right fit.

ProPractice 

My favorite course for learning classical music is ProPractice. 

This course was created by Dr. Josh Wright, a doctorally prepared pianist who is passionate about teaching classical piano.

His ProPractice course is designed for beginners and advanced players and contains tutorials on a wide range of different classical piano pieces.

I absolutely love this course because it has such a huge variety of tutorials!

Thanks to his tutorial, you can check out this recent video of me playing Chopin’s Nocturne in C Minor, op. 48, No. 1.

You’ll find tutorials for the following pieces:

• Moonlight Sonata – Ludwig van Beethoven
• Waltz in A Minor – Frederic Chopin 
• Gymnopedie – Erik Satie
• Fur Elise – Ludwig van Beethoven

And so many more!

He’s always adding to the video library.

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced player, you need this course if you love classical piano!

If you’re curious about ProPractice, check out my previous post, A Complete Review of ProPractice by Dr. Josh Wright. 

Piano Marvel

I first became aware of Piano Marvel through Dr. Wright’s online materials because he also recommends this course.

Piano Marvel was developed by piano teachers and has a more traditional approach to teaching the instrument.

This program has the exclusive Sight Standard Assessment of Sight Reading, which gives you a sight reading score when connected to a digital instrument via MIDI.

It gives you feedback on your note accuracy, giving the program a video-game feel that keeps you returning for more!

Piano Marvel was designed to be used either independently or with the guidance of a piano teacher, a unique feature among most other online programs designed to be done separately from a teacher.

This program will give you all the basics you need to get started with reading music, and with a premium account, you can access their huge sheet music library as well.

With various playing abilities, from beginner to professional, you’ll find fun music you love at your exact playing level.

If you’re curious about this program, check out my previous post, Piano Marvel: Ultimate Learning Tool or Just Hype?

Frequently Asked Questions

​Can you learn to play piano with the Piano University courses?

Absolutely! These courses are designed to give you the basics so you can start playing the piano more quickly than with other online courses.

As with most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it.

Put in minimal effort, and you won’t be happy with the results.

But if you follow the program and put in the work, you’re going to love what happens with your playing!

Are the Piano University courses by Zach Evans free?

No. These courses are paid, but the fees are lower than those of other online piano courses.

​Zach also offers these courses periodically as bundles or on sale.

If you’re interested, I suggest getting on his email list because he frequently sends out emails with sales.

Can you learn to play piano by watching YouTube videos?

​There are certain aspects of playing piano that you can learn by watching YouTube videos.

Specific practice techniques and performance skills are examples.

However, investing in private lessons or an online course can help you pull all the information together to make learning more streamlined than trying to do it all on your own.

For more specifics, check out my previous post, Can You Learn to Play Piano by Watching YouTube Videos?

Final Thoughts

When it comes to learning to play an instrument, there are many different levels of learning.

First, you learn the basics, such as the names of the notes, rhythms, and dynamic markings.

But there’s so much more to playing an instrument than the basics.

There’s an evolution of your playing style that takes a long time to develop.

It’s more than playing notes on a page.

And everyone has slightly different goals.

Some people want to play by ear, while others want to be able to read sheet music.

Regardless of your goals, Zach Evans has a course for you.

He covers a vast range of skills at all different levels to enhance your piano journey.

Whether you’re a complete beginner or have been playing for years, check out any of his courses for fun, engaging content that’s guaranteed to improve your skills!

If you loved this post, check out my other piano-inspired content:

• 8 Best Books for Adult Beginners to Learn Piano
• Best Piano Keyboard for Adult Beginners
• Buying Guide: 5 Best Piano Keyboards for Beginner Kids
• The Best Ways to Learn Piano
• Ranking the Best Budget Digital Pianos
• How to Get Better at Piano: Tips to Improve Your Playing
• 5 Tips for the Best Ways to Practice Piano Scales