“The best tutorial, overall comprehensive, user-friendly, and not an intimidating MUSIC TEACHER. Thanks, Rob!”
Classics By Ear – Student Reviews
Students are LOVING the Classics By Ear courses!
Now ANYONE can play their favourite classical pieces.

Students are LOVING the Classics By Ear courses!
Now ANYONE can play their favourite classical pieces.
Jump to a course page on Pianoforall Academy
“The best tutorial, overall comprehensive, user-friendly, and not an intimidating MUSIC TEACHER. Thanks, Rob!”
“I really appreciate the approach you take – learning to play by ear is just so so rewarding but I now realise the 10,000 hours factor is so true -I need to practice productively everyday -which I am yet to achieve but will get there -I have purchased your previous 2 courses and found them most helpful(Classic/Eric Sate )-the courses are so accessible – many thanks much appreciated -I dream of playing Moonlight Sonata to my family -lets see if i can achieve that !!!!”
“Because of its flexibility of use. You can match your own ability and time available that you have. Which means you are in complete control of your own progress. It has never been patronising. In order to gain from the course you do have to be disciplined to carry out regular study. I’ve found all the courses I’ve tried very well paced and logically presented with very clear instruction.
If anything I’ve signed up for more courses than I have time to concentrate on but I find I can drop in and out of your courses and easily pick them up where I left off and so far not been bored by any. They are in fact all related to my interest in becoming better educated about jazz piano.
I have been involved with music most of my life and I feel I’m making more progress than ever before. One thing my be of interest l’m 87 years old.”
“Fantastic course to take a beginner like me through three beautiful classical pieces to the point that I can enjoy them from the perspective of a pianist (albeit a novice!) Thank you.”
“It is a truly inspirational course for me. I am making progress !!! Just in time I have found the words of encouragement and support. So important to have those. Great teacher. I am really grateful for the clear and easy to follow visual instructions that I needed most as I am studying without a tutor by my side.”
“Robin Hall is a superb teacher. The programme and its accompanying resources are crystal clear and Robin’s presentation of memorable elements makes difficult passages accessible to the learner.”
“This is great course! I never thought I could play this piece and understand it in such an easy to follow instruction. Excellent instructor!”
“Really enjoying the logical instructions and methods together with the clarity of the diagrams with keys and finger positions- it makes learning a pleasure”
“This is the second course I have studied with this tutor. I find his method of instruction is excellent for my limitations. Having left and right hand coordination problems.”
“Do I recommend this course? YES, highly. I sort of learned to play the piano as a child, if you know what I mean, and there were times when I tried to teach myself to play Moonlight Sonata. I never got past the first 2-3 lines. Decades later, here I am playing Moonlight Sonata in its entirety, all thanks to this wonderful course. I’d like to say it’s a miracle, but in reality, it was a combination of patience and practice on my part AND the use of Robin Hall’s amazing program.
The course is divided into lessons that present this complex (imho) piece of music in manageable sections. Robin offers a very thorough review of each section along with suggestions on how to remember the fingering, which is very helpful. It takes time to learn this piece of music. I practiced every day and only moved on to the next lesson when I felt comfortable with what I had learned so far. I feel that one of the most important things is to allow yourself to enjoy the process of learning each section and to not solely focus on the goal. In this way, you’ll have fun and you’ll keep progressing! Then, before you know it, one day, you too will be playing Moonlight Sonata all on your own.”
“This course is wonderful. The instructions are detailed and clear, with easy-to-follow demonstrations. I could always get useful tips when I needed them.
I couldn’t possibly manage to learn this beautiful piece without this course, in only 28 days. (last time I wanted to learn it from sheet music and gave up at bar 5…) I played this piece in front of my family and got loads of praise 😀
Thank you, dear instructor. Learning piano has never been this engaging and fun.”
“Thank you so much Mr. Hall. I am really excited about learning to play a movement from a Beethoven sonata. I have derived hours of pleasure from your Bach’s Prelude in C major, and am continuing to work on the Prelude in C minor. Your courses are just wonderful, especially for older people like me who have always wanted to play classical music on the piano.”
“Great course and very good instructor, videos, resources. As far as I can tell this course also works for beginners if you are patient. I started learning piano six months ago (practicing 30-60 minutes per day) and started this course two months ago. Now I am already able to play Gnossienne no.1 quite well and just started learning number 2.”
“I enjoyed this course as much as any course I’ve taken. It is a good length and very focused–it teaches one thing and teaches it really well. It provides a step-by-step walkthrough for playing Erik Satie’s Trois Gnossienes on Piano. These are beautiful pieces and not too difficult to play, and Robin’s method makes learning them really straightforward. I can now play through these pieces consistently, more or less by memory. My ability to read sheet music for piano improved significantly, though that is only a secondary emphasis in the course. Highly recommended for an adult learner with a tiny bit of piano who wants to master one piece. I’m already moving on to Robin’s Bach course and looking forward to it.”
“Another excellent course and a piece of music that I have wanted to learn for a very long time. Robin’s skill in breaking each piece into manageable sections and his calm, patient and logical approach to teaching inspires confidence and makes learning an absolute joy.
I loved the Erik Satie and Bach courses and Moonlight Sonata is, in my mind, even better. I had tried learning piano on and off over the years with very limited success but am now building up a repertoire of beautiful pieces that I can play from memory every day. Thanks Robin 🙂”
When I first heard the piece I never imagined I could ever play it. But thanks to the teaching method I managed to play it within an hour.
“This course helped me get started with playing the piece straight away. I don’t have experience playing the piano or reading the sheet music, I only tried a few times with very modest results. This time it’s different. All the information and the commentary is really helpful; looking at the way chord progression is structured from so many angles helps to memorise it quickly. Overall, I’m very satisfied.”
“Robin provides a wide variety of creative and interesting strategies for learning this piece, so if you persist, you can succeed, no matter what your learning style is. It does take a LOT of time, but it is definitely possible to get pretty good at the piece.
I especially appreciate Robin’s motivation and advice for making practice time more effective. I’m using these practice strategies on other pieces, so my playing has become more accurate since taking this class!
I wasn’t too crazy about the Satie piece when I listened to the course preview, but I’m very glad I signed up for this course. I’ve come to quite enjoy this piece, now that I can play it. It’s very soothing. Plus, it’s a confidence booster, because the music actually sounds like it’s harder to play than it is.
I hope Robin will set up some additional classes like this, to help us master a few more fun and impressive pieces.”
“It is an excellent way to teach someone how to play….I love the music and I want to play it. The instructor does a very thorough job of explaining a lot about the piece…from they types of cords, how to read the music, when to press pedals, its pretty amazing. I am very happy to have found this teacher and this course. Worth every penny!”
“Excellent course. Especially appreciate the fingering notation and highlighting of the sharp notes. Labeling of the notes in general and videos of the bars being played are also very helpful.”
“Very engaging and motivating, inspirational and encouraging. Robin’s tuition – as with his broader course PIANO FOR ALL (which I also own and have gained much from) – is again superb! Quite simply piano tuition worth its weight in gold, but very modestly priced – a massive “bang for your buck”! Buy it and try it for yourself and you won’t be disappointed, I promise you; indeed you’ll be chomping at the bit to have a go and progress to the next level of your musical journey, discovery, and competence.
Thanks, Robin, keep up the good work – and keep bringing us more superb piano/music lessons in the near future, sir! :-)”
“Overall really good and enjoyable course, and I learned to play the 1st movement of the Moonlight Sonata never having played piano and not been able to read notes. Love it.”
“Robin Hall’s approach is brilliant – his starting point is how humans work (whereas most people’s starting point is how *music* works) – and then draws on that understanding to design his lessons.
As a beginner, I can’t believe how quickly I’ve been able to learn piano with his method.”
“I loved this course and the way the three musical pieces were divided into small easily digestible sections. You could quickly get a sense of achievement. The instructor’s calm voice, explanations and encouragements worked well for me too. I learned to play the pieces much faster than I expected for a beginner!”