Classics By Ear – Erik Satie – Gnossiennes – Reviews

What learners say about Classics By Ear — Erik Satie (Trois Gnossiennes): clear, bar-by-bar videos, simple practice notes, and an elegant sound that feels doable. Excerpts are lightly trimmed for length.

Erik Satie reviews

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HAD THEM ALL DOWN IN 3 WEEKS!

“I’ve only been playing the piano for about a month, and I was able to play the first piece fairly well after just a few days, and had them all down in 3 weeks!
I wish I could learn all new songs with this format”

Kevin S.

WORTH EVERY PENNY

“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!”

Heather P

TAUGHT ME HOW TO CONQUER ANY PIECE OF MUSIC

“I am completely amazed by this course. Not only did I learn to play the three beautiful Gnossiennes, which took me roughly 4 weeks to master each of them technically, but even better: on the way, this course taught me by example how to conquer any piece of music: by separating hands, figuring out the fingering, dividing the piece into smaller parts, practicing all of this slowly over and over and over again, to put it back together in the end.

At times I didn’t believe I’d ever be able to play the next section, but Robin explained clearly how to practice all the difficult parts. And the method works. I’m still working on adding more expression to some parts, but I play the Gnossiennes so easily now that I can actually listen to myself playing and enjoy the experience. Thank you Robin, I’ve enjoyed this course so much!”

Alexander W.

THANK YOU FOR THIS COURSE

“I want to thank you for this course!
I started to learn as a novice using old 61-keys synth with squeaking plastic keys. In three months I started thinking on buying a good piano and in eight months I recorded my performance using my own perfect instrument which I love so much and which, I believe, will help me to learn my favorite pieces. You can listen to me playing the “Trois Gnossiennes” if you want  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPva4d9vNa1lgZhDRSjbekaWYfTz8Jueh

I am an amator and do not take real music lessons with a teacher. Robin’s course helped me not only to learn to play three beautiful pieces but also pointed out many important things which you need to pay attention and this helps me to proceed with my studying as an amator.
I havent got rid of performance fear completely (do you think it is possible?), – even when just recording (alone) I perform worse then without recording. However some of Robin’s practics helps to be prepared to perform even when nervous from the beginning to the end with reasonable amount of mistakes.”

Maksym V.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT

“Great Course – Absolutely Love it. I’m currently taking Robin’s Piano For All course, and I’m in the Classical Section, so this fits right in. Robin’s style and methodology is fantastic. I learned No. 1 in less than a week. Take both courses – you’ll be so glad you did. — A grateful student.”

Paul L.

I AM NOW 70, I AM MAKING GREAT STRIDES WITH YOUR COURSE

I played Keys as a Young Boy….I am now 70….I was able to read and play music way back then. Now it seems very Foreign to me. I am making Great strides with Your Course and am now starting to get a feel for the piano again..Thank You for Your Knowledge & Presenting it so That I Can Understand and Will Play The Piano Again !!! Again….Thank You.

Denny T.

THE MUSIC IS GORGEOUS

“My son, who is 10, has been learning piano through online courses and tutorials for about a year. We got him this one as he has been looking for some beautiful but challenging pieces. He absolutely loves it. It took him a few days to learn each piece. The instruction is clear and helpful, and the music is gorgeous. It’s amazing to see how he has grown with this course and lovely to hear him play these, with increasing confidence and feeling, throughout the day each day. As a course, we couldn’t recommend this highly enough. Our only suggestion would be to offer a follow-up to this one to teach the Gymnopedies. We would be the first to enrol!”

Lesia S.

WORKS FOR BEGINNERS

“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.”

Jochen S.

IT’S CHANGED THE WAY I LOOK AT MUSIC

“I am incredibly happy with this course it’s changed the way I look at Music. I was completely overwhelmed with the Satie sheet music, 4flats! Now when I approach a piece I’m looking for patterns, for how the whole thing is structured. I listen more and better as well because I understand more. Thank you!”

Luke R.

A GREAT COURSE

“A great course of quickly and effectively pickup these 3 cool classics. I only intended to go 1st piece but the instructor has put together the course so well and I did 2nd piece as well and have plans to do the 3rd one too. Nice material, video and above all instructor have done a great job is walking me through the different section. I had about 6 months experience of learning/playing piano (all online) and was able to play first 2 pieces in this course pretty much in two weeks.
If the instructor is reading this comment…. Sir – Thanks for this great course and please create more such courses covering popular classics.”

Vikas S.

FANTASTICALLY ORGANISED

“Robin is a great instructor. He breaks down these beautiful classical pieces into very digestible bits. His hierarchy of sheet music is also fantastically organized and useful, depending on where you are in your mastery of the song. He even adds good tips on how to take the songs to the next level. If you enjoy Satie, this video will certainly help you play his pieces, even if you’re just a beginner like me.”

Guy T.

SIMPLY AWESOME

“Just completed this course.
I don’t think anybody make the lessons easier than this lecturer. Simply awesome and I think it’s a kind of psychological approach from the lecturer.
If you learn to play classical piano, please go dive into this right away!
”

Tariq H.

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS COURSE

“I thoroughly enjoyed this course.
I had heard Satie’s GymnopĂŠdies before, but not the Gnossiènes, and didn’t really know what to expect. I initially found the musical scores a little overwhelming and intimidating when I first downloaded and looked at them, and doubted that I would be able to play them without a LOT of effort.
Although I am not a complete beginner anymore and have been playing the piano for about a year now, Satie’s pieces are not exactly easy!
But Robin has structured this course extremely well, breaking down each of the three pieces into logical sections. I loved learning these pieces in such a manageable, step-by-step way.
Although I have finished the course now, I realise that I will need to put in a lot more practice to feel really comfortable with the left hand jumps and chords and the strange-sounding right hand melodies, and to be able to bring it all together in a moving, expressive way – and to do so consistently, without errors.
Robin, thank you so much for guiding us through these beautiful pieces. I hope you’ll offer more courses like this in the future.”

Regine L.

FANTASTIC COURSE

“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.”

Vincent R.

MY ABILITY TO READ MUSIC IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY

“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.”

David L.

SIMPLY AWESOME

“Just completed this course.
I don’t think anybody make the lessons easier than this lecturer. Simply awesome and I think it’s a kind of psychological approach from the lecturer.
If you learn to play classical piano, please go dive into this right away!”

Tariq H.

YOU’LL BE PLAYING THIS PIECE IN A FEW WEEKS

“Awesome course. Helpful even if you have never played the piano but would take some time to get used to it.
For those who have been playing for 1 or 2 months, don’t be afraid to tackle a proper piece. Just put in an 15 min on top of your normal practice and you’ll be playing the haunting piece in a few weeks.
Playing a piece like this is highly motivating and keeps you going through the simpler pieces that you might be learning”

Alvin L.

THIS SYSTEM IS SO SATISFYING

“After literally one week of 20 minutes per day I could play the first piece without sheet music- this system is so satisfying and really works.!! Doesn’t mean I can improvise jazz yet but it’s totally got me enthusiastic to play and learn more. 5* from me…”

Tristan C.

AMAZING COURSE

“As an adult piano learner, I’ve studied playing piano with all kinds of methods for years. Yet I can only play two simple pieces. Following this course though, I learned the Gnossienne No 1 over a weekend(less than 10 hours).

It feels great! And I get more interested in music theory now (tried to study the chords and inversions once, but it hadn’t make much sense to me) as I can see how the chords work in action. Amazing course. Thank you for putting it together.”

Hua W.

WELL STRUCTURED AND EASY TO FOLLOW

“Really good, finished 1st gnossienne. The lessons are well structured and easy to follow! I hope Robin will do more music pieces from different composers in the future! I highly recommend his “pianoforall” course as well, that is truly an incredible value for money where you will learn, rythm, blues, ballad, classic, sight reading and get plenty of practice improvising.

Robin also has a fantastic way of teaching where you both learn to play AND understand what you play as you follow.”

Jakob L.