Classics By Ear – Moonlight Sonata Reviews

“This is the second piano course I’ve taken with Robin Hall, and I have been very pleased with the content of the courses. Robin clearly understands how to convey his knowledge of the piano to his students. Whether someone is a beginner or intermediate student, Robin addresses the course content for all. I am impressed with the level of information, which includes video content and pdf music sheets, that Robin includes with the courses. Clearly a lot of work for him! Thanks for offering these piano courses, great value for the money and time spent. Thanks to Robin, I am back to playing piano and staying with it, and very pleased with my progress.”

“I am 48 yrs old and started learning piano during my late 30s, taking overall 10-15 hours of private courses. I had this sheet music book gifted with my electronic piano when I bought it. I always stared at the notes of Moonlight Sonata and tried to play, but I decided I needed 3 hands to play this song, which meant it was impossible for me! Till I met this course.

I appreciate the efforts of Robin Hall. I have little knowledge of reading notes. I usually unwillingly memorize each song I play while studying, and this is not good as far as I know. Therefore, this course is invaluable for people like me. It took me about 2 months to complete the course (studying only on weekends and in the evenings) and finally today I could play the whole song without mistake. I need to practice more, in order to play in front of my friends and family and to add more expressions. Thank you.”

“Another great course from Robin! I learned this piece very slowly over several months but finally made it to the end of the 69 bars today! Now looking forward to adding expression and playing it for my friends when I finally have them over next month. Thanks!”

“This is great course! I never thought I could play this piece and understand it in such an easy to follow instruction. Excellent instructor!”

“Excellent way to learn, especially if you never learned to play the formal way. Breaking the piece down into bite sized chunks and learning one section until you have memorized it before learning the next. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can reach a reasonable standard of playing this piece.”

“This course may be a life changer for me. I have never played a musical instrument and I have no musical education at all, except for a 2-year education I had 40 years ago at Preparatory School. But after buying my digital Roland FP-30X piano and starting this course (about 2 months ago), I’m now able to play from ear up to section 59!!! I’m almost finishing. My wife and friends are puzzled 🙂 :).

I always thought that these and some other classical works were only attainable by professional pianists, but I’m able to play it!!! What a great achievement I made! Of course, few good things come without effort. I’ve playing almost every single day for the past two months (although only for about 20 minutes each day). Thanks for this wonderful course, Robin Hall and for having me entering the wonderful world of music and piano. I can hardly wait for the next course!! I will probably buy the Bach Preludes. I will also try to learn more about scales and chords and musical theory in general. Best regards, Nuno Guerreiro”

“This course was amazing – as was the Bach preludes course. It delivered as promised! I now know how to play the Moonlight Sonata! Put in the time, follow his instructions and you will learn how to play it. I’m amazed. I’m 53 and I’ve tried to learn piano over the years. I came across this and figured why not?! I plan on continuing to learn how to read sheet music and improve but in the meantime – I now have a few beautiful songs under my belt that I play often – very relaxing and fulfilling.”

“Although this is challenging for me I am in awe regarding Robin’s awesome method of teaching.”

“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.”

“This was the most challenging piano piece I have learned so far. I have wanted to learn how to play this for a long time, and honestly wondered whether it was beyond my ability. Robin’s course, which broke it down into small manageable, logical chunks, showed me that it was indeed possible for me to learn this – with perseverance and lots and lots of repetition and practice! Thank you so much, Robin, for another excellent course.”

“I never thought I would be able to play this piece, or anything as complex as this. But the way Robin Hall takes you literally by the hand and guides you step by step, it’s just amazing, I mean it works, all it takes is persistence and the results will come.
Of course, this is a complex and fairly difficult piece, it is not for novices but with Robin Halls’ guidance, someone with a few years experience, (let’s say, someone like me who has competed most of Robin Halls “Piano For All” course) can give it a go and with practice, the results will come.
Also, a suggestion: if you try this score/course and you find it difficult, do Robin Halls’ Bach Preludes course first or even his Satie course, both courses follow the same method with well written scores, keyboard diagrams and step by step guidance, and Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major (BWV 846) and Satie’s Gnossienne No 1 are much simpler than the Moonlight Sonata Mov 1, this is what I did and as I said, the results have been above my expectations…”

“This is a very good match for me. I think that I am going to learn a lot. I like the red dots and sheet music. I was never told to learn the C notes and then use them for a guide to other notes.

I am at the midpoint now and I’m enjoying the lessons. I’ve never stayed with a lesson as long as I have with this. I really enjoy it. You have such great lesson structure and pacing.”

“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.”

“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.”

“This is the best course I’ve ever had. The teaching technique, simple and helpful explanations, duration of sections, … Everything is just perfectly adjusted.

Thank you so much.”

“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.”

“Clear & informative. I teach piano improvisation & musicality. I create my own material as Piano books give the student too much information in one go, making them stressed out and confused. This type of teaching is exactly what adult beginners need.”

“I love your soothing, calming voice. This course has helped me to fill in the gaps. Thank you for breaking it all down in bite size pieces.”

“The best course that i have bought. I would like to give 6 stars! Congratulations Robin, great work! l also bought the Preludes of J.S.Bach, very, very good! I never thought to be able to play them by ear – But finally I was successful! I hope there will be more “Classics by ear”! Thanks you!”

“I love the teaching technique, as it’s really easy to follow and each section is perfectly laid out to be able to learn it by ear. Highly recommended!!!

I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12 and performing to audiences since I was 13, so I need a way to learn the piano that will keep me engaged and this is it! I have already learnt Prelude in C and Prelude in Cm and they are the only two tunes I can play on piano. This will be my third!”

“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 an incredible course for a self taught hobby and though it’s difficult to begin with and has to be learnt in piece meal chunks first before putting together when you get to end of sheet one which you don’t think you will ever accomplish at first it really is a gratifying feeling. Just to be able to learn to play a tune you like for yourself in your own time by following along to the guidance this course musician provides aligned with the detailed sheet music has, imo made this a worthwhile hobby I enjoy returning to, so from me it’s a thumbs up.

I have a ways to go yet as I took this up alongside my academic studies which are also a completely new field and this course helps give me that much needed break and escapism all in the comfort of my own home and, not having to worry about being frowned upon by a tutor for hitting those wrong chords or missing that note when practising to string a row of bars together lol. Well worth purchasing in my opinion and presented by someone who has put such effort into their online course to help others interested in and wanting to learn and study at the own pace and, who is worthy of much more praise than I could ever offer up.”

“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.”

“It’s the best piano course I’ve taken. I’m currently working on pianoforall as well. Would recommend to anyone that wants to play a classic and inadvertently learn some music theory along the way.”