Updated October 2026: Pianoforall is now offered through the Pianoforall Academy (online video lessons and interactive ebooks, with downloadable ebooks).
Pianoforall is marketed as a course that teaches chord-based piano — blues, jazz, pop, and ballads. But many prospective buyers want to know: does it also teach classical piano? The answer is yes, but with important caveats about where classical fits in the curriculum. Book numbers here refer to the earlier ebook edition (10 main books); the Academy version is organized online, so check the Academy’s course page for the current lesson list.
Where Classical Piano Appears in Pianoforall
Classical piano becomes a major focus in Book 9, Classical Piano. Pianoforall does not wait until that point to show you any notation at all — basic notation appears along the way — but Book 9 is where reading and classical repertoire move to the foreground. The distinctive idea is that you arrive there after building rhythm, chord and pattern recognition in the earlier books.
What Classical Skills You Will Develop
Book 9 approaches classical music using skills the course has already developed: recognizing chords, inversions, recurring patterns and motifs rather than treating every note as unrelated information. That gives the classical section a different starting point from a traditional reading-first method. It can build useful reading and repertoire skills, but it should not be confused with a complete conservatory-style classical curriculum.
What Pianoforall Classical Training Won’t Give You
Pianoforall does not prepare you for conservatory-level performance. The classical component is rigorous but self-contained. You won’t have a teacher correcting technique in real time, which means subtle hand position problems can develop without correction. For someone with goals around performance examinations (ABRSM, RCM, etc.), supplementary in-person lessons are strongly recommended alongside the later classical work.
The repertoire selection is also curated for approachability rather than comprehensiveness. You’ll play specific pieces chosen for pedagogical value, not a broad survey of the canonical classical piano literature.
The Unique Strength of Pianoforall’s Classical Approach
By the time students reach Book 9, they have already spent eight books building rhythm, chord knowledge, inversions, patterns and different playing styles. Pianoforall then uses that accumulated musical context as an aid to reading classical music: familiar harmonic shapes and recurring motifs can make a score feel less like a stream of unrelated notes.
Should You Use Pianoforall If Classical Is Your Main Goal?
If classical is your primary goal from day one, Pianoforall is a non-obvious but defensible choice. You’ll spend the first 5 books developing skills that classical-only curricula skip entirely — and those skills make you a more complete musician. If you want to go straight to Bach and Mozart without the chord/jazz detour, a classical-focused course or teacher is more direct.
For most adult learners who want classical as part of a broader musical skill set — rather than as the exclusive focus — Pianoforall covers it well enough to be genuinely worthwhile.
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How we reviewed this (updated 16 October 2026): this page is based on the course materials we have seen, the vendor’s information and public feedback.
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