Simply Music

Simply Music is an Australian-developed piano method that reverses the conventional sequence: students learn to play forty-plus pieces, contemporary, blues, accompaniment, and classical, before they read a single note of staff notation. It is polarizing among traditional teachers and popular among families who want their children playing real music before they can read it.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Subject-specialist (piano); play-first, notation-later
Worldview	Secular
Grades	PreK-12 (ages 4 and up)
Formats	Licensed teacher (in-person / online), self-study online home program
Cost tier	Standard
Parent intensity	3
ESA-common	No
Accredited	No
Established	Late 1990s (incorporated program; Neil Moore began developing the method while teaching a blind student in Australia)
Website	simplymusic.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	3	Strong on playing from day one; weak on sight-reading, theory, and technique by design
Ease of teaching	4	Scripted video lessons remove parent burden; licensed teacher adds accountability
Content quality	4	Forty-plus pieces across styles, each teachable in a single lesson
Flexibility	3	Students can pair with a traditional reading program later; fits a music-alongside-core pattern
Value for money	3	Self-study home program is modestly priced; private lessons run standard teacher rates
Worldview scope	5	Secular method usable across every family
Visual/design	3	Functional video production; not cinematic, not embarrassing
Support resources	3	Student Home Materials, companion app, teacher community when enrolled with a licensed teacher

Who the publisher is

Simply Music was developed by Australian music educator Neil Moore, who built the method in the late twentieth century while teaching piano to a young blind student for whom conventional sheet-music instruction was a non-starter. Moore's premise, that playing should precede reading the way speech precedes literacy, borrows a familiar argument from language acquisition and applies it to piano. The program was formalized and began licensing teachers in 1998, and now operates through a network of licensed instructors in multiple countries and through a self-directed online home program at pianoonline.com.

The business is headquartered in Sacramento, California, and operates principally through two channels: teacher licensing (a training program that certifies independent piano teachers in the Simply Music method) and the Music & Creativity self-study program (a video-based home course). The company does not publish a sheet-music curriculum in the traditional sense; the core product is the teacher's method and the student-facing repertoire.

Simply Music occupies an unusual niche in homeschool music education. Most piano method books. Alfred's, Faber, Bastien, assume that notation-reading is the spine of the instrument. Simply Music treats notation as a later-added skill, and in doing so divides opinion sharply. Traditional piano teachers either approve or disapprove; there is not much middle ground. Families, by contrast, often report enthusiasm because their child is playing recognizable music within weeks.

The core pedagogy

The method teaches by shape, pattern, and diagram rather than by staff notation. A student learning a new piece receives a visual map, which keys, in which order, with which hand, and memorizes the pattern by playing it. Songs are introduced whole, not broken into exercises. The theory is that the hand learns the instrument the way a toddler learns speech: by producing real language immediately and reverse-engineering the grammar later.

The Foundation Program, according to publisher materials, yields forty-plus pieces over roughly one year of weekly lessons across four style categories: contemporary, blues, accompaniment, and classical. Students supposedly finish the Foundation year able to sit at a piano and play full pieces from memory across all four styles. Reading on staff notation is introduced after the Foundation year as a separate skill, sometimes in parallel with continued repertoire and sometimes as a bridge to a more conventional method.

Signature mechanics: (1) Shape-and-pattern notation, proprietary diagrams rather than five-line staves, so students can play before they read. (2) Playing-based practice, no scales or Hanon exercises in the early program; practice is playing the repertoire. (3) Licensed teacher network, the dominant delivery mode is a weekly in-person or online lesson with a teacher trained and licensed by Simply Music, which keeps the method consistent across instructors. (4) Self-study home option, the Music & Creativity program at pianoonline.com delivers the Foundation content through video lessons for families who cannot access or afford a licensed teacher.

A day in the life

A seven-year-old using Simply Music with a licensed teacher has one lesson per week (usually thirty minutes, sometimes sixty), plus daily practice. Practice in the Foundation year is short, ten to fifteen minutes most days, and consists of playing through current and prior pieces from memory, no page-turning and no metronome drill. The parent's role is to make sure the student sits down and plays, not to teach. Most licensed teachers also provide a companion app or downloadable Student Home Materials that diagram each piece.

A family using the self-study Music & Creativity program instead watches video lessons on their own schedule. The Foundation Course is offered free to register; a small monthly membership (around $4 per month per the publisher's checkout flow as of April 2026) maintains account access to Student Home Materials, and subsequent programs unlock individually. The practice pattern is the same, short daily sessions playing real repertoire, but the accountability of a weekly lesson is replaced by the parent's own vigilance.

What they do exceptionally well

Playing real music from week one. Most piano beginners spend six months on quarter-note exercises in C position before they touch anything a listener would recognize as a song. A Simply Music student can perform a blues accompaniment for relatives by the end of month two. For children whose motivation depends on hearing themselves make actual music, this is a genuine advantage and a genuine reason the method retains students who would otherwise quit.

A predictable pathway for teachers. The licensed-teacher network means that a family moving cross-country can find a Simply Music teacher in the new city who will pick up approximately where the old one left off. This consistency is unusual in private music instruction, where method and expectations vary wildly from teacher to teacher.

Low daily parent load. Unlike Suzuki, Simply Music does not require the parent to sit in on lessons, take notes, or supervise practice with a score. The weekly lesson and the companion materials carry the instructional burden. A parent who cannot read music themselves can still host a Simply Music child successfully.

What they do poorly

Sight-reading and theory lag. Because notation is deferred, Simply Music students at the end of the Foundation year cannot sight-read at the level a traditional-method student of the same duration would. The reading bridge is introduced afterward, but families who want their child auditioning for youth orchestras, church accompanist slots, or conservatory prep programs will find the reading gap a real obstacle without supplementation.

Technique is not the focus. The program's weight sits on repertoire and pattern recognition, not on posture, finger independence, or progressive technical exercises. Advanced students often need to layer a separate technique program (Hanon, Czerny, Burgmüller) on top of Simply Music to keep progressing past the intermediate level.

Self-study success depends heavily on the parent. The licensed-teacher version has structure built in. The free home-course version does not. Families using only the online self-study home program report higher drop-off without a weekly outside commitment, which matches what one would expect of any self-paced skill program for a young child.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Simply Music if: your child is young and you want them playing recognizable music quickly; you want a piano option that does not require the parent to read music or direct practice; you value a licensed-teacher network with consistent method; your child has lost interest in traditional method books and you want a different approach before giving up on piano entirely.

• Skip Simply Music if: your child is preparing for conservatory auditions, competitions, or a church/orchestra accompanist role requiring strong sight-reading; you already have a traditional piano teacher you like and trust; you want staff notation introduced from lesson one; you plan to supplement heavily with a reading method anyway and prefer to start there.

Cost honest assessment

Simply Music's Foundation Course self-study is registered free of charge per the publisher's pianoonline.com signup flow (April 2026); beyond the foundation content, an approximately $4 monthly membership maintains account access, and subsequent programs unlock for one-time fees that vary by program. Private lessons with a licensed Simply Music teacher are priced at each teacher's discretion, typical rates in the United States run $120–$260 per month for weekly half-hour lessons, consistent with standard private piano instruction.

Compared to a typical Faber-method piano student working with a local teacher at the same monthly rate, Simply Music costs roughly the same but delivers a different progression, more repertoire, less reading, at the same twelve-month mark. Compared to a purely self-directed program like Hoffman Academy, Simply Music's self-study is less developed as a standalone course and more developed as an adjunct to a licensed teacher.

ESA eligibility notes

Simply Music is not a commonly listed ESA marketplace vendor, and its distributed licensed-teacher model complicates reimbursement. Families using ESA funds through states like Arizona's ClassWallet or Florida's MyScholarShop generally cannot reimburse private-teacher tuition through these platforms; they reimburse purchased curriculum, not lesson fees. Families in states with more flexible ESA rules (West Virginia's Hope Scholarship, Utah's Utah Fits All) may find private music instruction approvable as an enrichment expense, but workflows require documentation the parent must provide. ESA-funded families should verify with their program administrator before enrolling.

Alternatives

• Hoffman Academy, a family would choose Hoffman over Simply Music because Hoffman introduces notation from the first unit, includes theory worksheets, and offers a free core program with paid supplements at a lower total price point.
• Faber Piano Adventures, a family would choose Faber over Simply Music because Faber is the mainstream traditional method, widely used by local piano teachers, and integrates reading, technique, and repertoire from the start.
• Piano Marvel, a family would choose Piano Marvel over Simply Music because Piano Marvel uses MIDI-keyboard feedback to grade student playing against standard notation, appealing to older beginners and teens who want measurable progress.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed Simply Music's corporate site at simplymusic.com, the self-study home course at pianoonline.com, and the publisher's public program descriptions. We cross-referenced the method's history against Wikipedia's Simply Music entry and the Neil Moore biography for founding and development timeline. Licensed-teacher pricing was corroborated against published rates at independent Simply Music studios. Pricing and program details verified April 2026.