Play Piano Music may be compensated through the links in the post below, but the opinions are our own.
I approached Rocket Piano from the perspective of already playing piano on my own, so I had to put on the hat of a beginner to fully evaluate how effective this course is. Bottom line up front: for $39.95, you get a lot more than I expected, and it’s a fun way to learn the basics.
What’s in the Box (Well, the Download)
Rocket Piano is a digital download, so you get access right away. Inside you’ll find:
- 3 core books covering Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced
- 2 specialty books on Jazz and Gospel/Spirituals & Hymns
- 57 video lessons
- 133 audio files so you can hear what you’re supposed to be playing
- 26 jam tracks for practicing with background music
- 3 learning games — Jayde Musica Pro (sight-reading), Chordinator (chord recognition), and the Rocket Piano Metronome
- Quizzes throughout the books to check your progress
For $39.95, that’s a lot of stuff.
The Lessons
There is a LOT of information to go through here. They claim over 12 months of lessons, and I don’t doubt it if you go at the pace set in the books. You can obviously move faster if you’re picking things up quickly, but I felt the pace was good for almost any learner.
The lessons are made to be fun, and I thought they were definitely better than reading boring piano books. The demonstration videos were really enjoyable and helped me get concepts quickly and easily. They stress the importance of practicing “smarter, not harder” and this is apparent throughout. It was easy for me to take their ideas and implement them in my own practice. It really did help me concentrate on the key aspects of my practice time, which I was not doing before.
It would be GREAT for a beginner to learn these methods up front because it will save you a lot of time. Poor practicing can lead to bad habits that are hard to shake as you progress. Take it from someone who basically taught themselves to play piano with NO structure to the practice routine at all!
The Bonus Software
The bonus software is actually worth talking about. These aren’t just throwaway freebies they tacked on to pad out the sales page. The Rocket Piano Metronome is useful for timing exercises and working on tempo. Jayde Musica Pro helps you learn to read sheet music through games, and the Chordinator helps you sight-read chords faster. I found myself going back to these even when I didn’t feel like opening the books.
Where It Gets Thin
Rocket Piano covers the basics well, but once you get into intermediate territory, the content starts to feel a little light. The beginner book is good, the specialty books on jazz and gospel are nice bonuses, but if you’re looking for real depth in theory or advanced technique, you’re going to outgrow this course.
The production quality is also a step below Piano for All and Learn & Master Piano. Not bad, just not as polished.
Rocket Piano vs. Piano for All
At $39.95, Rocket Piano is priced close to Piano for All ($49). Both are digital downloads aimed at beginners, but they go about it differently.
Rocket Piano is more of a traditional textbook approach with quizzes and games mixed in. If you’re the type who likes checking boxes and testing yourself as you go, you’ll probably prefer it. The bonus software is also something Piano for All doesn’t offer.
Piano for All takes the opposite approach and gets you playing songs first, then fills in the theory later. It has more content overall, goes deeper into more styles, and has a much bigger user base (500,000+ students). For most people starting out, it’s the one I’d recommend. But Rocket Piano is a perfectly fine choice if you like the structured, quiz-based style of learning better.
If you want the full breakdown, Learn & Master Piano is the most thorough course I’ve reviewed, though it’s out of stock right now.
My Final Take
For the price of one piano lesson, Rocket Piano gives you months of material and some fun practice tools. It’s not the deepest course out there, but it’s a good way to get started, especially if you’re not sure whether you’ll stick with piano and don’t want to drop a ton of money up front.
Plus, you get a 60-day money-back guarantee, and they let you keep the bonus software even if you return the course. Hard to argue with that.