Before I delve into this discussion I must state that these thoughts are based on minimal knowledge of online piano courses. I have not as yet done any sort of research into any of them (and this may come later). What I am basing my thoughts on are the advertising of some of these online piano courses and what they claim, filtered through the lens of my musical knowledge and experience.
There are a myriad of online piano courses, most of them from what I have seen so far are aimed at beginners. The few that I have seen that are not aimed at beginners seem really interesting and potentially very informative. The people that are presenting these videos are experts. They either have a teaching position at a university somewhere and/or an impressive performing career. Sometimes it will be presented by someone who has achieved a certain amount of fame. As I have already stated, I haven’t done any research but I strongly suspect that these websites/apps/platforms would be worth the money. I think that these particular online piano courses are for piano players who are at a moderate to advanced level and are looking to improve their skill even further. If it wasn’t for a lack of time in my life right now , I would consider signing up for my own pleasure because there is always something more to learn – if you choose.
The vast majority of online piano courses are aimed at adult beginners. The advertising for these courses I have seen claim very similar things. The first is that learning to read traditional music notation is very difficult. I don’t believe it is that difficult if you learn it step by step in a logical progression and you learn it at a pace that is reasonable for you. You also need to consider that if you learn to play the piano, you are going to need to learn some traditional notation (even if it is just a melody line) unless you plan to play by ear or you stick to a particular online course and learn their method of symbols and the real downside to this is that you will be restricted to only ever using their music and their system.
These online piano courses also claim to be unique or a brand new system of learning to play the piano. From what I have seen, they all use a similar method where you are playing popular tunes using a chordal approach. This means that you can play the melody (usually in the right hand) and use chords in various rhythmic patterns (usually in the left hand). This is a common and legitimate way of playing the piano and this method is useful for piano students that want to play popular or jazz music. This method is not suitable for piano students that want to play classical music.
Online piano courses often claim that their method is the best because the creator of the method has over twenty years of teaching experience. I’m sure these creators have those years of experience, but so have I and so do a lot of piano teachers. I personally have met maybe a hundred piano teachers who have at least that much experience.
Another claim these courses make is that you will learn so much quicker than other methods. The truth really is that it doesn’t matter which method you choose, whether online or with a traditional piano teacher because it is how much practice and how much effort you are willing to put in that will determine how quickly you learn.
Where these online piano courses for beginners differ is how much technology is involved. Clearly, if you don’t enjoy working with technology then maybe stick to a course that is basically a series of videos.
From what I have seen so far, if you choose an online piano course to learn to play the piano, then you won’t be wasting your money as clearly they all have something legitimate to offer. Where I would exercise caution is to make sure the program you buy is suitable for you and what you want to learn.
Just remember that no matter what their claims of speedy progress are, you progress is completely determined by your efforts.