Practice Monkeys - LIVE Online Violin Classes! ~~ A New TOS Review!!

My husband and I both come from a musical background. He was in band from middle school through high school and into college. I was in music for most of my younger life with piano lessons and singing and in college I was also a part of a musical program. Then in church we were both a part of our worship teams. So music is a big thing for us. I have always wanted to send my children to get lessons, but it was just not ever feasible (time or money). My older girls have had some lessons on piano where a family member taught them for a while, but alas he moved away and lessons stopped. So when we were given the opportunity to receive live violin classes, I talked to all three of my children to see who would be interested. My eldest JUMPED at the chance. And since we had a violin already in hand (an integral part to taking lessons) we were good to go! We have been reviewing the Family Subscription to Live Violin Classes by Practice Monkeys and have loved every minute!!

When we initially started my daughter was very nervous to start off in the LIVE classes. She thought since she didn't know anything about the violin that she would be 'behind'. She is a little bit of a perfectionist, so I had to tell her it would be ok and just to do her best and she'd get better over time.

The LIVE classes meet in the afternoons 4 days a week for 15 minutes. The time of your class is determined by your level. Currently, there are 9 levels of violin classes. Miss Sarah, the teacher and founder of Practice Monkeys, also suggests the student practice extra every day and then an additional 2 days a week which should include some "fun" practice. If you are not a beginner, Miss Van Kleeck will give your student a pre-assessment to place them in the correct level. Arianna, who's had some musical knowledge, was placed in level 3. This could also be due to her age (15) so she'd be able to understand the material at a faster rate.

When you first join your subcription you are connected to your level Treehouse. Inside the Treehouse area is full of all sorts of help and instruction. First there is a welcome video and right afterward is a list of your required and optional materials. Information about violin sizing, should rests, and how to care for your violin are also there with short videos of explanation and links to all the optional resources and listening music. Then as you scroll down there are instuctions on how to prepare for your first class including links to documents that need to be downloaded and printed - like the practice sheet, skills and habits checklist, as well as a parent guidebook.

When we first started the lessons we did not have access to a printer that worked with our computers (silly technology upgrades) so we just opened them up to look at them and kept track of where Arianna was and what she still needed to work on. And lastly before your first lesson there's a section on tuning your violin with links to apps to help get you tuned in case you aren't gifted in that area. But if you need help you could just go to a Help Session with Miss Sarah and she can walk you through tuning. She is exrtremely gifted since she helped get us tuned through listening through the computer ... A.MA.ZING!

If you miss a LIVE lesson there are always 4 recorded lessons from the week before that your student can go in and listen to and play along with. They are great for extra practice as well or if something comes up like another lesson or dentist/doctor appointment that can't be moved, etc.

At the bottom of the Treehouse are the skills and habits your student (or you) will need to accomplish to move on to the next Level. They are described in detail, some with links for documents or videos for the student to be able to hear and play with whenever they want or need. At the very bottom is a checklist that can be downloaded for the Assessment. This is a separate fee (not included in the Family Subscription to Live Violin Classes) per student when they are ready to be 'tested' to go into the next level. The assessment is a one-on-one testing time that lasts about 20-30 minutes and goes over all the items in the checklist.

Arianna was SO NERVOUS for her first assessment. One of the requirements is a "Fun Song" which is the student's choice. Since we were working before the Christmas break and Miss Sarah had introduced some simple Christmas songs into the lessons Arianna picked her favorite Christmas song to be her "Fun Song". It was basically the only thing she was struggling with on her assessment checklist and more because it was the HARDEST song for a beginner to try and accomplish on her own - Carol of the Bells.

What made it hard was she was supposed to figure out the notes by EAR! After some serious listening and struggling and then talking it out she figured out what she thought sounded like the opening to it. She wasn't to know the WHOLE song, but she wanted more then 8 notes. It was the last thing on the Assessment to be done and I had to remind my daighter to take a breath.

She remembers exactly what Miss Sarah told her. "I was the first person in that level to have ever attempted that song. And she said I did well!! Really good. Keep going and you will get it."

She was so happy when she passed up to the new level. Now that we are back from break (there are times when the LIVE classes are not in session and they are listed on the Class Link page.) she is enjoying being back in class and learning how to read music from the theory portion of the classes. This Level's fun song will be a folk song ... can't wait to hear what my daughter picks for this.

Since it is a Family Subscription to Live Violin Classes and now that we have 2 full size violins (Arianna received one for Christmas!) I have decided to learn how to play as well. I've been waiting for years to learn. The violin Arianna started with was mine. I have been placed in Level 3. I will begin my lessons this week (forgot the time the first 2 days of this week.) And the full subscription (so that Arianna would not miss any classes) was a Christmas gift as well - so now the whole FAMILY can take lessons if they want. My son will be joining us as well as soon as I can upgrade is 1/4 size violin to a 1/2 or 3/4 - we aren't sure which size will work best for him. We will be getting that done in the next week or so.

And Practice Monkeys has just launched their LIVE Piano lessons! My other daughter was so excited about this and she was gifted a subscription to these classes for Christmas as well.

Seems as if we will ALL be taking lessons for our indefinite future. If you would like to try out Practice Monkeys for yourself you can subscribe here for just $1 for one month and then $49 per month thereafter. BUT for my readers, she has an even better deal if you purchase a subscription with this link. It's a great deal!

I can not say more about how great the lessons have been and the joy it has brought my children to finally be learning an instrument. My son can't wait for her to add on drums (not sure that Miss Sarah has that in the works or not, but can't hurt to put it out there.) And my middle child wants to learn the flute (hint, hint 😊) so maybe someday. But for now we will enjoy the violin and piano lessons that we will be taking through Practice Monkeys. I hope to share more videos of my kids as they progress in their learning. You can find them also on Facebook and YouTube. And please be sure to read the other reviews of my fellow Crew members by clicking the link below.