These are the Youtube masters piano players need to watch in 2023! Each of them brings you genuine, produced-for-Youtube piano & music content that will teach, entertain, or help you on your way to becoming a better musician. We have ranked them according to the size of their channels because that’s the way the Youtube world works. Please note that we did not include artists in this particular list that just put their music videos up for the world to listen to. While we love many artists who showcase their music on Youtube, we wanted to concentrate on a list of the top piano content CREATORS. There is quite a broad spectrum out there – some of them out to teach you, some of them out to touch your soul, but all of them out to entertain you.
1. Vinheteiro
Who doesn’t know this Lord of Piano Youtube with just short of 7 million subscribers and a gaze that watches you at least as intently as you watch him! “Lord Vinheteiro” is the artificial character created by Brazilian pianist, multi-instrumentalist (and, of all things, he is apparently a vet, too!) Fabricio de Paulo. If you look at his playlists and videos, it seems there isn’t a list that he has not done: From various “Songs You’ve Heard And Don’t Know The Name“ or “10 Most Difficult Piano Pieces” (which he can all play by heart while staring intently at you) to “Music Evolution from 1680 to 2017”. And no, nothing of it is boringly educational, even though he does, in fact, have his own Music Academy, too. But even the most difficult classical piece is presented with that glare and a great sense of humor – check out “15 piano players’ problems“. He also does crazy things to harpsicords and melodicas, dressed up in period gear, complete with wig. Lord Vinheteiro shows that it’s possible to wear a powdered wig and be cool as hell!
2. Jacob’s Piano
Well over a million Youtubers follow this enchanting Danish composer and pianist (whose sheet music, by the way, is available on OKTAV!). If you are looking for mellow piano music to brighten up your home office day, he has you covered – be it with his beautiful Einaudi Covers playlist or with his playlist of Relaxing Piano Music for background listening. If you want to learn, he’s got links to his website full of resources, and a Synthesia playlist (synthesia is the computer animation showcasing little colored drops of music “falling” onto the corresponding keys to indicate which keys should be played when). What’s very handy is: You can listen to his music in one video, and then learn how to play them in another one! Do check out Jacob’s playlist of original songs called “Jacob’s Melodies” to listen to whenever your soul needs a tender piano music caress.
3. Matthias Krantz
Just short of a million people out there follow the crazy shenanigans of Swedish pianist and content creator Mattias Krantz on Youtube. He kills pianos for fun and has a whole playlist dedicated to this. Also, he does weird things to pianos, like filling them with water before he plays them. He does take care to waterproof them first, though. One does wonder where gets his seemingly endless supply of pianos from – but there’s no denying the entertainment value of what he does. So, if you’ve always wanted to hear how a piano with 88 actual hammers (the tool-box things!) sounds or wondered whether you could play slap bass on your instrument if you strung it with bass strings, this is the channel for you.
This might also be a channel for you if your parents used to force you to play the piano, and you have a lot of passive-aggressive anger pent up inside you. Use this channel to release it in a safe way, without actually harming any instrument. Then forgive your parents – with OKTAV you, too, can love to play the piano.
4. David Bennett Piano
This British pianist and composer has the unique gift of making music theory as fascinating as your favorite Netflix show. If you, like his 600,000+ subscribers, have always pondered questions like “Why does music only use 12 different notes?” or wanted to know which songs use the Lydian mode, or asked yourself how much music theory the Beatles actually knew, David Bennett Piano is the channel for you.
On the other hand, if memories of music theory lessons at school still haunt and scare you, this is ALSO the channel for you! Because a) there are no exams, and b) David has fantastic ways of visualizing stuff to prove his point. He is truly a master of explaining things in an easy and understandable way.
If you watch his videos regularly, which we recommend, you will also learn a ton about his favorite music (The Beatles and Radiohead). You also get to meet his music friends, whom he likes to involve in fun challenges like recognizing Beatles songs after listening to them for 2 seconds. If you don’t care for music theory at all, you might want to listen to David because of his beautiful diction!
5. Nahre Sol
This pianist and composer (trained at Juillard, no less!) aims to “distill her distinct perspective as a classically-trained pianist with an insatiable appetite for new ideas about music theory, harmony, practicing, and composition” on Youtube, she says on her website.
Nahre Sol has performed all over the world, but has also given masterclasses and talks – and on Youtube you get a whole load of thoughtful and entertaining content for free: She shares her exercise tips and practice notes – check out “Why I Love Using the iPad“, for example – , her original music, and, very enjoyably, a whole playlist on “How to Sound Like…“, exploring the stylistic idiosyncrasies of famous classical composers. But she loves other genres, too – and puts her own spin on Pop, Lo-fi Hip Hop and other subtypes of music. Nahre Sol’s channel currently appeals to 470,000 subscribers – and we understand why.
6. Become A Piano Superhuman
Zach Evans does not aim to appeal to modest expectations, as you can tell by his channel’s name. But this American Youtuber’s channel, sporting 380,000 subscribers, lives up to the boldness: It is a highly motivational free piano course that caters to the needs of beginners, intermediates, and more advanced players, showing hacks and techniques for quicker learning. Check out Zach’s video for absolute beginners “Day 1 – Easy First Lesson for Beginners“. Zack also gives loads of practice and technique tips, like “The Best Left Hand Pattern for Piano (the “Secret Sauce”)“. Zach’s channel does not only ooze advice and inspiration, but also Zach’s passion for understanding what his followers need.
7. Learn Piano With Jazer Lee
Jazer Lee is the piano teacher you’ve always wanted! The Australian pianist and composer has set up his channel with the explicit purpose of helping you learn to play the piano better, more quickly, more beautifully, and more passionately. He quotes, on his web page:
“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable.”
Ludwig van Beethoven
With 311,000 followers, Jazer will guide you towards avoiding mistakes when learning – like “5 Common Pitfalls of Self-Taught Pianists”, show you how to get more results with clever practice techniques, and equip you with a plethora of other learning tips and tricks – always totally relatable, never high-brow. You’ll get a ton of hand exercise inspiration – like in “Practice This CHORD Exercise Daily”, but the most amazing thing is: Reading the titles of his videos you`ll realize that he KNOWS you. He knows what you’re struggling with. He knows you don’t like reading the bass notes. He knows what keeps you stuck. Luckily, he also knows how you can overcome everything that’s holding you back – and he shows you! Visualization is clear and easy to understand – you see his fingers on the keys, the chords, and you see your favorite Australian piano teacher himself explaining things to you.
8. Andrei Piano
This channel will warm your heart for many reasons. Its young Romanian owner, living in London, is a self-taught pianist who enjoys playing in public places and bringing music and joy to the pedestrians crossing by. Andrei’s channel captures special moments – like, when he plays, and some random stranger joins him. Or people start to dance. Another important thing Andrei teaches his almost 44,000 subscribers is: Just get out there and play! You don’t have to be a perfect trained virtuoso to make music that brightens people’s day – just dare to sit down in public and do your thing! That said, he plays wonderfully in those Honky Tonk pianos in malls, tube stations, or bars.
9. Brandon Hawksley
This British piano student started playing the piano as an adult in 2017, vlogging his progress to – nowadays – more than 35.000, followers on Youtube, but also self-teaching himself to play Video Game Music with the help of Youtube. After a while, Brandon Hawksley felt he needed to up his game. He took a teacher. His passion for the piano became so great that now he is really and truly studying to become a professional pianist, and he has become a huge lover of Classical piano literature! Going through his playlist, he takes you along every step of his way! His message is clear:
“Whatever age you are, it’s not too late to start.”
Brandon Hawksley
Watch his “Becoming a better Pianist – 5 Do’s and Dont’s” or join him in “Learning a Beethoven Sonata from Scratch”. This Youtuber’s special charm is his authentic unpretentiousness. He’s that piano lover that just loves to connect with other piano lovers!
10. Evgeny Genchev
Evgeny Genchev’s channel features his “sweet struggles” with the piano, myths around the piano, and Chopin’s favorite warm-up exercises, among many other tips and tricks, from optimizing your rehearsal to having more focus. It is well worth listening to the Bulgarian-born professional pianist’s covers and practice sessions, too- watch spectacular videos like his AVICII cover! Another unique feature that you should not miss out on: His backstage podcast interviews with fellow musicians. Evgeny has just short of 25,000 subscribers.
Honorable Mentions
Let us introduce you to two Youtubers with a significantly smaller audience whom we liked and who we feel deserve a larger audience – Chloe Marie Piano and Piano Passion Lianne.
Piano Chloé Marie
French-German pianist Chloé-Marie speaks five languages like a native and is widely traveled. So is her piano – it seems safe to assume her 2100+ followers enjoy that she likes to change the scenery in her videos every now and then. So you see Chloé-Marie playing – on her balcony, in front of the scenic window, in – obviously – the piano corner of her flat, in some dingy (sorry!) practice room, and elsewhere. Although she does compose her own music (as we found out on Instagram, she will put in to her Youtube soon), her Youtube channel features covers ranging from Piaf to Coldplay to Billie Eilish & Khalid, with lots of movie music added to the mix. Tutorials are in the pipeline, too. What we like best about this particular channel is its cheerful natural freshness – you feel as if your friend had told you to sit down so she could treat you to a joyful tune!
Piano Passion Lianne
Lianne Steeman is a pianist and composer from the Netherlands (whose original work is also available on OKTAV). She is more strongly represented on Instagram, but her just-below-500-followers-Youtube channel should not be overlooked. She features her original ” Emotional Piano” music as well as beautifully arranged covers – she divides them into “Modern Emotional” piano music (Einaudi, Zimmer, and such … ) and Classical covers.
Now the thing we like about her videos – apart from the music itself, of course – is that it is centered around her followers. She could have gone the easy route of just filming herself playing – nothing wrong with that. But she did not, which is why she has made it onto our list. Her channel contains lots of lovingly-produced emotive picture videos visualizing the mood she wants to create. At the same time, a synthesia “rain” pouring down on the keys she plays is allowing you to see exactly which keys she plays when, which is really handy if she inspires you to play these songs and you work your way through the sheet music. Let us warn you: This inspiration is very likely to happen!
If you do not agree with our list, or if you know of another Youtuber who needs to be on this list, please let us know.
At OKTAV, we are musicians just like you are. We believe in our instruments’ organic sound and feel. We believe in perfecting our technique and emotional expression. We believe in embracing technology as a way of becoming even better pianists. Most of all we believe in giving you everything you could want from an online sheet music service. All this, and – fun! We believe sitting down in front of a piano should be fun.
