In the last 300 years since the piano was invented there have been a huge number of predominant pianists. The influence they have had on music throughout the world cannot easily be measured. The musical genres of blues, rock, jazz and classical have welcomed some outstanding pianists who have wowed audiences and left lasting legacies.

When we think about celebrated pianists, it is those from the classical world that immediately spring to mind. Many of them began their musical training from a very young age which allowed them to perfect their prodigious talents early on. Nowadays, the majority are known as composers rather than pianists.

The music of Ludwig Van Beethoven and Wolfgang Mozart can be considered as some of the most renowned in the world but their ability as pianists forged their careers. A romantic pioneer and another child prodigy was Frederic Chopin, a polish composer. Young piano students are frequently given his work to play as a starting point in their learning of the instrument.

The piano was used predominantly in the compositions of Russian-born Rachmaninoff, considered as one of the supreme talents of his generation. He is often cited as having the largest hands out of all of the famous pianists. His hands could span an incredible 14 notes on the piano which was evident in his compositions, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Preludes and others. One of Rachmaninoff’s friends, Vladamir Horowitz, is also considered one of the most well known pianists of the 20th century. The performance he put on for his audiences is considered legendary.

So who is considered the best piano player the world has ever seen? To many, Hungarian-born Franz Liszt takes that title. At the height of his career, it was not uncommon to see audiences bowing before him and women falling over themselves to get a glimpse. Even his peers were astounded at his ability. Audiences were shocked when he took a break from performing to concentrate on mastering his instrument, but he came back with an even better understanding and confirmed what he had once said, “that ten fingers have the power to reproduce the harmonies which are created by hundreds of performers”.

Anyone who owns a computer with a decent internet connection has a huge amount of information at their fingertips, and as such is able to learn many things that they could not otherwise do. For instance, the stress, the expense, and the inconvenience can all be removed from learning to play the piano via the internet.

It is easy to see the appeal of learning to play the piano through the internet. Face to face piano lessons present an image of a strict, unfathomably talented teacher breathing down your neck, ready to crack your knuckles every time you make a mistake. Though some may respond to the pressure of performing in front of a teacher, many are put off entirely by it. And the internet can help those who are.

There are a lot of different programs available online that claim to help you learn piano, but it is important to research feedback and comments made by actual piano teachers as to which one is the best before you buy. Once the one for you has been downloaded, though, there’s nothing stopping you from becoming great at the piano. The lessons can be as slow, fast or as long as you want, and you are in control of which songs you learn to play.

This way of learning is also considerably cheaper. Not only is face to face learning often quite costly, but there will inevitably be times when you will have to miss your lesson, and still be expected to fork out for it. With software, it doesn’t matter if you miss your lesson, because the software will be waiting for whenever you find the time to use it.

As well as providing the software, there is a wealth of musical scores available on the internet to further your study of the instrument. This should in no way replace the need for face to face teaching, but the internet can certainly help supplement the musical education of those who do have lessons, or cater entirely for those who don’t find face to face lessons effective.