ArtistWorks Piano Review (2026): Teachers, Prices, Feedback and Verdict

Last updated: October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. We have not taken an ArtistWorks piano school ourselves. For this October 2026 update we read all four piano school pages, the pricing page (monthly and annual), the FAQ and the terms of service on 14 October 2026, plus about 40 recent Trustpilot reviews and five Reddit threads from learners who used it. ArtistWorks has no affiliate program with us; the links to it are plain links. See our review methodology. If you enroll through our links we may earn a commission, which never changes the ranking.

ArtistWorks is an online music school, running since 2008, where each “school” is a full video curriculum taught by one well-known musician. What sets it apart from YouTube and from piano apps is its Video Exchange: you record yourself playing an assignment, the teacher records a video reply, and that pair of videos joins a library every student in the school can watch. This review covers the piano schools as they stand in October 2026: who teaches them, what they cost, how the feedback really works, and what students say.

ArtistWorks Piano at a Glance

The Piano Schools on ArtistWorks in 2026

ArtistWorks sells piano by teacher, not as one course, and each school has its own price and its own subscription. These are the four piano schools on its piano page in October 2026:

Classical Piano with Christie Peery

Christie Peery studied at Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory, has performed as a soloist with orchestras, and founded the Peery Piano Academy and its “Peery Piano Habits” method. Her school is the largest piano curriculum on ArtistWorks: 380+ lessons and 60+ hours, organized into fundamentals followed by “muscular”, “practical” and “musical” tracks at each level, up to advanced and audition repertoire. The Video Exchange library has grown since 2009 and now holds more than 11,000 exchanges, so you can usually find her correcting a problem like yours. Choose this school if you want a rigorous classical method from the very first posture lesson.

Learn Piano with Zachary Deak

Zachary Deak is Assistant Professor of Piano and Director of Keyboard Studies at Old Dominion University and a graduate of the École Normale de Musique de Paris and the Royal College of Music. His school (150+ lessons, 15 levels) covers technique, theory, scales and arpeggios, sight-reading and classical repertoire, with some improvisation over common chord progressions. It is the newest piano school (its exchange library starts in 2021) and it has the most reviews on its school page of the four (5.0 from 19). On 14 October 2026 it was also one of the cheapest on an annual plan.

The Soul of Country Piano with Matt Rollings

Matt Rollings is a GRAMMY-winning Nashville session pianist and producer who has worked with George Strait, Clint Black and Vince Gill. His school teaches the piano a session player uses: scales and chords, rhythm and fills, soloing, the Nashville number system, and styles from ballads and boogie-woogie to Western swing. It is the right pick if you want to play country, gospel or blues-based piano by ear and from charts rather than from classical scores. The exchange library is still small (about 40 exchanges), so there is less to learn from other students yet.

Popular Piano with Hugh Sung

Hugh Sung debuted with The Philadelphia Orchestra at 11 and was a director at the Curtis Institute of Music for 19 years. His five-level school teaches popular and classical pieces note by note. One important change: Hugh Sung no longer reviews new submissions. ArtistWorks describes the school as preserving his past feedback, a student review notes that he left to concentrate on performing, and the school is sold on the Standard plan only. You still get his lessons and more than 4,600 past exchanges, but not personal feedback.

What happened to Jazz Piano with George Whitty?

Earlier versions of this review recommended George Whitty’s jazz piano school. In October 2026 his school is not on the ArtistWorks piano page and his old school address redirects to the ArtistWorks homepage, so it is no longer sold. If jazz piano is your goal, a jazz-specific site such as Open Studio, which r/JazzPiano members recommended over ArtistWorks in one comparison thread, is a better fit.

How the Video Exchange Works (and How Long Feedback Takes)

The Video Exchange is the reason to choose ArtistWorks over a cheaper app, so it is worth understanding exactly what you get:

• You watch the lessons for your level, then record yourself playing the assignment and upload it.
• The teacher replies with a video, demonstrating corrections on your piece. Both videos are added to the school’s shared library.
• You can only have one submission waiting at a time. ArtistWorks says you must wait for the teacher’s reply before sending another.
• Submitting needs the Premium plan. Standard members can watch the whole exchange library but cannot submit their own videos. Some schools, such as Hugh Sung’s, do not offer Premium at all.

Wait times are the most common complaint. A June 2026 Trustpilot reviewer on the free trial estimated that feedback would “easily take more than a month” and that you might get five or six replies a year. Earlier reviews describe waits of three weeks to several months. Reviewers who were happy, such as a long-time mandolin student, accept slower replies as the trade-off for detailed feedback from a top musician. The library softens the problem: with 11,000+ exchanges in the classical school, you can often find your question already answered. Treat personal feedback as an occasional lesson, not a weekly one.

ArtistWorks Piano Pricing in 2026

Plans are per school: subscribing to Christie Peery’s school does not give you Matt Rollings’. Prices on 14 October 2026, from the pricing page and each school page:

Three things to know before you pay:

• The 7-day trial charges automatically. You pay $0 to start, ArtistWorks reminds you on day 6, and your card is charged on day 7 unless you cancel.
• Subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel, including annual plans. Auto-renewal charges are the single biggest theme in ArtistWorks’ one-star reviews, so set a reminder before the renewal date.
• Check the total at checkout. Annual prices change with promotions, and they differ between the pricing page and individual school pages. One May 2026 reviewer said the site showed $143.94 a year but the invoice was $172.73, which matches the two Premium prices above.

Refunds: ArtistWorks’ FAQ and terms now promise a full refund if you contact support@artistworks.com within the first 14 days of a new subscription. After that, canceling stops future billing but past charges are not refunded. Reviews from 2020 and 2021 describe a stricter no-refund policy, so this 14-day guarantee is an improvement worth knowing about.

What Students Say: Trustpilot and Reddit

ArtistWorks has 2.5 out of 5 from 683 reviews on Trustpilot (14 October 2026), but the distribution is split rather than uniformly poor: 63% five-star and 13% one-star. Only six reviews were posted in the last 12 months, and Trustpilot notes the company has not invited reviews recently. Reading about 40 of the newest reviews, the pattern is consistent:

• The teachers get praise. Reviewers rate individual instructors highly, including Zachary Deak (one 2023 reviewer called him a very good piano teacher) and the mandolin and guitar faculty.
• Billing gets the complaints. Unexpected auto-renewals, a charge for a second school the reviewer said they never chose (January 2026), promo codes that did not work at checkout (May 2026), and difficulty reaching support.
• Feedback speed is uneven, as described above, and depends heavily on the teacher.
• Some found the format hard as true beginners. A few reviewers said the lessons are not interactive, and one Reddit user who used ArtistWorks for cello felt complete beginners need some in-person teaching first.

On Reddit, the advice from past members is practical: choose the school for the teacher, not the platform, pay monthly before committing to a year, and use the exchange library as much as your own submissions.

Is ArtistWorks Good for Beginners?

Yes, with a caveat. Every piano school starts from posture, hand position and reading basics, and ArtistWorks says you do not need to choose a level in advance; the curriculum takes you from the start. Christie Peery’s and Zachary Deak’s schools are the most beginner-friendly because they build technique step by step. The caveat is motivation: ArtistWorks gives you lessons and occasional feedback, not the instant note-by-note feedback of an app. If you are not sure you will stick with piano, a cheaper app first is a sensible test. If you know you want a proper classical foundation, ArtistWorks is a better long-term structure than an app.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Respected teachers, including a GRAMMY-winning session pianist and a university piano professor.
• Deep classical curriculum: 380+ lessons and 32 levels in the Peery school.
• Huge feedback libraries: watch thousands of corrections on other students’ playing.
• Sheet music and backing tracks included.
• 7-day free trial and a 14-day refund guarantee on new subscriptions.

Cons

• Slow personal feedback: weeks rather than days, by many accounts.
• Auto-renewal and billing complaints, reflected in a 2.5 Trustpilot score.
• One school per subscription: switching styles means paying again.
• Confusing pricing: different annual prices on different pages, and Premium is not offered for every school.
• Streaming only: lessons cannot be downloaded.
• No jazz piano school now that George Whitty’s has gone.

Who Should Choose ArtistWorks Piano?

• Choose it if you want a structured, teacher-specific method (classical with Peery or Deak, country with Rollings), you are self-motivated, and you value detailed feedback a few times a year.
• Skip it if you need regular, fast correction (book an in-person or live online teacher), you want a game-like daily practice app, or you want jazz piano.

ArtistWorks Piano vs Piano Apps and Other Options

If you mainly want to start playing quickly, an app is cheaper and more motivating at the beginning; our guide to the best apps to learn piano compares the main ones. ArtistWorks makes more sense once you want a teacher’s method and are willing to practice between feedback sessions.

See Simply Piano plans and the free courses →

Our Verdict: Is ArtistWorks Piano Worth It?

For the right student, yes. If you want to learn classical piano properly, Christie Peery’s school is a deep, well-organized curriculum for $19.99 to $29.99 a month, and the exchange library is a real asset. Zachary Deak’s school is the better value pick on an annual plan. Go in with clear expectations: personal feedback is occasional, subscriptions renew automatically, and the support problems in the reviews are real. Take the 7-day trial, pay monthly for the first month or two, and use the 14-day refund window if it is not for you.

See the ArtistWorks piano schools (plain link; we earn nothing from ArtistWorks).

Frequently asked questions

How much does ArtistWorks piano cost?

On 14 October 2026 each school cost $19.99 a month on the Standard plan or $29.99 a month on Premium, which adds personal video feedback. Annual plans are cheaper per month and vary by school and promotion, from $95.94 to $191.88 a year for Standard.

Does ArtistWorks have a free trial?

Yes. You can try a school free for 7 days. Your card is charged on day 7 unless you cancel before then.

Can I get a refund from ArtistWorks?

ArtistWorks offers a full refund if you contact support@artistworks.com within the first 14 days of a new subscription. After that, canceling stops future billing but past charges are not refunded.

Does ArtistWorks auto-renew?

Yes. All subscriptions renew automatically, including annual plans, until you cancel in your account settings or through support. Set a reminder before your renewal date.

How long does ArtistWorks video feedback take?

It varies by teacher, and you must wait for a reply before submitting again. Reviewers report waits from about three weeks to more than a month. Personal feedback needs the Premium plan.

Is ArtistWorks good for beginners?

Yes. Every piano school starts from basics such as posture and reading. Beginners who need constant feedback to stay motivated may do better with an app or a live teacher first.

Who teaches piano on ArtistWorks?

In October 2026: Christie Peery (classical), Zachary Deak (classical technique and theory), Matt Rollings (country) and Hugh Sung (popular). Hugh Sung no longer reviews new submissions.

Does ArtistWorks still have George Whitty jazz piano lessons?

No. His school is no longer listed on the ArtistWorks piano page and its old address redirects to the homepage.

Can I download ArtistWorks lessons?

No. Video lessons are streaming only. Sheet music, notation and backing tracks are included with each school.

Is ArtistWorks accredited?

ArtistWorks says it is accredited as a supplemental education provider by the Accrediting Commission for Schools of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). It does not issue degrees or graded music qualifications.