Lessonface Is 13 Years Old Today!

From 27 instructors at our August 30, 2012 launch, to over 3,600 today, Lessonface is a platform that has kept the same credo for 13 years: Connecting students to great teachers for live lessons online. It has been an epic journey to build this platform and I can't wait to see where we are able to go together next.

We shared an end of summer survey with our student and teacher community to ask for feedback on their experience with the platform. Over 400 users responded. Students shared that they enjoy Lessonface for the joy of learning a new skill, and the excellence of their teachers. The convenience of lessons online makes it easy, and the access to top notch talent all over the world makes it transcendent. Some community members are in remote areas. Others appreciate Lessonface for the convenience and access to specialized instruction. 

"Excellent teachers and the best user platform of any LMS I have ever seen! (I am an educator.)" shared Susan about why she rated Lessonface 10/10. "It is extremely user-friendly. It's great that everything is self-contained. Plus, we have access to extremely talented teachers for my children that we could never find locally."

"Lessonface not only has the widest variety of classes and teachers, but the teachers are there for you - not just for the paycheck. It's amazing. I've recommended them to many friends," wrote Rachel.

Gabe, who takes voice lessons, shared "I've branched out, gotten the courage to join a band, and have a ton more confidence in my singing.  I've also learned that confidence is 75% of the performance."

"It allowed me to find an instructor who is deep in the genre I’m trying to learn. It’s not too hard to find a good teacher, or someone who expertly plays the music you are trying to learn. It is hard to find both and Chris is both," relayed a student of Chris Roszell, a banjo teacher based in Denver, Colorado who has been teaching on Lessonface for 8 years.

"We have had the ABSOLUTE BEST experience with Lessonface. We live in a small town and when my sons needed a music teacher I struggled to find anyone. I found Lessonface and my boys have been working with the same teacher for almost a year now. He is exactly what my boys needed and has been such a blessing to our family," wrote Carrie.

Even students who were initially dubious of online classes seem to have a good time.

"After taking two online classes (which I swore I would never do) I found the instructor wonderful, the concept of a shared community was what I wanted, and the instruction was clear and offered me a new skill. There are so many choices on Lessonface which aren't for me, but I want others to consider them!" Holly shared.

Lessonface is focused on artistic instruction, and self-enrichment. It's mostly music; language learning was added in 2019, and arts in 2020, and over the last few years as online learning has really entered the mainstream, teachers and students on Lessonface have engaged on popular topics like guitar and piano, as well as more esoteric as paper-weaving, tapestry, with lessons booked in over 300 subjects, including like the guqin, clawhammer banjo, and Afrilachian ukulele.

From day 1, we've deliberately built our platform and community to be equitable and to show respect for our users' preferences. Among many design and business model choices that reflect this approach, we have a very conservative privacy policy and low fees. These choices matter to our savvy user base. While there is always room to improve, and we continue to solicit and listen carefully to feedback, we love hearing from our community that they believe we're on the right track.

One student (who asked we not share her name but approved her comments to be shared) wrote that she chose Lessonface due to its "Reliability, ease of use, and the fact that Lessonface is a trusted platform. It has a much better privacy policy than other sites."

"The coolest thing is being able to look back at old lessons and see my growth," wrote another student who prefers anonymity.

We value our teachers above all, and see the long relationships we have with them, and the steady stream of new joiners, demonstrates that mutual respect. 

"The coolest thing Lessonface has done is to connect with me to so many amazing students. Many of my students I have gotten to be very close to and friendships have formed. Music is a connecting point for so many people and being able to impact people in this area has ripple effects that go far beyond just learning a musical instrument. I am truly blessed to be a part of Lessonface and appreciate so much the platform and the wonderful staff and customer support for both my students and myself as a teacher," wrote Jason Fawks, who has been teaching on Lessonface for 7 years.

"The best thing that has ever happened to me on Lessonface is that I've been able to stay connected with my students no matter where we go in the world. When I moved across an ocean, I was still able to keep up my normal schedule while doing what I needed to do in order to advance other elements of my career. Additionally, one of my students has been able to maintain lessons with me even as he has lived in three different countries over the past 6 years!" shared Aubrey Lauren, who has been teaching on Lessonface for 5 years.

Though the lessons happen over video conference, we hear many stories of students and teachers meeting up in person. Sometimes when the teacher's band is touring to the area, or one or the other is traveling. 

"I actually was recently at a flute convention and randomly bumped into another Lessonface teacher, which was a really neat coincidence!  I also got to meet a couple of my Lessonface students in person for the first time there too.  That didn't happen on the Lessonface platform, but I thought it was a really neat Lessonface related experience," shared Erika Andres.

Roque Deschamps wrote, "I met a student named Lizette on lessonface.com, where I am a teacher. She is from Puerto Rico, and I am from the Dominican Republic. Over time, we became friends. One day, I needed a specific book that was only available in Puerto Rico and wasn't in digital format. The store didn't ship items either, so I had no way to get it myself. Fortunately, Lizette was visiting some family in the Dominican Republic, so she kindly brought the book with her when we met. It was a wonderful experience to meet her in person and receive such a thoughtful gift."

"I've loved connecting with students all around the globe! From Denmark to New Jersey to Mexico, I've felt like we're having a lesson in their living room and creating a global community through music," summed up a violin teacher who approved their comments to be shared anonymously.

"Lessonface allows me to access classes that, due to geography or my physical disabilities, I wouldn’t be able to attend in-person. I’ve taken a huge variety of classes and lectures from renowned instructors across the country, and in some cases in other countries. I’m always excited to get upcoming class announcements. Even if I don’t take one, just seeing what I could do makes me feel like the world is more open to me," a student shared who wished to comment anonymously. 

Looking to learn something new from an incredible instructor? Check out Lessonface's back-to-school sale and start learning this fall.

Photo Credit: the Murphys, who used the Happy Birthday sheet music arranged by Kati Falk-Flores on a birthday cake for Chip's 10th birthday this month and then generously shared their photos (and permission to use the photos) with us. The cake was made by Cake Crafts Denver. Happy Birthday Chip!