Teaching piano with Octotune: studios and free courses

For a first try, use one adult learner, one short passage and one course made from free material. Check that they can open the work and return to it at the next lesson before inviting a larger group.

For teachers

Start a studio

1. Open Octotune on the web, at octotune.com/play, on a computer or a tablet (a phone works too). The teacher dashboard is on the web only, not in the iPhone, iPad or Android apps.
2. Open the menu and choose Teach with Octotune.
3. Sign in with Google or Apple if you haven't. A studio belongs to a grown-up's account.
4. Name your studio (up to 60 characters) and yourself as students will see you (up to 40), then choose Create studio.

Your studio's code and link show straight away. You can change the names later with Change names; the code and link stay the same. Teach more than one group? Start another studio, and move between them on the left.

Invite your students

Every studio has a code of eight letters and numbers, like K7M2-QX9P, and a link with the code in it. The code never uses 0, O, 1, I, L or U, so it's easy to read aloud.

• Copy invitation (on a computer) or Share invitation (on a phone or tablet): a short message with the link, the code and what students choose. Paste it into an email or a text.
• Copy link or Copy code, to send just that.
• Print card, for a one-page invitation with a QR code to give an adult student at a lesson. You can also save the QR code.
• Make a new code if a code reaches the wrong person. The old code and link stop working at once; students already in the studio stay.

Invite adult students only: a child's player can't join.

Read what each student shares

Your students are listed A to Z, never ranked. The table shows a short line for each of the four things a student can share, and "not shared" for anything they haven't switched on:

Choose a student to see everything they share: where they are on the path, units and checkpoints passed, pieces and tempo marks from the last 30 days, their week at the piano day by day, and the notes that are strong or need work.

Nothing updates by itself on your screen: press Refresh. A student's summary is sent about half a minute after they finish a sitting, a lesson or a song, while they're signed in. If a student hasn't opened Octotune for a while, their week says which days it covers ("to September 12"), so you never mistake an old week for this one.

Write a note

Open a student, write a note of up to 280 characters, and choose Send note. Only that student sees it, the next time they open Studios. They reply with one of three taps: Got it, Will practice or Question at next lesson. There are no other messages, in either direction. Each student keeps your last ten notes; an eleventh replaces the oldest.

For a studio announcement, use Note to everyone. It sends a separate note to each student; students still never see each other.

Assign the first passage

1. Open a student's panel and choose Assign a piece, or use Assign to everyone for the studio.
2. Choose a piece from Octotune. For the first task, choose a free piece so every student can play it in full.
3. Choose the Measures, Hands and Tempo to reach. Leave measures empty for the whole piece. Add a due date and a short instruction if useful.
4. Choose Assign. The student finds it above the library in Songs, under your name, and opens Practice.

The passage opens at the range and tempo you chose. Students can mark it done. Sharing their practice counts, accuracy and tempo is a separate choice, off until they turn it on.

Publish a first course

1. In the teacher dashboard, open Curricula and choose New curriculum.
2. For a simple first-week draft, name it “First week at the piano” and start with Octotune's free Unit 1. It gives students a free reading path to try.
3. Add your own practice stops or pieces and instructions. Preview as a student before publishing; correct any problems the editor identifies.
4. Choose Publish…, select your studio and choose Publish version 1. Your adult students can choose the course in their Lessons, beside the Octotune course. Each course keeps its own progress.

A published studio course does not automatically appear in the public catalog. When it is ready for other learners, open Your page → Listings → List in Courses…. The listing checks require at least six stops of your own; references to free Octotune stops do not count toward those six. Choose the level, an honest description and sample stops. You can list for Everyone or share by Link only. Your first listing goes to Octotune for review, so it will not appear immediately.

Public listings currently play Octotune's catalog, generated practice and your own words. Book pages, imported scores and another teacher's material are not eligible for this first version. A free course does not grant access to a Plus piece: students without Plus or an earned unlock receive its preview. Start with free units and pieces for a course everyone can finish without paying.

Share your teacher page

Choose Set up your teacher page in Getting started, or Your page in the dashboard. Choose an available address, add your professional name and bio, and optionally add your website or booking link. The page is public once it has a name and address; use Preview before sharing it.

Share the page's link or QR code through your usual channels. It shows your listed courses and your booking link, so a learner who likes your course can find you. Join my studio is optional: switching it on lets anyone with your page join that studio.

Course listings are free today. Paid curricula and teacher payouts are not available yet.

Remove a student, or delete a studio

• Remove from studio, on a student's panel, asks once. What they shared and your notes to them are deleted. They can join again with the code, unless you make a new one.
• Delete studio, at the foot of the dashboard, asks once. Every student's shared summary and your notes are deleted, and the code stops working. Your students keep their own progress: it was never in the studio.

For students

Join your teacher's studio

1. Open the link your teacher sent. Or open the menu, choose Studios, type the code (or paste the link) and choose Find. This works on the web and in the apps.
2. Sign in with Google or Apple if you haven't.
3. Check your name in the studio: your teacher sees this name and your avatar.
4. Choose what to share. Every switch starts off. Turn on what you want your teacher to see, now or later.
5. Choose Join.

You need to be playing as a grown-up player. Studios are for adult students for now, so a child's player can't join.

What your teacher sees

Only what you switch on, from four switches:

• Path progress: where you are on the path, and the units and checkpoints you've passed.
• Pieces and tempo marks: pieces you finished in the last 30 days, with their tempo marks.
• Practice days and minutes: your last 7 days at the piano.
• Notes to work on: the notes that are strong, and the ones to work on.

With every switch off, your teacher sees only your name and avatar. Change a switch at any time in Studios: a switch turned off takes that part out of the studio at once.

Your summary updates by itself about half a minute after you practice, while you're signed in, and Studios shows when it was last sent. It follows the player who joined: if someone else plays on the same account, their playing isn't shared.

Notes from your teacher

Your teacher's notes appear under your studio in Studios, newest first. Reply with Got it, Will practice or Question at next lesson. You can't send words back: talk it over at your next lesson.

Leave a studio

Choose Leave studio under your studio. It asks once. From that moment your teacher sees nothing of yours, and their notes to you are deleted. If your teacher removes you or deletes the studio, Studios tells you the next time you open it.

Privacy

• Adult students only. No child's player can join, be shown in or share anything with a studio. Children are never asked for anything.
• The student decides. Sharing starts switched off, and a student can change it or leave at any time.
• What the teacher never sees: a student's email address or account, recordings, keystrokes, anything from the microphone, their full progress, or other students. Students never see each other, and nothing is ranked.
• What is kept: the studio's name, your names as you chose them, avatars, the current code, the summaries students switch on, and the teacher's last ten notes to each student with the replies. The privacy page has the details.
• Public pages: a teacher's profile, listing text and published course are visible to their chosen audience. Studio students' shared progress does not appear on the teacher's public page.
• Deleting your account leaves every studio you're in and deletes every studio you teach.
• No ads and no analytics, in studios as everywhere in Octotune.

Teaching a child?

Studios are for adult students for now. For a child, a parent can make a one-page Report for a teacher (in the menu, or in the Kids grown-ups' drawer): the days practiced, minutes at the piano, where they are on the path, pieces with their tempo marks, and the notes that need work. It is made on the device, and the parent shares it themselves: by the share sheet, as copied text, printed, or saved as a file.

Start your studio, or read the FAQ for more. If something gets in the way, contact Octotune with the step you reached and your device; do not include a student's personal details.

The Octotune team · Updated October 3, 2026