Out of the 250 million people in the United States, about 25 million of them play an instrument of some kind, or used to when they were in school and would like to pick up where they left off. Another 30 million or so sing in a church choir, a barbershop quartet, or at the very least, in the shower.

         That means that there are over 50 million folks ?adults ?who would like to play their instrument or sing better than they do now. After all, everyone wants to improve his or her skills, no matter what the field.

         Before the advent of the Internet, if adults wanted to learn to play a musical instrument, they had to schedule a lesson time with a teacher in a store or studio or if they were fortunate, in their own home with a teacher who would come each week for a lesson.

         That meant doing it after work, driving to a store or studio, dealing with transportation, babysitting, illness, cancellations, and so on. Very few adults who started lessons that way continued very long, as it was a continual hassle.

         But with the development of the World Wide Web, music teachers have gone online to offer lessons to adults in the comfort and convenience of their own homes. No scheduling problems, no transportation issues, no cancellations ?none of the problems inherent in traditional lessons.

         Here are a few of the many courses available for adults online:

         Jamorama Guitar Course

         Stripped-Down Guitar Course

         SlapBass Guitar Riffs

         Guitar Made Easy

         Acoustic Guitar Workshop

         Screaming Fingers Guitar Course

         One Weekend Guitar

         Make Money Teaching Guitar

         Learn Chords Fast

         Instant Chord Finding Software Download

         84 Piano Chords

         ?rash Course?in Exciting Piano Playing on DVD?!

         How To Play Piano By Ear

         How To Dress Up Naked Music

         How To Play Praise & Gospel Piano

         How To Play ?lack Gospel?Piano

         How To Play Contemporary Urban Worship Piano

         All The Chords In The Whole Wide World

         How To Play Chord Piano...In Ten Days!

         Learn To Play Electronic Keyboards

         Singing Success!

         Drum patterns online to download!

         Your own "Drum Machine" online!

         Learn to read music fast

         Children Can Read Notes Easily!

         Learn to Read Music in One Evening!

         Even though this is a big list of music courses for adults now, it is growing at an exponential rate. The opportunity for learning music at your own pace online has never been greater, so take advantage of it and start improving your musical skills without delay!

         Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music educational materials for adults. A review of music courses online is at "Great Music Courses Online!". Duane is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 58,600 current subscribers.