Skip to main content

Sell music lessons on Shopify with Alva Courses

Alva Courses is a Shopify app that music teachers and instrumental tutors use to package graded lessons into paid online courses sold from their own store. Alva Courses supports video and audio lesson blocks, sheet-music and score PDFs as lesson resources, a drag-and-drop course builder, drip-released practice modules, completion certificates for graded levels, quizzes for theory and aural work, per-student progress tracking, member management with CSV import, native per-lesson discussions, and branded enrolment emails from your own domain. Two paid plans — Unlimited at $9.99/mo and Unlimited Pro at $14.99/mo with Alva Video Hosting — each with a 14-day free trial. 5.0 stars from 13 Shopify App Store reviews.

Alva · For music teachers
Video + audio · Scores drip practice · graded certificates

Sell music lessons on Shopify with Alva Courses

Your lessons are scattered — demos on YouTube, calls on Zoom, backing tracks and PDFs dropped into a Patreon you keep meaning to organise. Students lose the right score, miss the practice video, and you re-send the same files every week. Alva Courses is a Shopify app that lets music teachers and instrumental tutors package graded lessons into paid online courses — sold right from your own store. Combine video and audio in one lesson, attach the sheet music as a PDF, drip-release the next week's practice, and award a completion certificate for every grade.

Install on Shopify A teacher's workflow →
★★★★★ 5.0 · Built for Shopify · 13 App Store reviews · 14-day free trial · By , Founder
Video + audio
In one lesson
Demos, backing tracks, scores
Sheet music
PDF blocks
Scores beside the recording
Certificate
Per grade
A milestone students share
Lives in
Shopify
Your store, one checkout
A day in the life

How a piano teacher publishes a graded course on Shopify with Alva Courses.

08:00 · BUILD

Lay out the grade as sections.

Open the course builder in the Shopify admin. Grade 1 Piano becomes a course; scales, set pieces and sight-reading become sections; each piece becomes a lesson. Use "Create Multiple" to add the week's lessons at once. Drag to reorder. The whole grade is structured before the first coffee is cold.

08:40 · RECORD

Add a demo, a backing track and the score.

In each lesson, drop a Video block of the piece played slowly, an Audio block with a play-along backing track, and a PDF block with the sheet music. Add a short quiz on the key signature. One lesson now holds the watch, the listen and the read — no chasing files.

13:05 · ENROL

A student buys. Access fires itself.

The order is paid and Alva Courses enrols the student instantly. A branded welcome email arrives from hello@yourmusicstudio.com, the thank-you page invites them to start, and week one is waiting in their Shopify customer account. No emailing scores and links by hand.

18:30 · TEACH

Show up to the lesson already briefed.

Before the weekly lesson you open the Members Overview: who has worked through the new piece, who is stuck on scales, who hasn't practised. You spend the live time on what they actually need, not on re-explaining the basics. Students post questions in the lesson discussion afterwards.

What music teachers actually use

Alva Courses, re-angled for teaching an instrument.

01 / 06Video + audio

Demonstrations and play-alongs in one lesson.

Music is heard before it is read, so every lesson combines a Video block and an Audio block. Film a technique demonstration or a slow-then-tempo run-through, then add a backing track, a reference recording or an ear-training clip students can loop. The rich lesson editor stacks as many blocks as a piece needs — watch, listen, then practise, all in the same lesson.

Upload video to Alva, or paste a YouTube, Vimeo, Loom or VdoCipher link; audio uploads play right in the storefront player. Turn on "Require completion before next lesson" so a student masters one piece before the next unlocks.

02 / 06Scores

Sheet music and scores as lesson resources.

The PDF block puts the score right next to the recording. Attach a piece, an exercise sheet, a scale chart or a chord diagram as a PDF and students read or download it inside the lesson. No more emailing attachments or pointing people at a shared folder — the right score always sits with the right video and audio, so students practise from the correct edition every time.

03 / 06Drip & pace

Drip practice modules week by week.

Practice works best in measured doses, not a weekend binge. Drip scheduling releases the next piece or technique a set number of days after enrolment, so each week's material lands when the student is ready for it. Run a live group class by scheduling lessons to publish on fixed dates, keep later pieces as Draft, and set Limited-time access if a term-based course should close at the end of the term.

04 / 06Graded credential

Certificates for each graded level.

Build a quiz into a lesson to check theory, key signatures and aural recognition. When a student finishes a course, Alva Courses automatically awards a custom-designed completion certificate and emails it to them. Make each grade its own course, so passing Grade 1 earns a Grade 1 certificate. Edit the template to carry your studio brand — a milestone students and parents love to share.

05 / 06Progress

Per-student progress, tracked automatically.

The moment an order is paid, a branded enrolment email welcomes the student and week one is in their customer account — no manual handover. The per-course Members Overview shows progress bars, completion rate and status for every student; add a student by hand, bulk-import a class by CSV, or export the roster. You walk into each lesson already knowing who has practised and who is stuck.

06 / 06Community

Discussions and branded delivery, in your store.

A native per-lesson comment system lets students ask "is this fingering right?" where the content lives, with moderation tools and an email ping when someone posts. Enrolment and certificate emails send from your own custom domain, and students watch lessons in a branded storefront course player inside your Shopify customer account — no second login, no third-party platform to herd people into.

The course builder — a grade as sections and lessons, with drip, scheduled and draft controls per piece.
Pricing, teacher-sized

What plan does a music studio actually need?

Alva Courses has no per-sale fee and no per-student fee — both plans carry unlimited courses, members and comments. So the only real question for a music teacher is your video. Short demonstrations and play-along clips sit fine within Shopify's hosting on the Unlimited plan. Long, high-quality masterclass footage that exceeds Shopify's 1 GB / 10-minute-per-video file limit is the one thing that points you to Pro.

PLANPRICEFITS
Unlimited$9.99/moMost music teachers and tutors. Unlimited courses, students and discussion comments, audio blocks, sheet-music PDFs, drip practice modules, certificates and branded email. Video hosted on Shopify within a 1 GB / 10-min-per-video limit. 14-day free trial.
Unlimited Pro$14.99/moEverything in Unlimited plus Alva Video Hosting — 50 GB and no per-video limits. The right plan once your masterclasses and full-length performance videos outgrow Shopify's native file caps. 14-day free trial.

Both plans include the full builder, video and audio blocks, sheet-music PDFs, drip scheduling, quizzes, certificates, member & progress management, CSV import/export, discussions, instant delivery and the custom email domain. See the full breakdown on the pricing page. Each plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

Setup path

Migrate from Teachable, Thinkific or Patreon in 4 steps.

You already have the content — videos, backing tracks and scores sitting on Teachable, Thinkific or Patreon, charging a platform fee or a monthly subscription. Moving it into Alva Courses brings your teaching back inside the Shopify store you control, with one checkout and the student data in your own hands.

  1. 01

    Export your media and outline the grade.

    Download your videos, audio and PDF scores from Teachable, Thinkific or Patreon. In the Alva course builder, create one section per topic — scales, pieces, sight-reading — and one lesson per piece. Use "Create Multiple" to add a batch of lessons at once, then fill each with the rich editor.

  2. 02

    Rebuild each lesson with video, audio, score and a quiz.

    Drop a Video block per piece — upload to Alva, or paste a YouTube, Loom or Vimeo link. Add an Audio block for the backing track, a PDF block for the sheet music, and a quiz for theory or aural work.

  3. 03

    Bind it to a Shopify product and set drip.

    Connect each grade or course to a Shopify product and set its price. Turn on drip so practice material releases week by week, set Limited-time access if it runs on a term, and edit the enrolment and certificate emails to send from your own studio domain.

  4. 04

    Move your existing students across and launch.

    Bulk-import your current roster via CSV or add students by hand so everyone keeps access on day one. New students enrol automatically when they buy. Watch the Members Overview fill with progress, then point your list at the new Shopify product and close the old platform.

Shopify App Store reviews

What merchants say

“Cannot recommend it enough. Finding Alva Courses after migrating to Shopify was the best thing I’ve done — the support is second to none and Tom is exceptional.”

— Matt Jackson Photography, United Kingdom · Shopify App Store review

“So glad I found this app. It integrates with Shopify, building my courses was clear and easy, and Tom has been a great help throughout.”

— Kim Knoll Art, United States · Shopify App Store review

“Very easy to use and customizable, and it works seamlessly for selling online courses on Shopify. The support is outstanding and genuinely responsive.”

— Tokos, Canada · Shopify App Store review
FAQ for music teachers

Questions music teachers ask.

Yes. Each lesson can hold multiple content blocks, so a single lesson combines a Video block for the technique demonstration, an Audio block for a backing track or reference recording, a PDF block for the sheet music, and a Text block for practice notes. Students play the video, loop the audio at their own pace, and follow along with the score — all in one lesson inside your Shopify storefront, with no separate apps to juggle.
Alva Courses has a PDF block in the rich lesson editor. Upload a piece, an exercise sheet or a scale chart as a PDF and it appears in the lesson for students to read or download. Add as many PDF scores per lesson as you need, alongside the video and audio. Because the PDF lives inside the lesson, students always have the right score next to the recording, instead of hunting through email attachments or a shared drive.
Yes. Drip scheduling releases lessons or sections a set number of days after enrolment, so a graded level unlocks one piece or technique a week instead of dumping everything at once. You can also schedule a lesson to publish on a fixed date for a live group class, or keep lessons as Draft until you're ready. This paces practice, stops students racing ahead, and keeps a steady rhythm between your lessons.
Yes. Alva Courses automatically awards a custom-designed completion certificate when a student finishes a course, and emails it to them. Build each graded level as its own course so finishing it earns a certificate for that grade. Edit the certificate template to carry your studio brand. For students and parents, a certificate per level is a motivating milestone and a shareable record of real progress.
Each course has a Members Overview showing total members, active enrolments, completions, completion rate and a progress bar per student with enrolment date and status. You can add a student manually, bulk-import a roster via CSV, or export the list. Branded enrolment emails welcome students the moment their order is paid, and the global Members view tracks everyone across every grade and instrument from one screen.
Everything runs natively inside Shopify. You build courses in the Shopify admin, students buy through your existing checkout, and they watch lessons in a branded storefront course player from their customer account — no second login and no separate platform. You own the student data and pay a flat $9.99 or $14.99 per month with a 14-day free trial, instead of a standalone platform's higher fees.
Further reading

Guides for music teachers selling lessons on Shopify.

Guide

Drip-feeding course content: when and how

Why dripping practice material week by week keeps students in step with your lessons — and lifts completion.
Feature

Add course completion certificates on Shopify

Award a certificate for every graded level automatically when a student finishes the course.
Guide

How to sell online courses on Shopify (2026 guide)

The full setup walkthrough — from building your first course to taking your first enrolment with Alva Courses.
Install in 90 seconds

Publish your first grade this week.

Install Alva Courses from the Shopify App Store, build a grade into sections and lessons with video, audio and sheet-music PDFs, bind it to a Shopify product, and place a test enrolment — watch the welcome email land and week one appear in the customer account. Sell your lessons from the store you already run. The 14-day free trial starts when you do.

✓ Video, audio and scores in one lesson ✓ Drip practice paced to your lessons ✓ A completion certificate for every grade
Install on Shopify See pricing & plans
courses@alvaapps.com
replies in < 4h, Mon–Fri