About a decade ago, I decided that I want to learn an instrument in the future. I've never been very musical (despite listening to it) nor what I'd call gifted. I know how to read basic sheet music and that's about it.
I've always been impressed by the piano because it's so powerful, versatile and I think you can play from very, very easy stuff to insane stuff that only a couple of people on earth can play properly.
Since I currently can't afford a piano teacher neither financially nor time-wise (I'd probably would have a medium commute to get to the next one), I thought about teaching myself playing the piano. That's a method not unheard of for many things, for example language learning. My plan would be as follows: Buy a somewhat decent portable keyboard for a beginner for about 160 bucks, look for some beginner sheets for starters and pick the stuff I like and start practicing it. Maybe buy one or two basic/beginner books and study and practice, practice, practice. I think the internet would be a very helpful and rich resource to help me on my journey.
I know here are a lot of very talented musicians, so I want to ask you: what do you think about my plan? Does it make sense to you? Is it a bad idea? If yes, why so? Should I only start when I will be able to get a proper teacher? Will it be not enough for me to read enough about the basics to be smart about them and then just practice over and over again? Or would my style get polluted by too many bad habits and possible shortcuts that will cost me a lot of extra time at a later stage? My goal is not to play in a band or even on stage or anything, I simply enjoy piano music and I think if I could play a couple of songs here and there it would be relaxing and beautiful (and I'm sure my girlfriend would appreciate it, if I could play her some songs ;) ). I don't want to master Chopin (although that would be awesome), but if I'd brag that I can play piano, I want to be proficient enough to be able to sit down on a piano and play a nice and enjoyable piece on it where normal people would think "well, seems like he wasn't lying".
Let's go: destroy my dreams or make spend a bunch of money for a keyboard I might rarely use :)
I taught myself to play the guitar and I've gotten more out of it than I could have ever imagined. That said, I'm not technically proficient. I can play, I can write and use it to be emotive, perhaps in ways that those with technical proficiency cannot. It's all about your goals. If you teach yourself, you'll never be playing Carnegie Hall with nowaypablo etc. but you may develop your own technique and style unique to you. I say go for it. Use YouTube. I am currently taking Suzuki violin lessons with my daughter. It's exciting I no earn something new. My guess is that fantastic piano tutorials exist online. Good luck!
Could you speak a little more on learning guitar? I tried to teach myself, but my guitar ended up sitting in the corner of my room unplayed. It's been there far too long now and I'm interested in getting back into it.
What, specifically would you like to know? I'm glad to help. Good luck!
Did you use Youtube videos to learn? If so, which videos? Did you learn along with anyone, or completely by yourself? Are there any tools that you would recommend?
I learned how to play back in 1990. There was no such thing as youtube. I used chord charts and listened to my favorite bands and tried to figure out by ear which chords they were using. Then, I joined a band and there was a guy in it whose older brother taught him to play. He knew more chords than I did so I learned from him. Then I started writing my own songs by the ripe old age of 13. If I were to learn now, I would absolutely use YouTube. I would search "how to play ___" and put your favorite song in. Force yourself to learn it. One of the first songs I learned to play was Ziggy Stardust. It's not a super simple song, really. I then learned to play All the Young Dudes, -even more difficult. But I forced myself to learn and I practiced for hours and hours each day. I loved it. Still do.
Awesome, thanks for the help! I have a good feeling that I'll actually learn it this time around.
I taught myself how to play piano a few years ago. My biggest challenge was motivating myself to learn from sheet music. I just found learning from the sheets too time consuming, and just ended up learning by ear. Eventually that turned into making my own arrangements and after that it turned into improvisation. Now that I've been doing this for so long, when I try to learn more complicated pieces from sheets I'm finding it way more difficult than I used to. Having said that, learning piano has definitely been one of the best investments of my time. I'm not an excellent pianist, but people are always fairly impressed with what I play. However, to a classically trained pianist I play with a lot of bad habits. I don't find it a big deal though. It doesn't limit my playing at my level; like yourself my goal was to learn for myself, not with the intention of making a living.
I have played gitter fiddle for the better part of two decades. I do it because I suck at it. I have no skill or talent for it. It is just something I will always have room to get better at in my life. That said ... my biggest leaps have been finding someone that I truly enjoy to spend time with and play music with ... that those experiences created the biggest jump skill-wise. Some have been lesson-giver teachers others were just people that let me play their gitter fiddle. But playing every day is the first thing. And lessons help shape those habits to be effective. So get started yesterday.
Alright everyone, thanks for telling me to do it :) mike mentioned the Casio PX-130 and just for interest I looked on the German ebay, ad there was a very good deal, so I had to get it after looking through some reviews online and only reading praise about it. If anyone has any useful resources for me, be it some music theory, some recommendable children's books with songs or anything similar, feel free to hand em out to me!
I'd recommend Lypur's Youtube channel for both theory and basic lessons. He's a goofy and awkward guy but is pretty clear and concise in his teaching. I started teaching myself a few months ago, and went on to take a music theory class at a local community college, which helped immensely in understanding what's going on (and to be able to play around with chords and melodies - even the most banal improvisation seems to impress non-musical people :) ). Don't do what I did and try to play scales/lullaby melodies for a few hours the first day you get your piano. The next day, my hands and wrists were sore, and I thought it was normal so I played on it a bit more. After a few days, I had to stop for a few weeks because of pain. Definitely spend some time working on technique and resist the temptation to play for long spats as you begin.
Hey, thanks for the YT link, that'll be something for me to dive right in :) Do you have any keywords for the music theory topic? What should I learn or what topics should I cover? I'm working and there's not a class available to me and I'm not familiar with the topic, so I don't even know what to look for despite "music theory". For example like you mentioned 'Chords and melodies'. That's something I can specifically search for in the context of music theory. Alright, good tip! Gonna get the piano later today and it'll be late already, so I won't get to play that much, which seems to be a rather good thing for the first few days :D
- Learning to read music (bass and treble clef note positions: FACE/ACEG/ACE) - Accidentals - Tone/Semitone (Step/Halfstep) and what that means in relation to the keys on your keyboard - Major scale "formula" - Intervals These things should occupy you for a while and will allow you to read, play, and have a decent understanding of most music. Then look into circle of fifths (more easily understood after you've learned to play some the different major scales), triads(chords), etc.
Hey there, thanks for the topic list, it will help me a lot :) I found all these in this free course on Udemy: Music Theory Classes I think I will go with that for now, it's free and seems to be aiming for beginners and got all the topics you listed! :)
Teaching yourself how to play the piano is definitely more difficult than learning via lessons, but I think it vastly enhances your creativity when you start to compose for yourself as your form and structure will be solely based on your own perceptions and tastes.
Are you trying to learn to play classical music by reading sheets or do you just want to be able jam? In both cases, I'd suggest spending a lot of time learning music theory. A lot of the programs use pianos for a reference and could be something you use side by side, but at least a basic knowledge of music theory will help you tremendously. I took piano lessons for two years about 10 years ago but didn't remember much. I stayed active in vocal performance and theory and have always been able to sit down and play single or two lines of music without problem. Anything more complex like a lot of famous classical pieces would need a lot of practice on your own specifically at a piano. I'd still say try that after having an understanding of music theory. It will make your life so much easier and will allow you to hear things a lot better as you play. It will make much more sense.
Hey, thanks for the advice! Any tips or examples on what you mean by music theory? Is there a decent Youtube series or something like that? Just calling it music theory sounds like a very broad topic to me, and I'm sure there are people who study that on universities. So any guidance for that? To what point would it make sense for me to learn the basics and where should I draw the line?
Yes, there are definitely people who study this and can get P.h.ds in Music Theory I believe, but obviously not all of it is relevant to someone just trying to learn basic piano skills. I'd say that for making learning and playing the piano easier you should learn about chord structures and progressions, so that you can essentially "free-style" if that makes sense. You'll find that a lot of songs follow the same progressions (you've probably seen the four-chord song on YouTube). I'd also take a look at ear training so that you can have a better relative pitch (identifying what each note sounds like). I'm not sure exactly where I'd "draw the line" but honestly if you just spent a few hours with the stuff above and had some charts handy while you learned it would be helpful. As a fan of music you might find it interesting as I do and want to go further with it. There's no way that I wouldn't help you, it just might not be necessary for the level of skill you're trying to obtain. I know there's a lot of online resources that are free, but I personally haven't used any so couldn't recommend them myself. I have heard good things about teoria, but just look around to find something you like -- I'm sure there's even mobile apps for it.
1. Never heard of either :) Nor what the differences are! 2. Sure! I have a small nephew, I'd be more than happy to play children songs for him. Might be a good idea to start with children's books if they're really that good. I mean, at least I would understand stuff :) Any recommendations from your side? I absolutely have not researched anything yet
I've been playing piano on and off for about 23 years now, and am self-taught on guitar (though I only play for enjoyment). I also learned the basics of playing drums while jamming with friends, which led to being our drummer for the year or so we were together. But first and foremost, I simply love music - listening has always been what I enjoyed most.
More recently I became qualified as a teacher, though my school placements while studying put me off working as a high school teacher right away. It's not only a tough gig but you need to have the right mentality for it, and I just didn't feel ready. What it did do for me was to help me to understand how incredibly different people are at learning things, and also generally how to teach another person something without them feeling like it's a chore. (Or rather, that it's possible - I probably still have much to learn about executing good lessons myself). Here are a few of my thoughts : - if you teach yourself, you will most likely try various things and gradually subconsciously steer yourself a certain way. This is good and bad; you will build on some of your strengths and do certain things well, and enjoy yourself more than with the wrong kind of teacher. However, you won't see yourself forming bad habits (and I don't mean not sitting straight or some trivial thing like that) and you will limit yourself without a teacher showing you things that will quite possibly bring a whole new level of enjoyment to you. Ideally you would have a teacher that can work with you and value your enjoyment of the experience, which would eliminate your own errors without imposing a poorer teacher's personal values on how and what you should play. But learning alone, I would invest time in finding the best resources and discussions about piano practice that you can find. - I have never played an electric piano that felt right. I would never use one as a primary instrument if I could avoid it, even a $1500 used upright is better to me than a $3000 electric. This is MY view though, and others will disagree. I say this because I believe you should buy based on which appeals more to you personally, just if you want to be any good on a real piano then don't even consider non-weighted electrics. - Motivate!! Know what you want, find out how to achieve it, and structure your learning around that. Break it down, break it down some more, and then again for good measure. When you hone in on all of the dumb little things and piece your knowledge and ability together part by part and step by step, one day the whole thing falls into place and the realisation that you've really achieved something will hit you out of the blue. And you will feel awesome.
Say you want to play an amazing blues piece - spend the next few years adding blues-specific exercise to your routine, and simple pieces that embody the essence of the final piece you want to master. A good specific goal can do wonders - be hard on yourself. Always question what you're doing, always stop and think about whether you're doing everything in a way that benefits how you play. It's the on way to offset lack of guidance, which is especially important with piano. Ideally, film yourself every week and review the footage - suddenly you see a person doing certain things right and certain things painfully wrong. It works! I've already posted a lot and I'm not even sure it will all make complete sense, so I'll leave it for now. I'm also on a tablet so it's harder to review - I hope that it's not just a confusing rant but will actually help you! And never be daunted by the challenge, the small parts that make up that challenge can always be overcome!
Hey, thanks for the longish reply! Yeah, the 'what piano should I get' is still a very wishy washy topic for me. I want a decent beginner thing, without investing a lot of money, because of how uncertain everything still is. I just want a good beginner keyboard for less than $200, but people keep saying that I should not miss out on weighted keys, but that'll bump up the price 2 or 3 times as much. How well do your portable piano skills translate over to a proper piano with strings anyway? Would you have a short period of getting accustomed to it and then it would work fine or does it take longer? How much of the skill would initially translate and how much after 2 weeks of switching? And thanks for the idea with filming myself, that's a great idea. Not only will it help me to critique myself and see where I can do better, but it will also show my progress and motivate me!
I'm not OP, but I'll drop my two cents anyway. I initially started learning on a 76 key non-weighted keyboard. It was a good platform to start with but it very quickly became a limitation. Some of the pieces I wanted to learn were simply impossible, because the piano was a few keys short. I moved to an 88 key electric piano within a month or two, and the difference was immense. It took me a while to get used to. I didn't have much control over my finger strength and I had to stretch them farther than I was used to. In my experience, moving from the electric piano to upright/grand pianos wasn't as big a deal. If I'm playing on a new piano I'll play for a few minutes just to get a better feel for it anyway. My friend's grand piano feels different to the grand piano I practice with in college for example. My advice would be that if you want the piano to last you more than a year, invest in an 88 key weighted keyboard. Personally I like electronic pianos because I can easily plug my headphones in and play late into the night, however I think stringed pianos sound/feel better.
I think your plan is great. You'd pay $20/hr for piano lessons, you could buy a good instruction book for every hour of lessons you skip. And youtube is a great resource which I'm using for guitar instructions right now. I learned piano as a kid and hated it. I took it up again as a teen and retaught myself and loved it. When I went to college I learned to play guitar (self-taught) and when I later took up piano again I could use ideas of chord structures and keys to play piano like it was a guitar, with the result being an explosion in my ability to compose on piano. I had a Roland KR-375 digital piano for many years -- just awesome, better than a stringed piano. But it was over $2000. Two weeks ago I bought a Casio PX-130, used but essentially new, for about $250, half the list price. I'm stunned at how good this piano sounds and feels. Even at full price it would be a great deal. I can also plug the usb into my mac and it functions flawlessly with garage band. I'd highly recommend scouring Craigslist for a digital piano. When you find one in your price range, google some reviews and see what people say about it. Do not buy a keyboard that does not have weighted keys -- feel is extremely important with a piano Good luck! Piano and guitar are really the best two instruments in my book.
Mhh, the keyboard dilemma will end up in me not buying anything because I don't want to shell out a lot of money for a hobby I don't even know how long/regularly I will do, and on the other hand I hear a lot of people saying that weighted keys are really important. I quickly looked on ebay for the PX130 and I found one which was almost new for $480 with a stand for it. But with my wedding coming up, I can't really afford to get that, even though I'd be done with any piano concerns forever, ugh. As I asked in the other comment, how would the skills would translate over from a $200 keyboard to a digital piano with weighted keys? If I'd stick with it till I reach the limits of the keyboards (pedal, polyphony and stuff) I wouldn't hesitate to get one, but I don't really wanna start with one....Suggestions?