# Thinking About Starting to Learn the Piano



## Centropolis

I have been thinking more and more lately to start learning the piano from the beginning as an adult. I am getting my brother's used Yamaha digital piano and got a Alfred's All-in-One Adult Piano Level 1 Book. Let's see how this goes.

I am also thinking to get a teacher to go through the RCM program once I finish that first book. I hope to take care of the Prep A and Prep B stuff before getting a teacher.

Wish me luck.

I do wonder, I am not asking this to fast-track or rush myself but, at what RCM grade level would people have to get to in order to play some of these Beethoven piano sonatas properly? I know if you stick to learning one piece of music....you can learn to play them eventually but I am wondering what level would people have to get to.....to be able to play them properly. I know some of them are more difficult than others but in general....


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## PetrB

Don't even think of a Beethoven sonata at this moment. It is a fine goal, of course, best determined as to when you approach it after you have been working several years (yes, several years) and under the tutelage of a good piano teacher. "Sticking at it to learn one piece." _Dreadful idea and a waste of time,_ that is if you really want to be able to play at all.

I would advise in not putting off getting a teacher, there is so much you can get wrong, both physically and mentally, 'teaching yourself first' and if you know how learning goes, especially the cerebral along with the physical in combination, it can take 20 times longer to unlearn a bad mental habit, a physical habit, as it would have to learn it properly in the first place. Working alone, you have the high probability of deeply programming in bundles of mistakes.

One 'method' or 'level' book is fine, but they are never enough on their own. There is always the consideration of the expense of printed music, but I would distrust any teacher who allows or advocates you working from one pedagogical collection... they are always and forever inadequate, for 'everybody,' and don't cover those individual things you may need to focus more attention on; although there is a very reasonable progression of a cumulative nature when learning, almost no one's needs will 'fit the book exactly.'

If you already know how to read the grand staff you are ahead of the game. If you do not, I'd start with something more like the Bartok Microkosmos Books I, II, and III and supplement that with various collections of _non-simplified_ well chosen real repertoire written for the beginner level.

Teacher, right away -- what you spend will be more than worth it compared to time spent 'filling in holes' or correcting already learned mistakes and bad physical habits at the instrument.

Oh, and have fun


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## Krummhorn

Congratulations on the willingness to learn this instrument. I also echo what PetrB has stated above ... get yourself a teacher right away. There is no sense in learning the wrong way by yourself and then later having to undo all the bad habits and relearn the correct techniques. Do it right ... right from the beginning ... you will be a better musician for it. 

Of course any beginning pianist only gets out of it what they themselves put into it. When I was a beginning student eons ago, I practiced at least 3 hours each day ... I was 6 years old when I started. I eventually went on to study classical organ and still play professionally in that capacity to this day some 53 years later. 

Keep us informed about your progress. 

Kh ♫


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## MoonlightSonata

Good luck, the piano is a wonderful instrument!


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## pianississimo

I started in 2011.
I had recently discovered classical music and the mad idea to learn how to play came out of thin air.
I suddenly decided to buy as good a digital piano as I could afford and somehow learn how to play.
I bought it for myself for my 44th birthday. I knew nothing really about music. I could identify about 4 or 5 notes on the treble clef and didn't know any other clefs.
I didn't know about the two lines of music for piano players - that's how green I was!

With the help of google, I could identify middle C on the keyboard and when my piano arrived and I set it up, I downloaded the first couple of bars of Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto piano part. that famous famous theme which was my first major discovery in music.
I worked out the notes - even the flat B. and played them one handed and slowly, the first thing I ever played.
I know I will never learn how to play the rest of it but that isn't important. Learning how to play a musical instrument is a journey and every step of it is interesting and enriching. Like that great concerto it begins with a few simple notes and grows to something beyond what you considered possible.

Do find a teacher. I started out with beginners books but learned nothing much until I found a teacher who inspires me and encourages me and corrects me when I make mistakes.

Playing piano will give you completely new insights into yourself. You find resources and abilities that you assumed you didn't have. On lesson one I told my teacher that I loved classical music - she'd evidently heard this before from adult beginners and they usually say it to impress. I told her I loved Mozart and Chopin but never expected to be able to play either. My love of this music and the encouragement of my teacher have made me come to believe that I can. I'm learning music by both composers at the moment!

If anyone had told me how hard it was to learn piano then I might have been put off. If they'd said how much time you have to spend in practice then I might have chickened out. If they'd said how much money it costs then I'd have said that I can't afford it. If I had known how rewarding it is and just how much fun it is to play then I'd have started YEARS ago!!

Good luck!!


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## PetrB

pianississimo said:


> I started in 2011.
> I had recently discovered classical music and the mad idea to learn how to play came out of thin air.
> I suddenly decided to buy as good a digital piano as I could afford and somehow learn how to play.
> I bought it for myself for my 44th birthday. I knew nothing really about music. I could identify about 4 or 5 notes on the treble clef and didn't know any other clefs.
> I didn't know about the two lines of music for piano players - that's how green I was!
> 
> With the help of google, I could identify middle C on the keyboard and when my piano arrived and I set it up, I downloaded the first couple of bars of Rachmaninov's 3rd piano concerto piano part. that famous famous theme which was my first major discovery in music.
> I worked out the notes - even the flat B. and played them one handed and slowly, the first thing I ever played.
> I know I will never learn how to play the rest of it but that isn't important. Learning how to play a musical instrument is a journey and every step of it is interesting and enriching. Like that great concerto it begins with a few simple notes and grows to something beyond what you considered possible.
> 
> Do find a teacher. I started out with beginners books but learned nothing much until I found a teacher who inspires me and encourages me and corrects me when I make mistakes.
> 
> Playing piano will give you completely new insights into yourself. You find resources and abilities that you assumed you didn't have. On lesson one I told my teacher that I loved classical music - she'd evidently heard this before from adult beginners and they usually say it to impress. I told her I loved Mozart and Chopin but never expected to be able to play either. My love of this music and the encouragement of my teacher have made me come to believe that I can. I'm learning music by both composers at the moment!
> 
> If anyone had told me how hard it was to learn piano then I might have been put off. If they'd said how much time you have to spend in practice then I might have chickened out. If they'd said how much money it costs then I'd have said that I can't afford it. If I had known how rewarding it is and just how much fun it is to play then I'd have started YEARS ago!!
> 
> Good luck!!


From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the great personal biography, and thanks, too for the best of admonitions to hie thee to a teacher, and don't think about the rest.

It is beyond good to have some personal highly engaging occupation which is the opposite of passive entertainment, period.

May your relationship with the instrument and music continue forward and thrive.


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## Centropolis

To be honest, the reason why I want to learn a bit on my own is really money. I figured I could "save" 3 or 4 months of teacher's fee if I can atleast go through that book myself. But seeing that people agree that getting a teacher from the very beginning, I am having second thoughts about my plan to go on my own in the beginning.


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## Pugg

Centropolis said:


> To be honest, the reason why I want to learn a bit on my own is really money. I figured I could "save" 3 or 4 months of teacher's fee if I can atleast go through that book myself. But seeing that people agree that getting a teacher from the very beginning, I am having second thoughts about my plan to go on my own in the beginning.


Every good teacher will tell you after a few lessons if you are up for it, so I suggest get there quick and you know were you stand


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## PetrB

Centropolis said:


> To be honest, the reason why I want to learn a bit on my own is really money. I figured I could "save" 3 or 4 months of teacher's fee if I can atleast go through that book myself. But seeing that people agree that getting a teacher from the very beginning, I am having second thoughts about my plan to go on my own in the beginning.


Your first few months, coming from self-taught, would most likely be to some degree, 'remedial' lessons at cost (you would then be paying money for back-up time.) That is the point.

You're learning something where, like any physical sport, it has near everything to do with your posture while at the instrument, alignment, from the tips of your fingers, the disposition of hands and arms through to your shoulders and, actually, including some real use of the back muscles. Think of it like trying to learn gymnastics from a book 

By the way, any teacher worth their price should have you playing with both hands right away in the first lesson. None of that one hand, then switch, then together nonsense, because that is nonsense. Later, practicing one hand alone becomes real and necessary.

Even with a teacher, still one of the best beginner books to learn to play and read simultaneously is the Bartok _Microkosmos, Book I_, acknowledged for generations by pianists who began with it and begin their starter students with it.


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## Krummhorn

Centropolis said:


> To be honest, the reason why I want to learn a bit on my own is really money.


Famous last quote of many a failed musician ... one can either pay now to learn it the right way, or pay twice later on, to relearn everything that was done the wrong way.

I paid (well my parents did as I was only 6) right from the beginning ... 14 years of private keyboard instruction (piano and organ) ... money well spent, imho.

Kh ♫


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## Ingélou

I have started learning the piano. I am an oldster, but I am making *music* the centre of my retirement. Why? No reason - except that I have fallen in love, at my age!

My main interest is the violin, so I can't give a lot of time to piano practice. And I have no ambition to play wonderful classical music - I just wanted to improve my musical knowledge and manual dexterity, because I thought it might 'rub off' on my violin-playing. (Which it has.) I started with a teacher straight away, and at first it almost *killed me* , because of the concentration required. At my age, one's brain is set in its ways. You are younger, so you'll find it challenging but exhilarating.

But anyway, the bottom line is - I'm really starting to enjoy it. It's exercising parts of the brain that other things just do not reach. So congratulations on deciding that you want to play - I wish I'd done that years ago. And I echo the advice of the others to get a teacher. My teacher has helped me so much.

And if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing *well*.


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## pianississimo

Ingélou said:


> I have started learning the piano. I am an oldster, but I am making *music* the centre of my retirement. Why? No reason - except that I have fallen in love, at my age!
> 
> My main interest is the violin, so I can't give a lot of time to piano practice. And I have no ambition to play wonderful classical music - I just wanted to improve my musical knowledge and manual dexterity, because I thought it might 'rub off' on my violin-playing. (Which it has.) I started with a teacher straight away, and at first it almost *killed me* , because of the concentration required. At my age, one's brain is set in its ways. You are younger, so you'll find it challenging but exhilarating.
> 
> But anyway, the bottom line is - I'm really starting to enjoy it. It's exercising parts of the brain that other things just do not reach. So congratulations on deciding that you want to play - I wish I'd done that years ago. And I echo the advice of the others to get a teacher. My teacher has helped me so much.
> 
> And if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing *well*.


Congratulations and good luck with your new instrument!! 
What sort of level do you play violin?


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## pianississimo

Centropolis said:


> To be honest, the reason why I want to learn a bit on my own is really money. I figured I could "save" 3 or 4 months of teacher's fee if I can atleast go through that book myself. But seeing that people agree that getting a teacher from the very beginning, I am having second thoughts about my plan to go on my own in the beginning.


Lessons from a good, professional teacher are expensive but perhaps you can make them less often and get enough feedback and material to work on from your teacher to keep you going more than a week. 
Sometimes I've had to go 2 or 3 weeks between lessons for various reasons and my teacher has always given me plenty to occupy my time in between.

In my first lessons we used a book I'd bought full of very basic five finger exercises and I really struggled with them!! The weekly assessment and review then was more important than much later when I had a grasp of the basics and just had a lot of material to work through. Then it's more the time and effort spent in practice that's needed.

There are so many resources online and even professional musicians here on this forum that you can turn to in between lessons if you have difficulties.


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## PetrB

Ingélou said:


> I have started learning the piano. I am an oldster, but I am making *music* the centre of my retirement. Why? No reason - except that I have fallen in love, at my age!
> 
> My main interest is the violin, so I can't give a lot of time to piano practice. And I have no ambition to play wonderful classical music - I just wanted to improve my musical knowledge and manual dexterity, because I thought it might 'rub off' on my violin-playing. (Which it has.) I started with a teacher straight away, and at first it almost *killed me* , because of the concentration required. At my age, one's brain is set in its ways. You are younger, so you'll find it challenging but exhilarating.
> 
> But anyway, the bottom line is - I'm really starting to enjoy it. It's exercising parts of the brain that other things just do not reach. So congratulations on deciding that you want to play - I wish I'd done that years ago. And I echo the advice of the others to get a teacher. My teacher has helped me so much.
> 
> And if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing *well*.


Congratulations, Ingélou! Is Taggert going to get jealous?


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## xample

Congrats! I am also looking for a way for my kid to learn Piano.


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