Learning the Basics (Again)

[Rizzo]

By way of introduction, decades ago I learned to play the piano as a child. In retrospect, I learned enough for my own enjoyment. However, as the years passed without touching a keyboard, I have likely lost my acquired knowledge, as well as the ability to read music. Recently my daughter gave me her Yamaha YPG-625 digital keyboard.

With that in mind, I have the most basic of questions. Given the vast array of "how to play the piano" books on the market, does any one instructional book stand out as being highly recommended?

Thank you so much.

 

[Tahitijack]

Welcome back. My question is which do you think you would prefer: a) learning from a book of lessons, b) learning from video lessons or c) learning from an in-person teacher? Think about the time you have to devote to the learning process and the cost.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

Work your way through Gary’s great thread

Good Tutorial Links

In the interests of sharing with the community, I propose that we use this thread to share online piano and keyboard tutorial and resource websites which we have found useful and might help others. I'd also like to propose that Becky makes this thread a sticky at the top of the forum...

www.keyboardforums.com

 

[Rizzo]

Thank you for the responses. As with most things that I have learned, books & online tutorials have served me well. I will indeed work my way through Gary's thread. Thank you so much.

 

[jetgraphics]

"How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons."

How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home: Cannel, Ward, Marx, Fred: 0073999126211: Amazon.com: Books

How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home [Cannel, Ward, Marx, Fred] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home

www.amazon.com

 

[Rizzo]

Thank you for the recommendation. Reading the intro to the book on Amazon, the approach of the book seems to deviate a bit from the more "traditional" approaches. Whether this will fit my learning curve, is tough to determine at this time. But my interest is piqued.

 

[Old Master Tech]

By way of introduction, decades ago I learned to play the piano as a child. In retrospect, I learned enough for my own enjoyment. However, as the years passed without touching a keyboard, I have likely lost my acquired knowledge, as well as the ability to read music. Recently my daughter gave me her Yamaha YPG-625 digital keyboard.

With that in mind, I have the most basic of questions. Given the vast array of "how to play the piano" books on the market, does any one instructional book stand out as being highly recommended?

Thank you so much.

As one who began a similar journey 8 years ago, having not played for over 30 years after playing professionally, my path began with Hanon for 30 minutes a day. After 3 months of being consistent with practice, I decided I was "really going to do this" and bought a decent instrument and continued. I am not recommending Hanon necessarily; I am recommending that you pick a path and find out if this is a journey you desire.
BTW, stopping playing 6 nights a week, plus practice; I became frustrated with myself in not being able to perform (duh). My patience greatly improved as an older man and while I will never be at my former technical level again, I found my ear and experience more than offsets my technical deficiencies...<grin> I now play regularly at church. Our music leader refers to me as his "real B3 player" - Best of luck to you!

 

[Rizzo]

Old Master Tech: Thank you for the encouragement. I feel no pressure to return to the keyboard; only desire.

 

[Old Master Tech]

Old Master Tech: Thank you for the encouragement. I feel no pressure to return to the keyboard; only desire.

Likewise - I found that I really "desired" the concentration and relaxation, which what worked for me and "desire" has continued to fuel my enjoyment.

 

[Biggles]

Rather than books there are a lot if Apps available to help in learning.

Here are a few of the available ones.

The 8 Best Piano Learning Apps for Total Newbies (Comparison)

Today, it's possible to rely entirely on online platforms to learn how to play musical instruments. It's actually one of the easiest ways to learn.

promusicianhub.com

When I bought a DP it came with three months free access to Flowkey so I tried it and followed all the tutorials, it was a good app but limited in content.

That got me into trying other Apps so I tried Chordana and that was similar.

So these may if you can find trial versions, ie sign up but do not buy and wsit for the trial emails to come your way then you may get a month to take a crash course and work through as much of the App as you can.

Then I tried Playground Sessions and that is light years better, slow going if needs be or as fast as you want, but there are tons of tutorials and plenty of songs to learn.

 

[Rizzo]

Rather than books there are a lot if Apps available to help in learning.

Here are a few of the available ones.

The 8 Best Piano Learning Apps for Total Newbies (Comparison)

Today, it's possible to rely entirely on online platforms to learn how to play musical instruments. It's actually one of the easiest ways to learn.

promusicianhub.com

When I bought a DP it came with three months free access to Flowkey so I tried it and followed all the tutorials, it was a good app but limited in content.

That got me into trying other Apps so I tried Chordana and that was similar.

So these may if you can find trial versions, ie sign up but do not buy and wsit for the trial emails to come your way then you may get a month to take a crash course and work through as much of the App as you can.

Then I tried Playground Sessions and that is light years better, slow going if needs be or as fast as you want, but there are tons of tutorials and plenty of songs to learn.

Thank you, Biggles, for the info. I will follow up on it.