[Purgatos]

Hoping I put this in the right place, couldn't find anywhere that looked better.

I've recently been hit by a pretty strong desire to finally learn how to play the piano, but looking for a good book to get started with has yielded almost no results. Well, that's not true, it's actually given me so many results I have no idea what to do with them all.

I'm really only interested in classical style play, so any of the jazz beginner books probably aren't for me. Also, I want something pretty comprehensive that will teach the very basics(I don't know anything about anything) and then go up to some fairly advanced stuff if possible.

Also, while I can still read music it's been about 8-10 years since I've actually played any instrument regularly, so I'm probably stupid at that too.

Please help me Head-Fi, you're my only hope.

 

[jmmtn4aj]

Best to get a teacher IMO, they'll teach the proper techniques right off the bat. I've lots of friends who learned the guitar themselves, but the only friends who've learned the piano that way are extremely musically inclined. I have this friend who plays extremely well, but he does it by listening to the music then hitting the keys that produce the notes.

 

[plainsong]

My 4-year old neice had an excellent beginner's piano book. I can't play very well myself, but within pages I was using playing the treble and the bass. Usually my left hand lapses into treble for some reason. It's geared to kids, but hey, my left hand started working properly and it was a real page-turner, so I won't complain.

 

[Advil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong /img/forum/go_quote.gif My 4-year old neice had an excellent beginner's piano book. I can't play very well myself, but within pages I was using playing the treble and the bass. Usually my left hand lapses into treble for some reason. It's geared to kids, but hey, my left hand started working properly and it was a real page-turner, so I won't complain.

Well don't leave us in suspense! Whats the title?!

 

[Purgatos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmmtn4aj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Best to get a teacher IMO, they'll teach the proper techniques right off the bat.

Unfortunately, I don't have the money or a schedule solid enough to commit to classes. While a teacher would, of course, be best, it's not really feasible for me at the moment.

Thanks for your advice though.

 

[ThisIsMe11]

Another good option for learning an instrument if you don't have money for lessons is online videos. I used it for  learning guitar. I have never searched for learning piano videos but I'm sure there's some out there. 

 

[Radio_head]

John Thompson's piano courses are a great way to start.  After a few levels there you can pretty much wade into classical as you have some sight-reading skills.  Take something simple like the Clementi or Kuhlau Sonatinas Bach's Prelude in C Major and build up from there.
 
Anything that's above your immediate ability to sight-read should be learned split - perfect the right and left hand separately, slower (with a metronome) first and gradually speed up.  Block runs that are also chords into chords while building up (especially helpful when learning Bach), and above all have a teacher for the first couple months to make sure your form and technique is adequate or you'll end up injuring yourself in the long run.