Has anyone learnt the piano as an adult?

[ArcticBells]

it has been a lifelong wish to play the piano. I plague my parents as a child without success but now in later life I have bought a keyboard.
can anyone recommend the best way to learn please?

Yes I have.

i got a teacher and took lessons.

How long did it take you to use 2 hands? Will a proper teacher spend forever on scales? I do want to learn properly. There are so many apps available but I’m not sure whether they are worth it or the right way to learn

My teacher didn’t do scales at all that I remember.

at one point (maybe about five years in) I decided I wanted to do a grade and then she just said go away and learn them but she did help with fingering.

we worked through the Schaum books. They’re two hands from the start

Thank you. I will lookup those books

Yes - I took it up 18 months ago. I speed dated 4-5 teachers and picked the one I gelled with best. I have never done scales and although I’m working my way through the grade books am also learning other pieces and don’t intend to take any of the grade exams.

full disclosure I could already read music and had played other instruments but I was two handed within about 4-6 weeks having never played a keyboard.

I reccomend starting with book one of this series. Not cheap but worth it. And get lessons from a 1to1 in person teacher.
Amazon.com: Alfred's Basic Adult All-In-One Piano Course : Lesson, Theory, Technic [Spiral-bound] W.Palmer, M.Manus, A.Letheo: Books

Can you play another instrument?

DD self taught herself after learning another instrument and did her Grade 4 as first exam. I don't play, so have no idea if that's easily doable!

Yes I learnt as an adult in my early forties. Self taught, including teaching myself to read music. I was very motivated and eventually went on to do a degree (followed by a Masters) in music.

I'm trying! (Mid-50's and with some rather serious memory issues to boot). Not played an instrument for 40 years.

It's slow going but I found the most patient, pleasant, reassuring teacher. It makes me want to cry, how many mistakes I make, but she just says that she doesn't care about perfection - "perfection is boring" - she just wants me to enjoy it.

Which I do, so much.

I have Alfred's adult piano course but honestly use my son's children's version more eg https://www.alfred.com/alfreds-basic-piano-library-lesson-book-1b/p/00-2106/

Im only playing for enjoyment and the challenge and it's wonderful.

Oh, and started two handed straight away, very simple stuff but it worked.

PS am on holiday now and really missing practising. Also, I enjoy both pop music and classical music much more now, which was unexpected.

I'm a piano teacher and have always had several adult pupils. I find they learn every bit as quickly as the kids (although they always feel that won't be the case) - they're motivated to practice, for a start!

I'd say find a teacher if at all possible. You won't realise how bad habits that can creep in can put obstacles in the way later that will stop you progressing. It's worth working through a couple of tutor books to get you reading music, then you can branch out to very easy/easy versions of things you fancy playing.

For adult pupils it's not always essential ime to work on scales quite as much as for children in terms of finger strength/independence (often we've been typing etc for years). That said, they're still helpful, including for key signatures later so it's worth doing some. I get all beginners to do a few scales (5 mins or so per half hour lesson unless there's a need for more) but the main focus is to get them playing.

If you're so inclined, apps like Reading Music Notes are great for practising note recognition and improving processing speed. Good luck!

I'm trying! I use apps. I did a year of yousician but it was too much like a game. I'm now using simply piano which is much better as it teaches you to read music. I'm really enjoying it as I can practice when I want.

I started last year at the same time as my daughter and love it! I don't have a teacher but DD does so I just worked through the method book they were using (Carol Barratt adult piano) and piggybacked off her practice homework 😅. I watch a load of Youtube videos too.

As to the two hands thing, I started working on that almost immediately as hand independence is fundamental. There are tons of simple manageable tunes you can play with both hands.

You’ve given me a kick. Thanks OP. We have a piano and it sits there. I play other instruments and get great joy from the daily half hour of practise. I’ll add this in with the books suggested. Let’s keep each other motivated!

I use the andante app to time my practise and you can also record your sessions/pieces and journal about your sessions. Which means you get to hear your progress. Also has a metronome. Highly recommend!

Yes I’m learning the piano - and I’m a grandmother and certainly not young. My first piano teacher was very patronising, gave me nursery rhyme music to play as if I was 5, so I ditched him and found my current wonderful teacher through on line reviews. I’ve now done grades 1, 2 and 3 via ABRSM , and done them the old fashioned way, face to face, so yes, I do scales ( which I struggle to remember) but that’s my own choice. I could do the new video performance exams, which just involves a video playing 4 pieces, but decided not to. I’m taking grade 4 in a few months, but it’s purely my choice. As you have to pass a theory exam to continue beyond grade 5, and I’m not doing that, I’ll stop after doing grade 5 but will take 2 years to get there.
its not easy - especially with my memory - but is great fun. It’s also much nicer with a proper acoustic piano. I inherited my piano, though I did start on an electric keyboard.

its worth knowing that you don’t have to play perfectly in exams. They also look for timing, and following the musical notes for things like expression. I’ve never played a single piece perfectly in an exam yet - I’ve always made an error in each of the three pieces, yet still got a distinction in my first exam, and a merit in my second.

I had lessons as a child, only ever passed grade 2, but stopped on starting senior school (teacher was based at junior school) and often regretted it later.

After I retired I took it up again - after such a long gap it was almost starting again from scratch - my sight reading was non existent! I used Carol Barratt’s books for complete beginners (classical piano) and after about a year joined a group piano/keyboard class run by the local authority - groups from complete beginner to advanced (which included people from about grade 3 level to one who was working for her diploma).

After 2-3 years I was able to tackle pieces of about G5 standard.

Sadly COVID put an end to the classes, but before then one woman I met at the group, probably mid-late 40s, told me she had never even touched a piano until a few years previously, but had just passed her Grade 3! Having always been too chicken to even consider exams, I admired her enormously!

I played as a child then bought a digital piano a couple of years ago so both DH and I could learn to play. We use the JoyTunes SImply Piano App. I was sceptical at first but have actually really enjoyed using it.

From my experience it will make things a lot easier if you learn to read notes as quickly as you can, as that will cut out one difficulty from all the other things you'll be struggling with in the beginning. There are lots of flash card type apps for this (I use one called Notes Teacher and it took maybe a couple of weeks doing a few minutes a day to become reasonably proficient).

DH did and mastered it. He is innately musical and it was an outlet beyond work.

I tried - took lessons for four years - but I couldn't commit the time to practise. Plus I have a short attention span. Couldn't fault my teacher though. She was first class.

Thank you for all the inspiring comments. I’m 63 and played various instruments as a child so was once proficient in reading music. I now have the notes pinned up all over the house with the hope of learning them again.

I’ve bought a 61 key weighted keyboard to start with (yet to arrive and am very excited!) but will invest in something full size snd better if I manage to progress.

i’ve looked at various Apps but haven’t yet decided on one. Simply Piano looks quite good as I do want to learn the notes and play properly, not just memorising a piece of music; besides I don’t have a good enough memory for that! I’m going to hopefully get a grounding in playing and then find a teacher.

I’ve wanted to play the piano all my life so simply cannot fail at this. I’m determined to learn.

Simply Piano is great. My son has played other instruments for some years, but with the app was able to play two handed within a few sessions, and is making rapid progress.

i am playing for fun and have improved a lot. Enjoy!

Wow! Amazing. That's really impressive

SimplyPiano is a good app. We use it, paying c. £85 for a year makes it good value when you consider what lessons cost. Also it adds new music regularly which keeps it fresh and interesting.

The Main shortcoming of SimplyPiano is that it feels like it promotes a somewhat wooden/metronomic style of playing, which if you have played other instruments you may feel gets frustrating after a while. We still persist with it due to the other benefits mentioned above.