AIBU to think I can teach myself to play the piano with YouTube?

[LadyKylieShagworthy]

Especially at the age of 54 with no musical experience or ability or am I completely deluded?
I have always wanted to be able to play and I am now fortunate enough to have unlimited access to a piano, so has anyone ever done this and can you recommend a good YouTube tutorial?

Not unreasonable at all, try Creative Piano Academy on Youtube. I think physical lessons are great if you want a large theoretical knowledge behind the instrument and the music notation, and would definitely recommend in person lessons above Youtube. But Youtube is great to learn the basics quickly. I learnt ukulele from YouTube and found it really useful. Good luck with learning!

Not deluded at all! I taught myself to play as a child. Admittedly I did then get lessons after having managed to teach myself and now play at a competent level (professional musician but not a pianist). I attribute a lot of my skill to the self-teaching I did at the start.

You can totally do it! You don't even need to be able to read sheet music. Go you!

Also age doesn't matter at all when it comes to music. So long as your fingers work you can learn piano at any age :) In fact, I would guess that your age would benefit you here as you've got the skills to focus and learn properly.

I’m a very similar age to you and started lessons in January. My SIL signed up to an App to teach her.

I’m making much faster progress than she is! [boastful face]

I seriously love it and despite it being difficult I do suggest getting some proper lessons from a teacher you like. Before paying for lessons I suggest starting to learn to read music, it’s seems daunting but suddenly you can just do it (mostly). Some very basic skills are fairly easy to pick up but I’ve found the lessons invaluable and fun.

DS1 used YouTube to learn lots of pieces. You have to work out whether you want to learn to read music and understand theory or just play the piano.

I had lessons as an adult, (had violin lessons as a child) but learn by hearing and repeating rather than reading music which I can do but I find tedious.

Lots and lots of people on YouTube break down pieces to make them very easy to learn. Just start with something basic otherwise it might be frustrating. Do it!

I learned from a book when I was 11 as we couldn't afford lessons.

Not tried Youtube but would be worth a go.

My D.C. did something similar when she was about 9. (It was actually a Dorling `kindersley book as You Tube wasn’t around back then). She made it look so easy I gave it a try - it was completely beyond me. It turned out she was exceptionally musically gifted and that was our first indication of it.

As you have access to a piano I think it’s worth a try. I agree that if you do turn out to have some aptitude you should supplement the videos with some 1:1 lessons.

Yes, YABU if you want to do it properly. (Piano teacher here.)

Don't just rely on YouTube as your technique will be poor. They often don't teach you about finger/hand positioning which is the basics. There's an app available called Yousician which you can get a half an hour lesson a day on for free. You can also pay to have unlimited lessons and it will actually teach you as it listens to you play and highlights errors. Also has a massive focus on technique so you will be a better player.

I wasn't quite a complete beginner, having passed grade 2 around 5 decades (!) earlier, but it had been so long, I virtually had to start again from scratch.

Even if you use YouTube too, , I can thoroughly recommend Carol Barratt's course for adult complete beginners - classical piano, but the basics would apply to whatever you want to play. It comes in 3 volumes - I found at least one of them 2nd hand on Amazon or abebooks.

Ooh great. You have all inspired me to try.
I don't particularly want to know how to read music , if it's not really necessary, or have deep theoretical knowledge, just to produce a recognisable tune.
I have fond memories of my grandmother playing the piano without reading a note of music. Hopefully, it's in my genes 🤞🎹

I have no advice but... Good for you OP and good luck!

I bought a digital piano for DD to practise on. She's having lessons, but I've been learning from an app.

I got cables to connect the piano to a tablet, apps can use the midi data sent via cable to monitor your playing. If you have a non-digital piano or no cable, the apps can still work by using the microphone to listen to you play, but it's not as perfect.

Yamaha piano came with three month free trial of Flowkey app. Prior to that I had used Joytune's "Simply Piano" which DW had signed up to for a year. Flowkey is rated higher in reviews, but I remember Simply Piano being more polished.

(Flowkey has a frustrating feature in their courses where they dictate exactly how many times you practise a piece, usually far to few, and then you have to press several times to get back into the lesson to do another set. I messaged them about this and they've promised a fix. In some cases you can find the same music in the library and practise it outside of the lesson, bypassing the problem.)

Another well know apps is "Yousician", but I haven't used it.

In the long term, I might end up using "Synthesia", which is the only app that lets you import your own music (in the form of midi files) rather than learning stuff from a built-in library. (Synthesia is the standard for Youtube tutorials on playing various pieces of music, but I wouldn't use it's "falling note" display, I'd turn that off because I want to learn/practise reading conventional music.)

Please update this thread later as I would love to hear how you got on!

I don't particularly want to know how to read music , if it's not really necessary, or have deep theoretical knowledge, just to produce a recognisable tune.

It's really easy, using the app. I'd at least try. But if you're determined to avoid it and just go straight to learning individual songs, then maybe Synthesia's falling note method will suit you.

Here's a link to that shows Synthesia in action, for anyone who's not seen it before.

That's actually one of DD's Grade 1 exam pieces, although (I assume for copyright reasons) the midi file is not freely available. (And, as I said, she doesn't use apps anyway.)

I’m learning to play the piano from scratch too. I have lessons with a teacher that I get on with well; I wouldn’t want to learn on my own. I think it depends on which methods of learning you are most comfortable with.
Like you, I am not learning the scales etc but I have learned how to read music. I actually found it very straightforward and enjoy it.
I’d say just go for it with whichever method is most appealing to you.
Good luck.

Thanks for all your advice. I will definitely give it a go but don't expect an update any day soon.

Yes you can ... my friend taught herself with YouTube in a year and now plays professionally. Never too late and we're lucky to live in an age with free resources like this.

Good luck OP, is there similar for guitar, I quite fancy giving it a go, but I have very small hands...so no idea if it is possible to learn...

My daughter taught herself to play the piano from YouTube tutuorals, so did my brother. To hear either of them play you'd never know they haven't had formal lessons. It's all about practice. I'm not sure I'd have the self discipline personally, but if you do, go for it!

Honestly, up to a point you will be able to learn a bit. Lessons will take you further. Depends what you want out of it. Harder if tou aelf teach and then go for lessons as you will have to unlearn a lot.

PS kids learn very differently so comparisons to kids are not very meaningful