If you were teaching yourself piano from scratch....

[ladybee28]

How would you do it, knowing what you know now?

I used to play a lot as a kid, up to about Grade 7, but haven't touched the keys since I was 11.

My fingers remember scales (which is really spooky), but my brain doesn't.

I can 'monkey see, monkey do' pieces from Youtube videos like HDPiano, but I'd really like to be able to understand the instrument, know chords, and play and sing. I enjoy things like Sara Bareilles, Norah Jones, Nick Drake, Eric Satie...

I'm finding learning from a screen helpful in some ways, frustrating in others –I'd like to make notes on sheet music.

What advice would you have for someone like me? Any books / apps you'd particularly recommend I ask Santa for this year?

It sounds like you might be seeking the style of playing I was after when I returned to piano two years ago - ie more popular rather than classical?

I would suggest learning to play from lead sheets / fake books / 'keyboard' sheet music, learning to play by ear and learning to improvise. Playing full piano scores with the two hands written out is also fun and a great skill to have of course, but it's just one part of the experience for me.

I've also found getting into the theory and learning solfege (I use the Kodaly approach) to be important. Those things don't just help me understand what is going on, but have a direct impact on my playing.

These are the books I found most useful:
How to Really Play the Piano by Bill Hilton (and also his YouTube channel)
How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons by Norman Monath
Piano by Ear by Lucinda Mackworth-Young
Improvising Blues Piano by Tim Richards

It is so worth learning how the chords work and developing these skills - now I can play by ear and improvise, transpose songs into different keys, play the same song in different styles, and sing a melody and accompany myself. I didn't know how to even approach all this two years ago (just stumbled through easy piano scores and got frustrated). It's actually been quite life-changing for me!

From scratch i was going to recommend the piano adventures for adults books. Sounds like actually you're a long way from scratch however rusty and something like that would be too slow for you.
Maybe combination of working through a g5 theory book and choosing a book of music you want to play at a level maybe a bit below where you were as a child to get back into it?

@Tintini

It sounds like you might be seeking the style of playing I was after when I returned to piano two years ago - ie more popular rather than classical?

I would suggest learning to play from lead sheets / fake books / 'keyboard' sheet music, learning to play by ear and learning to improvise. Playing full piano scores with the two hands written out is also fun and a great skill to have of course, but it's just one part of the experience for me.

I've also found getting into the theory and learning solfege (I use the Kodaly approach) to be important. Those things don't just help me understand what is going on, but have a direct impact on my playing.

These are the books I found most useful:
How to Really Play the Piano by Bill Hilton (and also his YouTube channel)
How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons by Norman Monath
Piano by Ear by Lucinda Mackworth-Young
Improvising Blues Piano by Tim Richards

It is so worth learning how the chords work and developing these skills - now I can play by ear and improvise, transpose songs into different keys, play the same song in different styles, and sing a melody and accompany myself. I didn't know how to even approach all this two years ago (just stumbled through easy piano scores and got frustrated). It's actually been quite life-changing for me!

This is amazing, thank you. And thanks to the OP for asking a question I also needed answering but didn't know it!

Wow, @Tintini, that's so helpful!

It is so worth learning how the chords work and developing these skills - YES! This! It scares me silly but I think it's really the core of what I'm looking for.

I would suggest learning to play from lead sheets / fake books / 'keyboard' sheet music Excuse me maybe coming off stupid, but what's a fake book?

@thirdfiddle I so appreciate your faith in me... I'm really not sure I've remembered nearly as much as you're giving me credit for, but it feels lovely to read such encouragement!

I would recommend Flowkey on iPad - has sheet music but then also microphone to listen and tell you how/where you messed up.

It's like riding a bike! Only with less grazed knees while you get back up to speed.

Simply piano app seems good so far

@thirdfiddle

It's like riding a bike! Only with less grazed knees while you get back up to speed.

It's genuinely spooked me how my fingers remember things that my head can't. I feel like I have haunted hands!

Don't be scared of the chords - they are your friends! The Norman Monath book explains them the best to start out with I think.

Not a stupid question about fake books. I didn't know what they were before either - they certainly didn't feature in any of my 100s of hours of music lessons as a child (unfortunately for me, I now feel!).

Basically lead sheets / fake books / keyboard sheet music is music that has just the melody line with chord symbols above. I used to think of this as 'guitar music', but it's just a way of representing music...you could write classical music out like this too, and in fact I have some classical fake books too.

You don't need the 'left hand' bass stave because you are going to be making that part up based on your knowledge of the chords. (Actually, once you get better at it you just make both hands up based on the chords and pop the melody on top, or just sing the melody.)

It's called a 'fake book' I think because the original ones didn't pay royalties to the songwriters. Confusingly, a 'real book' also refers to this type of music. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_sheet

Oooh, I'm going to look into some of these, thanks for asking this OP!

I taught myself to play piano after a fashion when I was a teenager. I had lessons for another instrument and then just bought sheet music for songs I liked and kept plugging away until I could play them. It's tricky picking it back up (started again in last lockdown as it's like my hands remember parts of it, but not others, and my brain can't keep up!)

I have a mental block about chords, I also tried to teach myself the guitar but was less successful than with the piano. I have never heard of lead sheets/fake books etc. I really can't get on with apps for music, so I pay for printable sheet music or order online.

Good luck op. I recentlymlickednitmupnagain after decades - got to grade 8 and it’s all coming back much more quickly than I had feared !

‘Picked it up again’ that should read !

@HeronLanyon - recentlymlickednitmupnagain may have just become my new favourite word

Also my dog is now staring at me worriedly as I try to say it out loud... I think he's worried I'm having some kind of a fit.

I've been using the Simply piano app since March (complete beginner, no experience of playing an instrument or reading music).
I really like it, I can learn at my own pace, pick and choose the pieces I want to learn and re-practice particular modules etc.
Dd also uses it so the annual fee covers both of us.

Another resource I think is useful for getting into the chords, lead sheets and improv side of things (if that's the approach you are after) is the Musical U website: www.musical-u.com/ They have a podcast and lots of free articles.

But I think I found the books easiest to help me at first. The internet has so much information and music is such a vast subject that it can be a bit overwhelming.

I don't know about apps...do things like Simply Piano cover this sort of thing, or are they focused on playing sheet music with both hands exactly as written?

ladybee that was a spectacular one wasn’t it ? all thumbs (literal and metaphorical as I am on phone here !).

I self-taught by using children's books. I am very non-musical, with a terrible sense of rhythm so never got any good but was satisfied with my progress. An actual lesson would have destroyed my confidence. I heard a radio programme about people like me, in a state between truly tone deaf & average musical ability, would like to hear it again...

ooh, this is the radio programme

Out of interest, for people who DON'T want to learn to understand chords and improvise etc., what's the alternative and why does it appeal?

Is it more people who want to be able to play a piece of Chopin beautifully (which I certainly wouldn't turn my nose up at being able to do!) and therefore it's less about understanding the composition than being able to replicate and interpret it?

Ooh, interesting thread. Thanks OP!

I learned piano from a very young age and was taught traditionally so can play scores up to grade 7/8 and can sight read easier scores pretty well but have always longed to be able to improvise/play by ear.
Loads of good suggestions on here.
@Tintini - you've inspired me to give it a proper go!

@Pizzaistheanswer I find apps tricky, too. I REALLY love the idea of them, but when I sit down with one I always find myself reaching for a pen and a pad, and by the time I've got all that propped up around the piano....

What have you found most helpful in picking it back up again this year?

My piano teacher has been doing zoom lessons. I know it's not teaching yourself but just wanted to say you might enjoy it. I'm still progressing with his help and it works well with the various camera angles he has set up in his studio.

@ladybee28 I think what has worked best for me was buying some sheet music for songs that I hadn't previously played but that I really liked. The pieces that I knew the best were the hardest to pick back up!