Is it even possible to teach yourself how to play the piano?
The short answer is – yes, absolutely. People do it all the time.
BUT – and this is a big but (no pun intended) – you need to set up a plan for yourself – and you need to follow this plan. At least if you want to get results in an foreseeable future.
Personally I acquired most of my rock’n roll and pop piano skills by self-study. Back in the day, my local piano teacher didn’t know how to teach these genres. That’s the main reason I had to find my own way of learning the piano. But anyway – that’s a whole different story.
So – back to the subject at hand – in this article we’ll have a closer look at how to teach yourself piano.
Best way to learn piano on your own
First of all – the main reason you would want to teach yourself piano should be – that you in no way can afford to pay a professional teacher to help you.
I say this because – if you want to learn to play the piano the fastest possible way – you should definitely get either a live teacher – or follow an online course.
And I say this not (just) because I am a piano teacher and I offer online piano courses – but – because it’s a proven fact that you will learn just about any skill much faster if you follow the advice of a competent mentor.
Therefore – the advice in this article is meant for you who don’t have the monetary means to pay a teacher – and – you have plenty of spare time to research ways to learn the various skills you need to hit your personal piano playing goals.
What does it take to teach yourself piano?
This is of course just my opinion – looking back on how I learned piano.
First of all – you have to have an almost overwhelming love for music. You need to feel the urge to express yourself on the piano. This urge must be deeply rooted in you – if not – you will probably not be able to keep yourself motivated throughout the learning process.
You should also be quite clear on what kind of music you are most in love with. What style of piano is it you want to learn. Although rhythmical and classical music start out with the same three notes – these two main genres quickly move in different directions when it comes to the most important skills to practise.
If you want to play classical music you should concentrate on learning to read sheet music. Classical music is often very exact in which notes to play when.
If you want to play rhythmical music – pop, rock and jazz – you should concentrate more on training your ears – and learning how to use chords.
For both main genres apply that you need to listen to the music and the artists you aspire to sound like. I can’t stress this enough. Too many of my own students think that music can be learned by looking at a piece of paper.
Not good enough – by any standard..
You have to train your ears to listen carefully and concentrated to the music you want to play. You have to get good at recognizing things like changes in the mood and the feeling of the music.
The nuts and bolts of teaching yourself piano
If you can tick off all the boxes in the last paragraph your good to go. Now you just need to set up a usable plan – the nuts and bolts – of how to learn piano on your own.
My best advice is to set up short time, easy and achievable goals for yourself.
Goals like: For the next fourteen days I will practise reading sheet music. I will learn to read and play the notes from C to C in both hands. Or – I will learn how to construct five major and minor chords – and practise reading a chord sheet.
The next fourteen days I will practise this exact piece of music. To do so I will find either the sheet music or a video tutorial on YouTube.
Keep track of your piano learning progress
I strongly urge you to keep some kind of diary of your progress.
I suggest you keep both a written journal – write down your weekly assignments and goals – but evenly, if not more important, make audio recordings of yourself playing the piano. It’s very rewarding to hear your own progress.
IF – you don’t really hear any progress after weeks of practise – well – then you should probably revise your plan 😉
And always remember: It’s not a matter of how good you are at reading sheet music or chords. It’s always a matter of how the music sounds when you play it!
BUT MOST OF ALL – it’s a matter of how much joy the music brings you when you play the piano – right??
Let me be your teacher!
If you feel ready and confident – if you feel you know how to teach yourself piano – then go ahead and get started. Lay out that first plan today.
If you on the other hand feel that you could need some help after all – well – then I am soooo ready to help you.
I have the perfect online piano course waiting for you – at least if you are in to rhythmical music.
If you want to learn how to play your own beautiful and groovy versions of ALL your favourite pop and rock songs in just 3 weeks – then sign up for my free piano webinar to learn more.
You can sign up for the webinar HERE.
In any case – I wish you the best progress towards your piano goals.
Thank you for reading – and feel free to leave a comment. I would love to hear from all of you DIY piano students.
Talk soon
Niels
