I want to learn to play the piano

My friend created a very unique way of learning to play that is much more than the "student sound." I have a Facebook group where you can go through his free training. It is a new group. Maybe you can help me build it with more members. Let me know if you would like the link.

Good luck, grassgreen - hope you really enjoy it!
Just to add, a woman at the group class I attended for a few years, had never even touched a piano before she started, and the last time I saw her, she had just passed Grade 3.
Being too chicken ever to have faced exams, I admired her enormously!

Just an update on my progress. I've ordered a couple of books as recommended above and earlier in the week visited a piano shop. Wow! There was something for everyone, from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands of pounds and the member of staff I spoke with spent ages with me. He patiently explained what the various pianos did, listened to what wanted to do and guided me in the right direction.

The outcome is that I'm going to rent a new acoustic Yamaha piano for 6 months. After which I can buy it and the rental cost is taken off the price. Or I can just give it back. This feels like a very positive arrangement for me.

Furret There are excellent tutorials on UTube - and they use a digital firm of notation which is so easy to pick up.

Could you direct me to one of these tutorials, please Furret. I've not come across them.

Knittingacat

That sounds great livelylady! I would be interested in a system like this if I had room for a digital piano but I wouldn't want to give up my lovely Yamaha upright (although I understand you can get a system installed on an acoustic piano which allows you to use it as a digital piano).
This might be helpful for grassgreen markgoodwinpianos.co.uk/blog/Digital-Pianos-vs-Acoustic-Pianos.

I have a very old upright piano, bought for me as a surprise present by dh, who (bless him) knew nothing about pianos. I had not long taken up the piano again from a very low base - just grade 2 over 50 years previously!
The piano, however, had a very tinny tone, the soft pedal squeaked, and the tuner told me it was on its very last legs dating from IIRC the 1880s.
However the cabinet was beautiful wood, so I was very reluctant to scrap it. Eventually I found a company in Worcs. who would convert it to a very good quality digital. It wasn’t cheap, but from the outside you’d never know the difference, the tone is miles better and the pedals no longer squeak! It just needs to be switched on and off.
The company collected and returned it.
After a lot of work on my own, followed by a few years pre Covid, at a group class, I was managing to play certain 4 and 5 pieces - only the ones I really liked enough to work on, though!

Thanks so much for all your informative and inspirational posts. I'm investigating all you've shared and glad to read my post is inspiring others to learn or get back to playing

I can play (sort of) & I have a good piano, but I've lost my confidence (partly because my old old old piano had totally lost it's touch sensitiveness, I had to bash it,)
I am deaf so although I can sort of hear, sometimes I play a few bars having dropped a tone in one hand & I don't realise, which is embarrassing. But probably no-one's listening.
So thanks for posting, sorry I can't advise but this post has definitely given me an impetus to get playing regularly again.

Knittingacat
I have a Yamaha keyboard with 88 keys touch sensitive. It is compact, not as long as piano keyboard.
Sorry not heard of piano conversion.

*form

There are excellent tutorials on UTube - and they use a digital firm of notation which is so easy to pick up.

That sounds great livelylady! I would be interested in a system like this if I had room for a digital piano but I wouldn't want to give up my lovely Yamaha upright (although I understand you can get a system installed on an acoustic piano which allows you to use it as a digital piano).
This might be helpful for grassgreen markgoodwinpianos.co.uk/blog/Digital-Pianos-vs-Acoustic-Pianos.

Forgot to add, this system corrects any mistakes as you play, going over difficult pieces again. It also makes sure you play at the correct tempo. Once basics are mastered you progress to play along to a selection of songs. Great fun!

I learned to read music and play basic tunes almost 70 years ago! Always wanted to try again, but piano was difficult without tutor.
At Xmas I finally received a digital piano from hubby. The idea was to keep my brain alive!
Now I practice most days with an online system called Simply Piano (other companies are available).
I plug my tablet into the piano USB, log in and the lesson begins! Suitable for beginners to experienced players.
All lessons are programmed automatically, so no expensive tutor.
I pay just over £100 a year for 12 months tuition. Can highly recommend!

I signed up for Decplay which I have found to be great. You are playing tunes within days and it uses a numbers system rather than having to read music. There is a reasonable one off cost which gives you lots of tunes to start on. If you wish you can buy more enhanced tunes later but I’ve not had to. Good luck you’re never too old!

Excellent post, Knittingacat.

I started learning to play 7 years ago when I was 63. We had a piano for years and both DDs learned, with one becoming quite proficient. I suddenly realised when retiring that I was continuing to dust it but no-one was playing it so why not have a go myself. It was something I had always wanted to do as a child but there was no money for lessons. I found a local piano teacher who would come to the house for 30 min. lessons weekly. We had to transfer to doing our lessons online (using Zoom or FaceTime) during lockdown. This was an excellent start to the process but I had no interest in pursing grades or exams and I felt like I got in a rut with my teacher's method so I looked online. I found a teacher that got good reviews through one of the several sites that act as platforms for music teachers to offer their services and have now been with her for a couple of years. If you are saying you don't want to have a teacher because you are nervous about having face-to-face contact when you are an absolute beginner, a good teacher will do much to give you confidence and encouragement. Most teachers offer a trial lesson which is about getting to know each other and what you want from learning the piano. To get the most out of the process you do need to commit time and effort to it. I feel my progress has been very slow but steady - nothing like the speed of a 10 year old rushing through the grades. It takes a lot of practice to retrain your brain but it is very rewarding. So - to learn well, especially if you want to be able to read music, you need to have a teacher who can help you make progress. There is a limit to what following videos online or working through books can teach you if no-one is telling you whether you are doing it right or not.

I’ve been playing the piano for a long time now, and I still don’t class myself as good - I gave up at grade five (my teacher breathed a huge sigh of relief!) -but it’s amazing the satisfaction you get from being able to sit at a piano and play even simple tunes. It’s very relaxing. I would say look at finding a teacher. If you try and teach yourself, you’ll learn the basics but you won’t progress. If you’re planning to buy a piano, look at digital ones. They never go out of tune like strung pianos which are highly susceptible to temperature changes in a room. Finding a tuner these days is like looking for the holy grail! Good luck! Go for it!

secc I have just looked at Playground Sessions and it looks good. How are you getting on with it?

Fiorentina, you may need to have it tuned at some point

No, have a go! Give it a try.
You have inspired me to dust our piano and find some music.

I'm 74. Am I too old to learn?
I have a piano, which belongs to my daughter. It's too big to fit in her house so it resides in my spare room, where it is likely to remain as she wants to keep it and pianos are notoriously difficult to get rid of.

May I recommend that if you get a keyboard or digital piano that you get one that is touch sensitive? What this means is that the harder you press the keys, the louder they sound. This is standard for a regular piano but is not always the case with a keyboard or digital piano. Touch sensitive keys will help you learn to play with better dynamic contrast, especially if you do play on a regular piano at some point.

Thanks for starting this thread, grassgreen.
I have had a similar desire to learn to play the piano for some time now, so shall read the replies with great interest.

I really don't think there's a better plan than learning piano than by a teacher. They can take you through the grades and are an immense help to you personally. Best wishes .

I decided to learn the piano recently and have signed up to - Playground Sessions. It seems ideal for me as a complete beginner, clear video instruction and you can practise each section as many times as you feel you need! You can sign up for a free trial to see if it suits you. I am enjoying the challenge and hope that you do too.