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To think I was worried that joining this forum would make me feel like I had no place learning the piano at this age. Thank you all for the positive comments and advice.
The plan as it stands now, is to get hold of a larger kit bag to fit a 61 key in. I’ve been reading about the Roland Go Piano and that seems an awesome buy. The only downside is it’s quite heavy. I’ll have to pack all my kit etc and see how much weight I’ve got left to use and make a decision then. There’s some M-Audio and Nektar models available (obviously not fantastic but they’re light).
As for the practicing, I started at 1800 tonight and an unhappy wife was banging on the door at 2215 😂 only planned on about an hour and a half haha. Safe to say I’m hooked.

I'm always surprised of people thinking there is such a thing as an maximum age to start music. It seems to be a common misconception, and I can't understand why it exists.
So I'm happy you didn't let that stop you!

I'm in a similar case as you. I've started the piano 2,5 years ago, at 28 years old. And I'm totally hooked!
(But I wasn't a complete beginner in music, I have to admit. I played clarinet and alto sax in high school, which allowed me to have a little head-start, knowing the basic theory, how to fluently read sheet music, etc.).

I wish you the best in your pianistic journey!

You might want to go with a hard road case instead of a bag. Even the "stage" type keyboards aren't anywhere near mil spec rugged. You also need to think ergonomics -- what will you put the keyboard on, what will you sit on? Repetitive stress injuries come from sitting wrong.

I agree with the concerns expressed above that you need to have fully weighted keys to practice on.

Maybe you should consider purchasing a used, weighted digital piano when you arrive at your new post. Adequate pianos, comparable to your P 45, are frequently available for around $250US or a little more. When time to return home comes, put it up for sale. Even if you take a loss, that loss is just your "rental" expense. At worst, you have to give it away, at a slightly greater "rental" expense.

Compared to the excess baggage fees you will incur from transporting a keyboard with you, you may come close to breaking even. Good luck to you.

Hello again everyone.

I’ve found myself a reputable teacher in the local area and start lessons Friday (quite excited). I’m going to stop the Simply Piano App until then as I feel it’s confusing what I’ve learned so far. The app so far has been getting me to start with my hands on Cs or Fs and use a slide technique to move up/down octaves. Now the app is suggesting Ds and Gs as starting positions 😣. Is this a normal progression? I’ll still carry on using the chord section of the app though as that’s very helpful and enjoyable.

Also, managed to get a very large kit bag for when I go away so I’ll fit in a Go Piano nicely and should come well under weight (64kg over two bags with all my military kit too). The option of buying one out there isn’t possible I’m afraid. Plus if I have a portable one,it’ll come in handy for the military lifestyle, loosely translating to moving about to different places at a moments notice haha.

Thanks again for making this the most helpful/welcoming forum I’ve been on 👍

Great news! I think having a teacher is definitely the best option.

In piano playing, unlike some other instruments, there is no such thing as a "position". You have to get used to moving your hands around to any place on the keyboard. The sooner you get used to playing in different places the better.

Thank you, I’ll crack on with the app then. I’ll just trust it’s progression. I mean, it’s taken me from knowing literally nothing to just enough to start really enjoying it a few weeks. Just slightly disheartening getting so used to something then it all changing. I suppose I’ll have to get used to that though haha.
I think it’s the finger numbering system that’s confusing me most. Wish there was an option to turn it off

The single most important aspect of learning to play a musical instrument is that you need to feel like doing it, ie to have an emotional urge to play. It is not enough to simply tell yourself that you need to practice, or that there is no gain without pain, or that you need to make sacrifices for your eventual goal. This is foolish and fruitless and will only make you unhappy. I know four accomplished pianists who never play the instrument and each of them told me the same thing when I asked why. And that is they did not enjoy the learning experience. It put them off for life.

The question is, how do you achieve this? A good teacher should inspire you to play. If you don't have a teacher then you need to analyse your own feelings about learning the instrument and how to navigate your way. Some people jump straight in and play tunes. Others will prefer to learn scales and do technical exercises to develop skills. Others may learn chords and on the back of this compose their own music. There is no end to what you can do. The important thing is not to do what your must do but what you want to do. Take advice by all means. But at the end of the day the most significant factor in learning the piano is that you keep playing and this will only happen if you enjoy it.

Good Luck!

A lot of people tend to take up playing an instrument like an academic exercise. The first thing they think of is getting a teacher. The topic of self-teach has been discussed before and there are pros & cons on both sides of the coin. Don't think the only reason you pay music is for a teacher during your weekly lessons.

Whether you go with a teacher or not, don't feel you have to get stuck playing repertoire from a few beginner's books like Alfred's piano. There are a lot more songs available online to last a lifetime. Like before Christmas I downloaded "Jingle Bell Rock". I like to to browse on the www.8note.com site. You can find all sorts of repertoire for piano.

I started piano as an adult and download sheet music of the pieces I like to listen to regularly. Some people I know played only repertoire assigned by their teachers and not one is still playing.

I can totally understand what people mean with the playing repertoire. I’ve recently had my first lesson and I’ve been given some songs to practice that will get my fingers moving about a bit. Some I really like and have a desire to get right, however some I’ve not even heard of and I find it difficult to gauge if I’m playing it right or not. I’m finding that I have to YouTube the songs a few times before I attempt it.
Would anyone recommend any song books for beginners to intermediates (I say intermediates as a lot of beginner sheets seem to only use one hand) that contain modern songs that I’m more likely to know?

Cheers again for the replies

It appears you've gotten some good info in the responses and that maybe you're more inclined to learn popular music (Coldplay) I recommend the site www.piano-play-it.com -free and no affiliation . I used it when starting out as I wasn't too hip on learning pieces I didn't know that they teach in the piano-popular learning books. The accompany section gave me my start.

I learned piano more like a guitar player would; chords, songs, then simple leads to full on solo piano from some of the Top 50 song books etc...
Best of luck in your journey.