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Hello forum!

So I am about to begin my journey in learning to play the piano. My Roland FP 30X will arrive at my place on wednesday.

The big question is now: What is the best way to start as an adult 37 years old, who wants to play some of his favorite classical pieces in the future?!

Because of the current situation face2face lessons are not possible and I would like to use some of those available online courses.
There are plenty of them but I am scared of probably choosing a bad or "wrong" one and start learning absolute wrong things. There is for example music2me or zapiano. I can't find independet reviews for such courses. Every good review could be just an advertisemnt.

Has someone made any experience with an online course and can recommend it or vise versa?

Best regards

Andre

Hi Andre,

I don't think you need to worry too much about picking the "wrong" one in this case (WRT online instruction). If the teaching method doesn't suit you, you can just switch. Piano is kind of like a life long journey that never ends and without goals (I guess unless you need to use it to making money, then it'll be different). So, you have you whole life to try different things with it.

However, I do suggest getting live instruction as soon as possible. In fact, I'm waiting for this day too because I need some live instruction.

hello and thanks for your reply!

I am just affraid of gaining bad behaviors that maybe are hard to get rid off. that's my biggest fear right now before even played my first notes

Don't worry about it. At the rate the vaccines are going, I think we'll be having safe in-person lessons very soon. If you feel pain (which I really doubt), just stop and think it over.

Although I've had years of piano lessons, but that was 40 years ago. So, in a way, I'm just starting out too. Started playing again last December.

I think the more important thing is playing the pieces that you like. There are easy arrangements of all kinds of music. This way, you'll be in it for the long haul. Don't give up! Let's see if we can both stay with the piano for years to come. Good luck.

go to youtube.com and search on ....

FABER PIANO LESSONS ALFREDS

You will find all sorts of free lessons associated with those (and other) piano method books.

Then, purchase the FABER or ALFREDS method book those lessons are directed at and just start.

Good Luck

Hi there, Andre.

This won't exactly answer your question but maybe it will give you another option to consider. I started learning the piano right in the middle of the pandemic and found a middle-of-the-road solution that has worked out well for me.

Like you, I was afraid of developing bad habits while learning the basics on my own so I wanted to find a teacher from the start and decided against the online programs. After getting some recommendations for local teachers in my area I interviewed a few by phone, spoke with some of their students, and found one I get along with who lives less than 15 minutes away. Because of the pandemic I'm only taking weekly lessons with her over Zoom, but I'll be able to begin in-persons lessons as soon as its safe for both of us to do so. The Zoom lessons have been surprisingly productive and I like that I've already been able to develop a working relationship with a local teacher.

Now this might be overkill, but I went the extra mile to ensure that my teacher and I could make the most of the meetings. That meant providing her with as much visual information as possible along with the sound of my playing. I use two web cams along with a free program (OBS) that can add both cams to a single virtual camera output that Zoom can utilize. That may sound like it would be complicated but it was incredibly easy to setup. Anyway, the end result is a large top down view combined with a side view that looks like this...



Not as good as having the teacher in the room with me, but still pretty darn good for the circumstances. My teacher likes it so much she's asked for help creating a similar setup. I've also been using this to record some of my practice sessions so that I can pick out my own mistakes and keep a visual record of my progress. So far so good.

Best of luck with whatever route you choose!
~Schwa

Hello guys, thank you for your time and for the replies.

piano2020, thanks for the supportive words, my friend. I wish you the same. Let’s ensure that we don’t give up!

dmd, I might give it a try. Also found the Book of Alfreds on Amazon.


Schwa, the idea seems to be great! Your setup is awesome! Well done!

I’ve found a local teacher who is advertising with online lessons and after the lockdown ends it switches to face2face. I left him a message, asking for exact pricing. At least the first months Id like to have some control, that my fingers and my body doing the right thing, correct positioning etc.