Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Where to begin

Hey everyone I'm new here and to the piano. (My piano is currently on it sway here) I'm 27 years old and have never had any piano lessons or training. But it has always been my dream to learn to play. I would like to get lessons but can't afford them right this second so I was hoping some people here could give me some advice on the best way/learn at home material to start with. I've seen some discussions about Alfred and Faber(?) books. Do these books teach you how to read music and teach you finger exercises and scales? Any advice welcome.

Welcome to the forums, Gertie.

Private one on one lessons can get quite expensive. You may think that studying at home may be your only option, but perhaps I could suggest an alternative.

You might want to try paying a visit to your local community college to see if they may offer piano lessons. I'll bet the price is pretty affordable.

I would recommend placing a classifieds' Wanted ad with whatever you can afford.. especially if you live in a college town. $5/half hour may be possible.... or at least, for me it was.

there's always Youtube.com where you can find tons of piano lessons/instructions for free. check out some lessons there on basic techniques, and you can then start playing yourself.

i would also get some music notation/theory books to learn on the side as well, if i were you.

Welcome to the forums Gertie,

I have the Alfred books and find them to be very good. The all in one course has a little more theory in it but both books refer you to other books in case you wanted to develop certain aspects in your music development, though that can be expensive though.

I like using the Music Theory Website by Ricci Adams as I found my comprehension on music theory has improved; I am still working on the lessons of chords and Major/Minor scales.

The music theory site is really thorough with its exercises, and I would try our all the free lessons you possibly can. Best wishes!

- Mark

The Alfred Adult All-In-One series (3 Levels) is excellent in everything you need - including theory, acompanying CDs and a wide variety of music from different styles or genres nicely arranged. You'll get much support from it here with several dedicated threads.

JF