Hey, Sup Forums, probably could have posted this on Sup Forums or something, but eh. I never go to that board...

Hey, Sup Forums, probably could have posted this on Sup Forums or something, but eh. I never go to that board. I was curious if someone can become a proper pianist with being entirely self taught. I recently discovered I fucking love piano, but there aren't any local teachers. So, yeah. Think it's possible to become super good with only using online resources, and similar products?
>pic related, It's a goddamn piano.

With enough practice and study you can teach yourself to make your own nuclear device. So, yes, just buy a cheap keyboard and get working with youtube tutorials as well as sheet music so that you can start to learn, then keep practicing until you're comfortable playing the keys. You just have to be seriously motivated though, and not slack off, so, try.

I can kind of play guitar, and haven't had a lesson. Do you think the bit I know on guitar will help em with piano? I can assume my right hand dexterity will already be okay, but my left will be a bit wonky. I may be completely wrong, though.

the honest answer is no.

however, it also depends on your definition of "proper pianist." If you want to play songs proficiently, with a couple years of hard effort and good training, you can absolutely do that. You might even get to the point where you can play some Bach or Handel.

But I know, from almost first-hand experience, that nobody becomes a great concert pianist who wasn't sat at a piano at 2-3 years old and given very good training.

But like I said, don't let that discourage you. Pick some songs or pieces you want to learn, learn them at your pace and go for it. It'll be extremely satisfying and you'll be more creative than 98% of people on earth.

This was pretty inspirational, thank you. I have a bit of extra money saved up, so just might go buy a digital piano with weighted keys. One I can "grow into", I guess. Do you have any suggestions on one? I hear 88 keys is smart right away, but I'm unsure still. I'm honestly pretty ignorant on the topic.

Well, you know. Going to the gym is great. Going to the gym with a trainer will get you fit faster and more effectively.
I'm almost 21 and I've been playing for 16 years.
If there is no teacher, it's better than nothing. Teach yourself the basics: finger numbers, notes, rythem. Go to the local library and get a book for begginers, any will do.
Then do the begginers exercises in that book. Then take a more progressive book and so on.
Eventually you will reach a stage where you need a teacher to get even better, but cross this bridge when you get to it.
Good luck user.

Thank you! I think this is a super smart route to take. I'll try my best, and hopefully get pretty good.

You can do it user, I have been playing for nearly 3 years now, I told myself i would practice an hour every single day and i have done that, now i have been offered a scholarship to play ant a university in another country which language i don't even fucking speak.
Buy some theory books, work your way through them, it's tedious and the worst part about piano but its essential.

I am able to play a few of chopins etudes, the trick is that you really have to dedicate yourself

I'm sorry, I wish I did. I'm related to a concert pianist, so I know more than most, but not things like that. definitely go with the weighted keys, that's all I know. But yeah man, it's a really fantastic endeavor. Put the work in and you'll get there.

I was also gonna say in my first response, the great concert pianists, in addition to starting young and having world-class coaches also practice and listen to records all fucking day. The concert pianist I'm related to was told he had to practice a minimum of 6hrs a day to become truly great. They're fanatics.

You've only been playing 3 years, and you were already offered a scholarship? Great job, and also hugely inspirational.
6 hours a day? With work, I'm unsure I have that much time. I'll try to get in as much as possible, though. Being related to a concert pianist sounds pretty cool, by the way.

Its 3 year playing guy here.
I have a yamaha arius electric, keys are nicely weighted and feels really good. ALWAYS TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.
have a feel of the keys even if you dont know what you're doing. you'll know if you like the feel of one over the other


I suggest you watch a few of Josh Wright's youtube videos.
He has a series called propractice where he gives lots of helpful advice for everything involving the piano.

I'll check him out, thanks. I saw the Yamaha P115 has really good ratings, but it's a bit steep price wise. Do you know anything about that model by chance?

It's very strange. I should clarify, I'm talking about the real top of the pianist food chain. lol. There are really only a handful like him anymore. He's been a soloist at Carnegie Hall and all sorts of crazy stuff. It's interesting that even though there are way more people playing instruments than ever, that upper echelon is slowly dying out. It's very sad to me, but c'est la vie.

Basically, he's always thinking about, reading about or playing music. 24/7, non-stop. When he was a student, I'm sure he practiced +6hrs a day. Like I said, it's strange. But It's a unique window to a mostly-gone world and I enjoy that part of it.

user, of course you can do it. If anyone can play, anyone can play. It literally just takes time and practice. I work at a performance space, so I deall with many professional musicians regularly.

I was a music major in school, but never played piano. Since being hired, I've acquired a love of playing and (luckily) have enough knowledge of/ a good ear towards music to improv some stuff.

Unfortunately, if I wanted to be an actual pianist, it would just take a lot of time studying different styles, pieces, etc until I could convince myself I was that level. Personally, I have a lot of work to do concerning the left hand and dexterity. I am considering lessons, though I could do it on my own if I had more time.

It just takes time! I've taught myself guitar -- just focus on learning the theory behind what makes the sound and harmony work within what you want to play. Once you train your ears, the rest comes with practice and time - but you have a better knowledge of where you're heading and what you need to work on.

But I could never dream to reach levels like Jordan Rudess. That's just freak level good

It definitely is a dying breed. People pouring their entire soul into one thing, be it music, or otherwise, is more and more rare. I sometimes wish I could have lived in a time when people pursued their passions more so than now.

That's fantastic advice. Thank you. I found out a few years back that I'm not tone deaf, so I could probably learn to train my ears pretty easily. Hopefully, at least.

Piano teacher here. Get this book, Read the text, don't skip the easy exercises, and practice every day.

Learning from the internet is OK, but it might get confusing if you're learning from different sources. Every teacher has a different approach, and it's easy to get confused by two people saying the same thing, but in a different way.

Alrighty. I just looked it up on Amazon. Definitely getting it next payday. Thank you. I'll try sticking to one source at first, too. Just until I get my feet on the ground. Are there any other suggestions you wouldn't mind giving by chance?

>was a music major in school
>never played piano

Fucking liar. Music majors are required to take piano.

Protip: Musical Theater is not a music major.

This is true 100%

I give you two:

Rhythm is the most important thing. Don't worry about notes so much. If you work on counting and keeping a steady beat, the notes will happen naturally. Practice small sections of the music at a time, and then put them together, but always focus on playing in time. If you still have difficulties Slow Down and do it again.

Split your practice time into 3 basic sections: Warmups/Exercises, Songs, and Goofing Off. I won't expand much on that here, but all three are important.

Alright, thank you again. I'm jotting this down, so I won't forget it by tomorrow. I honestly do appreciate the advice.

I don't count beginning piano class... I barely made it through that because I didn't care at the time. I couldn't do much more than something as beginner as twinkle twinkle little star lol.

I never "played" as in practiced actual pieces or performed/"jammed" on piano/keyboard. Like 4years later I decided to actually want to play it, understand it, etc. The scales/theory I learned during my (actual) music degree (not musical theatre..) helped me learn how to move around the keys/etc. Inversions/scales/chord progression knowledge helps a lot more than just learning the notes on the page. Then, its just robotic. Its weird how some great musicians are terrible at improvisation... Knowing the theory/hearing where harmonies should lead make the mechanics more second nature when considering the sound you're making first. But thats just opinion. I need to work on mechanics now, seeing as I'm decent enough with the ears at the moment

This is helpful for me as well. Appreciate it!

No problem. Good luck to you.

One more: Keep up with songs you've learned and enjoy. Use those to goof off (improvise) with. You'll build mastery of new skills while adding flavor to old/easy songs.

You're welcome.

Makes perfect sense. Everyone learns differently. That's one of the cool things about teaching one on one lessons. I get to figure out how a student learns and teach them that way. I can't do that teaching a class.