Yeah, I know, I should have started this project roughly 40 years ago (I’m 46). 
I just bought an electronic keyboard, wanting to learn to play it. I’m a skilled touch-typist (65wpm at last test), but have no real instrumental experience. Lack of skill at reading music doesn’t help either.
Any recommendations for beginner-level books, websites, etc.? I’m not opposed to resources geared to kids, if that’s what’s going to work.
Ahh, but how many times can you type “p<spacebar>p<spacebar>…” in a minute with your right hand while simultaneously typing “adfdadfd” in rhythm with your left?
Finger dexterity is an important asset, but the separation of the left and right hands is the crux.
I don’t have any specific sites or books to recommend, although foregoing the musical notation learning process means you should concentrate on a heavy dose of music theory.
Do you have rhythm? What kind of music do you want to learn to play as a long term goal…classical? jazz? pop?
Go to your local music store and ask for a beginner piano book. You can always tell the it’s for your kids. Once you master the beginner book (and maybe a second beginner book), you will have enough knowledge to figure out most sheet music.
There are lots of places you can go from there if you want more than just the basic knowledge. Thanks to the wonder of the internet, there are all types of lesson available on-line.
As someone who is self-taught on piano, and still playing after 45 years, my advice to you is to try to find a type of music you enjoy playing. The only way to get better is to practice. The only way to practice is to be motivated. The only way to be motivated is to enjoy what you’re doing.
I strongly recommend learning to read music - being able to do so is a definite help to playing a wide variety of styles, especially if, like me, you don’t have the best talent for playing by ear. You can be a musician without that skill - Paul McCartney supposedly never learned to read music - but for those of us with moderate talent it can be a real help.
Many tunes come in “easy versions”. As a beginner you may wish to concentrate on those first, then come back later with more skill and experience for the “original” versions. Classical pieces may come in multiple versions - I have three versions of Pachelbel’s Cannon in D for piano as an example, and that sort of thing will often occur with compositions originally written for other instruments that are “arranged” for piano. It’s not a bad thing. This can also apply to pop songs - I have multiple versions of “Let It Be” as well.
I started with a couple of beginner’s books, then moved on to “Easy Piano” versions of tunes. I worked my way up to things like ragtime in Scott Joplin’s original versions - except where I had to reworked a few places because Mr. Joplin clearly had much larger hands than I do. I still also enjoy playing pop music, rock, country.
I realize these are not specifics on techniques or books to buy but rather a recommendation about attitude. Relax. Have fun. Don’t worry about mistakes - it’s all part of the process. You will be frustrated at times, but take a deep breath, take a break, and come back to it later.
You’re lucky - these days with the internet you can watch YouTube tutorials, there are support groups on-line, lots of resources… good luck and have fun.
I could have written Broomstick’s post (including the self-taught and still playing after 45 years remark).
That said, allow me to direct you to this series of books, which I bought recently to improve my playing.
There are 3 books in the series; buy just the first and see if it suits you.
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A warning about mistakes: don’t let them happen when practicing! Not totally possible of course, but what I mean is that if you are practicing sloppily then the mistakes are being learned by the fingers - the fingers are unlikely to learn the correct notes. Slow down, ensure you are getting it correct.
Yes, sometimes I’ll very carefully and slowly go over a passage with first one hand’s part, then the other, to make sure my fingers learn the proper sequence and proportional timing. Then I combine the two parts. Then I gradually speed it up to the proper tempo. Even if I’m familiar with a piece I’ll sometimes do that just if I start getting sloppy.
One bad habit I got into was never doing finger exercises. Please don’t make my mistake. Proper finger exercises will help with your flexibility and accuracy, which is particularly important for someone starting as an adult. Being a typist, you probably already have a leg up in that area but piano playing and typing are somewhat different activities.
(It works the other way, too - when I took a typing class the instructor was able to immediately pick out those of us with piano experience.)
I remember that from my high school typing class. The kids with piano experience definitely had a head start.
I don’t know if this is answerable, but how on earth does one teach themselves to play, er, chords (is that the correct word for piano?)? We had a piano when I was growing up and I could easily figure out a melody by toodling around with one finger but how would one figure out the how to push several different keys at the same time, correctly and at the correct time so as to coordinate with the melody (if that makes sense)? I remember my best friend *somehow *figured out how to play the opening melody to Stairway to Heaven with the accompanying chords and she in turn somehow was able to teach me (I can still play it!) but I learned it completely by rote. No way in hell could I have figured it out if she hadn’t shown me, step by step.
Another possibility - sometimes junior colleges offer non-credit enrichment courses in things like playing piano - my mom took one.
I’m a self-taught guitarist, but I took a group class (eons ago) to learn picking techniques. There are always things you can learn from others that you can’t teach yourself.
Er… press two or more keys at the same time? Yes, chords.
I started with one note on each hand, gradually adding more notes per hand as I moved to more challenging music.
This is also where learning to read music comes in handy - the sheet music tells you which notes to push when. The different notes and how they’re arranged give you information on what comes first, which ones are played simultaneously, and what comes next. It’s considerably easier than attempting to play by ear (which is what you seem to be describing) once you learn how to read the notation.
My older sisters all played as well (sibling rivalry entered into this early at my house - most families the kids argue over the TV or some such, at my house it was arguments over piano access believe it or not), so I could watch other people play as well, and they were ahead of me so that was even more helpful. Also, since four people in the household played piano we wound up doing quite a few duets as partners were readily available (when we weren’t fighting). That was very helpful in learning a steady rhythm and coordination. I miss playing duets…
If you get into musical theory (which I didn’t until I’d been playing several years already - one of my sisters got her first degree in music and I was her guinea pig for when she need to practice teaching skills to other people) you learn how things work on a different level, why you’d choose certain chords with certain notes and melodies, and so forth. After about 6 months of that I was writing my own second-hand parts for music where I just had a melody line and nothing more and transposing chords in my head - which looked very impressive when I took at stab at guitar some years later. I could look at guitar music in one key and play it in another on the fly. Unfortunately, my picking and strumming sort of sucks, string instruments are not really my forte and I pretty much stick to keyboard these days.
The point is, there is an underlying structure and logic to musical forms. As I mentioned before, instructional materials are even more accessible these days than when I first learned to play. It’s like a lot of other activities - you start simple and build gradually, and after awhile you’re doing complex things with a lot less effort than you might have thought they would take.
I pretty much started by just making up stuff, writing songs. That was my motivation. And when I was 15-16 I started a “band” with a couple of friends. I took lessons for a little while, but learning all the nuts and bolts of music theory never interested me really, still doesn’t. I play in two bands now, a wedding/party band and a Jimmy Buffett tribute, and it’s a lot of fun and and pretty good pocket money. And playing with other people can be educational and motivational both.
So, I would say that I learned most by just jumping in and playing, learning songs and different scales and techniques as I go. And playing with others.
You know, Paul Schaffer, last time I heard in an interview a couple of years ago, can’t read music. But, he’s played with many others.
Well, sure, like I said, you don’t have to read music to be a musician. It can be a helpful skill, though. That’s the thing about music, you actually have a lot of options.
Sure, no argument. Just adding.