As topic, is it possible to learn to play the classical piano by myself? Through books for example.

I have tried to learn to play the piano on and off for a couple of months but sometime later I will always get the urge to learn it again. However, instead of going somewhere every week to learn from a teacher I thought of this different approach. I thought of buying my own electronic / digital piano and get some books.

By the way, would it be advisable in this situation to get one of those keyboards as a substitute for the real classical piano? The keyboard doesn't have a pedal. Some do come with an entire set I guess with the chair and pedal. Any suggestions here?

I have intrest in works from Bach and mostly Chopin. To play like them has always been something I dream of. So anyone with recommendations please shoot them this way. Oh yeah, I have close to no music theory knowledge and I'm 20, if that helps.

Thanks!

This post has been edited by TheWhacker: Feb 22 2006, 11:27 AM

It's great seeing someone so dedicated to music (especially piano) ...

However, IMHO, piano is not really the same as guitar (not that easy to pick - up) ... My personal opinion is that, you should get a teacher <- if it's not a financial burden to you ... You can always tell the teacher that you're interested to pick this up as a hobby and not because you wanted to take an ABRSM exam or something .. I'm sure she/he will be able to work something out ...

The main thing about piano is, you require little talent but alot of practice (of course with talents, you'll learn in a much faster pace) ... You don't need to be maksim to play bumble bee if you practice hard enough ... There's no short cut to this, all you have to do is play and practice often ...

My opinion is for your to get a teacher because, for piano, the important thing is your base/foundation ... Once your foundation is good, you can easily pick up tougher songs ... You can always self learn some basic theories like how to read the time signature, how to read some simple piano terms (pp, ff, staccato and etc) .... However, for the practical part, it is adviseable that you get a proper teacher to help you out ...

I would suggest if you're interested in classical, get an upright acoustic piano ... The feel of playing on acoustic piano and a keyboard is entirely different ... Try looking at some 2nd hand piano like Schwester which will cost you around RM3 - 5k depending on the model ... (if you can't afford Kawai/Yamaha/Steinway that is ....)

Lastly, age doesn't matter ... Seriously, if you truly enjoy music, I'm sure you'll feel passionate about it regardless of your age ... Hopefully my opinion helps and if you have further question, please post it here and I'll try my best to help

This post has been edited by Geminist: Dec 24 2005, 09:51 PM

I'm not a pianist.....just give out some opinion....

In my opinion....most of musicians/people acknowledge that it's very very hard to learn to play a piano.....that's why most of the parents send their son/daughter to learn piano since they were still a kids....hopefully they can have a better learning way or to be a pianist in the future.....whatever....you've to put in much more effort in learning how to piano....it's easier to absorb the skill if u start to play when u were still a kid....

just to share out my experience......i got a friend..he's a pianist...he laern piano since he was 5 years old.....he told me that he always felt of wanna give up....but he still urge to force himself to learn piano....he's a Grade 7 piano player now....he'll sit for the Grade 8 next year....he's 16years old now....what he want to tell me is.....whatever problem i faced when learning my guitar...just take that as a lesson...dun give up easily....

Anyway...hopefully u can successfully overcome your problem and achieve your attainable dream......Good Luck.....

This is one of the common problem people face ... When you're starting out on an instrument, most likely it'll be boring and you may need quite a period of time before you can play a song which you like ...

That is why I mentioned he should talk to the teacher about his preference in music and if he's not planning to go for examinations, the teacher can surely draft out another learning plans for him which will surely suits him more ...

Classical training method is really boring and yes, I did hv the thoughts of dropping this (not to forget I cursed my parents too ... which is something I regret in doing) ... You may feel kinda tough now, but in the future, you shall reap your rewards

From your opinion, I think it is best not to try and learn it by myself. I'm sure there are people that have manage to do it, but I think it is best to learn from someone experienced to build a more solid foundation. Besides, I don't think I have the dedication or motivation for that. Who am I going to turn to if I have a question? By the way, thanks for the great advice, Geminist.

I want to take this seriously, but I'm the kind of person who rarely finishes what I start (trying hard not to be). So for starters, I just want to take this as a light hobby. As a light hobby, I don't think I can take out that kind of money (3-5k) for a piano just yet. I know its probaly wise to invest in a better set in the beginning so that it can last for a long time. However on the other hand, I'm just afraid it will sit there and collect dust after a while. My budget would probaly be a cheap keyboard or something around a thousand ringgit.

Lastly, are there any places to learn piano in the Klang Valley that's more suited towards adults?

(P.S. Thanks for the kind words Angeling, I hope you archieve your dreams too. )

Welcome, glad I'm able to help

I'm not able to tell you regarding which one offers such courses ... But I'm sure all you need to do is sit down and have a chat with your teacher before starting out ... This way, both of you can work out what you want

Klang Valley ... It's somewhere near UM?

Actually, I'm not saying that piano can't be self learn ... It can as I have seen people who does so ... However the problem is, this requires alot of determination and abit of talent ... Or else you might take twice the time to progress as others who have a good teacher ... Another thing is, majority of the people I met who can master piano without having a teacher, they already have some basics in theory and music ...

Haha, I'm someone who's just like you ... I dropped things easily and I'm happy I didn't drop my piano lessons when I was young ...

For a keyboard, a decent one might cost you around 2k (like Casio WK series or Yamaha DGX series) ... You can consider asking your friends who have a piano at home ... Hopefully they'll let you play around with their piano ... It's true that you should make sure you'll continue learning or else spending few thousands on these instrument will not be a good idea ...

The casio WK-1800 is around RM1700.....my mother jus bought one when i was buying my guitar.....i tried it once or twice every week in a couple months and felt that its function is quite wide and suitable for a beginner....easy to use......talking of function and quality......your budget seems to be can afford a KORG......you can try to pay a visit to Bentley Music oppisite is Lot 10 and KL Plaza....Good Luck

Korg huh ... ? The Triton and OASYS series is definitely a dream for most of the keyboard artists

However, I'm not sure about the budget of stanny, but getting a Korg is not really adviseable at his current stage and besides, the price of a normal Korg would cost around the same or more acompared to a second hand piano IMHO ...

The basic of getting a keyboard is to first make sure it is touch sensitive (which in any case, it's quite a common features nowadays but it used to cost a bomb in the early days) and it's at least 76 keys or above (to ensure the versatility of the keyboard as reaching a higher state, you might find yourself short of keys if you're going for a 61 keys) ... Full size weighted keys are bonus if you manage to find such keyboards ... As for the sound engine, unless you're into composition, a decent keyboard like Yamaha DGX series or Casio WK series will produce roughly the same sound and only a higher end modal like the Yamaha Motif-8 or Triton will have a better and more "realistic" sound engine

Oh, Klang Valley I meant KL-Subang area mostly.

i dun quite agree with the statement geminist made about guitar being easy to pick up....

sure alot ppl can play it...but can they play it right?talkin about techniques...any 1 can play the piano too...by self learing..or memorizing...but are they playin it rite?

u can self learn any instruments...excluding determination n other stuff..the question is..do u just wan to play a song...or u wan to play the song the right way.learning by books would not teach u much...compared to having a teacher ...and not to mention faster to learn if u can ask n get corrected at the same time.

but yea...it comes down to my point where do u wanna go with the piano...playing for fun n making it sound close to the composer or knowing how to play it well n making it sound really good.

Sorry, what I meant easy to pick up was by, it's easier to self learn guitar then self learn piano ...

I'm not saying guitar is harder or vice versa ... All I'm trying to point here is, it's easier for someone with a musical background to pick up guitar then to pick up piano ...

*Above is just my opinion, I would like to hear more from you ...

hmm??some1 with a musical background?in that case...wat prob is there to pick up a new instrument..?besides the stiff fingers...or maybe more to the practical thingy...but theory wise ur already capable....confused.


n yea..the other thing..our fren stanny here has no basics in music..so assuming he doesnt know much about music.

i started with piano n shifted to guitar...wat i found out was i learn alot of new stuff...after classical guitar i tried self learning electric guitar...and found alot of stuff which are also different...like in styles of playing..fingering techniques and sound production...ive also heard alot of stuff like i didnt know like pentatonic, dorian,lydian, mixolydian...etc

also like harmonics...ive only learn natural n artificial harmonics...now i see pinch harmonics...

so yea..self learning is not impossible..but u learn slower...n u gotto learn to google well...but how to google for something u didnt know exist?

This post has been edited by tytons: Dec 26 2005, 02:08 AM

tytons, but do you agree that piano is MUCH harder to self-learn ? of course it's possible, but many will just grow into despair at the beginning because it is so hard... look, on the guitar, you can learn to play a song (come as you are, let's say) in one hour, from scratch... i dunno... it's interesting because you learnt both of them.

hmm actually Pix, im not too sure which is harder...

since i went thru both...i found guitar harder as my fingers were not tat flexible....assuming a song is just strumming of chords ofcourse...while for piano..."marry had a little lamb" can be played with just 1 finger? E D C D E E E

as for guitar is u were to play on the 1st and 2nd string..u would need 2 fingers.

but i think it really depends on the individual...

back to self learn on piano...yes i think its harder...as most piano books are not in numbers unlike guitar books

I found something rather interesting. What do you guys think of http://www.playbyear.com.my

Came across this site while searching for piano courses.

stanny, cool, i'll have a look

tytons, i'm not talking about playing piano with one finger ^^ the synchrnosation between the left and right hands is something which is really unnatural to achieve, whereas guitar synchronisation is much easier... as far as i experienced it, anyway..

IMHO, every song on piano could be play with one finger (provided that each tune needs only one key) ...

However, playing a song with all your fingers and one fingers, I'm sure you would know about the difference of the melody on one finger and using your hand ... The difference might not be obvious in the Marry Had a Little Lamb though ...

In addition to that, in my personal view, it is not to say guitar are not tough, they are both as tough, but the finger works required on advance level of piano are not easy either ... Besides, as pix have said, one of the tough things about piano is that, it's hard to match both hands at the same time ... This is more obvious on songs that utilizes both hands and not the conventional right hand melody left hand accompaniment songs ...

Personally, I believe there's no end to the discussion of which is tougher to play, piano or guitar ... Both of these instruments are unique and they hv their own pros and cons ... And truly, anyone can pick up these instrument provided that they fork out enough effort, however, to master these instruments like the back of your hand, it's not easy ...

---
Stanny, personally, I'm not really into playing note by note reading the manuscript ... When it comes to pop songs, I prefer to play it by ears as by doing so, you can color the song based on your own thoughts and feelings ... It's something fun to do (though sometimes it's not easy and I have given up halfway on alot of songs ... )

However, when it comes down to everything ... Practice makes perfect

my point of how its hard to self learn an instrument...maybe i didnt know how to put it in words..but yea..was tryin to say tat...im not too familiar with electric guitar techniques...but for example...learning to play spanish pieces on classical guitar was hell thru reading...and even with an instructor..i still had alot of probs in fingering...sound projection, and gettin the notes to be cleanly played n strummed.
agree

anyways...i hope no party is offended by my words...its good to share wat we all feel...sometimes typing can mislead to harshness...

yeap...totally agreed!
the synchronisation between both hands is much harder than guitar......

No problem, I'm just here to learn as I'm not that good in music and we're all here just to discuss and exchange what we have in mind