Teaching myself piano from scratch at 65- any advice.

I also learnt a little as a child and took it up again in my fifties. During Covid my teacher taught her GC on zoom, so perhaps this might be something to consider alongside the books?

Luckygirl13
I think you need to set realistic goals.

When children learn their brains internalise the distance between notes so that as they develop they can play the right notes without having to keep looking up and down from music to keyboard ... which slows things down! I think adults find this much harder.
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It is good to try and learn to play very very simple tunes but play them well.
This is far better than setting sights too high and finishing up feeling frustrated and dissatisfied.

After day one of self-teaching, I know exactly what you mean and think that your advice /observations are spot on - It became obvious to me pretty quickly yesterday that I will need to put a lot of practice into internalising the distance between notes if i am ever to play satisfactorily.

I plan to take my time. Today, I will be practising yesterday's lesson again and don't intend to move on to the next until I am happy with it.

Thanks to all of you for your book suggestions, advice and encouragement. It is all really helpful. ☺

I had piano lessons as a child and then didn’t touch a piano again until I was 36 when we had our first proper home and bought a piano. I found a good teacher, struggled to grade 5, hated theory and then gave up lessons and stayed within my limits. Like Vintagewhine I tend to go off piste with the left hand and put my own interpretation on things a lot of the time. I also agree with Lucky about playing simple tunes well to start with. You will need to learn basic notation. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain so give it a go.

I bought a piano for my 40th birthday. I had a lesson each week and passed my grade 4 in a year despite my sight reading being pretty poor. I absolutely loved my lessons and I know my teacher loved teaching me. We both moved house and I stopped having lessons but I still play badly but with much enjoyment tbh I work out the notes and find I then play by ear as my sight reading is still rubbish. Go for it, it's never too late

I think you need to set realistic goals.

When children learn their brains internalise the distance between notes so that as they develop they can play the right notes without having to keep looking up and down from music to keyboard ... which slows things down! I think adults find this much harder.

There are various series of books ... e.g. Adult Piano Adventures, the It's Easy to Play series ... each book features a different style e.g. ragtime, Christmas, classical etc.

Another really really simple series is The Easy Tune Book of ... and then again different genres like Christmas Music, Incidental Music.

It is good to try and learn to play very very simple tunes but play them well.
This is far better than setting sights too high and finishing up feeling frustrated and dissatisfied.

Go for it!

It wasn’t quite from scratch, since I’d passed grade 2 over 50 years previously, but I went back to it after so many decades, using Carol Barratt’s course for adult beginners (classical piano). I would recommend them.

There are books 1-3 and no prior knowledge is assumed. I found them 2nd hand online.

watermeadow

I learned piano, reluctantly, at school, then in my 60s I bought a piano and started again. I was too self conscious to have lessons or ever play in front of others.
My learning music phase lasted about 10 years. I loved the theory and got far on my own but I never became fluent at playing the piano. I know I should have had lessons.
Age doesn’t matter but I don’t think you can make much progress without lessons.

OK. Thanks for sharing your experience.
You say loved you the theory, so it sounds like you got something positive from it even if you never became fluent ☺

I learned piano, reluctantly, at school, then in my 60s I bought a piano and started again. I was too self conscious to have lessons or ever play in front of others.
My learning music phase lasted about 10 years. I loved the theory and got far on my own but I never became fluent at playing the piano. I know I should have had lessons.
Age doesn’t matter but I don’t think you can make much progress without lessons.