Hello Everyone,

First time here and im glad this forum exists.

I love the piano and tried learning it 4 years ago (I will be 33yrs old) but only got to the prep test before grade 1 because of my work/other educational pursuits.

Im now in a position to learn the piano proper but boy do i need some advice.

There's a music school close by but they start in May,they have group lessons of 1/2 hr each week. Is it better to have maybe an hour alone with the teacher 2 times a month?

Its Feb now, are the cd's/DVD'S readily available on the mkt any good in helping me learn and improve my playing before May? I was a bit dissapointed with my teacher first time round as i learnt nursery rhymes meaning when i came home and my wife asked what i learnt today, it was difficult for her to keep a straight face as i tried to play baa baa black sheep. would there be anything apart from that -i could learn grade 1 standard.

Also is it possible to learn graded piano and also be able to play and improvise pop songs of the radio.I would love to play to a high standard thats why i would like to do the grades but i would really want to learn to play pop and blues,Elton,Billy Joel but also be able to play Chopin. Im a complete novice and so therefore i would really appreciate all feedback.Thanks everyone.

Welcome to the Forums, Herb.

You will progress more quickly with one to one lessons with a teacher. If you don't know where to look for a teacher, try your local music shop or library or online at EPTA or ISM or Music Teachers UK. There are other online sources too. Ask for a trial lesson with more than one teacher - this is an accepted thing to do. On the Music Teachers UK site there is a very good guide to choosing a teacher, which is under the search box. You may not want to go to quite the lengths that they suggest, but it gives you guidelines on how you should go about finding a teacher who fulfils your requirements. You need to choose someone with whom you will feel comfortable, who enjoys teaching what you want to learn and who is happy to teach adult beginners. Best of luck - hope you find the right one.

There are plenty of good tutor books for adults - you don't have to learn nursery rhymes!

Thank you Suepea,the music school also has one on one private lessons for adults available,sorry i didnt mention but they all start in May. I have a keyboard to pratice for now and wanted to get going before May.
which piano teacher recommended adult learning books are avaialable? Also software/dvd's/CDROMS can they help in preparing one for ABRSM graded exams?

I think youd deffinatley need a teacher if you want to take it seriously and do AB exams. You cant really teach yourself aural, you need a teacher for that. Most people who use CD's etc are ''Fakers'' - they usually are very good at jazz, and they only read a melody line, with chord symbols and improvise the left hand part. For the record - I didnt say that all jazz pianists are Fakebook users, but that most fakebook users are better at jazz piano, than they are at classical piano.

Welcome to the greatest obsession there is - playing the piano!!!!. I'm also a late starter - 40 - and made the mistake of buying masses of music I would like to play, it looked easy in the shop, and when I got it home was too difficult. And I still do that!! Definitely go for a teacher on a one to one basis and follow the good advice already given by other forumites. There are masses of books out there with and without CD's. I'd recommend starting with some that have the CD's so that you can get the sound of what you are trying to play in your head. If you get the rhythymn right it makes the playing easier. Don't try and rush ahead too quick. You would not run a marathon without training and learning the piano is just the same. Better to build up a good solid base and ultimately progress will be quicker. Two more tips, always try and look at the music as much as possible rather than memorise and look at your fingers, and learn to sight read. Its difficult at first but it opens up so many possibilities. Hope this of use. Good luck, you won't regret it!!!!

Just my two cents' worth, but group lessons of 1/2 hour sounds very short, even for a beginner. The teacher has to go around checking each student. 5 minutes for each student.. you need fewer than 5 students and the lesson is over. Even one hour could be too short for a class of more than 2 students, from how I would imagine it.

I think it is really really fun to go for group lessons at the beginning, be motivated by classmates, get a good idea of how serious you are about practising, whether you want to spend more time on exams, and whether classical or leisure pop or jazz etc. suits you better.

But to progress faster in classical piano, it is best to have individual lessons, because there is so much to do, 1 hour becomes barely enough. If you still have time, you could join pop keyboard classes, where you will be taught to play chords for accompaniment to singing.

I would recommend that you consult with a teacher about which book to get as there are different approaches to starting to play. If you have definitely decided to go to the music school, can you find out who your teacher would be and have a word with him/her about buying anything before you are able to start? Don't worry about grade exams yet - you are likely to take at least a year before you are ready for grade 1, and anyway at this stage you should be looking to get a really solid grounding in the basics, with plenty of easy repertoire and a very gradual increase in difficulty.

Thank you all for the great advice. I will go and see the teacher and ask which is the best book to buy before i start at the school in May. It seems so logical now, i dont understand why i never thought of that !! Thanks Suepea!!

This is so true. My last lesson went on for nearly 2 hours, and we worked on only 8 measures of music (from Ravel's Fugue from Tombeau de Couperin).

In the realm of classical music almost everyone needs a teacher and one-on-one lessons. There are great classical performers that claim to be self taught (or that is claimed of them by others) but when you look into it you always find that they had years of formal lessons at some point in their lives. Sometimes by "no teacher" what they really mean "no famous teacher".

Yes I would definitly try and find a teacher just for yourself as you will progress fastest this way. AB exams are a good way to progress and learn fundamental skills allowing you to go onto other styles just takes a lot of time to get through them all I've been playing for nearly 12 years now and only just getting onto grade 8 don't let that put you off though! And you certianly don't have to do nursery rhymes