If you want to learn to play piano, we would definitely recommend doing so. It’s a great hobby, it helps pass the time, it sounds great, and you might even become the next prodigy! That said, you might not be willing or able to take lessons on a regular basis. Maybe you don’t have the time for regular lessons or maybe you don’t want to spend more money than you already have.
Yes, it is possible to learn piano by yourself.
If you go about it the right way, learning piano by yourself is absolutely doable. This is not to say that it is overly easy, but still doable. Let’s go over some tips and advice on how to learn piano by yourself, as well as why it can be so challenging.
Playing with Both Hands
Most people will tell you that the hardest part of learning to play the piano is that both hands are required. You need both hands for most instruments, but it is a little different for the piano.
First off, you will need to learn to use both hands in unison, which is easier said than done, but it starts with a single hand. You need to master playing simple tunes and notes with your dominant hand first, as this will help you get the basics down.
However, training your weaker hand to do the same is not as easy and will take practice. Piano teachers often teach students to use their dominant hands first, and then once they have this mastered to a certain degree, they will switch over to training the weaker hand.
So, start by training your dominant side, then move to the other. Eventually, you should be able to put it all together.
Different Chords for Different Hands
What also needs to be considered when you are trying to learn piano by yourself is that not only do you have to use both hands in unison, but both hands are doing different things. It’s not like a guitar where both hands work towards making the same sound. Each hand makes a different sound when playing the piano.
With a piano, for instance, the C key for your left hand is going to look different than the same key for your right hand. Mastering this difference can be quite difficult, and some people are never able to master this. Realizing that your left and right hands need to do different things, but also work in unison, can be quite a challenge.
Learning to Read Music
One of the hardest parts of learning to play piano, especially if you have never gone near any other instrument before, is learning the notes, timing, and how to read sheet music in general. Sheet music can look quite intimidating and complicated, and let’s face it; it can be exactly those things.
For many people, reading sheet music is difficult. However, there are plenty of online tutorials, both in written and video format, which can teach you these things. If you take the time and effort to study sheet music, learn the musical scale, learn the notes, and learn about timing, you will eventually get the hang of it.
Memorizing all the notes and cords is going to help. Remember that piano music is very graceful, and it flows smoothly, which means that you need to be able to interpret sheet music very quickly and efficiently, more or less without having to think about it at all.
Learning to Play by Ear
Some people just have a natural talent for playing by ear and may never need to read sheet music. That said, if you only learn to play by ear, and you neglect the sheet music, then you will have a hard time learning anything from sheet music and learning new music will take much longer.
Learning to play by ear means that you need to be able to recognize specific sounds, and then recreate them on your piano. Some people find this method to be much easier. However, it tends to work best for learning individual songs and tunes, not for learning how to play piano in general.
Take Advantage of Online Tutorials
Something which you may want to do is to watch online tutorials on learning to play the piano. There are plenty of instructional videos about every single aspect of piano playing.
You may not want to have a teacher and go to regular lessons, but having somebody show you the ropes, even just in a simple video, is much easier than doing it all by yourself. Simply put, there is no reason why you can’t learn the piano without any assistance.
