Play Fur Elise even if you don't read music

[aferrucci]

This slow motion short movie will help you to play Fur Elise, even if you're not a good reader or reader at all! All sections are divided and detailed in slow motion. No blabbing. Straightforward to the point:

I'm beginning with piano and I'm not a good reader. It really worth?

[davidjosepha]

Of course not. It's not worth it to play fur elise from the sheet music either though

Really, you're better off just learning to read sheet music, and then picking a better piece to play

It's okay that you're not a good reader, it takes time. You're not gonna get better at it if you don't learn to read, and you sure aren't going to be able to learn too many pieces by watching a YouTube video.

[mikeowski]

Of course not. It's not worth it to play fur elise from the sheet music either though

Really, you're better off just learning to read sheet music, and then picking a better piece to play

It's okay that you're not a good reader, it takes time. You're not gonna get better at it if you don't learn to read, and you sure aren't going to be able to learn too many pieces by watching a YouTube video.

I agree. It's tedious at first, but when you're beyond that phase, nothing comes even close to being as useful as sheet music anymore. Also, you will never be able to find out the correct dynamic markings from tutorials like that, and your rhythm will be off in rhythmically challenging passages, if you don't learn how to count, which is hardly possible when you only play by ear (= you don't know the exact note durations).
As for a good place to start: Maybe Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach or some easy Beethoven dances if you want to play Beethoven. For example the german dance WoO 8, no. 1
When beginning, short pieces will be your friends. (about half a page to a page long maybe)

[outin]

Of course not. It's not worth it to play fur elise from the sheet music either though

Don't say that, it would surely get you more girls than playing some Don Giovanni fantasies

But OP, just read and get better at it. I find those Ytube tutorials really tedious to watch, it is MUCH easier to just learn to read. And my reading skills are pathetic, I bet you would learn much faster.

[unholeee]

I think it's ok. It probably isn't the best way to start, as people have noted, but i took the exact same route. Except with this one.

I remember constantly (must of been over a 100 times each) loading / pausing the left and right hand parts.

But after a while I slowly stopped watching these ones, watched some synthesia ones instead, then finally learnt to read. I would of quit if i had to play some happy chirpy pieces straight up.

[nystul]

Learning by rote is fine, but it doesn't really get you anywhere.  Fine, after hundred hours maybe you start to get the hang of Fur Elise.  But you haven't learned anything about how to learn.  When you want to learn second piece you are right back at square one.  Plus Fur Elise isn't really a beginner piece... lots of beginners butcher the first theme but it is a much nicer piece when an intermediate pianist can play it in full and with grace.

[davidjosepha]

Don't say that, it would surely get you more girls than playing some Don Giovanni fantasies

I try to have at least one "getting girls" piece going at all times. The only problem is not too many girls grace my living room with their presence

[outin]

I try to have at least one "getting girls" piece going at all times.

So, which one is it now?

[davidjosepha]

So, which one is it now?

Liebestraum 3

[perprocrastinate]

Liebestraum 3

That's brilliant. I have got to learn that one sometime.

[davidjosepha]

It's quite a beautiful piece. Great how Liszt takes a simple, beautiful melody and uses it several times throughout the piece without the melody feeling old or repetitive.

[outin]

Liebestraum 3

I guess that could work... for most people...

[davidjosepha]

haha what? It's a great piece regardless of gender, but it's also a bit of a sappy love song. I wouldn't exactly put Prokofiev 7 in that category

[outin]

but it's also a bit of a sappy love song.

Exactly!

[hfmadopter]

Contrary to what some people may think Fur Elise is a good piece to know. Once learned it's not too difficult, it sounds nice in competent hands and everyone recognises it and most people like it. I've used it several times for company and even in recitals, it's always well accepted. So it's worth learning, IMO.

As to teaching ones self how to play Fur Elise via You Tube, I'm in the camp with the responder that said basically that's just one piece of music. Now  would the OP be intending to learn every piece of music in this fashion ? As the difficulty level goes up this will get near impossible. Learn To Read, because I assume that Fur elise is not the end of the line in the learning curve !