Teaching myself and playing with a keyboard

[kaanguner]

I have just started learning piano and it's been only two days since i've started practicing.
First thing i would like to your opinions about is if i could make it on my own and how far i could make it. Should i think that after i have learned the basics I won't need any teaching? As if the only thing after that for one to do practice more and more to learn harder pieces? Or is it the opposite? Meaning one can learn basics him or herself but will need to gain higher techniques from a tutor?

Second thing is i would like to talk about is I'm practicing with not a piano but a keyboard. And an entry level keyboard at that. It's M-Audio's Keystation 61es. It's keys branded as semi-weighted keys. While purchasing it i had though it would be better suited for playing piano and classical pieces but still... Would i be handicapped or, by some unknown reason, have advantage over if-i-played-on-a-piano?
One thing i noticed negative about keyboard is it plays easier than i want it to be. Meaning when i try playing it fast there are some notes played that i didn't intended to but did it anyway since just a touch of my finger will trigger the sound. I guess it is one of many...
Thanks.

[iancollett6]

Hello and welcome,
                         I cant emphasize how important it is to have a good teacher. The longer you go without a teacher the more ingrained bad habits become.
 At the end of the day you can only use the instrument that you can afford. A keyboard is  better than no instrument, but an accoustic is the true instrument for pianists.
 There are countless other threads on digital vs accoustic. Have a read.Best of Luck!

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Get a teacher.

Trust us, it's worth your money.

[kaanguner]

Well then it's sad that i don't have any.

And since i can't afford to get a teacher could you maybe reccomend some books or online tutorials that you know are better than others?

[bronnestam]

Some books called "Alfred's [something]" are often mentioned and recommended for adult students here.
There are also online lessons mentioned in another thread here.

Even though I agree that a teacher is an invaluable asset, I know it is not always easy to find one or afford one just like that. And you have just begun! So just get some self-study material and start, and within some months (or longer) you will know if you wanna go for a teacher or don't. Just be very careful to follow the course you find, whichever you choose. A good course is carefully designed, and you may wreck the outcome if you don't follow the instructions or skip some parts etcetera.

[hfmadopter]

Well then it's sad that i don't have any.

And since i can't afford to get a teacher could you maybe reccomend some books or online tutorials that you know are better than others?

As mentioned the Alfred series can be good as is Bastein. You can read along in the Bastein studies what would be the teachers instructions better than in say the John Thompson series, where the instructions are more teacher specific. If you do an online search on each topic you then can learn a bit more in one or two of many tutorials that usually will be posted online, either in Youtube fashion or in blogs. There are several good sources online worth watching or reading, though some are pay sites to get to the best information. I know today people expect to find most things for free but sometimes a small donation isn't such a bad thing.

Saying one can't afford a teacher and really not being able to afford a teacher can be two different things. Sometimes it's a matter of how dedicated one is to piano and willingness to give something else up to be able to afford the teacher. Over the next year you might want to assess where you stand in that regard. Sometimes there just comes a point where piano means more than something else and you are stuck in self teaching and just know a teacher could dig you out of the rut. And then miraculously the means is found. Also sometimes, the mantra " I can't afford a teacher" is just automatically cried out with beginner students, then they discover they can't afford to not have one as they are just wasting time on their own ! You will assess all of that in due time. Eventually it won't have to be explained to you as you come to your own conclusions.

Your piano is what you have, it will do for now. In time you want something with a more filled out keyboard and fully weighted keys if not an acoustic. Acoustics are slowly falling by the wayside though, digital technology is getting closer every year.

[bronnestam]

As mentioned the Alfred series can be good as is Bastein. You can read along in the Bastein studies what would be the teachers instructions better than in say the John Thompson series, where the instructions are more teacher specific. If you do an online search on each topic you then can learn a bit more in one or two of many tutorials that usually will be posted online, either in Youtube fashion or in blogs. There are several good sources online worth watching or reading, though some are pay sites to get to the best information. I know today people expect to find most things for free but sometimes a small donation isn't such a bad thing.

I recently invested in the eBooks teaching from Graham Finch and I find them absolutely worth every penny. They were not expensive - however, they are not aimed for the total beginner. I am glad I made that little investment. Otherwise you can get a lot of material for free as well.

Saying one can't afford a teacher and really not being able to afford a teacher can be two different things. Sometimes it's a matter of how dedicated one is to piano and willingness to give something else up to be able to afford the teacher. Over the next year you might want to assess where you stand in that regard. Sometimes there just comes a point where piano means more than something else and you are stuck in self teaching and just know a teacher could dig you out of the rut. And then miraculously the means is found. Also sometimes, the mantra " I can't afford a teacher" is just automatically cried out with beginner students, then they discover they can't afford to not have one as they are just wasting time on their own ! You will assess all of that in due time. Eventually it won't have to be explained to you as you come to your own conclusions.

Your piano is what you have, it will do for now. In time you want something with a more filled out keyboard and fully weighted keys if not an acoustic. Acoustics are slowly falling by the wayside though, digital technology is getting closer every year.

I agree with above. About one year ago it was out of the question that I should find myself a teacher - I was busy just finding my way back to the piano again! But I did the latter, and soon I started to feel that I had some issues that needed help from someone else. Trouble was, that it was impossible to find a teacher for an adult player at intermediate/advanced level. (I don't know what I am, but I am not a beginner at least.) The only education opportunities I found were for school children only. Master classes were for semi-professional young piano students with education Thiss and Thatt, not for stupid middle-age amateurs who cannot play anything more advanced than Clair de Lune. (We are only supposed to sit in the audience and accept the fact that our own race is over long ago, I guess ...    )

But, you know ... sometimes miracles do happen. I complained to my sister once about this lack of teachers. She, on her behalf, had picked up playing the flute again, although there were no orchestras to play in ... but she found that her flute needed some service, I told her to take it to a service place/instrument shop and so she did, and the owner just happened to mention that he and his wife played in a little amateur brass band - maybe my sister was interested to join them ...?
And then she one day called me and said "you said you wanted a piano teacher? My workmate just mentioned that her sister, who is a piano teacher, has decided to teach from home in her own business now, and she accepts any kinds of students."
This teacher happened to live just one hour away from my home. I got an e-mail address and I took contact at once, and so I got myself a teacher!    GREAT! And totally unexpected! I love my lessons.

Acoustic pianos are lovely but you can get very good digitals too in these days, and they are often recommended for beginners as you can practice in private without "entertaining" your surroundings with your first shy attempts (the feeling is not that comfortable) and they are always perfectly tuned and need not much maintenance. You can always try to borrow an acoustic here and there - churches and so on - to get a feeling of different kinds of pianos.

So I repeat what I wrote previously: there is nothing wrong in a modest start with a simple keyboard and a self study course. Either you will find it is not that fun after all, or you will go more serious about it later. My own piano practicing did not really take off until I got myself a better piano - still a digital, though, but not 20 years old like my previous model.
 

 

[muzammil]

I'm also learning on a keyboard without a teacher. It's been nine months. I downloaded a great dvd  which coveres all the basics,the chords all the way till ear training. It had almost everything except for sheet music reading.   https://kickass.to/musician-transformation-collection-learn-piano-course-lessons-t4026488.html#