Pre-empting the formation of bad habits

[systematic]

I am wondering if someone can give me a little advice.

First, a little about my background:

I've played guitar for around 12 years, so music is not something new to me. I had lessons for about 6 months on the piano last year, but discontinued due to the long distances I had to travel to get to my teacher, and also the costs.

Now I want to get back to playing piano, but due to various time constraints I am going to have to go down the self-taught route for now. I have just bought Seymour Fink's book and DVD as a means to ingrain proper technique in my playing, but I am still not sure whether it will be sufficient.

I am intending to primarily play pop, smooth jazz, etc. but I also have quite a keen interest in classical piano (especially Chopin). I am desperate to start, but I also feel great reluctance in case down the line, on the condition I find an appropriate teacher, I have to go from the beginning again to correct any bad habits which I may form by learning without the aid of a teacher.

So, guys, I'm wondering...are my concerns totally overblown? Would it really take a massive amount of effort down the line to undo poor technique if it is ever formed? Am I perhaps overestimating the piano technique needed to play in the styles I am interested in?

[Bob]

Yes, get a teacher at the beginning.  Jazz piano teachers are harder to find.  In the beginning they'll show you things you're doing wrong you aren't even aware of.  That's why they'll be valuable at that point.  You avoid ingraining those mistakes for the rest of your practicing (until you realize them on your own at some point in the future, if that happens).

[outin]

In hindsight it's not just about forming bad physical habits...A most valuable thing I get from my teacher in addition to pure technical help has been learning to listen to and watch for the right things in my playing and understanding what elements there are that are essential to playing well. I need to know what I am trying to do before I can learn to do it. Quite difficult to get that from just listening and watching great pianists play, because at that stage the things they do are often invisible to the untrained eye and ear.

[indianajo]

Okay, I'm limited on money, I understand the no outgo imperative.
Here of a list of bad habits I am aware of -
1. bad posture
   a. wrist flexed to make the tendons rub against cartlidge. Should be straight
   b.  arm uphill from elbow to wrist allowing no force from the shoulders to flow down.
   c.  fingers not curved naturally down from the hands.  Horowitz got away with flat fingers,
        but he had to have  a special low force piano built and maintained after his forties.  
   d. neck bent down to look at hands or a too low music rack.  This can cause popped disk.  You
       should be looking at the audience as a performer.  Eyes level, head straight up.  Piano is a
       physical exercise requiring force from time to time. 
2. Looking at the hands.  You should go slowly enough in the beginning, you memorize the muscle
    movements of correct notes, and then can speed up.  If any incorrect notes, slow down to elim-
    inate them early before you learn the wrong movements.  One hand alone in the beginning until
    you play your piece perfectly that way. 
3. Allowing incorrect notes.  The teacher used to catch those early, you can watch the internet
4.  Irregular rhythm too early.  You should beat and count out in the beginning, then add emotional
    stops and starts . ritard and accelerate later when the piece comes out automatically.  
5.  Not enough exercises.  Fun pieces are nice, but Schmitt exercises can be made so automatic I
    used to read novels while I did them.  These build up 4-5 finger coordination and strength, and
   get you used to all normal patterns. Later Edna Mae Berman exercises for all sorts of physical
   tricks like rolling the wrist on thumb crossovers, etc.  Later Czerny school of Velocity.
6.  Playing only electric keyboard instead of a wood piano, and if you are ever going to encounter
     a grand, playing consoles with too light force to build up your strength.  Many going for pro status
    Play Steinway consoles, which are a lot heavier touch than other brands.  I'm guilty of this
    since I love light touch consoles, but my econonomic class such that I never encounter grands
    anyway.  
7   Playing only one style of music.  My teacher was guilty of this, I asked for help on playing by ear
    when I was twelve, and she criticized my request instead of helping me.  I've backed into it in my
    sixties by taking some guitar, learning the importance of lead sheets, and reverse applying that
    to piano.
8.  No sight reading training.  My teacher didn't require this, and it is something I am now picking up
    in my sixties by playing hymns out of the book picked by someone else with 2 minute prep.
Those are only the bad habits I was taught to avoid.  A real teacher may know a lot of others I never committed.  A lesson or so every six months with a guild registered pro teacher could be of real benefit.  Good luck.  

[systematic]

Wow, thanks for the helpful replies, guys. I'll carefully think about them all.