People with music degrees:How would you learn the same without formal education?

[ranjit]

I have a degree in mathematics, and often think about how I would approach learning math if I started over. If you had to start over and learn on your own without a teacher, what sorts of things would you recommend yourself? What sort of learning path would you carve out for yourself?

[maxim3]

No degree in music so I'll keep this brief: You can almost certainly get a fully-qualified private instructor, online or off, for many areas of music covered in institutional situations. (Go bat your eyes at a few grad students.)

[dogperson]

I am an fairly advanced adult student that takes weekly lessons from a conservatory degreed teacher.  Although she is diligent, and I try to absorb every morsel, I don’t believe I can possibly learn everything she learned as a conservatory student preceded by many years of private lessons.

I do not believe you will get this level of instruction for free nor cheap nor that you can remotely do it on your own.  I would recommend that you set a reasonable goal for yourself....and replacing conservatory training with self teaching is not reasonable, no matter how hard you work. 

[klavieronin]

replacing conservatory training with self teaching is not reasonable, no matter how hard you work.  

I'm going to have to disagree. Not with the spirit of your comment. That I agree with. But on the specific question of university music training; some people work really well in a university setting but I definitely did not. I enjoyed university and learned a lot but my playing progressed far slower than it did with a good private teacher and I think even slower than when I was learning on my own. After four years at university I made about as much progress as I did in the one year before enrolling. The problem with university for me was that I ended up spending most of the time I used to spend practicing writing essays and doing homework assignments. I know many graduates who feel the same way too. I'm sure it depends on the university and the structure of your degree but it's clearly not for everyone.

To answer to OPs question (IMHO); a good teacher is a huge help and I highly recommend it if you really want to develop your skill at the piano. But since in your case a teacher is not an option I would plan out a weekly timetable and stick to it religiously. Prioritise repertoire, have a mix of easy, manageable, and difficult pieces, set aside some time for sight reading, and learn as many scales and chords as you can (don't worry about playing them fast, or with both hands, or in thirds, sixth or anything like that. Just be able to recognise them and get comfortable with their fingerings).

Also, read a lot. There are a many great books written by great pianists and teachers. Read as many of the as you can.

[lostinidlewonder]

The biggest thing a university will teach you is how to manage your time and get work done on a deadline. Jumping through examination hoops really doesn't teach much because much is often forgotten after exams end! I have taught a small amount of students who entered musical universities hoping to be taught how to play the piano at a higher level, these students didn't do well. Unfortunately I find the music universities are not there to teach you how to play your instrument nor how to set up concerts or manage a business in music. Go there to achieve a degree and learn about discipline and working under professional time constraints, see pathways into music you might not have been aware of, but really learning about the art well that will always be ultimately a self exploration that spans a lifetime.

[maxim3]

ranjit, Original Poster, you didn't mention what area of music you are interested in, although I think it's a safe guess that the piano is involved somehow.

Therefore I can't resist mentioning the following people; perhaps you will be inspired by their non-degree paths to musical prominence.

Peter Feuchtwanger
Leopold Godowsky
Art Tatum
Hector Berlioz
Danny Elfman
Hans Zimmer
Erik Satie
Modest Mussorgsky
Cesar Cui
Mikhail Glinka
Mily Balakirev
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Alexander Borodin
Arnold Schoenberg
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Alfred Brendel
Ernesto Nazareth

Violinists:
https://etudemagazine.com/etude/1911/11/self-taught-masters-of-the-violin.html

Classical Guitar:
Andres Segovia