68y/o piano dabbler hoping to get much better in the shortest time possible!

[noelcp]

Hello All,

Some background please.  I love music of many types, have a very crude incomlete understanding of music theory.  I play guitar and banjo for many years, playing by ear then took some classical guitar lessons, enough to get very basic treble clef reading for fakebook approach and learned a few classical pieces of modest difficulty.  For reading piano sheet music I am overwhelmed--which I think may have more to do with thinking I deserve to start as an more intermediate player (haha!) as I've dabbled many years and can actually sound like I can play, so being impatient as it were to learn what must be the basics of learning to sight read and play I've not committed to some sort of structured program like an Alfred book series or one of myriad online courses.  I don't want to do in-person lessons. 

Over the years I learned to play several Christmas songs and a few other easy songs like The Entertainer, Lady Madonna, and several of George Winston's very easy pieces by ear, and these are easy arrangements.  I love some of George Winston's more complex arrangements and decided to try to learn his version of Carol of the Bells.  I started maybe 3 weeks ago, and can play all the notes now but only close to flawlessly at 72bpm--I think he is up around 108 or so.  My fav arrangement of his is Joy (Jesu Joy) and I'm just starting to learn it, just a couple days into it.  It's very complex for me but not fast per se and the hands are more separate than I am used to, so it's major challenge to me.  Very slow progress.  I have the notes covering about 40 seconds of the song now, but can barely play them correctly tempo wise.  But I am determined to learn it and play it beautifully!  I'm learning only by watching Youtube videos that show what keys are played on a keyboard, and some will have the music notation above as well, but I don't look at the base clef and notes octaves below and above are just worse than Greek to me.  Anyway, my concern about this approach is I have nothing to look at while playing to remind myself of where the music goes, which I get must be a big plus for learning to sight proficiently.  But then I know some play completely by ear w/o sheet music and just commit it to memory by practicing, or so I suppose.

So some questions if you will.  I appreciate your thoughts and experience.

1.  When learning a piece by watching a video of someone playing (or a soft keyboard highlighting the notes is displayed) and learning each bar w/ left and right hands is it wise to avoid trying to play faster than you can perform the most complex part at?  Or is it better to push yourself, even if more mistakes occur, in order to improve your progress rate?  I use a software metronome.

2.  Should I dedicate to learning the pieces I would love to play like the two I'm working on mentioned above which are so much more difficult for me than most of what I've played before, and by getting very good at those will I advance my global piano skills level enough to progress sufficiently?  Or would I be best served to also go back to a basic structured course w/ emphasis on sight reading, which can take up a lot of time with not too much to show for it, especially for impatient types!  If the latter then can you strongly recommend a course that might work well to help me learn sight reading and playing at the fastest possible pace?

3.  Are there other methods of learning I might look at beyond sheet music or watching videos and learning by imitation and by ear?  Is there another form of music notation for piano that also includes optimal fingering information?  Can you tell I'm resistant to learning to read traditional sheet music?      I've tried and given up a few times in the past it's just painfully slow to translate the notes/times into the keys to be played.

Thanks for listening and in advance for advice.  I have been w/o a keyboard for a few years now so bought the m-audio Hammer 88 for play Garritan Abbey Road CFX on and it's pretty decent I think.

[timothy42b]

I don't want to do in-person lessons. 

hoping to get much better in the shortest time possible!

Don't want to rain on your parade, but you can't have both. 

Still, you'd need a really competent teacher willing to accomodate your specialized strategies, that isn't easy to find. 

Good luck. 

[ranjit]

Hey, your post resonated with me quite a bit, because I was in a very similar situation starting out. Although I had no real prior experience with an instrument, I also banked heavily on my ear as a 17-year old starting out. I have self-taught for around five years. Would I be as good as I theoretically would have been with a great teacher? Probably not. But I like to think I've done pretty well for myself. And I play much better and have considerably more theory knowledge, listening experience and experience playing by ear  and improvising than most people who have casually learned piano for the same amount of time.

Incoming wall of text, but I strongly suggest you read through it:

In your case, I would recommend trying to stick it out on your own for a while, maybe 6 months or so. I say this because I know that I might have grown to detest the piano with some kind of rigorous formalized education. After about a year, I taught myself functional harmony from an online course. How many teachers would be teaching their students counterpoint rules after just less than a year? I'd assume not many -- but it worked out wonderfully for me. Similarly, I developed an understanding of keyboard topography and a sense of how to sing on the instrument without being encumbered with reading. I think that paid off quite well too. You have a strong will and an idea, you will conflict with many teachers and marching to the beat of a different drummer can inhibit that kind of raw interest. So, overall I think it's best that you first try and understand what is it that you have already.

...thinking I deserve to start as an more intermediate player (haha!) as I've dabbled many years and can actually sound like I can play

This will happen if you have a musical ear and understanding when you start out, and is pretty common with adults who have prior experience. You can translate your idea of sound production onto different instruments and can imagine the music better and get it across, while still being a beginner at the instrument.

so being impatient as it were to learn what must be the basics of learning to sight read and play I've not committed to some sort of structured program like an Alfred book series or one of myriad online courses. 

I have never personally preferred the Alfred book series or online courses, nor do I recommend them. If you already have some sort of idea about how to go about the piano, it might be a good idea to read through the Alfred book in a couple of days just to be sure you're not missing out on anything. However, I feel sad for people who spend ages going through those books. Just don't. I usually recommend at the very least being able to play a few songs from memory, by rote, before embarking on some kind of formalized study. You need to know the territory imo. A lot of the frustration piano students often encounter is being taught stuff before realizing whether or not "the juice is worth the squeeze". You will feel this even more as you seem to be analytical and want to make rapid progress. Play the starting of Fur Elise, or the Godfather theme, or Nuvole Bianche, or whatever else you want to play. Use synthesia if you want to, I even recommend it at the start (you want to shift to sheet music eventually, but don't worry about that for the first few months). I was able to get my hands around them within a couple of months, and I have a feeling you may be able to do so as well. Simple arrangements of popular themes can usually be played within the first six months at most, and playing themes you know and love helps because you can rely on your internal ear to tell you whether or not you're sounding horrible. 

I don't want to do in-person lessons. 

As I said, don't do them. Keep learning on your own. You will know when to take lessons, either when your progress is stalling, or your technique is inadequate or painful, if and when you realize there are things you aren't able to hear or improve on your own. Though taking lessons isn't a bad idea, a lot of people have a fatalistic attitude and don't think that you can learn on your own at all. That's just wrong. Try to learn on your own, solicit feedback from discussion boards such as these, and I've found incredibly helpful people here.

I started maybe 3 weeks ago, and can play all the notes now but only close to flawlessly at 72bpm--I think he is up around 108 or so.

Are you referring to this one, and the full version? Can you play all four minutes at 72 bpm? That is pretty impressive.

I don't look at the base clef and notes octaves below and above are just worse than Greek to me. 

If you're going to self-teach, you'll need to tackle your challenges head-on and have confidence in yourself. Reading the bass clef is easy, basically the same as reading the treble clef in principle. Look up a video or google it. Spend an entire day working on it and drilling it. These are things which a teacher may tell you to do. You will have to be your own teacher.

Anyway, my concern about this approach is I have nothing to look at while playing to remind myself of where the music goes, which I get must be a big plus for learning to sight proficiently.  But then I know some play completely by ear w/o sheet music and just commit it to memory by practicing, or so I suppose.

You need to do both eventually. I commit pieces to memory, but I use the sheet music to do so because it streamlines the process. I have memorized things from synthesia and purely by listening to them and transcribing as well. These things aren't mutually exclusive. I prefer to memorize pieces without using the sheet music as a reference. It leads to memorizing them quicker. Using the sheet music as a guide and sight reading etc. is a separate skill. It's a useful skill, but as a motivated adult I'd advocate leaving sight reading for later. It's just so much easier to sight read once you have a level of fluency with the keyboard, can play expressively without looking at your hands, and have a developed ear. I could play without looking at the keyboard before I started sight reading, and sight reading was so much fun because of that! I progressed pretty fast once I started reading, although it's something I'm definitely working on.

In response to your questions:

1.  When learning a piece by watching a video of someone playing (or a soft keyboard highlighting the notes is displayed) and learning each bar w/ left and right hands is it wise to avoid trying to play faster than you can perform the most complex part at?  Or is it better to push yourself, even if more mistakes occur, in order to improve your progress rate?  I use a software metronome.

I would actually advise not using the metronome a whole lot. Record yourself playing, and then listen back to check if you're on tempo (again, without the metronome!). Rinse and repeat. Develop your ear like crazy -- it's the only possible way to self-teach successfully imo. I found the most success by listening to a piece, getting it in my head to the point where I could play the whole thing or at least parts of it in my head. Then, I would try to replicate that aural picture on the piano (keyboard). I believe you might also be able to do something similar, given what you've said about yourself here.

2.  Should I dedicate to learning the pieces I would love to play like the two I'm working on mentioned above which are so much more difficult for me than most of what I've played before, and by getting very good at those will I advance my global piano skills level enough to progress sufficiently?  Or would I be best served to also go back to a basic structured course w/ emphasis on sight reading, which can take up a lot of time with not too much to show for it, especially for impatient types!  If the latter then can you strongly recommend a course that might work well to help me learn sight reading and playing at the fastest possible pace?

It's been my experience that you need to do both! If you play easy things all the time, you run the risk of stagnation, and I see a lot of students trudging through grade levels, unsatisfied, because they never feel the thrill of an insurmountable piece. On the other hand, only playing pieces that are too hard will not develop your control properly, and you will not be developing the skill of playing pieces at a performance level.

3.  Are there other methods of learning I might look at beyond sheet music or watching videos and learning by imitation and by ear?  Is there another form of music notation for piano that also includes optimal fingering information?  Can you tell I'm resistant to learning to read traditional sheet music?      I've tried and given up a few times in the past it's just painfully slow to translate the notes/times into the keys to be played.

There are a lot of books and video lectures online. I would highly recommend you check out the following channels on YouTube: Josh Wright, Graham Fitch, John Mortensen (aka cedarvillemusic), PianoCareer. Pro-tip: Type in your question followed by one of the first three (e.g. "how to start as a beginner Josh Wright", or "fast and even scales Graham Fitch"). I have found these to be extremely useful. In the beginning, watch all of the videos by these four channels on proper piano posture. It is very important that you do so from the start -- proper posture to a large extent automatically translates into speed, dexterity, control in sound production, all that good stuff.

Other resources: Look for posts by bernhard on this piano forum. A lot of the other common posters over here such as quantum, keypeg and lostinidlewonder also have great suggestions.

You may want to check this thread out:
https://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3010526/re-what-wisdom-would-you-give-to-a-new-adult-beginner.html#Post3010526

I wrote this based on my personal experience, and based on what I observed from the anime pianist community back around 2016, where there were a lot of people attempting to teach themselves hard piano music on their own, and make arrangements of popular anime music. For example, the guy in the following video is self taught. People will argue talent, and they are not wrong. But I strongly believe that these are the characteristics of most successful self-taught piano students.

[noelcp]

Ranjit, thank you so much for your well thought thru perceptions I think you have me largely pegged.  I'm glad I gave enough clues as your replies are so worthy of consideration--thanks again!

I will continue to see how it goes w/ these two complex pieces for me, Carol and Joy, GW's arrangement and see how it goes.  I've really only been at my new keyboard for about 5 weeks but am loving it to pieces so I am a captive student right now.  Yes I can do GW's Carol full version at 72 or even 82 but some parts can get out of sync left/right above 72 or 74.  Joy is the piece I am dying to learn and I have the notes memorized quite closely for the first 40 seconds of the 4min piece in just a couple of days, but can barely play it now.  I just love this arrangement and hope I can do it!  It's so much more difficult than what I'm used to.

Thanks again I appreciate it very much!

Do you think I should aim to play w/o looking at the keys?  I know GW certainly is looking straight down at his fingers, as does I think Keith Jarrett.  It is easy to see why being able to play w/o looking at the keys would be fabulous to accomplish though.  Right now the only part that is really still hard in Carol is where the hands are suddenly widened I just have trouble finding where to hit w/o a glance, and even then it's not good!  I do need be able to hit those w/o looking as I can't look at them both at the same time anyway.  Perhaps good enough now to try to not look as much as able perhaps?

I could pick up the sheet music perhaps and just play by memory while watching the score perhaps. 

I have not listened to the

[ranjit]

Do you think I should aim to play w/o looking at the keys?  I know GW certainly is looking straight down at his fingers, as does I think Keith Jarrett.  It is easy to see why being able to play w/o looking at the keys would be fabulous to accomplish though.  Right now the only part that is really still hard in Carol is where the hands are suddenly widened I just have trouble finding where to hit w/o a glance, and even then it's not good!  I do need be able to hit those w/o looking as I can't look at them both at the same time anyway.  Perhaps good enough now to try to not look as much as able perhaps?

You need to eventually develop proprioception to be able to feel the keys without looking at them. That does not necessarily mean being able to nail every jump without looking at the keyboard, but it does mean being able to play several seconds of music without looking down, especially when there are no jumps.

However, you don't have to develop it immediately. I would suggest trying to do that on pieces which don't challenge you technically. With stretch pieces, you need to be careful about technique and constantly strive to play with less tension and in a more 'natural' manner. It's probably best if you focus all of your attention on sound production and technique. In fact, I've seen that technique is the first thing to go awry when there are too many things on your mind -- people often end up sight reading something beyond their reading level, struggling to figure out fingering, while simultaneously trying to memorize the piece and maybe add some dynamics... This is a typical beginner's way of doing things and is inefficient and can be counterproductive. Instead, target memorizing, or ironing out technique, or sight reading, or playing without looking at the keyboard, or musicality, (voicing, phrasing...) etc. individually. Keep your head clear and don't combine everything into a giant half-baked mess. Professionals will, of course, do many of these things simultaneously, but that is impossible at the beginning and requires the sub-processes to be automated to the point where they don't require conscious attention (for example, the fingering could be obvious to the advanced player, or the technique simple to the point where they don't have to think about it).

[lostinidlewonder]

Nice detailed response from ranjit!

1.  When learning a piece by watching a video of someone playing (or a soft keyboard highlighting the notes is displayed) and learning each bar w/ left and right hands is it wise to avoid trying to play faster than you can perform the most complex part at?  Or is it better to push yourself, even if more mistakes occur, in order to improve your progress rate?  I use a software metronome.

You can play sections of your music while practicing at different tempos. You should choose a speed where you can control what you play, playing everything at a tempo which matches the maximum speed you can achieve in the most difficult part simply wastes time if you are also playing other parts slowly that you can otherwise play at faster tempo with control. The problem with practicing too slow is that you can do movements which do not relate to a faster tempo. At faster tempo any strange movements or hesitations will be punished. There are many ways in which you can effectively practice a section but that all depends ultimately on where you are currently at and what tools you currently use.

2.  Should I dedicate to learning the pieces I would love to play like the two I'm working on mentioned above which are so much more difficult for me than most of what I've played before, and by getting very good at those will I advance my global piano skills level enough to progress sufficiently?  Or would I be best served to also go back to a basic structured course w/ emphasis on sight reading, which can take up a lot of time with not too much to show for it, especially for impatient types!  If the latter then can you strongly recommend a course that might work well to help me learn sight reading and playing at the fastest possible pace?

Most of my students practice repetoire and sightreading/memory separately. They of course cross over into one another unavoidably but it isn't enough simply doing one or the other. Some of my students really understand sight reading well and it takes maybe 3-5 years for them to be proficient at it. Sight reading doesn't necessarily ONLY mean being able to play something immediately at mastery with the sheets (although it does include this as a goal) but to be able to practice through new pieces with effective memory/reading skills as well as an anticipation of sound and reaction to what notes will be played (playing by ear) all combined. This is how most people learn with sheet music at their most efficient rate.

3.  Are there other methods of learning I might look at beyond sheet music or watching videos and learning by imitation and by ear?  Is there another form of music notation for piano that also includes optimal fingering information?  Can you tell I'm resistant to learning to read traditional sheet music?      I've tried and given up a few times in the past it's just painfully slow to translate the notes/times into the keys to be played.

There are many approaches to learning music. I learned personally with three different methods which developed over the years. I played by ear from a very early age until a few years before my teenage years, then I would read but heavily rely on memorization up until I was in my mid teens, then I started combining sight reading with memorization and ear playing, a synergy of all skills together. They were all different when in isolation and become different again when they combined which was an interesting observation for me when I look back.

Post some bars of music you find hard to memorize and perhaps a discussion about that will bring some interesting results for you.

[noelcp]

Thank you Lost for these insights I very much appreciate the support and tacit encouragement!  At my age and health (not bad, but not great either!) I don't necessarily have the years ahead to get to a high level of mastery, but I do have free time as a retiree and practice/play maybe 2-3h/day now.  So looking for shortcuts, and effcient ways to get where I want to get, which to be quite frank is just to keep learning songs I love to listen to and hope to play sometime! 

I will go back and look at basics having to do w/ posture and a few other things.  Until 3 weeks ago I spent almost no effort developing correct fingering for a piece, an easy piece, I just did what made sense playing by ear.  Carol of the Bells and Joy are forcing the issue now and I do feel already I'm getting the criticality of fingering for pieces more challenging for me.  This means I'm having to memorize much more detail than previously when I could just wing/fake it and you could tell what the song was!  There is a section in Carol which taught me I was holding my right pinky too straight (it can lock a little too!) which was killing my ability to play this part faster.  I could quickly tell just getting it arched was all I needed to do to get thru this section.

[noelcp]

You need to eventually develop proprioception to be able to feel the keys without looking at them. That does not necessarily mean being able to nail every jump without looking at the keyboard, but it does mean being able to play several seconds of music without looking down, especially when there are no jumps.

Ok, I will do this then!  Thank you!  I will start on this w/ easy songs I already play pretty well, then progress on.

Do you see much value for me to look at the sheet music notes while essentially playing by memory of what I'm imitating in the piece I'm just starting, or perhaps even Carol of the Bells that I do know the notes and timings for and am just working on increasing my tempo, if that makes sense? I wonder if there are any software programs that will display the note I'm playing in real time on the staff?  Seems that could be useful.

[anacrusis]

Hello and welcome to the forum! I'll chime in with some thoughts on your questions.

1.  When learning a piece by watching a video of someone playing (or a soft keyboard highlighting the notes is displayed) and learning each bar w/ left and right hands is it wise to avoid trying to play faster than you can perform the most complex part at?  Or is it better to push yourself, even if more mistakes occur, in order to improve your progress rate?  I use a software metronome.

My experience has always been that consistently getting everything right, which sometimes means taking a very slow tempo at the start, is the quickest road to a faster tempo without mistakes. Your brain learns what you practise, so if you practise making mistakes, mistakes are what you'll learn. Getting it perfect say three times and then sleeping on it will enable you to play faster sooner than playing it quickly with mistakes ten times.

2.  Should I dedicate to learning the pieces I would love to play like the two I'm working on mentioned above which are so much more difficult for me than most of what I've played before, and by getting very good at those will I advance my global piano skills level enough to progress sufficiently?  Or would I be best served to also go back to a basic structured course w/ emphasis on sight reading, which can take up a lot of time with not too much to show for it, especially for impatient types!  If the latter then can you strongly recommend a course that might work well to help me learn sight reading and playing at the fastest possible pace?

In my experience, your global piano skills will progress the most from doing a large quantity of different things at a good quality over time, ather than from struggling with a few things over the same time period. I would absolutely suggest you pick up a structured adult course that has a good reputation for being fun and thourough. That does not preclude you having one project going that is more difficult and perhaps above your level, but which provides fun and satisfaction for you.

3.  Are there other methods of learning I might look at beyond sheet music or watching videos and learning by imitation and by ear?  Is there another form of music notation for piano that also includes optimal fingering information?  Can you tell I'm resistant to learning to read traditional sheet music?      I've tried and given up a few times in the past it's just painfully slow to translate the notes/times into the keys to be played.

Sheet music often includes fingering, so I'm not sure what you mean here. A structured adult course should introduce you to reading sheet music in a progessive way so you do not feel overwhelmed. The people who make method books are very strategic with introducing just one or a few elements at a time, so you are not expected to recite Shakespeare before you know the alphabet - that would be hard for anyone!

If you are anything like me, I need to be able to do things that I want to do even if they are out of my depth sometimes. In that case I would suggest the above mix of both following a structured course with things at your level (maybe committing dto doing at least 15 minutes of it when you practise), and dabbling in a few things that may be too challenging on the side. You'll get a good mix of learning the necessary basics and satisfying your impatience that way

If you ever change your mind about having a teacher I can highly vouch for a good teacher being a great source of inspiration, motivation and knowledge you didn't know you needed.

[noelcp]

Thank you anacrusis for your perspectives.  Can you recommend a course to use that you feel good about for an older adult learner?

GW's Joy is too much for me now.  Not playing it necessarily, but learning it by imitation and ear.  I can see the value of reading the sheet music on this for sure!

This is what I'm using to try to learn this:

And here is someone doing it justice:

1

[anacrusis]

Thank you anacrusis for your perspectives.  Can you recommend a course to use that you feel good about for an older adult learner?

GW's Joy is too much for me now.  Not playing it necessarily, but learning it by imitation and ear.  I can see the value of reading the sheet music on this for sure!

Yeah that sheet music completely lacks fingering, which can make it tricky to figure out what fingers are best used before you start getting the hang of good fingering.

Good courses are a bit outside my expertise unfortunately. I have heard good things about the Piano Safari adult course. Perhaps someone else here can chime in?

[noelcp]

General question:  w/ my m-audio Hammer 88 I have set the velocity sensitivity so that it is making me strike the keys harder/faster than otherwise.  Is this a good idea to develop finger strength or is that not a good idea for a relative beginner?

Thanks!

[lostinidlewonder]

At my age and health (not bad, but not great either!) I don't necessarily have the years ahead to get to a high level of mastery, but I do have free time as a retiree and practice/play maybe 2-3h/day now.  So looking for shortcuts, and effcient ways to get where I want to get, which to be quite frank is just to keep learning songs I love to listen to and hope to play sometime! 

If it makes you feel any better my oldest student who started learning the piano was in her late 80s and she did fairly ok. I think ultimately you want to enjoy the musical relationship you have but also be open to challenge and frustrate yourself since it is the only way you can ever really progress at anything in life! A large part of our learning is simply playing a lot of pieces at a good level. If one always plays higher level pieces which inspire them but stump progress it makes the piano playing experience difficult, it is just a stressful type of relationship to have, some enjoy it but most are flounder about lost in this abyss and the danger there is wasting a lot of time.

There are many ways in which you can learn to enjoy much easier works, the simplicity of music can bring a lot of creative inspiration for example. If you play easier works you are also much more open to improvising (even if you never have tried it) adding a few notes here and there decorating your playing, this is a good creative experience which is often lost when you play works which are too difficult for you.

Working with easier pieces also allows you to experience successful sight reading attempts. It is very empowing to play a piece from sight and be able to play it with mastery. It is very exciting once you raise the bar as to what it is you can sight reading with mastery. Your performance repetoire literallly explodes into tens of thousands of pieces (albeit at a level much lower than you playing ability and you need to spend years developing your reading skills to close that gap).

Until 3 weeks ago I spent almost no effort developing correct fingering for a piece, an easy piece, I just did what made sense playing by ear. 

This is of course possible with easier works but as the level increase you will find a proper solution to fingering is essential. We learn the piano in many levels, one cannot expect to do everything perfect from the start, in fact if you try to do that you wont get past playing a single note. We need to learn inefficiently first then as we make improvements we will see it clearly. Mimicing ideas of mastery without it intrinsically becoming a realization is not a good way to learn the piano this is because of the inflexibility of mimiced ideas the inability to apply them in varying situations usually collapses.

General question:  w/ my m-audio Hammer 88 I have set the velocity sensitivity so that it is making me strike the keys harder/faster than otherwise.  Is this a good idea to develop finger strength or is that not a good idea for a relative beginner?

It honestly doesn't really matter. If I had the choice I would practice on a heavier action than something too light. I grew up on a piano which had heavy action but this meant every other piano I played felt very light and I would play too loud on them. I think this problem is less than those who grow up on light actions and cannot play anything heavier, it is certainly easier to adjust to play lighter than having to learn to exert more energy.

[noelcp]

Thank you Lost for your insights and experience sharing.  Right now we're in temporary digs, it's Covid 19 time, and getting together w/ a physical teacher is something I won't pursue as we will be here in Nor California until May, and are busy fixing up our house to sell.  We were survivors of the infamous Camp Fire which destroyed most of the entire town in 12 hours.  Our house survived, but remains surrounded by devastation, and a slow rebuild. 

As a piano teacher, what is your most recommended course/approach for learning sight reading?  I know this is a pathway I should pursue and plan to, but appreciate any insights into study methods, online apps that can teach note reading well and so forth.  I know we're all different on what might work best for a method but happy to hear recommendations from actual piano teachers, or students who have used a certain method w/ good success. 

I've got GW's Carol of the Bells now close to flawless at 82bpm in just the past week.  My goal is to get to around 100 or so where this arrangement starts to shine, for me.

His arrangement of Joy I have the first 110 seconds almost figured out as a combination of imitation and by ear at uber slow speed, but geez how helpful to have the visual reference to tie to, that is, the sheet music.  When I looked at his arrangement on sheet music my heart sank, because of the Ab key (Yes, played mostly the easy C key all my dabbling life) and trying interpret them.   I will continue to try to figure the piece out, it's certainly not hard to play per se, but tricky to pick up by imitation/ear.

So next step is finding the right course for learning to read and play piano music.  Top few recommendations?

[lostinidlewonder]

We were survivors of the infamous Camp Fire which destroyed most of the entire town in 12 hours.  Our house survived, but remains surrounded by devastation, and a slow rebuild. 

Coming from Australia I can understand the horrors of fires.

As a piano teacher, what is your most recommended course/approach for learning sight reading? 

Since I teach one on one lessons I create unique programs for each student based on their needs/interests. For sight reading study we often read through hundreds of pieces/exercises a month, there is a whole library of music online that can be sifted through to find appropriate works. I have never taught from a course book so I can't suggest anything that is useful.

There are many approaches to sight reading but the "bread and butter" approach is reading a lot of easy works successfully and build up from there. Too many people attempt works which are too challenging and thus never experience successful reading. There are lots of other skills required to be good at sight reading, you need to be able to play without looking at your hands since if you are looking at your hands you break contact from the sheets, you need to also be able to understanding fingering well, it is no good "recreating the wheel" when it comes to fingering and much that you practice reading should have successful accurate fingering choices, you should also be able to discect and analyze your sheet music drawing out patterns, shapes, observations etc. It really is a large topic which depends on the individual and really is impossible to write all out into words.