Wounded guitar player trying his hand(s) at piano.

Skydog

I’m 4 months post op following bi-lateral tendon release surgery on my middle fingers. I can’t begin to curl fingers yet but can play piano basically pain free. I’m looking for an instruction path to follow (youtube, books, etc) until I can locate a teacher.

Sophia

Skydog I’m looking for an instruction path to follow

What is your goal with learning piano? Classical, pop, boogie, jazz? What is your background in music?

ShiroKuro

Skydog welcome to Piano Tell!

Also, wow, I’m sorry to hear you needed surgery! But it sounds like it must have gone well, so that’s good!

I think you definitely want to get a book, or perhaps pay for an online course, until you can find a teacher. Otherwise it can be very hard to an actual set course or path to follow.

As @Sophia said above, the book you choose will depend on your musical background and interests. If you play(ed) classical guitar and read written music, then a classical approach to piano would be fine. But if not, it makes sense to do something that aligns better with your guitar background, for example, a popular music approach, something that builds on your (presumed) knowledge of chords etc.

OTOH, regardless of what you eventually want to play, maybe just starting here makes the most sense:

www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/B07G4TW59B/

BTW what kind of piano are you using right now?

WieWaldi

I hope you double-checked with your surgeon if you are allowed to play piano. You know, piano playing causes more strain than typing a computer keyboard. And pain free means nothing. A lot of pianists started pain free and developed some long term pain issues.

I wish you good luck and hope that you will be truly healthy soon.

Btw - welcome to PianoTell.

Skydog

WieWaldi she told me it should be therapeutic.

thepianoplayer416

Many people started with beginner books like ones from Alfred's or Faber Adult Piano series. These are books for learning to read music and basic playing techniques.

Someone who has played guitar long enough would know some basic chords. Playing the same chords on a piano you need to find the right notes and get comfortable with the fingering.

You also decide whether to play music with 2 staffs for the left & right hands or off lead sheets with left-hand chords. I watch online videos posted by teachers & students regularly to find out the pieces they're playing at various levels.

Skydog

Currently, I only have a Casio CT-620L

WieWaldi

Skydog Currently, I only have a Casio CT-620L

This is actually not a piano. It is a keyboard with a spring-loaded action. IMO, the keys are lighter and easier to press down, compared to an acoustic piano or a digital with hammer action.

I agree with others, to start out with a method book like Faber or Alfred should be a good start.

Nightowl

Hi Skydog, welcome to the forum. I also started playing on a Casio keyboard, it was fine as a beginner's instrument but after about 6 months I upgraded to a digital piano.

I agree that Alfred's method books are a good choice, I have worked through books 1 and 2 of their All In One Adult Piano Course books and they provided a good grounding in basic piano skills. Some of the pieces are not very likeable, but if you persist with working through the books at a steady pace you'll gradually build skills. Let us know how you get on, it's nice to have another beginner on the forum as we are outnumbered by advanced players. That said, many advanced players offer useful advice to beginners, which is great for people like me who don't have a teacher (yet).

Skydog

Nightowl I have book 1 arriving today, via amazon.

thepianoplayer416

A good keyboard needs to have at least 76 keys. A keyboard with 61 keys or less is for fun than serious learning. I have a Yamaha P-125 with 88 weighted keys. Something similar like a Roland FP-30 is fine.

Besides the basic learning series, you also find other books with pieces arranged for easy piano including hymns, Christmas songs, Jazz & Blues.

Skydog

thepianoplayer416 that would be nice, but the Casio will suffice, at least for the time being.

thepianoplayer416

Guess you haven't started music lessons. In the future if you decide to get a teacher, you're going to play more challenging pieces that require more keys eventually. I had a keyboard with 61 light-touch keys for beginner & low intermediate learners. When I needed more keys on the low or high end, I'd use the transpose buttons and move up or down an octave to accommodate. Solved the problem until my keyboard stopped working. I decided to get a higher model with more keys than pay a few hundred dollars to fix it.

At the moment you're just starting piano. You're not at a high enough level to need a better keyboard. Someone like myself play at an intermediate level with some advance pieces in between, The place where my lessons is held have practice rooms with acoustic pianos I can use during the day until people come for lessons. I'd practice on my digital at home and use a regular piano a few times a week. It's a good compromise.

I'm not in the Suzuki program but know people who were. Suzuki students focus on Classical music. A Suzuki teacher would tell students not to use a digital instrument. The choice is between an upright or grand as long as it's an acoustic.

Sophia

thepianoplayer416 A Suzuki teacher would tell students not to use a digital instrument. The choice is between an upright or grand as long as it's an acoustic.

Not to open up some of the ~~arguments~~ discussions this forum has seen in the past, but oh boy… that level of snobbery is just insane. For that reason alone I would never even consider the Suzuki program!

More on topic now: of course I agree with you that especially during the first few months or even years, there is no reason to buy a fancy, expensive piano until one is sure they enjoy their new hobby 🙂

thepianoplayer416

Sophia

Definitely agree that beginners can use a low-end keyboard. I use a portable keyboard at home. I also have access to Yamaha Clavinova DPs, upright & grand pianos at the place where my lessons are held which is a fair compromise.

Suzuki Associations around the world had decided that an acoustic piano produces a natural sound which would help students develop musicality & expression. Today the default piano sound coming out of a digital instrument is very close to that of an acoustic piano. The touch of the weighted keys on a DP is very close to a piano.

Whether somebody would continue piano after 1 year is hard to answer. I know people who had a teacher for a while and quit (never touch an instrument again). After a while they find that the music lessons get monotonous. The pieces they play along with scales & other exercises boring. The son of a family friend who was in Suzuki years ago is still play which is surprising.

I play music mainly for stress relief. I'm not limited to playing the teacher's assigned pieces. Finding pieces at your level is not a problem. People share sheet music on social media sites including Facebook & piano forums like this one. Once you learned to read at a basic level, you can find all sorts of interesting pieces online.

The place where I grew up people have a lot of respect for teachers. Practically everybody who can play an instrument to a certain level learned from a teacher. By default people would learn Classical pieces before anything else. They'd get advice from a teacher when choosing pieces. I download some pieces and learn on my own.

ShiroKuro

@Sophia I agree.

The best piano is the one that's in your living room (or kitchen, or wherever, you get the point!)

What I mean is, we can talk about what's "ideal" all day long, but it doesn't matter. If someone has access to any kind of piano (digital, keyboard, synth etc. included!) they can learn to play. And no one should be made to feel bad for not having the "right" kind of instrument.

MRC

You're recovering from surgery and your surgeon says learning the piano should be therapeutic. The most important thing is, right from the start, to cultivate an approach which will make you conscious of your body, your posture and the feelings in your muscles and joints, with the aim of doing yourself good and developing a technique that is efficient and pain-free.

i would recommend getting a copy of What Every Pianist Needs to Know about the Body by Thomas Mark. This goes into a lot of detail that you will not find in the method books.

If you are looking for a teacher, try to find one who aims to help their pupils develop a technique that is as comfortable as possible. Look for teachers who talk about ease and fluidity of movement, breathing and balanced posture.

You can also find YouTube videos that offer help with good, efficient technique for beginners. Here you need to be cautious: get advice from experienced pianists in order to sort out the good from the bad. Denis Zhdanov is good:

Nightowl

MRC I just watched that video - he covers this subject in some detail and mentioned things I had not heard before. Thanks for posting, I think this vid would be useful for many beginners who don't have a teacher to guide them on hand position technique.