I’ve be inspired to write this blog post after seeing so many posts on social media from adults  wanting to learn to play piano, or thinking about doing so, and not knowing quite where to start. And yes, of course I’m going to mention my own online courses which I hope will be useful to many, but that’s not what this entire post is about. It’s a genuine effort from a pianist and experienced teacher to help you find the route that is best for you to learn piano successfully and in the way you want, and my video courses are actually not my number 1 recommendation you might be surprised to know.

So, you’ve bought a piano or keyboard, or you’re just about to. You’ve decided to start learning and you don’t know where to begin. There are so many options. From my experience here are the main paths you can go down and the pros and cons to each of them. Decide what’s best for you and give it a go.

Face to face piano lessons

If your budget and lifestyle will allow, face to face piano lessons are, without a doubt in my mind the very best way to learn in whatever style and to whatever level you wish, and I don’t say that because I’m trying to attract new students to my list – I’m pretty full already. It’s just a no-brainer – that one-to-one time with a professional is so valuable, and if you are serious about playing piano to a high level one day it’s really the only way to be sure you get things right. Without a piano teacher checking your technique by watching and listening to you perform regularly in lessons you would be very, very lucky to end up playing advanced stuff fluently. There’s just no substitute for the expertise of a good piano tutor picking up on little things that don’t seem important at an early stage, like posture or the correct fingering for example, that can become a big barrier later on if not corrected.

Of course, piano tuition is pricey, but you are paying for a pretty highly-qualified professional often and usually a fair bit of administration, professional development and planning time going on in the background between your lessons too.

It also makes you very accountable – if you know your piano teacher is expecting you to achieve fluency in your current piece by the following week’s lesson then you are more likely to practice hard towards that goal. It’s not an easy thing to stay self-motivated otherwise, especially when you encounter things you find difficult.

All this being said, when you learn piano as an adult, do make it very clear to your teacher what and how you want to learn and be sure they are on-board with this before starting. If you want to play classical music and work through your grades then tell them, likewise if your ambitions are to learn piano chords so you can play pop songs from lead sheets with your singer-friend at the local open-mic night, then say so. If you aren’t going to use and enjoy the skill of reading music notation and that is what your teacher is focussing on, then you’re unlikely to stick with your learning. In short, make sure you find a piano teacher who is a good fit. Many tutors of adults will allow you to specify this sort of thing, but there are some who stick to one method faithfully which is fair enough if this is their strength and passion, but if that’s not right for you then look elsewhere.

Online real-time piano lessons

Being taught to play piano online via Zoom, Skype or similar really took off during Covid. I did all of my teaching this way at that time myself. These sort of lessons come with many of the same benefits of in-person lessons with the added bonus that you may be able to find a teacher that suits you better than those in your local area.

The downside to online piano lessons is the technical difficulties. I’m sure most of us have experienced the difficulties of meetings or family video calls when the Wi-Fi drops out, or glitches, now imagine that you need better sound quality to hear one another’s instruments and the subtle changes in expression and you need the camera to show your hands and the piano to your teacher. It’s not an easy process in my experience. Some find it very successful if they are quite tech savvy though, so it really depends on the learner and the teacher. A wired internet connection is very advantageous!

Self-teaching piano

At the other end of the spectrum there are many proficient and successful completely self-taught pianists out there. Some learn by experimentation, playing by ear with perhaps just a small amount of instruction from someone or something (a book, online resources, or perhaps a friend) about piano keys, chords, rhythms etc.

This tends to work well for highly motivated people. To give your learning some structure and a proper path of progression I would recommend buying yourself a piano method-book if you want to ‘go it alone.’ I’ll be doing a separate blog post about adult course books some time soon, but any would be better than none for sure. And you know that the content of these is good enough to have gotten a music publisher to print them!

Other self-taught pianists find out the little things they need to know from YouTube videos, Tik Tok and similar. This has become so prevalent in recent years that almost every single beginner that comes to me for in-person piano lessons has done at least some learning of a tune or two in this way. It’s fantastic that there are so many free resources out there to help musicians and make learning so accessible. If you can find what you want to know this way, that’s great. A word of warning though:

The masses of free videos out there can be very difficult to sift through and they include things that can actually be quite counter-productive and create bad habits as they are produced by anyone and everyone. You will also struggle to find things that are the right level often, and which offer a true path of progression. I feel they are better as a supportive extra resource alongside whatever else you are using. They are particularly great if you are seeking out some specific instruction on one small aspect of your piano playing or a particular song or technique, but if you type in ‘piano for beginners,’ or ‘easy piano songs’ you’re going to be overwhelmed with things that just aren’t suitable to learn from effectively. I would certainly advise avoiding the videos which teach you a tune by writing numbers on the keys and just learning a sequence of digits. I’m shuddering a little thinking about this right now in fact!

Video courses and piano apps

The likes of Udemy, Pianote and Creative Piano Academy have grown loads of great pianists through their on-demand, watch-at-home video piano courses. And the first of my own courses are also now available too, adding to the mix. Of course, I’d love you to check them out here if you think this method might work for you.

Video courses accessed in your own time are a really great half-way house in my opinion. Somewhere between one-to-one lessons and self-teaching, having instruction from a real piano teacher in this way is fantastic and often a great option for your pocket and busy lifestyles. The only thing you might miss out on is that feedback about technique, expression, posture etc. which your own ears and eyes might not be so attuned to. Watching and listening to lots of other good pianists can give you a lot of what you need to know in this department though, and recording yourself on video to look out for any areas of improvement may also help. If you have an opportunity to meet up with other musicians and ask for supportive feedback that’s also going to be a big boost. I’m hoping to arrange some informal meet-ups like this around Cheshire, UK, where I am based in the near future. Email admin@pianotoyou.com if you’re interested in this!

I know less about the piano apps but have heard many people sing the praises of the Simply Piano, Flowkey and Yousician apps for example, as a similar effective way to ensure a good progression path in the early stages of learning piano. I would be wary of using stickers on your keys at all as an adult though as instructed by some apps. Even kids should only do this for a short time, if at all.

These courses and apps or any method where you aren’t having a professional watching you perform will likely only take you so far, so be aware that if you do wish to progress to higher levels you will likely need a piano tutor at some point and have to be ready to make a few changes if you have developed any habits which the teacher thinks are detrimental to your playing. But if you just want to get started and play for fun they are a fab option.

Whatever you choose, if you’re thinking of taking up piano, best of luck on your journey!