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practice practice practice practice practice practice practice

Blackbird

Honestly, try as you may on your own, only the musically inclined can. If you want to get really good, I would highly recomment a teacher for at least a few years. I took 5 years of piano before going out on my own, and that opened doors for me to guitar and bass, which I was then able to learn on my own because I could read sheet music and I was classically trained. It also gives you a sort of discipline.

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kevingreen

I am planing to learn piano next few months too.however a piano is much expensive for me.I confused....

FireInCairo

Im proficient enough on a piano to jam with a band spanning most rock genres and to play synthesisers in an electro band.
and i am self taught.
But I did have the advantage of knowing a lot of theory from years of guitar lessons and music classes.
And i do get your frustration...when i listen to rachmaninov it makes me want to cry, i really want professional lessons.

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TheBig3

Piano lessons come into play heavily more so for technique. The guy who wrote those beautiful melodies did so on the back of eons of piano theory evolution. I took lessons for 5 years when I got to college. If you can read music and know correct finger placement you'll be set.

another word of advice, those three are not the palce to start. Maybe Ode to Joy but you can't be Mozart overnight for a reason.

With regard to Chopin, his spreads are sometimes 12 keys wide and he plays (or can play) very soft, so you're going to need a ton of practice and training.

theres nothing wrong with learning some folk piano, its good if only to get your reading skills up. I'd also recommend staying away from things like the Blues and Jazz, the former is hell on earth because you can't bend, and neither adhere to the sheet music...ever.

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A5T0N3D1

if you really want to play music and youre able, you will.
and keyboard is actually the easiest and funnest instrument to venture out on your own with.

i record

Astronomer

To be honest I don't think you could learn to play piano well by a fee website or teaching yourself. I had classical piano lessons for about 5 years before I decided to stop the lessons and start teaching myself - now I've been playing for 10 years and I've still got billions more to learn!

So, if you're passionate about learning the piano, find a good teacher who teaches classical - that way you will learn theory, practice, and history. Where I live there are piano teachers everywhere. If you're looking for a cheap alternative, there are heaps of young people and students who teach piano part-time. That's how I learnt.

This_Is_Corey

If you can't take any class I would say invest in a 20 dollar piano book, or even go to a library and get one and keep practicing. When you learn a song pretty fluently, put your own twist on it, changing the progression and what not.

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classylady

I am with most of the people here who initially posted on this topic and say that it does take a lot of practice in order to achieve a level that's satisfactory to play the music you desire. I am by no means a great pianist, but I was lucky enough to have an older brother who was born with a musical gift. I did take lessons when I was a child alongside him, but I didn't have the interest to pursue it. I stopped lessons at 11 in lieu of playing field hockey and being on the chess team. I know, it's kinda dorky, but I believe that it really helped me with other facets of life such as diligence and memory retention. Needless to say, after college my brother moved into my apartment because he was ashamed to tell our parents that he couldn't afford to live on his own w/o help from a roommate or the girlfriend that dumped, then immediately kicked him out of their apartment in Missouri while I lived in Virginia. Taking in my refuge brother, I told him that I'll give him all the time he needs to get back on his feet in return for piano lessons. Let me tell you, 6 months straight of learning scales. That is all I did. I didn't play a single tune: Not even Mary Had a Little Lamb. At the time I was frustrated because I thought he was just messing with me, but when he thought I was ready, he put a piece of music that he said someone with 2 years of experience would be able to play. I looked at him with that "I've only been playing for 6 months" kinda look. The piece was Rhapsody in Blue which was a Dan Coates Arrangement (not nearly as hard as the original, but within a month, I was playing all 3 Preludes! When he left to move back to our hometown, I literally cried. I didn't want him to go, but there was a job in his field waiting for him 10 minutes from our childhood home at the local high school. How could he say no to taking over for his mentor as the Orchestra teacher? Long story (yes, it's a long story I know!) short, there are numerous ways to learn, but the 2 main ways are by sight (reading music) or by ear. I highly suggest learning by sight. Once you master that way of learning, according to my brother you can grab any piece of music within your level of playing and be able to perform it without too much trouble. It's literally another language, but nothing that sounded so beautiful, huh?

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chopinisawesome

Yup. Most people have said this already. Practice! Practice practice practicepracticepracticepracticepracticepracticepr acticepractice...

Just don't give up too soon. It'll seem really hard at the beginning. You'll feel like you aren't improving at all, but keep going! It will get more and more enjoyable. If you're willing to work hard and play for, say, an hour at least each day, you can get to playing some really neat pieces. Being able to jam with a band isn't really going to help you play classical, but if you want to jam with a band and you don't want to play classical, that's perfectly fine. Playing classical wouldn't really help you in a band, either.

Also, remember, when you get a little better at playing, if you're playing classical, there has to be more than just notes. You have to add dynamics (volume changes), articulation (how long a note is held), and all sorts of other things. That's where a piano teacher comes in handy.

Just keep working!