How to Start Teaching Yourself Piano

Which keyboard to start on

If you can't fit an acoustic piano, a digital piano is a perfectly good place to start. The number of keys and how they feel under your fingers are worth checking, though. If you only ever play keys that press down too easily, your fingers will feel weak on a real piano and controlling volume will be harder.

• A full 88 keys, like a standard piano, puts no limit on what you can learn
• Keys with a weighted feel come closer to a real piano
• Smaller keyboards such as 61 keys are cheaper but run short of notes for some pieces
• Check that you can connect a sustain pedal

Posture and hand shape

Set the bench so that your elbows are about level with the keys or slightly above. Place it at a distance where your knees just slip under the keyboard, and sit up straight without stiffening. Curve your fingers as if lightly holding a ball and press the keys with your fingertips. Keep your wrists from sagging below the keys or arching up, and check now and then that your shoulders haven't crept up. Your early posture becomes habit, so even when learning alone, check yourself in a mirror or on video.

Learning the keyboard's map

White and black keys repeat in a fixed pattern. The black keys alternate between groups of two and groups of three, and the white key immediately to the left of each group of two is C. Once you know this pattern, you can find any note anywhere, however many keys there are. The C near the middle of the keyboard is middle C, the reference point for reading music. Try finding C with your eyes closed by feeling for the groups of black keys, and the layout will soon be in your fingers.

First steps in reading music

Piano music usually comes in pairs of staves: the upper one in treble clef, mostly for the right hand, and the lower one in bass clef, mostly for the left. Rather than trying to read every note quickly from the start, memorize a few landmark notes first and count up or down from them.

• Find where middle C sits on each of the two staves
• Memorize landmark notes first, such as G in treble clef and F in bass clef
• Learn how whole, half and quarter notes relate in length
• Spend a few minutes a day practising note reading on its own

Finger numbers and fingering

In piano, both hands number the fingers the same way: thumb 1, index 2, middle 3, ring 4 and little finger 5. Beginner scores print these numbers above the notes; this is the fingering. Any finger will produce the note in the moment, but when you move to the next note you run out of fingers or your hand gets tangled. Following the printed fingering may feel tedious at first, but the habit pays off hugely once pieces get faster and more complex. Everyone finds their ring and little fingers weak at first; they get stronger with time.

Learn each hand, then put them together

Trying to play with both hands from the start forces your brain to handle two things at once, which actually slows progress. It is quicker to learn each hand until it moves almost on its own, then combine them.

• Practise the right hand alone until you make no mistakes
• Practise the left hand alone the same way
• Put both hands together at a very slow tempo
• Combine two or three bars at a time, then join the sections
• Raise the tempo gradually once it feels comfortable

Two paths: reading scores or playing chords

Self-taught piano broadly splits into two paths. One is playing exactly the notes written in a score, which suits you if you want to play classical pieces or arranged instrumentals. The other is reading chord names and building left-hand accompaniment patterns to play along with songs, which brings quicker rewards if you want to accompany songs you love. Neither is better; it depends on your goal. Deciding early what you want to play makes it easier to pick materials and focus your practice, and learning the other path later helps both.

Choosing a first piece and the pedal

For your first piece, choose something short and slow where your hand position doesn't shift much, rather than a difficult favourite. Playing one piece all the way through gives you the momentum for the next. The pedal sustains the sound, but using it from the start hides wrong and broken notes and muddies your practice. Add it once you can play accurately with your hands alone. If you feel pain in your wrists or fingers while practising, rest and check your posture, and if it continues, get it checked by a professional.