7 Things I Wish I'd Known When Learning Piano

Which of these tips do you want more in-depth tutorials for?

Wise people once said, ‘if you can play it slow, you can play it fast’.

I always hate it when I get really inspired to play piano, but then everyone in my house is asleep.

I've been playing piano 45 years and teaching it for the best part of 30 of those, so it's really reassuring to find someone so much younger than myself giving the same tips and advocating the same methods - several of which I actually learned more through teaching, than through playing when I was younger. Great video!

1) Learn more theory, 2) Practice until you can't get it wrong 3) Use less pedal during practice 4) Record yourself a lot 5) Follow the fingerings stipulated on the page 6) Practice more consistently 7) Practice slower and more mindfully

Watching this after 10 years playing piano, nice

You are probably one of the most methodical piano teachers on YouTube. Every single thing you said was well-thought and no cliche. I started following you a year ago. Welcome back😊

Once I started thinking "Chords" rather than "Notes" things got much easier....

"He's been playing for 18 years." 👀 "But how old is he?" 20

Playing slowly is so important. When I started playing bass guitar as a teenager I noticed that playing fast means being up against one's physical limits. Backing off from those limits means the parts that rely on the limits fall apart because it was the "bump-stops" that kept the notes in place, not skill.

I hope I’m not totally alone in this: My posture makes a huge impact on my playing. In difficult passages, if I become aware of my posture, I realize I’m hunched over the keys. I know I would benefit from an observer/teacher (I’m self-taught) prompting me to sit up straight when I lose my self awareness!

Self-teaching myself for 3weeks now and have never missed a day of practice. I see myself improve everyday, much more than I expected

Great tips! I only started playing a little over a year ago--after meaning to for decades. So I'm trying to make progress by practicing frequently and carefully. Next weekend will be my first ever piano recital. I'll definitely be the oldest person in the recital, but I'm having a grand time learning!

01:56 This piece of information is really good: that when you play a piece that you have played many many times over, you don't play it from the sheets, you play it from your head and muscles

I definitely relate to the music theory suggestion. I started learning piano at 5 years old, and I continued with piano lessons through high school. I made progress, but it simply wasn't interesting to me. I had too many other interests. However, it was later that I learned about music theory and it opened up an entirely different viewpoint, which WAS interesting. It wasn't classical music that I played, I played popular music. But armed with music theory I was able to create variations and solos on the popular pieces. I improvised. It was so enjoyable to do. I wish my beginning teachers would have taught me the background of music instead of just saying "play this or play that." I know that I would done better and made faster progress. I could have analyzed the pieces, which is my nature. You just look at music differently as you showed with your examples. It's also more fun, at least for me.

Brilliant teaching. Where were you 50yrs ago when we needed you? Your students don't know how lucky they are. Good man. All the best to you.

mate u r so underrated! great video! 4. I find recording myself playing very helpful because aside from being able to spot mistakes, recording adds pressure -as if someone is watching over you. This pressure can really change how you play and it is important that you can handle this pressure well!

This video was very informative, thank you! "Practice is not for performing, practice is for practicing..", I'm gonna keep this in mind 😊

Piano teacher here. I really enjoyed this video, always telling my students these EXACT things: Consistent fingerings for easier memorization, clarity which is also related to mindful practice of examining posture, hand/wrist/elbow/finger postions, and areas of tension (also helps to video oneself for these) as well as covering it with too much pedal (or volume or speed). Sharing this my students!

Thank you, as a beginner, I see the wisdom in your tips. My favorite is “ practice a song until you can’t get it wrong.