I really want to learn how to play the piano (western classical), but in my part of the world I can’t find anyone who plays the music I’m interested in. I have two books, but they’re somewhat more advanced. Can anyone help me in this? I want someone to list the guidelines for learning piano in each of the following aspects: Learning to read and sight-read, how to practice rhythm, and a suggestion of a few pieces that I should learn as stepping stones. Lastly, any suggestions on how to develop good relative pitch.
Well, I’ve been playing for 18 yrs & teaching for 6. I like to teach out of the "Piano Adventures" series. If you are an adult, I would chose the "For the Older Beginner". Whatever you do, don’t buy any adult books because they progress too fast and don’t teach you all the things the other ones teach you (I don’t know why they do that, but I can’t stand them). I’ve used the Older Beginner books on adults and they love them and they get better faster because they have a better foundation and the learning curve is great.
Once you learn the basics, pick up some easier Mozart/Bach pieces. Learning piano takes time and practice. It’s like learning a language or going to school/college for something. If you’re going to do it, do it right.
For learning to read music, get a theory book that I’ve used and now teach out of, "Keyboard Theory" by Grace Vandendool. Also, use musictheory.net (note trainer, ear trainer, keyboard trainer, etc…). On that site, they also have lessons that are really good and short. I refer all my students there for extra practice.
Sight reading: get a hymnal or some big inexpensive book and read a piece everyday. Don’t practice it, just read through it. The more stuff you read through, the better. When I started playing for a church, I got really good at sight-reading because they kept throwing new pieces at me all the time. When you sight-read, look at the piece from beginning to end, start slowly and when you make mistakes, don’t fix them, keep going and don’t lose the beat.
Rhythm – learn how to count (I know this sounds stupid, but it’s hard to do in music) and "subdivide". This is also covered in the "Keyboard Theory" book I told you about.
Relative Pitch: Use the ear trainers: Interval ear trainer, scale ear trainer, chord ear trainer. With regular use, you should be good to go in about 3-6 months (depending on your rate of progress).
Let me know how it goes or if you have any other questions!
Make sure you don’t skip any steps and learn it the right way the first time!