Question:
Learning to play the piano at 16?
2016-01-26 11:16:13 UTC
Many people say that it's 'best' to learn the piano at a VERY young age and that you'll learn the piano better if you learn at a young age.

My family hasn't been financially able to until now after my Dad got a very good paying job and I got a Casio CTK-3000 (88-key) piano.

Do you think Hoffman Academy (.com) is a good place to start? And how long will it take for me to sound pretty good on the piano if I (plan) play for at least an hour a day (I love music and sometimes I study the piano for an hour because music makes me happy). And could it be possible, at my age, to learn to sigh-read?
Five answers:
Choose a bloody best answer. It's not hard.
2016-01-26 13:06:17 UTC
Excellent idea, and it's clear that it will be a passion as you've held on to it for so long.



Now, what Mamianka said. We get an annoying number of questions here regarding instrumental technique from people trying to teach themselves or "learning" from online videos. The problems compound as follows:



1. The questions are always about the most fundamental matters, either of playing technique or knowledge.

2. If a fundamental problem is occurring, the entire basis of technique is shaky at best, non-existent at second-best.

3. The questions indicate that the problem or confusion has become ingrained.

4. A technique problem will have led, without the player knowing, to other incorrect techniques as the brain compensates for whatever's going wrong.



Even if you need to ask dad to match you dollar-for-dollar, pay for lessons with a decent instrumental teacher. It seems to be the way in so many things that people no longer have lessons on whatever they want to try (in my experience, it's mostly learning musical instruments and skiing!). I don't know when this ethic became normal, but the real worry is not that someone doesn't have lessons in something, but that they are able to believe they'll become any good.
Liz
2016-01-27 09:17:58 UTC
Many people are wrong. You can start to learn the piano at any age. Some people start when they are over 60. The age you start doesn't give any indication as to how good you are going to be at it. So there is no best time. The best time is individual. Your best time is going to be when you have saved up to pay for some piano lessons with a piano teacher who has a degree in music and qualifications in how to teach the piano.
Jane Austin
2016-01-28 04:22:16 UTC
YES!!! It is possible! It is certainly easier if you start young, but if you are planning on practising for an hour a day then you will certainly progress. I do not know what the Hoffman Academy is, but you will learn best if you have private 1 to 1 lessons, even if it is just for half an hour every fortnight. If you don't have 1 to 1 lessons, you wont progress as fast and important things you are doing wrong might get missed.



Yes you can learn to sight read, the same as it is not too late for you to learn to read Russian or Chinese (assuming you don't already).



Good luck!
Mamianka
2016-01-26 12:45:49 UTC
GREAT idea! But far and away, the best way is with a private teacher. The keyboard is fine - now take some lessons from someone with a DEGREE in music and a lot of teaching experience. YouTube,etc. cannot see or hear you, and personal attention works best.
?
2016-01-26 11:32:22 UTC
Absolutely YES.

Got libraries where you live?

Plenty of books on how.

Utube got videos

Bookstore can help


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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