Many people mistakenly believe that it’s impossible to become a great piano player without spending years upon years in expensive piano lessons- but this is not necessarily true! With just a little bit of knowledge regarding the notes, keys, chords- and plenty of practice, it is possible to teach yourself to play.

Basic Piano Knowledge

Below, you will find the steps for learning some very basic piano knowledge:

Learn Basic Knowledge

First of all, you must have some basic knowledge about pianos. When you look at a piano, you’ll find that there are 88 keys on it.

The white ones are naturals because, when pressed, they make a natural note. The black keys are referred to as accidentals because, when pressed, they make a flat or sharp note.

You will find 7 naturals on the piano: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. This is referred to as an octave- and you will find that there are five accidentals per octave, which can be sharp or flat.

You also must take the time to learn the names of the left-hand staff (bass clef) and the right-hand staff (treble clef).

Get Some Instructional Books

Since you’re teaching yourself and don’t have a teacher, you must visit a music store and get some instructional books to guide you.

You are going to find that there are lots of music books available- both in stores that specialize in music and in book stores that will guide you through the process of learning to read music, learning to play the basic scales, progressing through chords, and finally learning simple songs.

Another valuable resource for learning to play the piano is multi-media tools such as DVDs or YouTube videos. These resources will really be beneficial to you if you are a visual learner because you are able to see the music being played properly.

Study the Notes

You are going to need to take the time to learn where notes are located on the piano, what they should sound like, and how they are written on the staff. You can do this by making flash cards to identify them.

If you wish, you can get stickers that you can put on your piano that will help you learn placement of notes. In addition, you can find books that are made to help beginners learn to read notes.

Take the time to become familiar with chords. You should start with the major chords and then follow with minors.

Learn Proper Finger Placement

You can also use the instruction books to learn how to play notes with the correct fingers- this is just as important as learning the location of the notes. If you’re not practicing using the right method, then you’re going to have some difficulty with playing up and down the scales.

Practice Playing the Scales

While it may seem a bit pointless, the truth is that playing through the scales is great for helping you become familiar with the notes and their sound.

When you’re learning to read music by sight, you learn where the notes are located and what they look like. Start by playing the scales with just one hand and then play them with both hands.

Learn Easy Songs

When you’re going through your instructional books, make sure that you follow the lessons as closely as you can. These lessons will be helpful for teaching you to play some easy songs as well as making you a pro at finger placement.

Plus, when you practice the easy songs, you are able to memorize the location of the notes- which improves your ability of sight reading. You should first start with C Major.

Then, you’ll need to work your way through minor keys. This way, you can become familiar with them.

When you practice songs, you should play the melody and bass separate at first. Then, once you improve, you can begin to play them together.

Practice Makes Perfect

Of course, when you’re learning to play the piano, you’ll need to get lots of practice in. If you want to improve at sight reading, finger placement, and playing then you should use sheet music to practice with.

You should plan to practice 3-4 times each week for about 30 minutes at a time. You should never move on to the next lesson until you’ve mastered the last one.

Ideally, you should hire a music teacher to help you learn to play the piano. However, it’s not impossible to teach yourself. You just need to make sure that you have the motivation and the willingness to make it happen.