10 Problems of Self-Taught Pianists (...With Solutions)

Piano learners who teach themselves can do incredibly well - I’ve seen many of them go through my free beginners’ piano course and watch my other piano tutorials here on KZbin. However, self-teachers tend to have particular problems that I see turn up time and again. In this tutorial I go through the ten most common problems I see self-taught pianists dealing with, and offer solutions.
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00:00 Piano Self-Teacher Problems
01:10 1: A Tendency To Race
02:42 2: Lack of Direction
04:06 3: The Tick of Doom
05:15 4: Scales & Exercises
07:09 5: Not Getting Feedback
09:03 6: Inefficient Practice
10:17 7: Unknown Unknowns
11:47 8: Overestimating Weaknesses/Underestimating Strengths
13:09 9: Lack of Reinforcement
15:02 10: “It’s Just Pressing Buttons”
16:06 What Next, Self-Teaching Pianists?
#piano #tutorial

[@BillHilton]

👉Improve your piano skills with my great value Piano Packs and 3 Ebook Bundle deal: www.billspianopages.com/piano... www.billspianopages.com/bundle 👉Join my Patreon community - we're a very friendly bunch of piano learners! www.patreon.com/billhilton 👉My gear (in association with Sweetwater.com) Nord Piano. Latest model is the Nord Piano 5: sweetwater.sjv.io/Gm3RNn Rode NT-USB microphone: sweetwater.sjv.io/AWXR6a Sony DCZV1/B digital camera: sweetwater.sjv.io/3erm1n (Disclosure: I receive commission from Sweetwater if you click through and buy these or any other products from their website.)

[@wardm4]

For the tick of doom, I was taught something like 20 years ago: have six-sided dice on the piano. When I think I've mastered something, I test myself: put a die on 1. If you play it correctly, tick it up to 2. If you play it correctly, put it up to 3. If you play it incorrectly, put it down to 2. If you're truly committed to this, then you're going to feel pressure and nervousness when you get up to 4 and 5, because you don't want to go backward. Being able to execute the passage up to 6 under this pressure and enough times in a row is a better indication of mastery than just "it feels pretty good." If you find yourself bobbling up and down in the 3-5 range, it's probably not as solid as you think.

[@BillHilton]

Ahhhh, that's a good trick - I might borrow that, if you don't mind. Another good one is to video yourself: similar to the dice method, the slight extra pressure reveals problems in things you think you've done. Thanks very much for that!

[@karlrovey]

The other issue is if you're going back and forth between two or three numbers, you're doing more harm than good because you're messing up roughly half the time. If this happens, stop, figure out why you're messing up, slow it down, and fix it.

[@selladore4911]

epic

[@pianopearlpianopearl1928]

I’m going to try this suggestion today, thanks 😊

[@i.ehrenfest349]

Back to 1, surely, you mean? If you go back only one step there isn’t enough pressure.

[@Subparanon]

You are never too old to learn to play an instrument. I had never played a reed woodwind until I was 44 when I picked up an inexpensive clarinet, and it changed my life. I practiced 30, sometimes 40 hours a week and within a year I was better at it than I was on guitar which I had played for 20 years. The keys to success are passion, practice, and patience. The nice thing about being over 40 when you're learning something new, is that you probably realized by now that talent isn't just something you're born with. Talent is the result of practice and when you hear somebody with amazing talent, what you're really hearing is their hard work.

[@shaunreich]

Can you share how'd you feel starting a new one? Like, how do you feel about the tone, the sound, the fact that you had to suck for so long 😉 just by nature of learning something new. I think about this sorta thing often, my body has thrown a wrench into my previous plans to sing or possibly play guitar. It's hard to have things taken away from us

[@jennywren8937]

And their passion, their inner self. All my life I have enjoyed listening to all kinds of music, but there are very few who have that 'extra something'. I love the sound of clarinet, an instrument with a special language, what pleasure you must have. Congratulations on your achievement.

[@BillHilton]

Congratulations from me, too! People can and do make great progress over the age of 40 (and beyond). As you say, it's the realisation that it comes down to effort. I've found over the years that a lot of musicians don't like being described as "talented", because they feel it belittles the sheer hard work they've put in.

[@Subparanon]

@@shaunreich I couldn't even get it to make a sound at first. But that first day I was discovering vibrato and over blowing, and within a month I was making my clarinet sound like a saxophone, or a trumpet. My tone was constantly evolving and it was great hearing the progress I was making. Especially the first 6 months, your improvements are super noticeable and week by week you are constantly getting better. I remember struggling with the upper register, and then a month later I could play the upper register without the register key. Your'e always chipping away at perfection.

[@Subparanon]

@@BillHilton Very much so. Talent is the result of incredible feats of effort and will.

[@karlrovey]

Tick of doom: Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong.

[@trantrungnghia9642]

From my pov, there shouldn’t be any “until”. We should just practice forever.

[@karlrovey]

@@trantrungnghia9642 Sadly, reality forces you to make some compromises. The worst is when a passage needs more work but you notice that each repetition is worse than the last. You have to stop and revisit later as simply continuing will make it worse.

[@JackWGhug]

Actually I start by practicing so slow that I get it right every time and because the muscle memory is ingrained it's much faster then practicing fast until you get it right.

[@karlrovey]

@jack-ju1ft That is ideal. Still, I run into some things where I have to make decisions on fingering. So I try the various options a few times and want to make sure I don't choose one that won't work at performance tempo. Then the repetitions are about making sure I actually follow my chosen fingering.

[@JackWGhug]

@@karlrovey yes I usually do one hand and choose my fingerings before doing a section really slow

[@garyking4032]

As a keyboard player, this popped up in my feed... But as a martial arts instructor, I realised that almost all of these tips apply to my students! So thanks very much, this is a useful list for both arts 🙂

[@BillHilton]

Glad it was helpful, Gary! That's a really interesting angle, actually, and ties in with a lot of my recent thinking about these kinds of problems. I think there is a huge overlap between learning piano (or any instrument) and developing skill in any kind of sport or athletic activity. In fact, there's a huge body of research in the field of sports science which just hasn't been tapped into by musicians, even though so many of the problems and challenges are identical or near-identical. We've been pretty good at assimilating and using (and occasionally misusing...) psychological and neuroscientific research, but there's all this stuff sportspeople do, and the research into it, that could be really useful to us. I guess it comes down to the cultural gulf between the two fields. Anyhow, please do chip in with views from the martial arts world whenever you like, because I'll be very interested to hear them - even things like breathing and warm-ups and suchlike have huge cross-domain value.

[@VexylObby]

One nuance I would add to “The Tick of Doom” is that self-learners are generally more driven to learn a piece that inspires them, and they might show more vigilance and patience in getting it right. Whereas the guided learner is more at the whim of a course or objective-based approach to getting a project done. Most people have the tendency to expedite the finish, but the desire to not be rushed is an important key to avoiding the Tick of Doom.

[@BillHilton]

Excellent! Very valuable insights there, and I can't really add anything of value, so I've hearted in the hope people will seem them take them on board. Thanks very much indeed!

[@deborahschmitt3335]

Sometimes the little scaled-down pieces in a course can demolish the door that opens the same music in a more complicated form. It is possible to play a piece by Chopin? Heavenly!

[@rebanelson607]

They say It isn't easy to teach an old dog new tricks. I'm over 60 and it's even more challenging when you have an old dog trying to teach an old dog new tricks! I've been using your tutorials for over two years and they have been so helpful. You are a clever guy and an excellent teacher and I greatly appreciate having free access to such high quality instruction

[@AdrianJazzAdventures]

You have nailed the essence here. I've been recording my self-learning progress for 4 years now and I can say with confidence - EVERYTHING you say is true and I think it is just happening to everyone. When I started I assumed I would be playing "decent simple jazz" in 2 years. Well, I'm into 4th year now and I know I still need some 2 years to reduce tensions feel comfortable and not think about "theory" while playing. Kudos to everyone who starts after 40! I have utmost respect for such people because I understand what it takes. Thanks Bill for all the hard work you are doing!

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome Adrian, thanks for the kind words, and kudos indeed to everyone who starts after 40! I feel very strongly that too many older learners get disheartened early on and drop out unnecessarily - if we can reduce the number that do we get more people having more fun playing the piano, plus all the other benefits that it brings (cognitive health, mental health etc etc etc). So I plan to keep plugging away on this stuff 😂

[@limavalepy]

I’m an after 40 learner. And I decided to learn it when I saw some after 60 learner doing it. I thought, well, in 20 years I would probably play better. It’s never too late! 🙂

[@BillHilton]

@limavalepy that’s the spirit - exactly the right attitude. Good luck!

[@AdrianJazzAdventures]

@@limavalepy I chose jazz as my "mission impossible" and I'm sure now that 10 years of sustained effort is enough time to be able to play anything and any level. All is relative though. Bear in mind that all the masters also played simple things. Music is not about virtuosity and showmanship. At least for me - it is about expression of what is inside me and only me. This is how I understand those things 🙂

[@vivektulja4516]

I am almost 63 years of age and I started learning piano just two months ago. I am not self-taught; I have a teacher and I regularly take classes, but I can immediately relate to every one of your points. Thank you for making this video, it makes me aware of 10 potential pitfalls in my piano journey.

[@BillHilton]

You're very welcome - I'm glad it helped. Good luck with your learning!

[@michael.a.covington]

This is insightful and has many parallels to teaching oneself a foreign language (I'm a linguist and have studied and also experienced this). In particular, one has to avoid the "tick of doom" and continue practicing on easy material (we call it "comprehensible input") to reinforce the foundations while also pressing on to new material. And I suppose grammar study is the equivalent of scales -- can't do without it!

[@BillHilton]

Thanks Michael! I actually thought about including the parallels between piano and language learning in this tutorial, and it might appear in another one sometime soon (my wife is a linguist and my first degree was English, so we discuss language a lot in these parts…). You’re exactly right, though, because grammatical structures learned thoroughly in the same way one learns eg scales really stick with you: I can still chant German article tables that I first learned when I was 13, in 1987 or thereabouts. Der die das die den die das die des der des der dem der dem den…!

[@darksaturn21]

I started your beginner course two weeks ago, now im in ep 7, thank you for doing these free lessons, it is helping me a lot. Im from Brazil and learning english and music at the same time is such a great experience, thank you so much Bill Hilton 🙏🇧🇷.

[@BillHilton]

You're really welcome! I've had several really dedicated learners from Brazil, including one guy who started the course using a hand-drawn keyboard on a piece of paper. Glad to hear you're getting through the course: let me know how you get on, and if you run into problems!

[@darksaturn21]

​​@@BillHiltonlearning in a piece of paper is madness, but im sure he got that. and yes ill write my problems and my evolution down there, hope you see it later.

[@peterparryokeden]

Thanks Bill for the video. Good to see you in the garden! I think your 10 suggestions are very pertinant. Another problem I’ve only just identified after feedback is that I wasn’t playing in time. I now use a metronome and try to count out loud - big improvement. Also play slowly and accurately. I’ve found your videos really helpful during my piano journey. Thanks again. About to subscribe to Patreon. Regards Peter

[@Lauraraksin77]

Number 8 and 9 put me in a spell of depression for the past months. I'm finally out of it before new years and I've gotten more consistency with my playing since then. So now I run into your video and it's all of the things I needed to hear. I'm thankful for the algorithm god for making your video pop up. I'm even more determined this year to finally be back to an energized state of wanting to further my piano skills.

[@BillHilton]

Good to hear it helped, Laura - I hope the algorithm god keeps smiling on you in 2024. Needless to say, if you run into any problems or have any questions, just give me a shout!

[@AZALI00013]

Amazing video, and amazing tips! Fascinating that the non-piano specific tips seem to be nice advice when extrapolated to approaching learning most skills in life.

[@BillHilton]

Glad you found the tips useful! It's interesting how music lessons can reflect broader life skills, isn't it? Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!

[@Jinjukei]

brilliant, thank you! you are talking not mere about the piano playing, but talks about the much wider picture of learning in general.

[@igrieger]

I love the fact that I stumbled upon your channel! I have been playing guitar for decades. After getting a piano for my son, I started building chords on the piano myself and it "clicked" for me how they are actually built. After some contact with the piano, I can look at a chord name and immediately play it, even a complicated chord is fine. I was thinking of learning it even more deeply and am really glad that someone is giving us so much insight into this learning experience.

[@BillHilton]

Thank you, and I'm glad you like it! I've been doing this for more than ten years now, and I've really come to realise in the past year or so that covering the learning experience (and the learning _process_) is as important as dealing with all the technical stuff. So there's more like this to come!

[@cousinmanman6130]

This the first video I’ve seen of yours and this is completely correct. I’ve taught myself piano and I think for just random KZbin videos (goal-write music) and i have done pretty well but then I reached a wall where there was nothing else I could teach myself and there was other things I wanted to learn but I couldn’t find. It was such a rough time for me because I knew what I thought I needed to get better but there was nothing for me to learn it. Eventually I decided to get a piano teacher in the area and it’s been amazing and my creative flow is in full gear but feedback is something I need so bad I realized. I think you should definitely try piano lessons having that other person is has works wonders for me but good luck on your piano journey

[@TheNelsonmonteiro]

I just want to say THANK YOU ! I don't think people, including myself, thank people like you enough for taking of their precious time to share their knowledge with us. Thanks so much again!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome, Nelson - really glad you found it useful!

[@XORPcorp]

I was getting frustrated with my progress on piano, so I took a break and found this video - which made me realize that I'd jumped ahead much too far without properly honing the essentials. I've now settled down to working through lesson two of your course, and already feel like I have a better understanding of where my skills are really at, and what I need to focus on to get better. Thanks for helping set me straight, and for the incredibly useful course you've put up!

[@gdslick]

A really excellent video. As a lifetime learner of a number of musical instruments (and many other things) this has application across all learning. It's also really well edited and presented.

[@spartan456]

I've been self-teaching since late 2020, with about a year of in-person lessons from a teacher sprinkled throughout. There are many great points in this video, but I'd also like to share some of my own experiences and what really helped me. The biggest piece of advice I can offer to any beginner is to _be consistent._ There's a reason piano teachers often tell you to practice 15 or 30 minutes every single day. It's easy to maybe think "oh, well if I just practice for 2.5 hours once a week that's just as good." No, no it isn't. Long practice is fine! You should do long practice if you believe it will help you! But you also need to have consistent reinforcement, every single day, of things you've learned. There would be times where I'd be trying to pick up something new one day, probably before even going to bed, and after 30 or so minutes I just can't wrap my head around it, can't get my hands or fingers to listen to me. No matter what I do I just can't seem to get it down. I could sit there for another hour until I get it, but that doesn't mean I've even learned it. So after that half hour, I just say screw it, and go to sleep. The very next morning, I go to practice that, and suddenly it is much easier. It's still not perfect, but I can _hear and tell and feel_ that it is beginning to make sense. Consistency is super important. It's not so much about how _long_ you practice, but how often you reinforce that. Some days when I have nothing going on, I may practice something for half an hour, go do something else for several more hours, then go back to the piano and try it again. The point is, you need to be consistently learning, and this doesn't necessarily mean playing stuff you can _already_ play. It just means focusing on the things you know you struggle with. Additionally, in terms of scales and exercises, I ended up developing many of my own inventions and exercises. I mostly did this by taking things I could already play, and coming up with new ways to play them. A very common thing I like to do is try combining left hand chords or arpeggios from one piece, and figuring out how to combine it with a right hand melody for something entirely different. This takes awhile, and often requires me to figure out (by ear) how to transpose the different parts into different keys so they work together harmonically. But this specific approach to traditional exercises trains _many different aspects all at once._ You should still absolutely play scales, go through the traditional exercises too. But don't be afraid to get creative and noodle around. The exercises I developed is what actually helped me develop my ear, I also developed a very good sense of rhythm (as I often had to mish mash things of different rhythms together), and I learned of intervals long before I even knew what they were. I started to notice loads of patterns, the relationships between notes, etc and realized I can use that to figure out how to play things by ear. By the time I started taking lessons, there was a surprising amount of beginner stuff I already knew. And what's crazy is, this even translated to learning sheet music. I was sitting there painfully trying to read things note for note, and then I said to my teacher "wait a minute, it's not really about the notes, it's more about the gaps between them, right? that's how people get really fast at reading music, isn't it?" and she said "yeah actually, you can just see the gaps and know how far apart they are." Another very important thing is to break the stuff you learn down into chunks. Before I even knew what phrases were, I was already doing this instinctively. When learning something new, whether by ear or by following sheet music, I would always chunk it by phrases. By doing this, you can break away from the habit of playing from the top when you hit a mistake. I would learn a phrase, then learn the next phrase, and then play just a bit of the end of the first phrase to get used to transitioning into the next one. Instead of hitting a spot that might be hard and force me to restart, I would just instinctively restart on where that error occurred. Surprise surprise, this was almost always in the transitions between phrases. This was also something my piano teacher was surprised I had no trouble with. When I would hit an error, when I'd anticipate I was just about to hit the wrong note, I'd stop and hit the right note. If the timing was off, I'd start over that one singular bar and repeat it until the timing was right, etc.

[@BillHilton]

This is brilliant - thank you very much indeed for taking the time to share it. I can go on about this kind of thing as long I like, but when people hear it from fellow learners I think it really hits home. Much appreciated!

[@cyrusthe0ther795]

Talent is already knowing the most optimal ways to learn

[@spartan456]

@@cyrusthe0ther795 I'm not so sure about that, I by no means would say I am more or less talented than anyone else. It's just practice. LOTS of practice, even if it's ineffective, is still better than NO practice or not enough effective practice. Some may argue otherwise, but I disagree. The first time I started self-teaching, I got a cheap 4 octave MIDI keyboard. The goal with this was to see if I could even get my hands and fingers to listen to me. By day 2, I was able to play broken chords, play quarter note chords in the left hand and half note chords in the other, and I even developed a simple progression to go along with it. Technique was awful, I just kept my fingers locked in one position on both hands, and moved the hands around to the spots the needed to be in for those chords. The point is, I was able to reach this after many many hours of literally doing nothing but playing, finding things to play, and following some exercises here and there. Ineffective practice? Yes. But I think this gave me a much better start with the piano than if I started with formal lessons from the get-go. Another thing I want to mention is the...I guess insincerity of popular piano videos on KZbin? People see things like this, especially "progress" videos, or see things like "I learned this in 3 days", and they think they may be able to do it too, and don't at all get a real picture of the sheer time investment. The hard reality is, that person who said they learned something in 3 days? They're technically telling you the truth, but what they didn't show you were the dozens of hours of slowly learning and memorizing it, in addition to the 67 recordings they made where they kept screwing up. I know that _this_ is the behind-the-scenes nobody bothers to show you, because that's the behind-the-scenes for me. They showed you the one take where it was good. If you told that person to play that same exact selection of music right now, I guarantee you they'd screw up and start over. That means they haven't learned it, they still have _much_ more to go with familiarizing themselves with that music. It's really just about how much time you're willing to invest into it. I built up lots of familiarity with the piano long before I even took lessons. And the only reason I wanted lessons in the first place is because I realized the only way I'd know for sure I've been doing stuff right is to see what a teacher says about it.

[@cyrusthe0ther795]

@@spartan456 I was just commenting on how you found methods on your own that were effective. Justin Sung a youtuber who teaches proper study techniques, talked about talent just being people innately following effective learning habits. If you can learn them though then there is no difference between you and someone with talent. To me complementing on talent isn't a compliment and if anything is should be used to bring someone down by discrediting their work. What do you mean by making your fingers listen to you?

[@spartan456]

@@cyrusthe0ther795 Oh, that's actually really fascinating! I never really thought of talent like that before, that makes a lot of sense though. By "making my fingers listen to me", what I mean is the struggling nature of first trying to play the piano. More often than not, this is the hardest part for beginners. They'll know the next note they have to play is a C, they'll know the 2nd finger in their right hand is on the C, but when they have to play that C they'll maybe play a B on their first finger, or a D on their 3rd finger, etc. Hell, maybe their brain will throw them a real curveball and tell them "move your whole hand, we're going to a new key." It gets even more confusing when you incorporate your other hand. You got 2 wrists and 10 fingers to keep track of, (and feet, too, when you start using pedal) and you gotta do all of this in a certain amount of time. For a lot of people, it's a kind of overload I guess. A really common thing you'll see on many piano videos is "how TF do I play this with both hands?" This is something that just naturally gets easier as you mechanically familiarize yourself with the geography of the piano, and this is one of the many reasons traditional scale exercises are so fundamental. Half the time you spend learning some new music, it's gonna be memorizing the fingerings and locking that in. Scale and key exercises sort of act like a training bicycle. If you learn Bb Melodic Minor and can run through it with your eyes closed, then next time you see music in Bb, well, you'll kind of already know how to work with those notes. It won't take nearly as much time to work out fingerings, because you've already been there.

[@Hyper5nic]

Very interesting video and there are certainly a lot of gold nuggets if you watch this through the end. Personally I found the better way to get past 'the tick of doom' is to practice differently. So as an example: You know a lick or riff, now play it backwards, play it in groups of 3 or more notes, play it slower, play it to another meter, transpose it, and so on. This is method is better than, practice it another 30 times, and you internalize the lick or riff much better, plus it's more challenging and fun!

[@BillHilton]

Thank you! Heart for this comment so plenty of other people can read it - that’s a very good tip. Thanks for sharing!

[@alexmoscatelli149]

Incredible tips!! This is quite the goldmine ahah! Thank you so much!

[@janspeyer5887]

All so true Bill. As a selfteaching pianoplayer I recognize everything you say so I wrote down all 10 problems and printed them as a reminder. Many thanks!

[@bethanylowe8773]

Great advice, even for advanced players who are inevitably self-teaching much of the time! We still have unknown unknowns.

[@sergioandresverdugomontene6150]

Thanks very much for your video and advices. What you are sharing with us pretty much applies for every endeavor we start ❤

[@BillHilton]

Yes indeed, Sergio, and you're welcome!

[@OpenWoodShop]

As a decent guitar player who started playing piano 14 years ago at age 55, I am pretty much familiar with your suggestions. Another thing that has cost me a lot of time on the piano however is that when I started, knowing a lot of music, I decided I would play only what I wanted to play. I started with Maple Leaf Rag and taught myself to read the sheet music. I got the notes under my fingers in a couple of months but I had problems getting a good sound. But I persevered. And persevered. And persevered. What I should have done was to also study other things. When I finally started doing that the Maple Leaf Rag actually got better. Eventually I finally got books to learn scales. When I don't feel like attacking the fine points of music, I can always plug myself into scales. And finally, metronome, metronome, metronome. Wish I would have started all those things sooner!

[@errorsofmodernism7331]

You are never too old to fail, and learning to play piano is a great way to remind you

[@BillHilton]

🤣

[@diannasmith1313]

Thanks for the encouragement!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome, Dianna!

[@ketabill1]

Thank you, Bill! Lots of wisdom in here.

[@nickyhr]

Hi Bill. I finally managed to hook things up to be able to play my piano and have started playing it. Just yesterday I started going through your beginner's course and I must say, it is fantastic. However, as a someone who is self taught, my biggest fear is that I might make mistakes, be they in how I play, or I how I look at things related to playing and not even know I am wrong. I genuinely cannot put into words how invaluable this video has been, as basically every point hit home for me. Your course is amazing, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have stumbled on this video before I got too far into it. Thank you very much, the way you explain things motivates me to continue learning. Also, not only have you earned yourself a new subscriber, but also a new patron. I look forward to getting to know more from your content ❤

[@DanielBarberMusic]

Really good points, especially the ones that aren't often focused on by many teachers. The "how adults learn" aspect of all this is huuge, and your recommendations are spot on. Very well done video!

[@BillHilton]

Thanks very much indeed for the kind words, Daniel - they're very much appreciated, and I'm glad you liked the approach!

[@denisbassom172]

I am currently running through the beginner course. After over 35 years of messing around with synthesizers I finally decided to learn how to play properly. It is excellent. Your advice is spot on.

[@mercedessarabia8501]

As a 63 year old trying to learn to play the piano, I've found your advice extremely helpful. I can relate to everyone of the points you've mentioned and those points are probably the reason why I didn't succeed in my two previous attempts. I'll try your free course for a start... Thank you very much for your videos

[@BillHilton]

You’re very welcome - good luck and let me know how you get on!

[@slaviksapegov2841]

Im a beginner that uses your piano course, thank you very much for that! My mom got used to play piano and it might be I took something from that in my childhood. Right now, at the same time with your lesson course, I am learning 'my heart will go on' using a simple 'push-to-play' visual guide that are a lot on KZbin and when I play I actually listen to the sound and notice things that sound 'not right' (mainly because of my piano is pretty old and might not be in the best condition since it was never maintained).

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome! Let me know how you get on with the course, and if there's anything I can help with. Yes, listening is absolutely key: listen closely and you'll progress quicker!

[@AndrewDeneHelbig]

Great video! Appreciate the new style of video Bill! Been watching your stuff almost since the beginning of my piano playing like 8 years ago. I loved all of the points you made, especially the last problem of not listening while your playing, which you added your piano playing to, hammering home the point even better.

[@BillHilton]

Thanks Andrew, and I’m glad you like this approach! I’m going to continue with the “traditional” camera over the keyboard videos, but intersperse them with a few like this. I’m also going to experiment with breaking up the camera overhead vids with occasional face to camera and walk/talk sections, as I feel it’s a slightly more engaging way of getting information across that just waving my hands over the keyboard. I’ll be interested to know what you think!

[@scottstevens5481]

Wonderful video! Very encouraging Sir! Such insight and truth packed into this short video! Thanks very much!

[@BillHilton]

Glad it was helpful - thank you!

[@11kwright]

You have given some real solid advice and provided some helpful and directional content. Unlike many other piano channels that feed you a lot of unstructured information keeping your progress un-evolving and inefficient. Thank you.

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome - I'm glad it helped!

[@crispindry]

This is really great advice, you've obviously spent a good amount of time researching the topic learning in general and we appreciate it. I hadn't played for 25 years until early last year and watching videos and taking advice from you and people like you has accelerated my abilities hugely. Thank you.

[@BillHilton]

You’re really welcome! A lot of the research came from working on my last book (where I did the typical thing and got so interested in the research the whole project took about nine times as long as it should have…). Anyway, there are loads of really interesting, underexploited nuggets of knowledge out there - eg tie ups between musicianship and sports science. Anyway, glad it helped!

[@williamtolliver749]

Ive done a lot of learning about learning. And this might be the single greatest quick resource for an overview of common pitfalls Ive ever come across. This stuff applies across the board, and thats exactly the sort of body of knowledge I'm looking to identify and compile right now. This is damn near 10 commandments level.. Bravo!

[@raymitchell9736]

This is valuable regardless of the domain you're learning, it's Learning how to learn! So often it is the foundation that is lacking and thank you for that "reinforcement" because there's a difference between what is basic and what is foundational... I just discovered you on KZbin and subscribed. I will be checking out your course. I took piano lessons when I was a child and I still play today as a hobby. I want to sharpen up my skills again, so I look forward to seeing your course.

[@danieltereshchenko6214]

Big thanks! Very practical advises!

[@GuiltySouls]

This was great thank you. I’ve been teaching myself piano and felt in a rut lately, all of your points were on the mark.

[@BillHilton]

Thank you - I'm glad it was helpful!

[@41lashes17]

THANK YOU! This video is gold because most of it's applicable to problems self teaching guitar and singing as well. Loved the BBC documentary vibes with the camera garden walk and talk🤣 ❤

[@patrickpowell5430]

Yes, it helped a lot. Thank you.

[@stephenquirke9466]

Excellent.. very helpful and insightful..you know us well.

[@atokwaminahasford]

I love you Bill!!! This is brilliant, advice! Greetings from Ghana!

[@shirleycrew1056]

Great list! I’ve been playing for about 5 months and have learned many pop and rock songs. I definitely feel a lack of knowledge with keys and scales that I will continue to hammer in as I play more. Loved your beginner course as well!

[@BillHilton]

Thanks Shirley - good to hear! Yes indeed, work on the scales in particular: if you do them over a sustained period of time they make a massive difference to your piano playing. Let me know how you get on!

[@shirleycrew1056]

@@BillHiltonI will in a few months, thanks for the reply Bill. You’re a wonderful piano player and teacher. I’ll be sure to learn how to read bass clef in the coming months as well ha

[@joshtube0]

very helpful. thanks Bill

[@MonsieurBeaucaire]

Thank you, Bill, it rang every bell. I am a teacher myself and the more I teach, the more I wish my piano teachers from the past had taught me about good practice technique. I now find that more and more of the lessons I give are about the exact things you talk about. And I try to make sure that when I am practising myself, I don't fall back into the (bad) habits of the past. I am going to share your video with my teenage and adult students - thank you so much for your clear exposition and your intelligent solutions.

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome! I've had one or two teachers comment on this video and say bells were rung - I guess it shows how universal the problems are!

[@JOSHOCEANS]

Bill, you are the best. Thank you for everything you do! I look forward to finishing the course and continuing my learning with you after!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome Josh - good luck with finishing the course and give me a shout if there's anything I can do to help!

[@carolinesposto2946]

This is REALLY good! Thank you!

[@debbie-annfarrier752]

So many of these mistakes resonated! I am self teaching and I have gone 3 weeks now. Reinforcement is my issue and many times I simply focus on getting the note correct that I ignore the tempo. My son, Alex, has gone off to university and I have always wanted to learn and play the piano and it's great company. You are an excellent teacher. Thank you.

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome, Debbie-Ann, and thanks for the kind words! Let me know how you get on, and also if you have any questions. It sometimes takes me a little while to reply (I get a lot of comments...) but I always do!

[@Tubespuge]

Taking a video of oneself practicing was a great idea! Immediately spotted a postural error that is most likely behind the ache that I keep getting in my right arm after practicing a little while. Thank you!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome! Yes, it's a really simple thing to do but it can make an amazing difference!

[@PearlCheries]

I just started using the course and I'm so thankful and I love your content!! And I'm super excited to continue learning!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome! Let me know how you get on!

[@jumhig]

I've been playing piano (badly) for around 40 years and this is the first time I've heard of the "push past" / tick of doom thing, which makes perfect sense to me. Thanks, great video.

[@BillHilton]

You're very welcome! I coined the expressions myself, but the idea - especially push-past - is an old, old one that I first learned (from a guitar teacher, actually) when I was about 14.

[@housefan345]

You just popped up on my homepage, ive been thinking about getting back to learning the piano. Ive tried an online course that skipped a lot of the basics i feel like i want to learn. Your course seems very interesting and i cant wait to start with it! Thanks for offering this!!

[@BillHilton]

You're really welcome! Good luck with the course, let me know how you get on, and give me a shout if you ever have any problems with it!

[@liquididentity101]

A year and a half ago I used your beginner tutorials to get into the basics. I still play one of the basic pieces. However I realized I was getting bored with the path. I took time to learn some basic music theory which helped immensely. I also began allotting time to improvisation: thoughful play where I chose a key and played whatever chords/melodies while focusing on what I was doing, and then creative play where I just played what sounded nice without worrying about what or why I was doing things. Combined with more practical lessons, I found myself becoming more attuned to the instrument and enjoying the sounds and pattern I was discovering. Thank you for helping me learn enough to enjoy the piano. Now is a good time to revisit your videos and fill in some gaps in my current knowledge and technique.

[@BillHilton]

I'm glad to hear my stuff has helped! It's interesting that the way you found of making progress involved working with several different strands and also building in creativity and theory. Increasingly I think the key for self-teachers is building in variety and exploration to help stay engaged. I hope you continue to do well, and please don't hesitate to give me a shout if you ever run into any problems or have any questions.

[@MsAimeeLN]

I’m so glad I found this. I’m on lesson 2 of the beginners course and this advice will be helpful.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci for your words of advice.

[@danjohansen7114]

Bill... you are pressing some of my buttons here. Even though I started learning the piano when I was 8, I have picked up some bad habits. The lack of Path you mention, is spot on. I have so many songs I'd like to learn, but so little time. I also have been "depressing" myself about the learning curve as I get older. But again you nailed it, because the maturity and self discipline that I have now, is nothing compared to when I was a kid. So you just made my day Bill! Thanks! Much love from Denmark :-)

[@BillHilton]

Thanks Dan - glad to hear it helped! One way of dealing with the depressing nature of the learning curve is to always have something you feel you're making progress with. So, for example, I always try to be working on something that is near the top of its curve (i.e., beginning to plateau = depressing); something in the middle that is making good progress (=motivating); and something at the bottom to bump up to the middle when the time comes. I realise those are micro learning curves rather than the whole macro thing, but I've always found that having *some* sort of sense of progress keeps me going, if you see where I'm coming from?

[@Alexthedog777]

Thank you for this video!

[@jonimaricruz1692]

Thank you, thank you! I’m 76 and have decided to be serious about actually learning how to play. It’s more difficult than I’d anticipated it being and I often forget what I had just done well yesterday. Your tips and words of encouragement couldn’t have come at a better time! Thanks again!

[@BillHilton]

You’re really welcome, Joni - let me know how you get on, and give me a shout if you have any questions. It sometimes takes a while for me to reply but I try to get around to everyone…!

[@jonimaricruz1692]

@@BillHilton Thank you, I may do that! Have a very fine day!✌️

[@sueharness5858]

Thank you for the information in this video. Playing for

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome, Sue - I’m glad to have helped! Over the past year or two I’ve started to get very interested in how older learners make progress, so give me a shout if you have any questions/need any help. (Not that 68 is very old - I regularly hear from learners in their eighties and nineties…!)

[@VinePest]

Excellent point about the tick of doom! I had a drum teacher who told me that the brain commits things to long-term and muscle memory by doing things correctly repeatedly - lots of times, over a long time period. Therefore, that one iteration of playing something perfectly really should be the beginning of the final step towards mastery (and might be somewhat of an accident).

[@jameslitzinger6932]

Not learning piano, here; just picking up the guitar after decades of not playing, and your insights have given me some valuable lessons on moving forward when I thought I hit a wall. Thank you!

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome! I guess a lot of this stuff is applicable across domains…!

[@maryfrey]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@andreasmaier5361]

Tendancy to race ...... my biggest sin! 🙂Great video you did!

[@BillHilton]

Thanks Andreas - glad you liked it!

[@robrich6246]

Most important message about learning piano I've seen. Having been taught properly and now recapping in later life all these issues ring true. Feel like I have a teacher again. Thank you. I'm not convinced you can learn piano alone or online at all. There are a lot of used digital pianos for sale in barely played condition. It's tough.

[@BillHilton]

Thanks Rob! I think it is possible to succeed as a self-teacher - I’ve seen people do it - but it’s not easy, and I’d guess that the majority who set out don’t make it. That people’s definitions of “learn piano” vary: some just want to play enough to be able to handle a few of their favourite songs, while others want to learn to a professional level.

[@alanperkins909]

I am a beginner (a week) and this is great information for me to keep in mind. Thank you!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome, Alan! Good luck, let me know how you get on, and feel free to ask any questions...!

[@jackielinde7568]

Regarding number 3, I've heard the difference between amateur and professional musicians is that amateurs will practice until they get a piece correct, while professionals will practice until they can't get a piece wrong.

[@BillHilton]

Yes indeed, Jack - that's a fairly common expression! You need to be a bit careful, though, because it can lead you down a rabbit hole of perfectionism that leads to diminishing returns, and spending time trying to achieve the final 0.1% of perfection on one piece which you could be using to achieve the 80% of "good" on another. (Also in my experience pros have definitions of "wrong" that vary by context: for a concert violinist in the recording studio, there can be no "wrong" at all; for a piano player in a jazz club a lot of "wrong" won't even get noticed by the audience, so the goal is to practice so you can reliably produce something musical and listenable, but not necessarily technically perfect).

[@ChrisZemdegs]

Thanks very much! Good tips. Adult learner here working through Alfred's with a teacher but glad to have come across this video and will definitely check out your other content. Cheers

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome, Chris - give me a shout if you have any questions or want pointing to specific tutorials for specific problems!

[@uzer_zero]

Great list! This covers a bunch of the issues that have contributed to my 'fits-and-starts' (lack of) progress on all the instruments I play... almost none of them well. Biggest one for me is the pathway. Never found solid mentorship early on and that led to a seat-of-the-pants approach to learning pretty much everything I've done, i.e., kind of wandering from one aspect and/or piece to another, not really knowing what to do first, next, etc. A good course is pretty much the only solution (for me).

[@BillHilton]

Glad it was helpful! Yes, I think the pathway thing is one of the major practical challenges. Anyone learning anything needs some kind of map or route or it just ends up being horribly inefficient and demoralising. Finding the *right* pathway is the secret of success, and that takes some trial and error, as I don’t think there’s one course or method that suits every learner. You have to look around, pick something, then stick to it. Stay determined!

[@daryl0063]

This is wonderful advice. I know multiple instruments and each instrument I still have a different song for each to warm up. 30 minutes and if I get it wrong well it's time to see what's going on lol. It's cool how you can just choose any note and make a scale then chords from that scale. Music feels free emotionally but the time is never free.

[@musicalsam1]

This is brilliant! Thanks for articulating my thoughts all proper.

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome Sam!

[@waffles_dd]

Thank you for helping me straighten my goals for learning the piano. Have a wonderful day sir.

[@sawssman965]

Definitely something I needed to hear. Thank you!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome!

[@jorgebarroso2496]

The "its just pressing buttons" mentality really resonates with me as I started like that and only in recent years have I started to really listen and improvising stuff. Great video

[@BillHilton]

Thank you, Jorge! Yes, it's a pretty major problem, and continues to be for almost all piano players - because the thing makes the sound for us it's easy to stop paying attention to the actually sounds...!

[@Practicalmusicministryskil4906]

This is great- thank you! I just started sharing videos on my KZbin channel in the hope of making music literacy accessible to all. Learning to read music opens up a whole new world for musicians.

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome - and good luck with the channel. It's tougher to get started on KZbin than it used to be, but it's worth sticking with: your content looks good!

[@danielmeb84]

The ‘hitting buttons’ thing kinda hit home, I’ve been using synthesia videos these last few months to play pieces I like, as I kinda just played casually. I’m gonna take it more serious and I’ll check out your guide. Great video 👍

[@rocktrang9771]

You are awesome Bill, thank you so much 👌

[@leeellis3847]

Great video, can really relate with a lot of it. Self taught but got Bach as my teacher (through books)

[@GarrettMartin-Stupd]

This is all very good advice. Easy to understand and applies to more than just piano!

[@arthouston7361]

Yes, it definitely rang bells for me, some of which I came up with on my own, especially if you read my comment about avoiding quitting, and that sort of parallels what you said about grit. You just have to be willing to sit down at the instrument at least once every day and do something with it. You can’t let a day go by where you don’t touch it. When I started a few years ago, I downloaded a transcription of Joni Mitchell’s “River,” which was way, way, way out of my league at the time….but I loved the piece and I thought if I could just play part of it, it would give me a real boost…. so note by note, I decoded what the transcription said on the first page, and taught myself my very first left hand arpeggio, and having learned a little bit of theory, realized that I was just playing sixths with the right hand, and ever since I got to the point where I could play all the way through, I have used it as my warm-up piece……every single day. So, even when I have a day where the last thing that I want to do is sit down and play, I make myself sit down and play that 90 seconds of Joni Mitchell…and this way, my brain realizes that there is no way out of this……except becoming a good player.

[@yumazster]

I got this randomly recommended and boy am I happy for it. Needed the advice.

[@BillHilton]

Glad you liked it!

[@azulprusia]

Just found out about your channel with this video (YT suggestion). I love how you explain every scenario, and I'm definitely going to check out your videos!

[@BillHilton]

Thank you very much! Let me know how you get on with the tutorials, and give me a shout if you have any questions! I have a bit of a backlog of comments to deal with at the moment (a lot have been coming in, especially from this video) but I try to reply to them all eventually...!

[@user-hp2sr2ug3e]

Great video. The Tick of death: Remembering something and internalizing it are too different things. Stopping after a mistake and starting over again: Wait till you train yourself and do that live, in front of people. You also have to learn how to roll through mistakes and keep going.

[@timo3828]

A little tip for anyone searching for a good pathway after finishing the Beginner's course: There are several certified piano courses that have downloadable pdfs for their syllabus. In this way, you can progress through certain 'levels' of skill, by learning pieces, etudes, rhythm exercises, musical hearing exercises, etc. These levels of course prepare you for some form of official examination, but nothing is stopping you for using these syllabuses(syllabi?) as clear milestones for your own progression. I went with the Canadian standard (RCM), but there are several others (ABRSM, Henle).

[@user-fp4os5tl6s]

Thanks Bill. I'm 72 and have been working at your For Beginners course for a year now. Before I started your course my music education stopped in primary school, but I'm happy now to be able to read music and pick out some simple tunes. Keep up the good work!

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome, and thanks for the kind words! I'm glad to hear the course is working, and I hope you continue to make progress. 72 is on the young side compared to some of the learners I've seen make progress, so you should have lots of room for development yet. Good luck, and get in touch if I can help in any way!

[@user-fp4os5tl6s]

Bill, I take hope from a story about Pablo Casals who when asked why he continued to practice his cello at the age of 90 said because I'm noticing some improvement. Would love to chat longer but I must get back to the piano. Cheers to you Bill!

[@dougswindowonnature9438]

Thanks for all this information! I have gone through all the shortcuts you mentioned and am stuck. Now Imknow how to proceed.

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome, Doug - let me know how you get on!

[@WoodyGamesUK]

The "tick of doom" issue also involves keeping playing what you think you have mastered, for a few days. Or at least check that you can play it as comfortably the next day, and the day after. It always takes time (and sleep) to process something and get it in your long term memory where it feels that you can play it without thinking (feels like "muscle memory").

[@BillHilton]

Absolutely! I'm glad you mentioned sleep, as many people forget or don't realise what an essential part of the learning process it is.

[@jeroenneve5807]

All good points, and it also applies to saxophone. (my instrument of choice.) One comment on brain elacity: adult are usually more results driven, and averse to experimentation. Allow yourself some leeway in your schedule to play freely, to make mistakes, to goof up, but enjoy the process. Then return to your scales. Your brain learns better when you're relaxed and 'safe', than when you're feeling frustrated, and your muscles are tense. I've experienced this over and over again.

[@BillHilton]

Excellent points, Jeroen - thanks very much for adding them!

[@patriciaann6380]

Hello Bill and thank you for this video , every point you made my head was nodding , " yep that's me " ..... maybe now you've highlighted it I will be more aware and thoughtful in my daily practice routine, again thank you . 🤔😊

[@BillHilton]

You're welcome Patricia!

[@yoz2k25]

lol I’m mostly self taught but I did go for a career as a keyboardist and educator. This validated a lot of the findings I had in my journey. Thanks for sharing!

[@BennettYancey]

I’m a self taught piano player of about 20 years and your points are so accurate! While I’ve been blessed with opportunities to play, in hindsight I think I would have been EVEN BETTER had I been taught by someone in my earlier years. It’s harder now for me to embrace being taught because I’ve made a lot of progress on my own (outside of me watching more videos since March 2021). Thanks for this video!

[@Omfgwhtavid]

You have to keep humbling yourself to keep learning, I’m a Piano teacher to 60+ students every week and I still have lessons. I like to feel like an idiot and continue improving.

[@Beenyad]

I'm a self taught guitar player of almost 20 years but ive always been more captivated by piano music and get the best advice from piano players like in this video. I think I will join you goobers very soon.

[@BillHilton]

You'll be very welcome - feel free to hit me up with any questions/problems you run into 👍

[@bobbydolan]

Great video. My daughter bought me your book for Christmas years ago and I never got beyond the opening page. Most of what you say here is about me. I have some decisions to make about how seriously I am going to be about finally learning the piano in a thoughtful way. Thanks for opening my 80 year old eyes. Regards and thanks for your great work.

[@BillHilton]

You're very welcome, Bobby, and thank your daughter for buying my book! By all means give me a shout with any questions you happen to have if you decide to press ahead: I'm increasingly taking an interest in older learners and trying to build up some kind of body of knowledge about the most effective ways of helping them. So hearing about people's experiences is always useful!

[@bobbydolan]

@@BillHilton thanks, Bill.

[@pauljohnson6233]

Great advice. Thank you.

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome, Paul!

[@antoinebunel]

I'm a lifelong self learner. I use pyramidal microlearning. Switch angles, often, so practise various skills, rotate, also blend in pleasure parts. EG sometimes technical and straight, sometimes let loose even with mistakes, builds a different kind of flexibility especially with genres that allow it like blues. Switch, rotate, vary, repeat, enjoy, sweat, curse, rejoice, cherish.

[@BillHilton]

Interesting - both to hear your approach and to hear from someone who thinks so carefully about the learning process (…often the hallmark of successful learners…). I’m very interested in micro learning in general, but could you maybe expand on the “pyramidal” aspect of that? Is it to do with prioritisation?

[@antoinebunel]

@@BillHilton what I mean by pyramidal is circling large circles through various aspects but rotating fast enough so as not to get stuck. With enough momentum one would rise through levels and need run shorter circles as in a cone rather than a pyramid if you wish. It does need speed and efficacy. I do think about it deeply as I play piano for producing my own music which requires multiple instruments for composition plus mixing so I'm circling several cones at once. Tough but fantastic.

[@BillHilton]

@@antoinebunel that’s tremendously useful - thanks. I’m going to dig into that more deeply!

[@veronicaspaulding209]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I've just started trying to learn how to play piano, and these definitely resonate. I have been trying to find KZbin videos to watch to learn how to learn basically lol, because it feels like I am doing the button mentality just memorizing notes to a song but I dont feel productive in my learning. Ive been trying to figure out how to find the "path" to learn well, I'm glad this video popped up on my feed because all I usually see are videos that basically suggest the button pushing mentality. Im definitely going to check out your course. Many thanks for putting up a course for free!!

[@kathyyeager6055]

Really good points. Thank you!

[@BillHilton]

You’re welcome, Kathy!