Please Stop Learning Piano This Way

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If you like the light up keys and the piano video games - keep going! I'm not here to kill your vibe, but if you REALLY want to play, there's a better way. Watch my channel and I'll show you.
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[@StephenIsSleepingIn]

This is such a place of nuance in music education. These apps and creators are popular because they are accessible and use music that students know and love. The problem in traditional music education is the idea that you need to do a year of “boring stuff” before you play music you like. This comes from the codification of literature. Technique without relevance is boring and many people that start learning that way quit. Meanwhile, students that don’t learn technique will always have an efficiency loss. Teachers can do both. They can teach good technique and adapt the curriculum to music the students are excited about.

[@paulahardin3420]

You are correct about the proper fingering, it’s EASIER to play if you use the right fingers with less effort. Thanknyou

[@BitesizePiano]

Wholeheartedly agree with you! I’ve never dared make a video talking about this, eep! 😆 Your analogy’s are always so interesting, I’d have loved to have a teacher like you when I was younger! 🎹

[@michaelsuau293]

My other pet peeve is those staffs that show the chord that's being played and has the chord symbol automatically displayed. It's nice for showing specific and singular voicings, but when they start playing melodies or licks it moves too fast and the software displays a bunch of convoluted chord symbols for every new note. "The Lick" becomes Dm7, Dm9, Dm7, Dm(add11), G7, G7(add 13), G7(add 11), G7, Cmaj7 all in 1.5 seconds

[@jimmrvos2930]

Thanks for the great advice Aimee! I’m 64 years old and just ordered my 1st piano yesterday. I play guitar and understand a good amount of music and music theory. But this will be my first foray into piano, which I’ve always longed to play. I have a real blind spot when it comes to rushing through things like learning fundamentals. Your video will be top of mind for me and hopefully I will not make the mistakes you were discussing.

[@AimeeNolte]

Check out my videos about how to play major scales. I should’ve mentioned that in the video. Congrats on the new piano!

[@jimmrvos2930]

@@AimeeNoltethanks! I’ll check out the videos. Sorry about misspelling your name. I know better. I’ll fix my comment to have the correct spelling.

[@MostlyIC]

I'm 69 (but started a lot earlier than 64), my first recommendation is to play the first 20 Hanon piano finger exercises forwards and backwards and in all twelve keys, I did this for a couple years, in parallel with playing actual music, it was the Hanon not the music that improved my playing ability !!! (for the life of me I can't understand why Hanon himself did not recommend playing in all twelve keys, without that I feel it would have been a waste of time)

[@jimmrvos2930]

@@MostlyICthanks for the recommendation. I’m not sure where this journey will take me, but I think it will be fun.

[@aBachwardsfellow]

​@@jimmrvos2930 if you do the Hanons, whatever you do -- *DO NOT LIFT YOUR FINGERS HIGH* as the instructions in the book says !! That is a mistranslation error that has been perpetuated for years -- it is *deadly* for a good relaxed piano technic !!!!!!!!

[@athomewithmusic8698]

I could not agree with you more! My channel is dedicated to "mature" piano players, those who are just starting out, and those who are coming back to the piano after years away. I refuse to use the "light-up" keys, even though I've had a few requests for them. I've dedicated an entire playlist to teaching technique and proper fingering. My goal is to teach these folks who want to play piano "how to fish", as you say, and not catch the fish for them. I appreciate what you do. (I'm a subscriber too!)

[@LeCheileMusic]

LOVE this video - I’m all for kids (of all ages) having fun with KZbin videos showing them which note to play when, but knowing how to play fluently and easily because a good teacher helped them establish a decent foundation is the difference between being able to play one or two rote pieces and a lifetime of exploring the incredible repertoire written for the piano ❤

[@hellocedr]

Being a life long self-taught musician myself, I agree with you on the importance of incorporating proper technique as part of the learning journey. That’s how I found your channel. However, too many instructors push technique too hard to a point where technical execution becomes the goal other than the enjoyment of simply “playing music”. I say technique should be learned but not at the expense of making practicing a chore.

[@johndiraimo1444]

A better approach is to learn songs that ECHO your technical skills. Learning Bach's 2-Part Inventions would be completely pointless and impossible when you are still learning what your left hand function needs to be. Aimee is completely correct. Learn the songs that are in the rhelm of your technical abilities at a given time.

[@UltraLeetJ]

would you really think that pro runners think of all practicing as pure enjoyment only? Not every musician does tis for simply liking it.. those of us who do this for a living realize and know that there will be bad days due to things in and out of our control and we accept and live with that. This is normally called work ethics/work integrity., or wholesome living if youre so inclined.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Aimee, you're gonna kill my channel!! 😂 But in all seriousness, you make great points. When Rick dared me to start a YT channel (I know you can relate :)) I thought a lot about some of the issues present with the existing "flow key" and "light-up key" tutorials. Through trial and error, and lots of great feedback from students, I settled on a combination of light-up keys, a camera on my face, hands, as well as chord symbols, real-time notation, etc... I also found that frequently discussing fingerings in real time, posture, hand position, and demonstrating bad vs. good technique in the videos has helped some of my online students immensely! No matter what, it will never match in-person instruction. But, it's great to hear you highlight some of these issues. I thought I was being crazy and obsessive while making my videos, but you've given me some validation. I really appreciate your perspective!

[@JamesBond-zd5jx]

I like what you do.

[@rogerwhitacre8247]

Aimee, I was mortified to find out that's how some people are learning to "play" piano via KZbin. I have been a piano teacher for decades and personally love videos that show me how to play certain songs, styles, etc. But because I know music theory really well, I do depend on the descriptions like you present. Just imitating the notes played doesn't help me if I don't understand the chord structures, progressions, etc. I listen to everything you say in your videos. They are a tremendous help to me and I thoroughly enjoy each one! Thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience, and opinions!

[@jayedevan567]

Been following you for a while now and your content is always what I look for...your 'One Exercise - All The Chords' helped me so much when I first started my piano journey a couple years ago...thank you for sharing your knowledge with us 👊🏾🎹🔥

[@mrbllard]

I was introduced to you via a shoutout from Rick Beato. I’m very pleased to hear your thought PROCESS. I think we often miss the importance of our individual uniqueness with respect to our own systematic process and experience. Great stuff.

[@MyPrec7ous]

This kind of plays into that trend “How to fake being a good at piano” I grew up playing by ear with minimal lessons and I struggle to learn complicated compositions because I don’t have the fundamentals. Always wished I had the opportunity for lessons

[@cactustactics]

I get not wanting to do the overhead camera thing, but I feel like that's important for this kind of video-learnin' situation, where the teacher can't watch and correct you. You have to correct yourself, and you can only really do that if the info's there. For fingering especially, you only know if you're doing it right if you can see the example, or the teacher's spelling it out for every single note (or you already understand what you're doing so it feels natural of course!) It's tricky because self-learning's really about each person's own motivation, and doing things properly requires deliberate effort. And I don't think you can make people want to train their ear, or analyse music to apply theory (even if it's as basic as "what key's this in"), or practice hard things until they become easier. But I can understand not wanting to nudge people who could develop good habits to the wrong side of that. So I guess I see the value in the hands ~and~ the display - giving as much information as possible and letting the learner use it as they will, and emphasising the importance of learning to do it correctly And colour-coding to the correct fingers would be a big improvement too! Giving people who learn better that way as much good info as possible. But that's the thing with apps - it's a hell of a lot cheaper and faster to just churn out a "this key pressed now" transcription, than using a setup that can track which finger is pressing what. Especially if they're just automatically converting transcriptions and MIDI files from the internet in bulk. There's a lot more money in providing a worse experience unfortunately, and it's the people learning that way who pay the price in the long run

[@CrankyOldNerd]

Yep. I do wish there was a point, say like at a year of learning the basics, where you could branch out into what made you want to play in the first place. When I learned in the 80s, information was a lot more limited. The running method in my area to learn piano was The Suzuki Method. By book 4 I was so sick of classical music, I wanted to play Billy Joel, or Axel F, or any number of things that were not another 400 year old song. Was met with resistance from my teachers, told how hard that was, and in the end quit playing. Here I am in my early 50s now starting again, and while things like Melodics or the light up key ones are a great way to play a song, it's not a great way to learn a song, or get better at playing the piano, or being able to seamlessly walk through a series of chords.

[@unclemick-synths]

That's one of the problems with the traditional approach - in some respects it doesn't teach you how to play piano unless that is defined as only playing from sheet music. Ear training is limited to recognition, not learning to play by ear. Only my saxophone teacher included practice of playing by ear, never any of my piano teachers and some of them I know couldn't even play Mary Had A Little Lamb without the dots.

[@UrbanGarden-rf5op]

I Second That Emotion. But it's hard to fight the the need for speed and instant gratification of the young and hungry. I am now grateful for the years I spent studying with my "Mrs Smith", a church musician who didn't see the greatness of Keith Jarrett's improvisations. "Every church musician does that, every Sunday"! And reluctantly, after a few years, finally let me play Erik Satie. In hindsight, seeing my friends struggling with the basics, I think of him with gratitude for teaching me the boring etudes with the correct fingering and dynamics. Another problem with quick fixes is that it's so hard to unlearn the "wrong" way of playing. And then you have to start over. So it's like having to learn the craft three times. What a waste of time and effort. A solid foundation is the true base for greatness. Of course I watched this on Nebula. ✌✌

[@toddlarchuk]

There's no royal road to mathematics or musicianship. When I sometimes can't resist the urge to respond to novice pianists on social media groups, the message I always give is that becoming a musician, a good musician, is hard work. Hard both physically and mentally, and if you try to take shortcuts, you will end up sliding down the mountain rather than climbing to the top. Nobody seems to ever like that message. They ask "Amiee, what's the secret to how good you play? " and you tell them in intricate detail all the years you spent in front of the piano, the years in college studying, the never ending struggle to be better and learn more, and then they ask, "Yeah, but what' the secret?"

[@Thelostcup]

The "secret" is caring about doing over caring about being. People who get good at music are the ones who just practice and play because they like doing it. Same with people who get jacked in the gym, or good at anything else People who care about the process write notes on their sheets, they play tricky phrases over and over verbatim until it's worked into muscle memory.. People who just care about being good will duck out early on once they sense they don't have any aptitude for something.

[@johndiraimo1444]

Excellent 💯

[@johndiraimo1444]

​@Thelostcup Excellent 💯

[@aBachwardsfellow]

@@Thelostcup a well-stated observation...

[@UltraLeetJ]

the secret is exactly that.. dedication, all the non-sexy side of things social media and all other digital crap trends do not show. If ppl dislike that it says a lot about them.

[@johncubbin825]

I purchased one of those apps out of curiosity and I agree with you totally. One thing it does wrong is stop you when you get one note wrong or out of time, but lets you proceed after getting it right just once. Neuro science and experience tell us we have to do something right several times before the neural connections are established and develop “muscle memory” so called. I’m an older learner and a fan of the channel. I have now also managed to find a good teacher too who shows me many details of good playing that I had not grasped through trying to teach myself. Keep up the good work!

[@OpenWoodShop]

Having learned different instruments, sports, and other things in my 70 years, I've found that everyone follows the same path. What impresses someone early on, is the same thing that impresses almost every one else of that same level. As a beginner intermediate piano player, the songs that I want to learn are the same songs that almost everyone at my level wants to learn. Maple Leaf Rag, Claire de Lune, (yes, Fur Elise) etc etc. Beethoven will almost always be the gateway drug for people just getting into classical music. The good thing is that if they continue with piano, they WILL go back and pick up their technique. And if they don't, it never really mattered anyway.

[@samuelbrown434]

I go through this with my students all the time. I’ll tell them they can look at my hands and imitate what they see but the fingers (and rhythms) are more important than the right notes! Oh so many awkward fingerings! One of my catchphrases has become “so do you think there’s a fingering that will make this easier?’

[@h5mind373]

Our son fell into the Fur Elise trap three or four months in, but his technique was poor, and playing was hard on his wrists and shoulders. It was only after getting the right teachers and a conservatory experience that he began to really relax as a pianist as well as musician. Well worth the investment for anyone who wants to take their playing to a professional level.

[@PaulLeBlanc4u]

What an interesting video. I started taking piano lessons when I was maybe 8 or 9 yrs old. I’m 65 now (yeah, it flew by if ur wondering). I still have my “TEACHING LITTLE FINGERS TO PLAY” book somewhere. But when I was young, I had infinite patience to learn scales and proper fingering and posture, and found it rewarding to progress SLOWLY through all the levels of books & teaching my piano teacher (God rest her beautiful soul) put to me. Thankfully I grew up in a world where technology did not steal from my young mind the ability to focus for hours on end a skill I wanted to develop. I think the point you make is very good tho. And anyone learning piano without the basic proper training thinking they are speeding toward accomplishment isn’t thinking clearly. Not if they desire to keep improving. It’s like driving really fast in the wrong direction. Not only will you have to to turn around at some point when u keep getting farther away from your destination, you will have to unlearn bad self taught techniques (which can be extremely hard to break) and drive all the way back to zero-point just to start all over again. But for those who care not about such things, learning piano from falling dots on a computer screen I suppose is just fine. End of rant. Back to practicing all my scales with correct fingering over three octaves. You tube reference not needed, have my scales book. Love ur channel A. Keep up the brilliant work. 🥰

[@manfredbirkholz3832]

Hi Aimee. You are so right! I started learning how to play the piano at an age of 41. It was one of the best decisions of my life to take lessons from the start. My teacher really was great. She taught a lot of stuff that enabled me to advance and what's the secret that makes the difference when it comes to impression. I learned to transport emotions with my playing. A lot of modern software and hardware is out there to "make things easier". But in many cases in will put the learner into a direction which may be bad later on. Off topic: I could listen to you talking all the day! Thanks for your awesome videos.

[@itsacopy]

I've just watch this video on Nebula and came here to comment 😊 This is so true, I was trying to learn a little about piano last year (I play guitar/bass and drums), since I already knew something about music I decided to try by myself, but everything on youtube was a phase on guitar hero. And I realized I wasnt using proper placement of my fingers and things wasnt falling into the right time (because you learn to follow the music and not play it). So I decided to wait a little bit and get proper basic classes whatever I can.

[@AimeeNolte]

Thanks for watching on Nebula! And for your great comment

[@cakemartyr5794]

I do agree Aimee. I have been with a piano teacher for the best part of ten years, and it's my primary way of learning. I have occasionally used some of the "light up" tutorials, but that's only ever one small part of the toolkit. The sheet music is more important, for instance. Keep up the good work, and I'll send a link to this video to my real-life teacher!

[@fredericlinden]

I am personally very aware of all the shortcuts that people want to use so desperately, in every field of work. They can hide their ignorance and fake it for a while... In a job I did for a while, I've had callers who could not spell their full name. Sad. Yet, they have this job at a major bank and supposedly having a degree... ~~~~ Regarding this presentation by Aimee, by the 7th minutes, I did not know whether I should scream or cry. What she describes accurately is the result of countless KZbinrs who do not know better or want to make a dollar easily, fool their listeners, not matter what the consequences are. Because there will be consequences. It is not exaggerate to say that we live in a totally disastrous era of the least effort for ephemeral gain. That is, until the kids hit a hard wall and go to Mommy to cry...

[@ChrisZemdegs]

Great advice. I started self-taught using apps etc. but only really started making real progress with a teacher. First order of business was fixing all my technique flaws!

[@johnpierson8398]

This sage advice applies to all musical instruments and the learning process in life. There are many who want be a good musician and give it a try. But if you keep re-examing yourself and what you need to work on, this is how people keep improving. Down to Earth video. Thank you for your wisdom.

[@2jazzen]

Amiee is a great musician and great teacher

[@ericmitchell9331]

Agreed! Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@aarondoering4613]

I don't know much about that product, but it seems to me what you are saying assumes that everyone can afford better. if you cannot afford a teacher and can afford to use something like that,or have it gifted to you, the product might help build or practice basic techniques and dexterity that the individual might struggle with otherwise. I have a deep respect for you, Rick Beato, Warren Huart, etc.. but you all seem to share a common assumption that what you find affordable is affordable for anyone who's "serious." I agree there is a difference between serious study and a teacher. I agree that these types of applications aren't going to turn someone into a compotent, well trained musician, but they may serve to kindle the passion to become one when quality books and tutoring are out of reach.

[@qwertydeluxe]

Just about any extracurricular activity requires some investment of money and/or an adult's time. Student athletes, artists, musicians, debate club members, etc. learn that developing skill requires responsibility. There are organizations who subsidize lessons or provide free/reduced-cost lessons themselves to students, online or in person. Solutions exist! It's not elitist to point out the way teachers and coaches can change a student's life.

[@aarondoering4613]

​@@qwertydeluxe I am having a hard time seeing where this isn't coming from a position of privilege and/or ignorance. There are children out there that barely have a roof over their head and it has nothing whatsoever to do with their being responsible or not. If you think money is falling out of people's coffers for these kids, think again. When they can find some help, it's a pittance and getting transportation when you can't afford a car when you live in the middle of a rural county is next to impossible. There's no bus service and no-one is going to foot the bill for an uber for them. Sometimes a cheap keyboard, an underpowered tablet and paid for subscription to yousician is the best that can be done for them until their circumstances change. I'll be damned if I am going to tell one of those children to become your version of "responsible" or give up on music altogether.

[@aarondoering4613]

@@qwertydeluxe And one more thing... you make the assumption that adult support approaching the level you speak of is even an option for some kids. There are a great many children without such luxuries available to them, full stop.

[@yiorgosh4739]

You raise a fair point but I think the issue Aimee was addressing is still valid. The fact that youtube is so easy to access has meant that many kids have chosen the quick convenience of it over an experienced person and then when they go to an actual teacher, they have to unlearn their bad techniques. Some of these videos only show lit up keyboards, not even hands on the keyboard for people to get some sense of normal fingering. Content creators that are targeting beginner musicians should at least be showing hands playing and also be highlighting some videos about technique and standard fingering. This applies also for people that can only afford to learn through the internet. A good internet instructor should be thinking hard about these things. But some instructors are not thoughtful teachers. And some of these content creators are not thinking through how best to use the tools to not encourage bad technique. Still, it's important to highlight how valuable an in-person teacher will be because of the real-time, interactive feedback of seeing the student playing and giving them specific direction. For those that can't afford or don't have access to in-person lessons, they should still be encouraged to at least seek out good videos on basic technique and fingering on their instrument.

[@tomgleason5546]

I've been playing piano for a few years and I can't play a single song. I have a sense that there is a way to understand it that will allow your feelings to be expressed on the keys spontaneously, like typing texts or just talking. I enjoy trying to understand the voices and patterns. I am often frustrated when I cant really see what you're doing but I think I appreciate the challenge. Thank you!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

Your sense there is a way to understand it is correct -- and much of it comes from understanding and learning to play scales and chords. Please learn to play triads (3-note chords) -- broken and blocked in each hand, and hands together -- see if that helps you find your way.. Please feel free to have a look at some of the "TR" exercises on my channel starting with TR-A -- learn these root position triads in the key of C, then learn them in other major and harmonic minor keys; also learn the patterns in first inversion and second inversion triads -- hopefully that will be helpful.

[@kimhebert9905]

Great advice 🎶🎶

[@Henryloudermilk]

Hello Aimee, Great video. You are soooo correct. Learning the grammer and efficient technique of music is so important. But boy is it difficult to get certain students to do that. So many want a shortcut...youtube primarily. Some of my students I get through to, others I do not. Thanks for sharing.

[@Avery_4272]

Aimee, I find your holistic approach right on. Whether it's proper fingering or an understanding of harmony and related key signatures, it doesn't limit options, it creates them - and makes for a much fuller - and easier, in many ways - experience as a musician. Thanks.

[@kmarter1231645]

I played guitar when I was younger and decided to pick it up again 4 years ago at 50. I initially brushed up using Yousician software practiced everyday got to level 9 after a year. It was good to level set but it got to a point where I was learning complex things without context. 2 years ago, I started taking zoom lessons with a Berklee graduate. The advantage was now my learning has continuity. Now, I play out now at least once a week and use all these learnings. I still use yousician and KZbin but as polish on an item worked out myself.

[@AtomizedSound]

I’ve used those before like HD piano but only once or twice. Mostly it’s my ear or sheet music for hard stuff or video tutorial if I really can’t get it for some reason or can’t find sheet music for what I’m looking for

[@modxmike7608]

I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about! I’m learning how to get the correct fingering on the keys 🎹 now. I had to reteach myself how to play “My Cherie Amour.” Because of bad techniques. What happens is there’s a lot of hesitations. I hate that! 😂

[@dckmusic]

I've seen those light up piano apps and couldn't figure out how someone would learn to play piano well through the app. If you already have some fundamentals, you can probably figure it out, but starting with those apps would almost certainly lead to bad technique.

[@bjarnewinkler6366]

I so love you and your animation

[@switch1e]

Light up keys work for me when it comes to demonstrations, but trying to learn through things like piano roll or whatever has always been insane to me. Honestly, it makes a lot of things that are pretty easy look way harder than they actually are to me

[@kekeedme]

Hi Aimee, I agree with you a thousand percent. I would like to suggests something. I think these videos can be good for sort of beginner level ear training, when you can'tyet listen to full band recordings, particularly old ones where the sound is not great. So the thing would be to NOT look at them, but rather since it's only piano, listen to the melody learn it by ear, learn the chords by ear on a one minute video, which makes the ear training more accessible at first. What do you think?

[@paulromsky9527]

At 5:44 I agree, if we just show the highlighted "green" keys and not the figering or music with it, we are teaching poor form. I like the music on top, then the green keys above the actual fingers below as highlighting the keys in color does help, but it only to helps see the lit up keys (peripherally) but you are actually following the music by "feel". I use the green keys (blue in the software I wrote) to teach music theory but NOT keyboard techniques. Take for example teaching the notes using the "famous" memory trick: Every Good Boy Does Fine and such. I don't teach that, I teach, for example, that line there in the middle is the B line... memorize, know it, live it. I rarely use any of that nemonic nonsense...which slows newbies down and doesn't help them to sight read. Day two of my lessons is teach the notes (not on the keyboard yet, just the notation) then they practice at least one hour every day learning them. Day three starts with flash cards (on a computer) where my student's must identify each line and space on the Grand Stave INSTANTLY. The computer measures their response time and correctness. The lessons don't continue until a student can identify single notes instantly by seeing the music, then the keyboard keys are introduced in the third lesson if they can prove their mastery. Then I go on with intervals, notation:teach,study,evaluate and then keys:teach,study,evaluate. Only after intervals do I go onto the triad chords. Only after a student can master all this, then a song is introduced. This might be the sixth lesson but usually it is the eighth. I don't teach the song because they can read it fairly quickly at this point, I just guide them on technique, tempo, articulation and such... they teach themselves the songs they choose, plus songs I choose to teach music theory and techniques. My process is much slower as sight reading and muscle memory are the core of learning to play keyboards. Remember "The Karate Kid"? "Show me Side to Side". "Show my Paint the Fence." Pretty much along those lines. But I don't charge for my lessons, it would not be fair to make money using this slow and focused approach which I find works well with serious students. Students that are bored with this by not playing a song in the 3rd week quit... fine, they are not destined to play. Most of us don't quote Shakespeare as a toddler, but we don't give up on English because of that.

[@stuartsmith5146]

Technique is for learning how to get really good at something, not just “how” to do something. Green lights tell you how to borrow from what has been done. Technique allows you to invent, own, and gift what has been done in a personal way. - OR - How to walk includes putting one foot in front of the other. Good for getting across the room; Great technique for walking helps you get to the top of the mountain.

[@bcmusic71]

Totally agree!... See it all the time in my teaching.. Piano and guitar... So hard to break those bad habits from bad KZbin videos... They're just learning songs to impress their parents and friends... Nothing really to do with music... Very frustrating...🎵

[@jumill]

It would be interesting to reassess in 4 to 5 years whether this lack of fundamentals you [correctly] observed becomes an impediment that limits his abilities to learn more technically challenging compositions in the future. Of all stories about young prodigies (piano, painting, math etc..) they almost always end up having to take a teacher or mentor to show them way. And yes, everything that one wants to learn or to master requires the basic knowledge of proper fundamentals.

[@paulwilliams5013]

Wonderful stuff. Thank you!

[@davidsummerville351]

Very interesting, and I have to say I agree with you. Your concern is justified.

[@tharyt-one6304]

You’re amazing Aimee! I have a question unrelated to the topic. I’m learning Nardis by ear and I can pick out single note melodies fairly well but the harmonic dictation is throwing me off. The chords Bill Evans is playing in his left hand are so sparse and tricky to hear. Have you made a video on harmonic dictation? Any tips that might make this easier? I appreciate you Aimee and please keep up the stellar work!

[@AimeeNolte]

Search for my name and the word “figure.” I have some older videos where I figure out kicks or chords in real time🙌🏼

[@tbraun84]

Thank you for this video. Fingering is so so important to getting anywhere, though I'm surprised how some people can do it with strange fingerings (sustain pedals can cover a lot of mistakes though). I'm sorry this is so off topic, but I noticed in your video that the piano lid prop is in the wrong cup. The longer prop rod should be in the further cup such that the rod is perpendicular to the lid. Otherwise it could slip or break. Sorry again that it's besides the point you're making. I don't mean to troll on the video or what-not. But it's maybe something else that a lot of people never learn.

[@vincossissonsable5689]

If you have your keyboard and another one above highlighting the keys, then you can show the fingering. What is the problem there?

[@rickmassimo6192]

I feel like students -- on all instruments, and in fact all genres of creativity, not just even music -- don't hear often enough the benefits of proper technique, and I thought so many times you were going to say it in this video: "And then you'll be able to do what you want." You don't learn the basics so that you can play Fur Elise. You learn the basics so that eventually you can sit down at the piano, get an idea in your head and it comes out of your hands. Maybe some people don't want that, and that's OK, but if you want that, and you want it badly enough, that's the reward for going through the exercises. I'm a lousy piano player, but I know a few things about music theory, and that's because I took it in college with a professor who made us write dozens of four-bar, four-part Bach chorale-style exercises. Finally one day he sensed our frustration and said, "Look -- I'm not teaching you how to write novels; I'm teaching you the alphabet. It's up to you whether you want to write novels. You're all teenagers; you have decades after you leave here to develop the way you want to." Forty years later, lo and behold -- I'm writing songs with slash chords, upper extensions and tritone substitutions because I (kind of) know what I'm doing, because I got a grounding in music theory. And I can barely play what I write because I never got a grounding in piano technique. It's not a coincidence.

[@manvicuk]

You're right Aimee... keep up the good work...Vic

[@Joel_Powell]

It's funny you mention Moanin' - I remember learning the head from Moanin' on my own (it wasn't something I was working on with my teacher). I really worked hard to get it down and thought I'd impress my teacher on my next lesson. At the beginning of the next lesson I demonstrated it proudly for my teacher, hoping I would really impress her. She said - that's great - BUT you are not fingering it properly and you are not playing some of the notes cleanly.... That teacher - Aimee Nolte! I sure miss those lessons (and I play Moanin' with proper fingering now and sound much better as a result. Hope all is well, Aimee!

[@marcusvaldes]

The KZbin channel "The Independent Pianist" has a good video on this too. He talks about students that spend an inordinate amount of time on a difficult piece the love but ultimately would have gotten there quicker had they learned their skills "in order".

[@TheJacastro]

This is exactly where I am. I learn only by watching the videos on KZbin and mimicking the lights or finger movements. I simply don’t want to learn how to read sheet music. Is there a way to simply learn chords and play songs you like? I mean, these days you can find chords to any popular song

[@AimeeNolte]

I do have a two part course on the Nebula platform that I think is a great starting place for this. You can get a great discount with my code. Then click the link”classes” tab and click on Everything I Know About Chords go.nebula.tv/aimeenolte

[@tommyhaynes9157]

I learned with a good jazz teacher , glad I did

[@1FunkyAsh]

As a slow reader with a strong ear, I always wanted there to be a notation system that was less arbitrary-looking - something that really represented the relationship between time and pitch. One of my piano students said “Hey check out this song I like,” and played along with one of these light-up key videos (with the video on mute), and I thought “Is this the notation system I’ve been looking for?” …which is why I’m now teaching beginners to think critically about fingering- phrase by phrase, how much physical ground do you have to cover, and how are you going to do that? I’m still in the experimental phases of teaching this. And there are always those who don’t apply it when dabbling in their extracurricular songs. I would like for there to be some kind of color coding for finger numbers. We’ll see if/when/how that gets standardized. (And to be clear, I do use and teach standard notation! 😆)

[@aBachwardsfellow]

What is so hard about teaching triads? Five fingers -- each covering one key: RH - thumb on C, index finger on D, middle finger on E, ring finger on F, and pinky on G); LH - pinky on C, ring finger on D, middle finger on E, index finger on F, and thumb on G. Play the thumb, middle finger and fifth finger in each hand - Boom! you've got a C major triad! Now - keep that hand shape and move your hand to any other natural (white) key -- and play -- presto! You've got another triad! There are seven traids in the natural keys: C major, d minor, e minor, F major, G major, a minor, and b diminished. Boom! In 5 minutes you've learned 7 triads. Play them blocked, play them broken, then learn the inversions -- then learn in other keys -- no reading required, no app required ... Why does everyone make this so difficult !!!! ??????

[@ArthurGlover]

That cross-eyed thing you did really set the tone of this video

[@etowahjazz]

thank you. exactly!!

[@Mizzdr111]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. YOU REALLY COME ACROSS AS AN EXPERIENCED MUSICIAN. SO MANY PEOPLE SAY, THEORY AND TEQNIQUE CAN TAKE A BACKSEAT. I PERSONALLY FIND THESE DAYS THAT IF i PLAY SOMETHING I LEARNED ON GUITAR I FEEL COMPELLED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IM DOING THEORETICALLY AND ALWAYS WANT TO USE THE FINGERING THE PROS USE BECAUSE IT WILL BE MORE NATURAL TO PLAY AND MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A REAL PLAYER. EVEN IF IT TAKES MORE EFFORT I DONT FEEL I LEARNED IT REALLY UNLESS THOSE DETAILS ARE COVERED.

[@mateogoron]

I'd like to add something as a piano player of 19 years, starting from conventional piano lessons for 9 years. The visualisations of songs (the 'light up keys') can be a highly useful resource, especially when sheet music and accurate transcriptions are hard to find as is the case with a lot of videogame music. I wholeheartedly agree that someone learning the instrument in this way will sustain massive gaps in technique and understanding, but having started with conventional piano lessons, I can apply my learned technique the same way you figure out fingerings as you read sheet music. In this case there are fewer downsides, though of course I'm not stretching my sightreading muscles as often, though that is something I've identified and can work on separately. I feel like this will rub the demographic of this channel the wrong way, but in the absence of playing hard-to-find songs completely by ear, light up keys have helped me learn some of my favourite songs I can play on the piano. And I don't have one massively buff finger that I use for every note.

[@image30p]

When I wanted to become better at guitar, I spent about three months doing nothing but permutations up and down the fretboard. Not even close to music. Mechanical. Then I was on permutations using scale patterns. I remember my friend asked, "What will you do? Go up and play them a scale?" But now I don't have to think about it. It just came down to how badly I wanted to play.

[@DarthCalculus]

Grateful for the music training I have had.

[@ianc6765]

I agree, in that lighty up keys on their own are not very useful. Better to show the actual hands, and light up the keys under the fingers. Ultimately though, the lights keys will only take someone so far. The comparison to learning a language is spot on.

[@holliethomasmusic]

YES.

[@matthewgoldberg1461]

I agree wholeheartedly. As a teenager i started playing guitar on my own, and later had to unlearn a lot of bad habits. Sure, you can find some famous guitarist who didn’t use the left-hand little finger. But i’m no Wes Montgomery - i have to use all of the fingers that i have.

[@Nathan-ng1kp]

honestly, the way that she describes how these kids are learning is horrifying

[@Pooter-it4yg]

I suspect people who "learn" this way aren't really thinking in phrases. If you teach someone to learn phrases rather than running straight through, they usually naturally start positioning the hand correctly for groups of notes (I used to call it "chunking"), even if they aren't using the best fingering. The other problem of course is that beginners tend to have absolutely useless fourth and fifth fingers so avoid using them. Crusty though it may be, there's really nothing better than Hanon and Czerny. At the very least try teaching people to practice scales thus: CDE DEF EFG etc, fingered RH 345 345 and LH 543 543.

[@rickeguitar9086]

Somewhere along time, society was told that anyone can play music. And thus, when anyone attempts to learn music from anyone who can play music the outcome is what you are speaking to on this video. Kudos to you, Aimee, for bringing this to light. I hope you were able to teach the campers something that inspired them to become better musicians.

[@luisss1906]

ive learnt like this but with a yt channel called "piano secrets" and the difference is that he combines the method that you describe and also talks above it about technique and fingering, it is like a real piano teacher where you can see the notes he plays and also helps you with playing with technique, thats the type of learning videos that i would like to see more on youtube rather than what you describe here :)

[@Harriet-Jesamine]

People need to try and learn things totally by ear again, directly from CD's and Vinyl's..

[@aBachwardsfellow]

it helps if you also know how to play what you hear -- like triads, for example ...

[@bluesboynicky6772]

Couldn’t agree more. People are learning by rote.

[@Axxarus]

I taught myself piano online form the age of 16, I am 25 now. I primarily learned at first from a piano youtube channel called "danthecomposer", which was quite good. What accelerated me was learning all the major and minor scales at first, very tedious and rote. Then after that chord scales in all keys. From there everything was easy. I did follow light-up key tutorials for some songs I wnted to play, which I think was useful. I primarily play by ear now and got relatively good from just noodling around and knowing some theory. If I really can't pick out what chord etc. is being played I may google one of the light up tutorials on youtube just to make sure. Now I force myself to find or look at the sheet music, but sometimes videos can be quicker to follow/find. I would give the advice to any new player is you don't necessarily have to fully suffer the first 1-3 months as you can practice scales in different/creative ways etc. but treat it like the gym. When you go to the piano, always spend atleast 5-10 minutes practicing your scales or chord scales, then feel free to noodle/play around/have fun and guess melodies by ear etc. A huge thing I wish I did when I started out was sightreading, which is something I'm trying to catch up on. Great video and wholeheartedly agree.

[@jimwalshonline9346]

Yeah...I could never get a handle on the "Lite Brite" thing.

[@kitgroovemachine]

Guitar players make up cool sounding chords all the time !

[@ALF8892]

Aimee, that's how I learned 16 years ago and I'm still trying to recover. There are some things I am just really not able to do. I warn everybody to not do that

[@ALF8892]

It's really catastrophic

[@AimeeNolte]

I should have just interviewed you for the video. Lol I’m glad you realize it and are trying to fix it. Thanks for sharing.

[@ALF8892]

@@AimeeNolte Wouldn't that be an honor. Thank you for all your support and inspiration.

[@jimh1487]

There are way to many people who only like shortcuts. If something takes time and determination, they want nothing to do with it.

[@lonsimmons7319]

I love your passion for teaching; so inspirational; yes, working with someone is very important. One would be foolish to try to teach oneself how to drive or practice judo. Reading or watching videos may be fine to supplement training, but nothing beats having a knowledgeable instructor. On the other hand, having a bad teacher is like teaching yourself judo. Ouch.

[@AntoineVideoLibrary]

I have seen quite a number of pianists on KZbin using fingers 2, 3, and 4, but they do it to show/explain clearly the chord in question. These videos aren't for people who have never taken a piano lesson in their life. It's a pity that some people do not understand the explanation.

[@TreyAgnew810]

You’re not being a stick in the mud. It would make it that much harder to relearn etc. Not to mention excess tension and stuff. But having the foundations will unlock everything.

[@MostlyIC]

for classical guitar you learn "positions", reading sheet music and what fingers go on what frets if your hand is in "first position" (farthest up on the neck of the guitar nearest to the tuning pegs), then on to higher positions, and the music is often notated with what position the hand should be in to play that measure. but in piano there are no "positions", the hand must move freely up and down the keyboard. This was very, very difficult for me, you can't know what position your hand should be in without analyzing an entire passage, I can't do it in my head, I can't think that far ahead, I often have to notate what finger to start a passage with, and often have to notate where to cross over. And that makes me wonder how on earth improvisers do it.

[@unclemick-synths]

I know what you mean. I'm sure that there is an entire course waiting to be made that would cover this. I find that the scales with plenty of black keys that get away from 12312345 fingering give hints of the possibilities. Segments of scales and arpeggios are definitely part of that.

[@OdaKa]

That's funny because when I went through my John Thompson's Modern Course For The Piano books, they introduced me to a general concept of hand positions (I don't recall if they were termed as such). It taught me to anchor my hands in a certain place for some parts of tunes, then shift to another anchor for other parts. I didn't get through the whole first grade book, but I remember that stuff being in there.

[@fredbarnes196]

The trouble with the stacked keyboard or your hands for that matter, is you cant really digest what is being played when the notes are spaced across octaves. Maybe if a chord is tight you could get what it is without thinking too hard.

[@josedelva9494]

I understand better when you show me. If you show me how it one time, I will never forget. If you want to tell me how to do it, you will probably have to repeat yourself, because I am trying to visualize it while listening to you. I am a visual person. It will save a teacher a lot of time showing me instead of telling me.

[@patrickpaolicelli8808]

I agree but unfortunately because of my hand condition I have to find alternate ways to play.

[@AlwaysHopeful87]

Purposeful practice vs. Playful practice. Most of us don't like purposeful practice because it usually involves repetition and drill. The best way to learn is have both within a lesson, but sometimes there are periods of more purposeful than playful. Goals, whether written or unwritten, can help keep the motivation by having the carrot ahead.

[@mdmellis]

🤣 - You rock!

[@user-op8ki1pw4p]

This strikes me as a potential repercussion of phone life. The younger generation (I’m an old guy) can type like crazy on their phones with just two fingers. So it makes sense that they would take a similar approach to piano keyboards.

[@gusjohnston19]

Just watch Tony Winston ,jazz piano college ,folks he's got the right ballance and extensive knowledge and easy delivery. Hundreds of videos. Great musician.

[@AimeeNolte]

Yeah he’s awesome

[@richierugs6544]

i destroyed a concert grand piano by mistake once--i felt so bad about it

[@GizzyDillespee]

With proper technique, you could destroy it much more efficiently.

[@richierugs6544]

@@GizzyDillespee well i made it fall off the stage by mistake making the orchestra pit sink down

[@mannygee005]

Oh I get it. I was self-taught but also had piano lessons later. Maybe the big difference is that folks are learning to play a "keyboard" versus "piano." I always played on a real piano as a kid and I find going to an electronic keyboard to be very weird. Not the same. I guess a real piano includes the piano bench which goes into posture etc... and an electronic keyboard doesn't even begin there. So I think you've clued us in on the secret...

[@OdaKa]

You can still learn posture on a keyboard, provided someone is mindful enough to teach it or learn it. You can easily have a piano bench, a piano, and nobody around to teach you and still learn bad posture etc.

[@lshwadchuck5643]

Aimee, I think you hit the spot when you admitted you don't need to look at visuals to understand the language of music. I've gathered that your channel is for pretty advanced players who, like you, know where each sound 'lives' on the keyboard, as my teacher says. And maybe you don't remember what it was like not to have that skill. Even with Mrs. Smith Down-the-street people are still going to be learning to mechanically execute a sentence (or a Russian poem phonetically) with proper fingering and probably no decent rhythm. Just because people aren't destined for music college we don't have to be consigned to the musical equivalent of copying Bob Ross paintings. I'm 72 and have been training in the language of music for four years. Not learning to play glitchy versions of pieces. Jazz training seems to put skills before songs. Kind of like that.

[@fekkyb]

Agreed. 😊

[@philippelambert329]

Also... anyone who learns to play Für Elises shouldl be warned that there are more than one tune in that piece.

[@tigrisparvus2970]

Seems like they are only using a tiny selection of KZbin videos, there are lots of technique vids and similar to yours. This is much more a problem with self learning in general. You have to be your own teacher.

[@Clutch_Taruntula]

I suppose I always took technique for granted since I've taken piano lessons and am mindful of fingering and hand position myself, but I never imagined people would be learning songs with the chicken pecking method from this software. Personally, I don't think the virtual keyboard is bad in addition to an overhead camera angle, as sometimes it can be a little hard to see what's happening on the keyboard. I won't lie in that I will occasionally pull up a synthesia video on youtube to learn something quick and dirty, but I already have a decent enough grasp on technique and I think the biggest problem with those videos is the lack of emphasis on rhythm and almost always the transcription is inaccurate.

[@fjzingo]

This is the reason to get a real teacher who sets you on track with the right piano technique from the beginning. Don’t only learn from books, videos or keys which are lighting up only. Playing piano is not just hitting the right button, there is a technique to it determining which finger, how hard, how fast….Your hands must be like ballerinas dancing across those keys. This is also why I hate digital pianos, although they are convenient, they do not respond or sound like a real piano.

[@TonyThomas10000]

I never desired to be a piano player and my keyboard technique is horrendous. But I get the job done by playing my little 25 key, entering the notes in my DAW, or whatever else I need to do. I will never be Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, or Vladimir Horowitz, but that is cool with me!

[@richierugs6544]

you are wonderful

[@jamesbastani4295]

You’re right! Watching KZbin videos to learn how to play the piano is beyond stupid.