For all of you who've ever wanted to learn to play piano, but for some reason or the other, haven't started or taken the bold step to, I offer my tested and trusted materials for a token. What's mostly needed is your time and effort. I'll go ahead and list what I've got for you, then expantiate using my personal experience on how best it is to learn piano. Alryt.

The package includes :

* A 15 gig 56- videos tutorials (45mins-1 hour each) of piano lessons and corresponding workshop lessons, from the Basics to Intermediate level.
Tutorials given by Grammy Award winning pianist Will Barrow.
+ About 5 1-hour videos on Piano Improvisation, taught by various pianists.

* Included are the follwing E-books to be studied in this order:

1. Piano for Dummies
2. Music Theory for Dummies
3. Music Composition for Dummies (optional)
4. Piano Exercises for Dummies
5. Sight-Reading for Dummies

The next series of E-books can be read at will depending on your level and enthusiasm:

1. Fundamentals of Piano Practice(highly recommended)
2. The Complete Book of Harmony, Theory, and Voicing (only after you complete the Dummies series, a bit advanced).
3. How to Play Piano despite years of learning (bit of a summary, advanced also)

Then if you really wanna go nuts into Classical Music:

1. A Practical Guide to Music Composition
2. Fundamentals of Musical Composition.
Both highly advanced. I haven't even studied them yet!

Ok. So, all goes for a token of N2,000.
A mighty fraction of what it took me to get them. But I believe the real expense of your time
and effort. I want to encourage more people who wanna learn.

Call or Whatsapp me on 08185742780.

P.S. Video file is heavy, 15 gig. All files may total 20 gig, so you're gonna need an external Hard Disk Drive.

Yea, for the pricing, I had 2 other options. One, 10k, but no one would wana buy, second other option, for free, then everyone would hit me up! Wouldn't want that.
Anyways, needless to say you'll need a personal keyboard if you really wana accelerate your learning. I practice in the middle of the night atimes! I can't solely rely on my church keyboard for that. Also, mostly u wana take advantage of electricity, so owning a personal keyboard makes lotta sense.
Also, I watched like hundreds of Youtube videos also, but unfortunately, I deleted most of them when I was done. But for most beginners who will need a guide like I gave above, its hard to know which lesson to watch on a Youtube series, so I left Youtube videos out for now. But there's some good teachers out there who post up videos for free I'll refer y'all to after you get to a certain level, say , one or two months into practice. Also, Youtube has many songs posted and free tutorials on how to play rhis song or that song, and I tell you, its loads of fun. But before that, let me expantiate on the hardships of learning piano first.

So, I've been playing piano for 4 years now. Not a top pro by any means, but am past average level. For instance, I can play most pop/gospel/r n b/ songs once I learn to play them. Learning a song can take me an hour or two to a day or two, depending on the complexity of the song.
A classical piece takes longer. But what's important is, I can set out to learn and play it.
Also, there's a difference between playing alone and playing and singing simultaneously. Playing and singing simultaneously is a bit tricky and a question or matter of timing. I can do both. But if singing isn't your thing, not a problem.
I can read sheet music, not so fast, but I can learn to play a song just by studying the sheet music once and for all. That's a plus if you really wana advance. It takes practice though, and that's where Music Theory comes in, and no, its not as difficult as u might think.

How I Started.

Boredom, and Love. I was bored, wanted to learn something new. I hate cooking, still do, I'm not that handy, so I thought to undertake something brainy, and a bit hands-on, and I love music, so I decided to learn to play an instrument, not as a kid, as a young adult, so my work was cut out from the start. I couldn't afford formal lessons at that time, but I knew one bros who plays for his church. He gave me a few lessons, bought that yellow Smallwood music book, showed me how to sight-read on a rudimentary level, and after a month, he got busy, and I that's how I began teaching myself.
My next door neighbor apparently hung a piano and bass guitar on his parlor wall. Needless to say, I borrowed it, for a year or so before I got mine. Twas a 70z Yamaha 5-octave mini-keyboard, but it did the job from the start. Got an adaptor, then headphones. I practice in my room. Thankfully, I have a room to myself, but no one wants to hear a beginner practice, so I stick my earpiece/headphone in until I blast it out after few weeks then get another.

As you will soon get to discover, learning to play piano is an arduous and demoralizing exercise initially. I gave up twice, then the third time I already developed thick skin, after shedding a few tears. You have to learn the scales, memorize at first before it sticks, then the issue of hand-coordination. The frustration will get to you. You will hit many wrong notes. Too many in fact. But the key is, after every practice session, you get better by a fraction! But you won't notice the improvement immediately. Its just like growing in height. You don't really notice your height growth by the mini-inch.
My church pianist appeared so good, I wondered how I'll ever get to that level. That's before I started. Am sure you've been through that. But playing piano is somewhat a personal experience. There's no defined right or wrong way of playing. But once you learn the rules, you begin to shape what's in your mind to be played by your fingers.
A fast player is not necessarily better than a slow player. He may like fast music, and I may like slow music. So speed isn't a determinant. Although in the learning process, you'll learn to speed up a bit in order to keep to time and be more perfect.

The Learning Process.
Get a tutor if you can. May be your church pianist. But not necessarily for long. If you can afford the formal lessons, go for it. But at some point, your personality will take shape and you'll begin to guide yourself in your preferred manner. Some learn fast, some learn slow.
But if you've got a personal keyboard already, daily practice of even 10 minutes is better than practicing once a week for 2 hours straight!
Its basic psychology, people. What you do everyday builds up faster.
The best approach is to see it as fun and not a conquest.
I'm not a church pianist, I've never been. My motivation from the start was Classical Music. I love Beethoven, Bach, Handel. So I wanted to be able to play what they played. Period!
On the other hand, I'm not well-versed in gospel music. In fact, am not current in gospel music. I know Women of Faith, Ron Kenoly, and some few gospel artistes, but that's not really my thing, in case some may think you have to be strictly motivated by gospel or church music. Although Classical music is somewhat churchy. But in a different way, u know what I mean.
My other motivation was pop/hiphop/r n b/rock, yea, Western music. I wanted to learn to play that Billy Joel song, or that Michael Jackson song, and sing along. Period! No fuss.

Also, for those who wanna learn guitar, violin, sax, trumpet, pls go ahead and give it a shot! This goes out to everyone who wanna learn a musical instrument, whichever one. I have a guitar, I learn just a tiny bit, but I decided to take up piano first because I was moved by Classical music. Next up is the guitar and violin. So, feel free to learn any instrument of your choice. I don't think I'll blow well, so trumpet and sax, I may not attempt, but I love brass/trumpet sounds! Shout-out to Femi Kuti!
Ok, so what else....your motivation:
Your motivation must not necessarily be limited to you wanting to be an artiste or gaining financially from the skill. If that's your aim, that's cool, but you can learn purely on aesthetics, just for the fun of it. Its just like learning a foreign language. And of course, it helps your appreciation of life and nature in the long run.
I once watched a Christmas Carol program on TV put together by the Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Henry Odein Ajumogobia, and all his kids played classical pieces during the event! I was tripped, my gosh! Even his female children, all of them. I love my dad, but at that moment, I wished he was my dad, LOL!
Yea, I know he's privileged and all, and could afford to send his kids to the best schools, but that's where u gotta challenge yourself in life. I told myself, dude, if you really want this, you will suffer along the way, true, but you can have it!
Now, mind you, I'm bright, Maths is my best subject, but I can be very lazy as well. Why I approach learning the piano with such conviction, I don't know!
So...in terms of being consistent, there's a level you get to that you can't go back, at least as rusty as a beginner. I'll put that to two years, or a year if you are a fast learner. But of course, at the end of every week, you should monitor your improvement and see what you've learned.
You can also learn to play simple songs from the start to keep up your interest.

Technically, your learning progression will most likely follow this trend:

Learn scales, chords- major, minor, diminished, augmented, suspense chords, and to put them together- Harmony! That's the goal of a pianist, to play in Harmony. That means your left and right hand playing their respective parts in a sensible and pleasing fashion. That's all!
But in these few lines lies a lot in-between.
That's where the fun begins. Forget about the very good players. They were not born that way, I tell you. I used to tell myself that for self-motivation, but its true. Although some people have more musicality in them than others.
But that doesn't mean they'll write a hit song or win a grammy. Those hits are most times the easier songs to play.

I learnt Sam Smith's Lay me Down in an hour, very easy.
John Legend's All of me in about 2 hours, a bit tricky but easy.

So, it doesn't really take a lot of hand gymnastics to play great songs.

Also, I recently branched out into music production. It won't necessarily make me a good producer compared to others who don't play, but I'll write a hit for Beyonce or Rihanna faster than them, and I can go to them for the beats. That's after I lay down the chords. As a music producer or songwriter, your chances of posting up a song on the Billboard charts is slim if you can't lay down chords properly, and that's where piano education, even at its primary level, is helpful and essential. For those who aspire that high anyways. I do!

I love Nigerian and African music by the way, no doubt. Although I feel with more music education, there will be less duplication of sounds and style. If u are not Olamide, u will sound like a rip off if you try to rap like him. But I believe with time, that will be sorted and music producers and artistes will begin to equip themselves with more knowledge musically.

I forgot to add that the keyboard was in my room for about 2 months before I summoned up courage to start teaching myself after my initial tutorials.
I wake, greet it, go out, come back, pat it, and go to bed, for 2 months. I know that feeling, I've been there. Most of what I'm trying to do is get you to start. Not everyone will succeed. But if its something you ever thought of doing, trying is better than not trying at all, even if you end up quitting for one reason or another.
For example, I once tried to play baseball once, I attended practice for a year because my friends did. I quit eventually, but not until I developed a love for the game. So, some things are like that. You start, but you quit because you may not be up to it, either skill-wise or ability-wise.
When FL Studio was just got popular some years back, I bought the Version 7. Now there's Version 12. I had no idea what its full capacity was. My friends just said its for making music. Loaded it on my desktop, got bored, and forgot about it. I hadn't even thought of playing piano back then! Now I've dealt with Version 11 as best as I can and I never thought I would ever go back to it, but this time, with an established intent to be a music producer, which I'm not guaranteed success, but only now I learnt it with intent. So some thing u try, u fail, only to come back again later and conquer. No harm in failing once, I guess.

P.S. Anyone who gets inspired by this must worship my name at the break of dawn!
Just kidding. LOL

nice write up bro!guess i'm climbing my own 'steep hill of practice' and it's just seems impossible.but with what i've read now,i know i'm not alone. nice write up bro!guess i'm climbing my own 'steep hill of practice' and it's just seems impossible.but with what i've read now,i know i'm not alone.

N.B. Forgive my rare grammatical blunders. Typing at full speed from qwerty can take its toll.

flames007:
nice write up bro!guess i'm climbing my own 'steep hill of practice' and it's just seems impossible.but with what i've read now,i know i'm not alone. nice write up bro!guess i'm climbing my own 'steep hill of practice' and it's just seems impossible.but with what i've read now,i know i'm not alone.

Hahahaha, @Flames, my first responder, you are not alone, bro! U know, its funny once u get better, and u look back at all the tough times. I used to do most of my practicing @night when I started. LoL. Those days! I'll lock myself in the balcony from 9pm-12 midnight and just practice n practice. Twas in Abuja. Lagos? No electricity, lol. Mehn, it was sooo hard. You can't force hand-coordination. That was the hardest for me, plus I'm left-handed. But I had a good view from Wuse 2, over-looking Sheraton Hotel. So I psyche myself up like that. Like I'm among the stars, lol.
Keep practicing, bro. You'll get there. And if you've got any questions ot tips, feel free to ask or share.

For those who might wana purchase a keyboard but don't know how or where, I got mine, a used one @Ladipo Warehouse, Mushin. But I believe they sell @Alaba and some other places as well.
You can get one for as cheap as 15k, but between 15k-20k range for a good one at the cheapest. But if you can afford a more expensive one, you can go for it as well.
However, I would advice a 5-octave/61-keys keyboard for a beginner, because it looks less intimidating compared to a 7-octave one, its easier to encompass for your hands, as its just 3 middle octaves and one higher and one lower octave.
But if you're the type who have access to a Grand Piano, you're ahead of the game!

Also, there's another thread for pianists run by @Dramadiddy I believe, some real dope guys there as well with lots of good tips. You should check out that thread too. They go in-depth.
Some of those guys are better players than me, I believe, so I've chosen to draft you guys sitting on the fence in, the beginners, and those having a hard time crossing the line.
As for tutoring, some can play but can not teach. Not that they refuse to teach, they simply don't know how to.
My first tutor told me, "guy, I don't know how I'll teach u ooo, but I'll try." Most of the time I just watched him play, his hand movements, his posture, etc, and I grabbed a thing or two.
So, try and visit other forums and learn from as many people as you possibly can. Personally, I think my skill lies in learning a piece or song in accurate format,, because I'm good at memorization, and adding some articulation along the way. I can analyze a song and say, I feel he should have flattened this note or modulated this part. Or the common one, "there should have been more chord changes, its too static," common in many hip-hop songs.
But I've not really learned to improvise in practice, but that comes with time.

Now, always remember that in learning to play a musical instrument, its part-reality part-fantasy. Yea, by that I mean, its part what you do with your hands and part what you think or your mindset.
When you set out to compose a song on an instrument, or to compose an instrumental, its as if you are conjuring from space, from thin air, or trying to bring a new form to life.
So you need to approach it with a heightened sense of fantasy and not as a chore, else you'll get bored and demoralized quickly.
Now, what do I do to heighten my fantasy? I watch the Masters play!
There's this Chinese guy, Lang Lang, one of the best pianist in the world today. He was giving a masterclass to some students at a Russian Conservatory of Music. I watched the hour-long video on Youtube. Now, back then, I was just starting, but I regularly watched stuff that could blow my mind. But u have to see it as a fantasy more than as a challenge. I had no idea what Lang Lang was telling the students for the most part. Each one came on stage to play, and he stopped them at intervals, whenever he liked, and corrected something, and allowed the player continue until he or she finished the piece. Now, those students are like mini-masters to me, lol. They're sooo good! So I was in a fantasy mood watching that, like, I wanna play just half of this one day! But I enjoyed the whole process. Hope you understand. So sometimes watch performances beyond your level. Let the masters wow you into excitement. Yea!

And still on the fantasy-ride, follow the culture of the genre of music you love closely! I love Fela, therefore I love Afro-beat. I watch him on stage switching from one instrument to another, with ease and I'm like, he's a demon!
But I also love pop culture, so I watch series like GLEE! Now, Glee, am sure many of u know, is like the musical of our time, or of our generation. They covered all the songs we know, and even introduced us to new ones, and they made it fun to watch. So, those guys wow me too. Blaine Anderson, he's my favourite, he plays piano. Even though they won't show his full performance, I always look forward to the songs he's gonna cover, and then I go off and learn to play it! It's like a young soccer player watching a Ronaldo trick and going ahead to practice and replicate the trick in training, that kind of thing.
So, you gotta have something to rave about. If gospel music is your inspiration, there are tons of gospel concert videos you can watch to build up your confidence. And have somebody or some players you like or partly model yourself after, sort of like a mentor. Doesn't have to be someone close to you. Even a celebrity would do.
For example, I like Stevie Wonder, but I prefer Billy Joel's style of playing the piano. That kind of thing. And don't forget to have some fun along the way too.

I just finished watching an awesome movie today, titled August Rush. Been out since 2007, can't believe I didn't know about it. Aww mehn, awesome movie! Y'all gotta check it out if you love music. It captures the whole essence of music and instruments and struggles, the infancy period of learning, and eventual success. Plus its a romantic movie too. In general, most people would love it, music buffs or not.

Piano tins,wow bin playin for abt 9yrs nw, quite past average,I culd just hear any song and play it if I must score a song mayb Ten minutes dependin on who played but most songs take me 30mins max. Am more of a contemporary pianist but tryin to go into classical music do u have any links or names of tutorials dat can help?tanx

Mehn, I duff my hat for you bro. You've got really nice stuff here. I love piano for worship, classicals, and I score songs for 4-part harmony. What's ur twitter handle? Let's connect

Man!!! I've read too much I can't recall one! Maybe i'm constipated!
Nice!

After getting done with the positioning of your hand on the piano, the next thing is to let your fingers get acquainted to movement on the piano. (This should be a daily exercise.) Now we are going to number your fingers thus : 1-thumb 2-pointer 3-middle finger 4-ring finger 5-little finger (this applies to both left hand (LH) and right hand (RH).

click on link to learn from the scratch


http://www.newzified.com/piano-lessons-online-%e2%94%82beginners-adults-basic-finger-placements-lesson-4/