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Hi,

I've been playing piano for a while, and learned some advanced repertoire but I haven't really taken piano very seriously, just gone from one song to the next learning how to play it then moving on... I can barely sight read, my technique is a mess, I can't play scales and arpeggios at all, and I have all kinds of bad habits.

I want to start over and learn things "the right way"... Especially sight reading because it's such a handicap when it comes to learning new stuff.

Does anyone know any book(s) that would be good for me to relearn piano?

Thanks,
-Mr.

hey mister,

That's a lot to address in one thread, and I don't know any single source (book or otherwise) that might help you.

But I do recommend searching the discussion archives. I just searched starting over (subject line only) and got ten hits in the Adult Beginners Forum alone, plus two more in the Pianist Corner.

I hope this helps.

Steven

I would start by interviewing piano teachers. It seems you want a concrete and well thoughtout path. And a good teacher would do that for you.

Good Luck and welcome

Hi mister. You just did an unsettlingly good job of describing me!

I think you've already received the best advice that you're likely to get from Mark... I've never taken a piano lesson in my life, but I recently contacted a local piano teacher who seems very promising and I'm starting lessons on Tuesday. I can hardly wait! Hopefully before too long I won't resemble your opening paragraph quite as much I do at the moment.

I'm afraid I don't know of any books that may be of any help, but I wish you the best of luck!

First, you should get this idea of "bad
habits" out of your mind. There is
no such thing as a bad habit when a person
instructs himself, because he will learn
in a way that is most natural for himself.
When you take lessons, that's where you really
start to pick up bad habits, because
in lessons you are forced to play the
teacher's way, not your own, natural way,
and when you are forced to do something
that is unnatural for you, that's the
worst kind of bad habit you can have.
So your worries about not doing things
the right way are unfounded, because
you are doing them right.

I see no problem if you can't play
scales and arpeggios--I think what you
mean is that you can't play them blazing
fast, but just playing them fast is
no advantage really. If you need to
learn a scale for some reason, you
can learn it--but to play every scale
in every key blazing fast every day is
of no advantage. Same with arpeggios.

This thing about sight-reading is also
misguided. You apparently want to
be able to play pieces at your level
at sight, but "your level" is, by
definition, what you can't play at
sight and must work up methodically.
So it is totally illogical to want
to do this.

Mister,

Because you already played some advanced pieces, it is difficult to know which method book should be good for you. I agree with others said, a teacher would guide you to a decent shape, then you can go from there. Also if you search around this forum, you can find a lot of good advices and tips that can help you with sight read.

Cheers,