I`m an old horn player who is smart enough to know a teacher is a must when learning a musical instrument. I plan to take lessons but want to at least learn a few things first.

I have noodled, at the lowest skill level imaginable, a little on the piano over the years, playing chords and that`s about it.

I picked up a copy of "The Pointer System" of piano playing and noted the approach, in this book, is to teach chords at the first inversion (I suppose to keep hands from running into each other). I was a little surprised at this as my noodling always consisted of the "root" fingering.

Is the "Pointer System" something new or has piano always been taught this way as far as learning chord fingerings is concerned?

Any comment will be most appreciated.

Appropriate silences help create beautiful music.