Hi teachers,
My daughter is almost 6 yrs old. I've just bought a U1 and get a teacher for her. And that's all about her! But I have a problem here! I never learn to play piano before, but I played classical guitar since I was 12. Since the time we had the piano, I can't resist but start to pratice almost every day (1 or 2 hrs). I have no problem with music theory or sight reading or finger arranging. The only problem I have now is I don't know if I should find myself a teacher? I know I will have bad habbits if I continue to learn by myself but I don't expect to be a good pianist, I just want to play decently. Should I learn by myself till I hit the wall or find someone to help me now? Thanks for any advice.

ST

ST,

It's all about about the little stuff that makes the difference. You know that from your guitar playing. You can probabily do quite a bit by yourself but can you stand the time and doubts that you will have with no help or guideance?

ST,

If you are a good classical guitar player, the answer is obvious IMHO.

Do you think you could have learnt classical guitar on your own ?

Or ballet dancing or tai chi chuan or violin or...

If you really want to learn classical music, it is quite natural to learn by way of transmission.

Classic music is a tradition : it is best handed from one person to another. Not only the technique, but the style, the spirit and the "form" which is something both mysterious to explain and easy to absorb.

That is when the teacher and the student fit each other.

Be sure of what your musical goals are.
Go see a teacher with a vision.

Best wishes.

Benedict

I would advise you to begin with a good teacher. How you start is very important, because it will save you a lot of frustration and difficulty if you do not have bad habits to fix.

If you want to do something on your own, work on learning bass clef.

Get a good teacher, study with him/her for, say, half a year, and see if you find that helpful or if you like studying with a teacher (as opposed to going it alone). You already know what you can do alone. Now try doing it with a teacher and see if that alternative will work out better for you. If it doesn't, go back to being self-taught, and you would have lost nothing (well, may be about 26 hours' worth of fees), but if having a teacher helps, you stand to gain a lot.

Hi guys,
Thanks a lot for your advice. I'm going to get a teacher. You're right. Without him/her, I don't believe I can play it with all my potential, even how hard I try. Once agian, thanks.

Taking piano lessons is one of the supreme joys in life. Why would anyone deny themselves this pleasure?

i totally agree...