Getting Started

Lowery Organ, 1980s, Free

Today, I start to learn to play the piano, with a post of my first lesson. 

The subject of this blog is Teaching Myself the Piano.  Truth be told, I'm not teaching myself the piano, I'm learning from a book.  Another truth, I'm not learning on a piano, rather, an organ.  The main difference between playing on an organ vs. a piano is that the volume of the notes are not affected by how hard I press the keys.  However, I feel for starters I can learn the fingerings, notes, and basic music using the organ.  Advantage of using the organ is that I got it for free.  Indeed, I got two organs for free.  And I didn't have to hire a moving company to get them to my house.

The book I'm using to introduce myself to learning the piano is Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course.   I compared this to a number of other beginner's books, including The Complete IDIOT'S Guide to Playing Piano.   I chose the Alfred's book over the IDIOT's Guide primarily because the Alfred's book gets to actually playing something resembling music faster.  It introduces you to a concept such as 4/4 time or quarter notes or intervals, and then provides a lesson that uses the information just provided.  And the lessons start out with more interesting exersises, exersises that resemble music.  I bought both books and intend to read them both, but for starters, I'm going to use the Alfred's book.  I may revise my criticism of the books as I proceed.