The Piano Learning Strategy Adult Students MUST Know

Recently I've started to get very interested in the needs of older piano learners. In this tutorial I outline some of the problems they face and explore the one key strategy that can make the difference between success and failure for them.

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PHOTO AND VIDEO CREDITS
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[BillHilton]

👉Improve your piano skills with my great value Piano Packs and 3 Ebook Bundle deal:

👉Join my Patreon community — we're a very friendly bunch of piano learners!

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(Disclosure: I receive commission from Sweetwater if you click through and buy these or any other products from their website.)

[Omega]

I think this video should have a million likes but maybe there aren't that many that want to learn to play the piano or haven't found this channel. Excellent lesson Bill!!! Thank you for thinking of the older generation and hope you continue helping us. BTW I'm over 70 and continue to learn.

[ricardotemporalgrein]

I've recently started your begginer course in YouTube and it's just amazing. The way you teach, the way you express music, it's simple, direct and fun. Thanks Bill, from Brazil! Learning as an 30 years old adult! Thanks man, a lot! Been enjoying so much.

[desmckenzie]

Brilliant Bill ! You Tube is full of teachers who don’t teach HOW to learn but it’s what I
need as a 68 year old learner . I look forward to your future work in this area.
This was a great tutorial. Happy trails mate.

[BalatonDreamer]

I learned trumpet as a kid, starting around 9 years old. Quit as a young adult for a non-music career (which I loved, no regrets), then started piano in my post-retirement 60’s. Definitely got better results for the time invested as a kid. Another big difference is motivation and goals. As a young trumpet player I was motivated by the end result, the dream of being an outstanding player. As a retirement piano beginner I’m motivated more by intangibles and enjoying the process. I’ve made a lot of progress but I have no delusions and not even any interest in being an acclaimed player, I just do it for the challenge and my own interests.

[lshwadchuck]

Very wise advice. I came to your channel over five years ago. I was 67 and a rank beginner. Here I was trying to learn little blues riffs. I can laugh now. I spent two years on teach-yourself books, plus Hanon, Czerny, beginner pieces, etc. Then I found the foundation course I've been working ever since. In 15 steps I'm on 8 but I'm constantly working steps 1 and 2. I don't know about other adult learners, but I've found patience and humility to be my most valuable assets. My teacher has never taught children. We do no music theory, no drills, learn no pieces. It's all improvisation from within a basic harmonic vocabulary with a basic rhythmic framework. My goal five years ago was to be a lively, rhythmic player. Within narrow parameters, I am that now. I know that if I continue to add one baby step's worth of complexity only when things have gotten really easy, I'll get there. Most people are in a hurry to play their favourite songs. That was the first thing I gave up. For now. I've got the rest of my life.

[djhonz]

I am absolutely so happy to have found your page. A late 40s edm producer here, trying to learn the piano for creating melodies and chord progression. Looking forward to lesson 1.

[TheDragonhawkKnights]

Hey Bill, good stuff! I've been playing since I was 5 when my grandmother was still alive.

She's since passed away but she laid the foundation of my music theory and chord progression.

I just turned 40 and I'm so glad that I've had music in my life for the whole journey.

Bless you for what you do to give others the gift of music!!! You're a godsend!!

[perry]

Totally understand what you're saying Bill. I'm in my 50's and week 5 of learning piano. Anything new I need to keep up repetition and recapping. In addition to that I find that this practice needs to be consistent practicing everyday.

Love your style teaching, understanding and passion.

[molenz]

This video earned you a new subscriber. I'm 53 and have been learning piano for the past month (no past musical experience), I have practiced every day for one or two 20 minute sessions but usually longer. I have followed numerous YouTube videos and have made progress, I can definitely do things now that were impossible for me 2 or 3 weeks ago. 
I am now at a point where I need structured lessons instead of randomly jumping around so I will be starting your course from the beginning and following the advice you've given.
Like most people I want to go fast and make rapid progress but I realise now that requires me to go slow.

[Lathamhipsurgery]

Such a great video. I have been trying to master the piano for nearly 25 years. I played until I was 10 and found it easy but stopped because I CBA to practice. I took it up again in middle age and had lessons F2F but struggled for the reasons that you have so eloquently described. I did Grades 5 and 6 a few years ago and was determined to pass Grade 8. I have failed it 3 times because I failed to build the foundations and fell apart in the exams. I have F2F lessons every week but struggle to p[ay when I'm being watched. It's a common problem for adults, I know. I have been revisiting pieces and have gone back a few steps to play some easier stuff to try and build confidence again. I can sight read well but seem to have a mental block when i try to improvise. I look at the piano and it mocks me! Thanks for sharing your wisdom and enthusiasm.

[AllanRoss-wc]

Thanks for the video, Bill. I'm 72 and started your For Beginners course a year ago. Prior to starting, I had no music training since primary school. Now i am so pleased to be able to read and pick out some simple tunes. You have reinforced some of the techniques I have been using, I play all the pieces going back to Lesson 5 every day, trying to get a bit more expressive with each playing. I look forward to your videos for your older students.

[SNTASCND]

I’m 56 and have been studying from zero about two years, what really slows me down and often get me frustrated is how difficult and slow have been learning to sight read, I’m getting better now, but going very very slow

[jeanprunty]

I took piano lessons 60 yrs. ago. Then life got in the way. I am working again at piano, and can't believe I used to know all the scales and inversions.Wow, what I have forgotten !!.Thank you for your you tube lessons, and your encouragement for the older generation. Music has been part of my life, forever. I find it more difficult to read the music fluently.I live alone and I will master piano, again.! N.C.(85)

[susancrapier]

I know exactly what you say. As an adult, I rushed through my first year of self-teaching myself piano, and knew I got nowhere. After one year, I returned to lesson 1 nursery rhymes, got a better method book this time and started my journey anew - from scratch. I have no regrets of doing so - I am a better pianist now than if I continued blindly on my impatient and unthorough piano learning. Paying full attention, not rushing at the start and learning everything very thoroughly is essential to not get into trouble or bigger trouble later on. I am still quite unsatisfied with my left-hand though.

[simonaceccarelli]

Learning piano as a 52-year old, and what you say about procedural vs cognitive memory is spot on. Older adults do have a harder time moving information from system 2 to system 1, and get a much bigger psychological reward by grasping new things at the intellectual level rather than doing what they need to do to create “muscle memory.” I find a lot of the drills targeted at children unbelievably boring and not very useful for either type of learning as an adult. I think adults need exercises that do both: help with building automatic memory while also making them realize something new at the cognitive/intellectual level. Personally, I find older piano learning material (Berens, Czerny, Kabalewski, etc…) a much better fit than contemporary piano method books (maybe people demanded more from children then…), as well as using sections of simple repertoire pieces as drill exercises, learning and repeating not just one scale but a couple of very different ones (I love hearing the difference between major and minor scales, for example), or doing exercises that have very simple melody but challenging rhythms, or the other way around. In essence, some element of intellectual spark embedded in the drill. I am focussed on classical music, but I am sure there could equally exciting exercises for contemporary and pop music that go beyond the “repeat these two chords over and over for 12-measures” kind of drill that I see so much of in method books…

[SpiritualLo]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEOS, I'm literally so grateful that I've found your videos. Idk why but your videos are helping me more than anyone's videos have. I just bought my first keyboard and I'm so excited and I'm having fun with it and I pray that I don't lose that childlike approach I have currently!!! Anyway, Youre awesome, thanks again.

[trieshard]

I am a very adult learner and my mistakes have been hopping from one book and YouTube teacher to another in the hopes of finding a magic method. Also trying to learn music which has been really much too difficult for my standard. I have learnt them through hard, frustrating practise. Now I realise that if I'd started with a solid, basic knowledge I'd be much further down the line towards my goal which is to play nicely, hit the right notes and have the confidence to play in front of my family. (earphones are a godsend!!) So I've started on your course, I've downloaded 3 scores and am trying very hard to get things right. 🤞

[TonyT]

Thank you Bill for another great video! My story: I am 66, a retired software engineer. I started learning to play the piano in April 2022. Even before my retirement, my approach was to avoid making any specific goals and plans: just practise every day and feel good. I am happy with that, I enjoy my practice sessions, usually 45 minutes. When not at home, I practise for at least 5 minutes on my mock-up keyboard (I printed the actual layout of the keys and glued those four sheets of paper together). Looking back at my 18 months of learning - it was great, I really made a huge progress...

[carylchapman]

56 yr old returning adult student. During Covid lockdown decided to pick piano back up and am talking lessons. Going one step back before moving forward is such a great approach. Would love love to learn jazz. Just trying to figure out where to start. Improve and licks seem very challenging- glad I found your channel