5 Common Pitfalls of Self-Taught Pianists | Piano Lesson 

Which of these pitfalls can you relate to the most? 🤔🤔

My #1 tip for self taught musicians: Record yourself while playing (a smartphone will do), stop recording and then forget about it. Listen back to the recording the next day and take notes about how you could improve your playing. It may still be shocking to hear yourself but the day in between helps a lot.

If the piano teacher I had when I was a kid had been teaching like this, I’m sure that I would not have quit. Every word you said made total sense, which is what drives (my) motivation.

I’m 83, took lessons when I was ten for a little more than a year and I’m about to start again with a 61 key keyboard. No teacher yet, but I’m excited.

Just thought I'd mention that in relation to poor counting and rhythm, as someone who has self taught, the reason the beat is inconsistent is lack of confidence and sometimes needing time to think and position my fingers. my advice is just to play the whole piece much slower, even if it sounds weird, until you can confidently change the position of your fingers. :)

I’m a piano teacher and whenever I get a young student who has been self taught, I’m almost 100% certain that we are going to need to work on rhythm. I found this video to be informative and well done.

Hi, i would like to suggest a second basic tip to better practice a piece of music: start practising from the end of the piece and work your way gradually backwards all the way to the beginning. With this method, you play with confidence because you are playing towards the parts that you have practised more, therefore that you play with more ease. This is a method that I have found to be very effective-

I'm 57 and starting to take up an interest in playing piano. coming from a poor and neglected family, I never get a chance to do this, and I had been slogging at work for decades. Now with my family and finance more at ease, it is time for me to indulge in music that I had yearned for in the past. Thanks to your channel, I will try to learn on my own as I could not pay for expensive personal piano tuition

I'm turning 40 in 2 days, and relearning piano after 20 years. Had basic training in my 20s, and your videos are giving me motivation to carry on :)

I don’t understand how synthesia is thought to be easier. I tried it once and found it a nightmare having to constantly skip back, try to copy, and memorise. Also it’s not just fingering, people who learn from synthesia usually have very little dynamics in their playing as the tool they are using prioritises playing the right notes at the right time and basically disregards anything else. At that point it becomes guitar hero for piano.

The tempo one is probably my worst. I just forget the metronome when practising with it cus I'm concentrating on the playing. I really need a thick beat or something to keep me in there

I think Synthesia is a very useful tool, but even as someone who is terribly slow at reading sheet music, I find that I build muscle memory much more slowly with Synthesia compared to when I force myself to read sheet music. A lot of times it tends to feel like I'm just copying someone's homework and not retaining any of it. Whereas when reading sheet music, I have to actually think about what keys I need to press and it helps reinforce the patterns in my brain

I think the most amazing thing about these videos is that you are FREELY GIVING in hopes of making others better at what they enjoy. How kind is that? Thank you for that giving spirit!

I've been self taught for about 15 years, and while I do agree with some of the pitfalls, there are ways to mitigate them. Such as your point on Synthesia, I've used it and while I freely admit I don't have rapid sight reading ability, I can still get where I need to with sheet music, and practice. As to fingering, this while slower than a lesson taught pianist, I've learned from observing other pianists, and correcting my own mistakes. I will say, as to my practice methods, while slow, I continually practice all the same, not because I want to be a master of the piano, but simply because for me practice, and playing is something I do to help with my mental health, as well as giving me something that is mine, and done it by myself. I've only recently come upon your videos, and I do enjoy your content, but as a self taught pianist, I can say with certainty that while I am nowhere near concert level, that's not my primary goal for learning. I play the piano for the love of the piano, and for the enjoyment it gives me expanding my ability at my own pace. Good video all the same, but I will say that it feels a little like all you've established is that a piano is a tool for impressing other people, and not something that you can just do for the enjoyment of it. I enjoyed the video though, as it has highlighted some of the things I do do wrong as a self-taught pianist.

Thanks Jazer. I really like the tip about repeating smaller chunks of music seven times. I'm from a guitar background, and never had sheet music on stage, I would always learn each song through constant repetition. I find it easier to learn pieces on piano rather than sight-read them, and breaking them down like this will really help.

This entire video was excellent. You do not speak too fast. You are clear in your comments. You don't try to be an actor in a movie. You seem very interested in your viewers' success. You are sincere and you know how to encourage your viewers. Well done. Thank you. 👋

Oh my God, this is what the internet is made for, fantastic teachers like you that not only tell what the problem is but the solution that come as well, thank you for your time and effort of Making this channel, you sir are a God send, hope every success for your channel and keep up the good work!!!

With regards to the final point, in Chuan C. Chang's excellent book _Fundamentals of Piano Practice_ he recommends finishing each such short segment, whether it be a single or several bars, with playing the beginning of the ensuing bar as well, in order to properly connect the short segments you're practicing. I've had a lot of success with this.

I'm a self taught pianist and I recently got a teacher. One of my main weaknesses is sight reading. I have never used synthesia, but for some reason I just like memorising pieces instead of cross checking with the sheet music like other pianists do. My piano teacher said that I am quite a special/odd student since many of his students dream of having memorization skills like me. But my live sight reading needs work. I practice with these books that have excersizes in them that I do every weekday. Each book has a level. Currently I'm on level 4. My piano teacher has tremendously helped me with technuique and fingering issues that I had, and helped me play pieces that I never would've dreamed of playing. To all self taught pianists: If you think getting a teacher isn't worth it, trust me, it is. Getting feedback from someone highly better than you in an encouraging way is such a great thing to have.

i thought myself jazz piano in about 2 and a half years. i can transcribe and play anything i want now it is very much possible to do that by yourself and i encourage everyone who tries to not give up EVER. it will work out just trust yourself

There’s a tip i found in an old piano book I was able to find in a retail sale: It says to try striking the keys with the fingertip just behind the fingernail. Don’t overdo it, of course, but it’s very effective with keeping the fingers curved and close to the keys. Hope this helps! 😁

If I'm struggling with the fingering for something like for a few difficult bars, I like to watch overhead piano videos on youtube of the piece I'm trying to learn, watch how they play it, and put the fingerings in on my score. There's tons of great channels for this, like Rousseau

As a young adult of age 28 I used to self learn for nearly 1 year before getting a proper teacher and I gotta say all your points are valid !! Self learning has no feedback, I didn't even know my scales performed in legato was rather detached, and teacher highlighted that on Day 1 of lesson! There are just too many good reasons to get a teacher if you want to get serious in learning piano - ultimately to avoid practicing your mistakes perfectly.

I'm in my 60's and just beginning, but apparently, I am the poster child for all five pitfalls. I learned to touch type about 50 years ago, so I know it's possible to control my fingers independently on the computer keyboard, but I feel like I'm discovering there are some strange pointy things attached to my hands when I'm at the piano keyboard. I hope I can get through this barrier with lots of practice.

I'm a self taught pianist and I've been playing from 6 years now. I never learnt how to read sheet music, and I'm still solely relying on synthesia and my ear. Even though my fingering techniques and practicing methods are on point, I feel really slow when I'm learning harder pieces. I recently started learning Moonlight Sonata Movement 3, and now I wish I learnt how to read sheet music. But at this level, I just can't find the motivation to learn to read music and go back to level 0 again.

Jazer, regarding fingering, there is a really fantastic hack for playing clunky passages that my concert band conductor taught me a long time ago but I haven't seen on any RU-vid videos. For example if you have a string of eighth notes, practice them in two ways: one dotted eighth and sixteenth repeating, and one sixteenth and dotted eighth repeating. Usually one of these will be harder based on the fingering problems you have, but just practice both. Then, go back to playing straight eighth notes: it will be so much easier, almost like magic. This is because you've trained your fingers to actually make the transition faster than you need to, and the added "dotted eighth" gives you time to prepare.

As a self-taught pianist, I learned to play with consistent tempo by playing while other(s) sing. That helped a lot!

My number 1 problem is starting a new song without completely finishing the old one

I have just subscribed to your channel because of this video! I absolutely love your style of teaching. Your love of the music and the instrument really shine through. You are clear, concise, and thoughtful. Thank you so much for sharing your passion with us all.

I'm someone who is seriously considering teaching myself to play the piano. As I watched your video I thought about the pitfalls and I think it may come down to what might be lacking for the self-taught: an instructor and a curriculum. Shocker, right? I think what the self-taught really need is a complete series of comprehensive lesson videos that literally takes you from beginner to master in a logically progressive way based on an established curriculum. Within the context of RU-vid, imagine a professional piano teacher or a pianist who wants to teach creating a complete series of videos based on a complete series of lesson books that can easily be bought at a music store or Amazon. The pianist simply goes through each book, lesson by lesson. If the pianist is a GOOD teacher, the pitfalls will be naturally avoided.

5 Common pitfalls of Self-Taught Pianists 5. Poor technique 4. Poor counting/poor rythm 3. Poor sight reading 2. Poor fingering 1. Poor practicing methods

I love the small section learning advice. I get so frustrated but it’s probably because I try to take on such big bites of information that it doesn’t get into my subconscious and I’m constantly trying to figure out the notes. I like the wrist placement advice. I’m never quite sure. Also the curved fingers and relaxing. I’m a perfectionist and try really hard to play perfectly and get stressed when I make a mistake. Too many makes me want to quit.

Tension is probably my biggest pitfall! I had no idea how tense I was in practice. Second would be finger independence. My ring finger hijacks my other fingers. Also, I’ve been practicing chord progressions from another of your videos. I was floored when I stopped looking at the keys, I suddenly got much better. I’m a typist, and type crazy fast until I look at the keyboard and suddenly become a hunt-and-pecker. I so enjoy your lessons!

A lot of self taught pianists and musicians tend to start practicing a piece from the start each time they make a mistake which results in a strong start and a weak end. Great tips!

I was self-taught for one year. If I did it over again, I'd definitely do a better job of learning proper finger technique and metronome practice. Every song I played ended up having to be memorized completely instead of sight-read in real time. When I started with a teacher, I had to relearn what I had learned. You're videos have helped me be a more confident pianist. :)

I m a self taught pianist for many years and ll hardly can afford lessons and I m improving but for now u re my only hope.Gracias from Costa Rica

You really are a truly great teacher, I love how you said "this means you probably don't have as much Finger independence as you *CAN* have" rather than 'as you should have' It is little things like this which make your teaching style truly motivational, and unthreatening. 👍👍 This is helping me as I am going through a dark night of the soul in regards to my own self taught abilities and subsequent weaknesses and drawbacks, I have foolishly only used the technique of playing along to the Radio and my record collection, leaving me disasterous technique but a very perceptive ear. It's not enough!

As a self taught piano, using Bastien's books from primer to level 4 really helped

I certainly struggle to keep to a structured practice regime, thank you for the advice Jazer.

Jazer I have just bought myself a yamaha digital piano and have never played before. I have also just listened to a few videos, before I found yours, on using chords simply to play pop songs with no mention of fingering or the other areas you pointed out. I am so thankful that I came across your video and you are a wonderful teacher. As a teacher myself, I always tell students to chunk down any exercise that is being taught, so fully agree in your practice ways. I will most definitely be watching and learning from all of your videos. Thank you again for spending your time to help beginner piano students.😀

Great teacher and great points. I am guilty unfortunately of all the pitfalls you described in this video. My biggest problem is playing music that is way beyond my skill level and not knowing how to do proper fingering. I am excited to discover this video and hope I can learn other tips from you. BTW, the independent finger exercise (playing each note 8 times) is already helping. Please keep those exercises coming!

Love the last tip! Often we can get very good at playing the beginning of a piece, but then not so good at other sections.

Good tips Jazer. After more years playing at the piano than I care to admit, I recently got an instructor. We are working on every one of the things you mentioned, except tension. The only reason we haven’t talked about tension is because I think she doesn’t want to overwhelm me, because I have that challenge too. Thanks!!!

Your channel is THE most inspiring and informative I have ever come across. Jazer, I find you absolutely tremendous at teaching. I wish I’d had a teacher half as good. I am trying to relearn my playing technique. I cannot sit for very long at the piano, (physically) so your methods are a remarkable asset to me. Thank you. Thank you

Yup, the fourth finger independence is my weak spot as well :) Thank you Jazer for this video! I'm a long term self-taught (hesitant to say) pianist with childhood background in music school and your channel is what keeps me going, possibly smart and not hard. Your videos help me a lot to achieve some solid progress while not overdoing my practice and burning myself out

Thank you for this, sir! I can definitely relate with all your points! I will try to do better in teaching myself piano and learning from teachers like you on RU-vid :D

Wow, you are very good at explaining in a calm, sound and engaging way. Thank you for your videos! I am an amateur and really play for fun but am always trying to get better and I love playing so much. 🤗

I love this thank you! I have been reading sheet music since I was really young, but I only started learning piano frfr recently. I learned the basics in voice lessons! I needed the tips for bridging the gap and building my confidence!

Terrific. Thanks Jazer. I'm 74 and I took up piano this year. Your ideas are spot on for me. Actually I started by looking up what is meant by the key of C and went from there to chords and the maths of it all. So I applied that to playing the chords in my ukukele song books. Then started on a couple of piano learning books. That's much harder than playing chords but the way I started was quite motivating. Playing around with the chords. Children can't do it so easily because they don't know all those songs. Now I love doing the piano books and will put into practice your ideas. I've been wondering about a few of the things you talked about. I also have some guitar books which have chords and notes so I sometimes try the chords with the left hand and notes with the right. Thanks heaps.

Synthesia has been incredibly useful for me in learning complex rhythm. Particularly when polyrhythm is combined with three hand technique I have found it useful. It forces you to play in the correct timing. Edit: I still drastically prefer sheet music.

Thanks for all advice, my 5 year old son is about to start practicing piano, and hope it’s going to be wonderful journey for him! Thanks for the time you take to give simple explanation even no experience people can understand

As a self taught musician this was a great reminder to get back to basics. Really appreciate the way you called out the facts with empathy instead of judgment. My hands are much better than my eyes. I can play all the diatonic scales across a bunch of different instruments but I can’t site read to save my life. Do you have videos specific to learning to read sheet music for dummies? I know there’s a million out there but I appreciate your style.

Just started learning the piano (keyboard) and I love it! Your educational videos are extremely helpful. I would say I am guilty of 5 of your common pitfalls. I will try to remember your suggestions as I move forward. Thank you for taking your time to help so many of us!

I'm a grade 10 pianist and i've been playing for 10 ish years and I still have a lot of trouble reading sheet music. On the other hand, I have really good memory to make up for it. The way I learnt was by reading a bar once, playing it, and memorizing how my fingers look when I play it, so I memorize the piece on the first play through basically, which is very convinient. Still, I wish it didn't take me a few seconds to figure out what a note is on the bar staff.

So glad I found this channel, my hiatus from piano was 51 years! So now that I'm retired it is a bit frustrating that my skill is not coming back as quickly as I had hoped. Left hand cord / changes are really difficult. I subscribed to your channel and so will review the videos to hopefully progress a bit faster!

As a visual artist, I see the parallels between the two disciplines. You did a good job of explaining the handicaps inherent in being self-taught. Since no teacher is arguably better than a poor teacher, and a skilled instructor is not always available, being self taught is sometimes the only option. I have always hoped that sheer determination would be enough. I think you would say... probably not?

And all your tips and advice work for any instrument, as a guitar player I’m always trying to practice more effectively and efficiently, little bits 7 times over is super idea

Great video, although I have to disagree witg strictly following the fingerings of scores as people have different hands, I'd recommend thinking about how one can use their hand as efficient as possible, or in other words also be critical of the score when something feels bad or sloppy

Oh man, counting and rhythm is huge! My piano teacher alwaysade me count out loud at lessons and I thought it was the biggest waste of time and so unnecessary, but now as a mom, that's the thing I harp on my kids more than anything else.

You actually give some useful advice to people that are self-tought instead of just pointing out what they are doing wrong. This is a very good and candid video. 👏👏👏

Just the other day I recorded myself (Im a self taught pianist) I was pretty sure I was doing okay for being self taught off of synthesia for a year, but when I listened EVERYTHING was wrong, especially the tempo, this really hit me hard and I really felt sad for a while, but you've really helped me inspire myself to try sheet music, I will start trying to learn sheet music today, thank you for your guidance.

Hi Jazer, really good tips. I've been using a strategy for learning new songs for a while, it's been helpful. I start by sight reading through the piece a few times to get a feeling for it. There are obviously going to be sections that are more troublesome than others, so I start with those as separate small sections, and do what you suggested, repeating these multiple times in small chunks. I figure once I get the troublesome sections down, I move to the 'easier' sections. That way, I'm not stumbling every time I hit one of the tough spots.

Awesome tips man! Pitfall 5 is very important to learning more efficiently! As a fellow teacher I really appreciate your take on this 🙏🏾!

I feel very lucky to have found this channel today! What a wonderfully talented and skilled teacher. Time to binge watch more of Mr. Lee's videos. Much gratitude.

Just want to say, you’re an excellent teacher and it’s always a joy viewing and listening to the wealth of musical wisdom you share and the manner in which you teach. I truly appreciate the time and energy you put into making your channel informative for beginners and those who are more advanced. Keep up the good work, your wisdom is very much appreciated. Les

I believe tension is my biggest problem for now. I was aware of most of the pitfalls you have mentioned and I have been actively trying to avoid them in my practice sessions. Thank you for the great lesson as always! 🙏

Hi Jazer, thanks for all those clear and much usefull videos ! Although a few others could be added to the 5 common pitfalls you rightfully noticed, there is one my piano teacher would too often have to warn his beginner-early intermediate students about : NOT SO FAST !! Start slow, you will play right, on a regular pace, and the necessary speed will come up nicely, naturally, and not at the expense of the rest. How true was he !.

"That way you have enough fingers, see that?" Had me laughing. 11:52

It's been years since I left the family home and I obviously couldn't bring my piano with me on the third floor of a small apartment building. I just got a digital piano last weekend and was a little stressed out knowing I had most probably forgotten a lot of the basics, but watching your videos have brought back a lot of memories of the ways I used to play and practice with my teacher back then. It helped a whole lot and I feel way more confident getting back to it now. Thank you!

That last tip is such sound advice (no pun intended). I think the brain naturally likes partitioning / sectioning things as a sort of survival skill when we used to hunt and gather. So if you section a piece of music into bars you learn separately, then when it comes time to gather all of them in one place it just comes naturally. Excellent video!

For me, your tip to practice in small sections for seven times was the most helpful, but I say that only because I try to work on sight reading a lot. Since I know I’ll never get a good as I would like, I will only play the music I want to learn. So sight reading and practicing small sections were the two tips I’ll use most. Thanks

Thank you! You make learning to play as a beginner so much more understanding! You teach in a calm manner, you speak your words clear and it's much more pleasant to want to improve my piano chords with fingerings etc. ..again THANKS for your teaching technique! I tune in to your lessons regularly indeed!

I'm glad I could only relate to one of these pitfalls, and I'm very thankfull for your lesson on practicing methods.

Fantastic timing. I just started teaching myself piano through youtube a week ago and was wondering about what I could be missing. Thank you!

I tend to rush and try to learn too much at a time and end up not letting the music sink in and becomes my subconscious, which consequently makes my practice hard to keep at a fixed tempo. Thank you so much for the tips🙏 Will break down to smaller segments and do more repeatations before moving on. I only started early this month, a very new newbie😊 Wish all my adult fellow learners the very best! Enjoy✌

So true about everything. I learded piano 30 years ago at school, and they taught all the things mentioned in the video (and much more of course). The 'tensions in the hand' was my arch enemy at the time, but later in school I managed to overcome it. 25 years no play after that, now I want to revive piano as a hobby, and I already know about correct hands position, reading sheets, correct fingering and learning approaches, and much more from the school. Thanks for emphasizing those are really important for beginners.

Very helpful advice. Thank you.

Being a self taught for two years, your five tips are perfect. Just what was needed specifically the metronome and the correct fingering. Thank you.

I’m a Synthesia noob, you are much more advanced but I still feel like your thoughts are very accurate and helpful!

great advice - thank you for sharing your insights.

This video was so humbling yet so helpful and insightful. This is going to help me tackle the things I need to improve on. Thank you for being so kind and non condescending ❤

I had taken piano lessons for about 10 years in my youth, but never was taught about the level of the wrist - I can’t wait to incorporate that into my playing. I really love your videos. They are always so well thought out and clearly stated. Plus, you don’t speak at lightning speed; I so appreciate that. Thank you for all that you do :-)

I am a 76 year ol..., er, uh, older guy with just 6 weeks of self learning from a multitude of sources. This video has been extremely helpful to me as I'm having trouble with all the pitfalls except Tension. With the above tips I feel I can address many of the issues I'm having at this point. Good job helping us understand what us older beginners should be doing to get on track and do better. Will let you know how I'm doing in about 6 weeks. FYI. A tip I got from a book by Josh Kaufman's book about being able to learn many things in only 20 hours has really helped. In his book he states from a research paper that learning things that takes "muscle memory", like piano, should be learned in the roughly 4 hour window before bedtime and will result in better memory/recall of the learned action(s). But one should also still practice at other times in addition to this key nightime period. Nighttime learning and practice has really helped me a lot.

Hi Jayzer. So happy i found your tutorials. My retirement promise to myself -I am now 70-was to learn to read music properly. I have had a few teachers over the years but not made much progress. The teacher i have now is a highly proficient accompanist for our philharmonic choir-and she is teaching the same techniques as you recommend and I am finally making progress and loving it! Thanks so much for your reminders and input. Love the clarity and simplicity of your teachings. I'm buying a metronome! Thankyou💖

Please thank your parents for me for raising such a generous and outstanding son and teacher...you are an awesome instructor!

I started learning piano about a year ago and am presently working on ‘Reverie’ and ‘To a Wild Rose’. Will try to apply the seven time technique to these pieces and see if I’m able to work through them more efficiently. Thank you!

This was an invaluable lesson. Thanks.

Everything you have listed is exactly why I went to the trouble of always having a teacher, even though I could have just gone on without one. The fear of learning something the wrong way and then having to try and unlearn it was why I didnt go it alone after I had gained enough basic knowledge and experience to be able to. I also find having a regular lesson even if its only once a month, also helps a lot to keep the momentum of keeping practising when other things in life could distract me. Very useful video, explained extremely well, thank you.

I totally agree as a self taught pianist the sight reading and rhythm are my weak points and I now have found a teacher to help with this. Thank you Jazer your videos are excellent especially for motivation and consistency

I have been playing piano since I was 3 years old. My mother was my first teacher, then I went on to professional lessons. Excellent tips here. I also learned something new - which I will definitely try - which is to practice short sections 7 times and then move on. My tendency is to start "at the beginning" each time - which means that I learn the starting portion very well, and fall down towards the end. I truly appreciate your videos. I have subscribed, and look forward to seeing more. Cheers!

Hi, I just wanna say thank you so much for the tips! I'm a self-taught for only several months and I can relate to a lot of pitfalls you mentioned there. Even though I mainly play/practice piano for my own enjoyment, but lately when I tried to learn harder pieces I felt like I hit certain limit and could not go any further because I missed those important points that you mentioned in the video. And what's used to be an enjoyment for me was no longer a complete enjoyment anymore because whenever I practiced there's this frustrated feeling or tension if I couldn't get certain parts right even though I had practiced them over and over. Thank you, it's enlightening for me!

Glad to hear the way I practice isn’t useless! I usually just practice bits and pieces of different songs at a time

Honestly this was the best video I’ve seen so far regarding piano practicing and self teaching. Extremely helpful thank you very much I can actually relate to all of it.

Im guilty of all 5 pitfalls, it's never too late to correct them. Thanks Jazer!

Excellent video. I've been playing piano for 18 years and I'm not self taught as I took lessons the first 5 years but my biggest issue is not challenging myself enough, technically. I love film music and that's what I play most... but usually it's not super difficult. I've learned some challenging pieces like the 3rd movement of Moonlight Sonata but those are exceptions for me. My plan is to work more on classical music and pay close attention to the fingering, dynamics and my practice routine. Oh, and scales! I have a workbook from David Hicken that has a lot of scales, arpeggios and more technical stuff. Practicing those will help a lot since I lack proficiency there.

As you pointed out there are a few solutions to these pitfalls but your solutions sound absolutely worth trying. You are a good teacher! Your students are super lucky 🙂

I love your videos they’re soooo helpful!! ❤

Thank you so much for the great tips…I’ve been guilty of all being self taught.🙂

Is it weird that I actually find it easier to use actual sheet music than synthesia😂? The visual representation actually confuses me.

Very helpful advice for a self learner beginning on my piano playing journey, thank you Jazer!