How to get better at playing the piano, faster

[8-P]

Hi All,

I bought a Roland FP-10 at Christmas as I decided it would be nice to play piano again. It’s been 30 years since I played but my parents still had all of my old books which I got through quite quickly(actually most were fairly horrible, I can see why I quit). I think I was at about grade 4 when I quit and I’m probably about as good as before or nearly.

Anyway 5 months on i feel like I’ve reached a plateau.

I bought Adult Piano Adventures 1 & 2 and am approaching the end of book 2(nothing saucy).

https://pianoadventures.co.uk/publications/adult-p...

I keep looping back round to the beginning which helps me prove I’m getting better, book 1 now seems laughably easy. However anything I look up on Musescore(even the easy stuff) feels really hard. I’ve also tried to follow some tips on a few good YouTube channels, some tips have helped.

So, what other books or exercises do I need to be doing to help me reasonably tackle some harder stuff. I’m trying to play every day, even if only for 20 mins as when I don’t I go backwards fast.

All tips welcome thanks.

[elise2000]

Get a teacher! Ideally weekly lessons. Nothing can replace having an expert assess what you need to do. Will save you a lot of time and frustration. Will most importantly prevent you picking up bad habits- the type that will be very hard to iron out in the future.

[Chubbyross]

I'll second the teacher suggestion. I'm a guitarist but every time I hit a plateau and find myself simply noodling and playing stuff I'm good at then I know it's time for help. There's nothing better than getting someone to assess where you're at and pushing you outside your comfort zone.

It doesn't even have to be weekly lessons. I find ad hoc lessons can be useful every so often and then take a break to digest and work on what's been suggested.