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I'm a (somewhat) musically gifted person, though in my younger days, the idea of sitting around diddling at a piano instead of hanging out with friends or playing Gamecube struck me as pretty gay. I recently picked up a keyboard to help with some of my music production, and I found myself able to play relatively well. I sense I have a raw talent, and would like to expand upon it. I'm not looking for a quick and easy way to learn, or some PDF telling me how simple it is in "THESE THREE EASY STEPS".

If anyone could direct me towards textbooks or other resources (preferably pretty dry) about reading music and theory for piano, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Chevalier De Seingalt]

I used this book when I was too busy/broke to do lessons:


http://www.amazon.com/The-Piano-Handbook...0879307277

I thought it was very good, it's pretty dense but starts out with the basics and quickly progresses to more advanced material. It also comes with a CD which is nice so you can compare your playing with what each piece is "supposed" to sound like.

[H1N1]

I taught myself classical piano from scratch to conservatory level using only the internet.

Here's what I did:

1. The most important thing was consistency - For three years, I averaged better than 7 hours a week, aiming for at least 1 hour/day. I took it very seriously, and a missed practise had to be made up. I can say quite genuinely that I hit at least an hour for every single day, of every single year, for those three years.

2. I followed a syllabus the whole way though. Here's an example, look in the video description for a detailed breakdown of each piece by each stage (the guy is annoying as fuck, but you don't have to watch the video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MogKBCR8_Gs

Almost all these pieces are available online for free through a basic google search. If you go through them and practise hard, you will make good progress.

3. As far as theory is concerned, I'd buy a basic 'grade 5 theory' handbook, and make sure you are familiar with all the concepts in that. Like most things, the more complex stuff with be more accessible with fundamentals that are firmly grounded.

From there, it is a matter of reading what you're interested in. The two absolute best books on musical theory I've ever read are The Jazz Piano Book by Mark Levine, and Forward Motion by Hal Galper (again, a jazz book, by a jazz pianist, but very relevant to baroque style classical music).

If you want any more help, let me know. To start with it is slow, because you're counting lines on the score sheet to workout notes, and reciting mnemonics to remember which note is which, but you'll get there.

[Moreless]

Check out https://www.pianomarvel.com/

It's the best piano teaching software I have used. It will teach you how to read music, theory, and sight read.

[VincentVinturi]

I studied classical voice, not piano. But we had to take piano lessons as well of course.

You can learn a thing or two on the internet but if you're really serious about progress and acquiring good technique, you need to go to a *good* teacher.

If you live in a city with a university that has a music program you can probably hook up with a seriously bad ass classical pianist or jazz pianist and take lessons.

They are well worth the money.